Custom fly tying bench.

I thought I'd share this fly tying bench that I made out of cherry, and corian table top.  Also, I'll show you how I made bowls to hold materials like hooks, and beads.

The commercial bench's that I've seen for sale just have holes made with a drill press, so removing small hooks and beads is difficult with the sharp edges on the bottom.  With the rounded, bowl shape, it is much easier to remove material.

I used a drill press, with bits sized from 2" down to 1" to step out the bowls.

I marked my piece of cherry 3 inches apart, and in the center.

Here are the stepped out bowls...

Using curved chisels, I smooth out the steps, trying not to let the chisel skip.

Here are the steps chiseled out.  Dig the hole in the middle left by the drill press with your chisel.

This is all the bowls dug out.  After this, I use a course piece of sandpaper to get the bulk of the leftover chunks out, then I use a fine piece of sandpaper (180 or so..) to smooth everything up.

Here it is all sanded down.  I finish it with a few coats of lacquer.








And here it is all loaded up!