Bench Envy: Tom Okner

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Tom Okner's spacious jewelry operating room

By Tom Okner, M.D.

Editor’s Note: Dr. Tom Okner, a retired ear, nose, and throat specialist, took up metalsmithing and jewelry fabrication as a hobby 25 years ago. His first workspace was a general-purpose work bench he set up in his home’s basement in St. Paul, Minnesota. Over the next 20 years, his workspace and the equipment and resources filling it gradually grew. After retiring from his surgical practice and relocating to Florida five years ago, Okner decided to rebuild his bench space from scratch in his three-car garage. His workspace takes up about a third of the garage, leaving plenty of room for two cars.