jill torberson
“The Bench Vice”
by Jill Torberson
When arriving at the mill, one is struck by the mass of this concrete, steel and glass hidden on the banks of the Clackamas River. How did they build this structure, completed in 1924, in this still somewhat isolated setting?
The shop that sits next to the mill has a lot of answers. The first thing I noticed was that classic smell of old, well-used machinery, grease, oil and dirt.
Then I looked around it was as if someone just locked the doors that morning to run out for a cup of coffee. I began to look at the tools that made the power station. In the ceiling were the belts that powered the belt-driven mills and drill presses of those days. Drawers upon drawers and bins upon bins of bits, screws, chucks, hand tools - you name it!
They had steel stock, which they welded, formed, cut, threaded, drilled and milled, all there in that old shop to make working parts by hand to build and fix the power station.
Then there was the lonely bench vise, which became a symbol of the relationship between the modern craftsman and those who preceded us. I built the frame in a modified “Craftsman” style, using steel from the shop. I highlighted the frame in the two predominant machine shop colors of green and orange.
I would love to go back in time and spend a day alongside the workers who built this power station.
Medium: Photography and steel
Dimensions: 18” x 21”
Price: $325
503.788.5701
Please contact the artist directly for information about purchasing this piece.
Click on photo to enlarge.
