Not critical to this course in the least! If your bench is unconventional like mine, however, you likely don't have the "apron" feature that collects metal dust, shavings, and dropped pieces. I really wanted to be able to save my silver dust and keep small bits and scraps at hand, so I invested in a cheap adhesive drawer from Amazon.

You can find one like mine here. (This is not an affiliate link- I just find these rather useful.)