Mianne benchwork....pros? cons?

[emdmike]

My old benchwork is a mess of mis matched shelf modules supporting a 4x8 sheet of plywood right now.  Its not very level despite my best efforts, nor do I trust it to bear my weight to do any scenery work toward the rear of the table.  I have a 9x9 room, with only one side available for a layout.  I am looking at the 3x8 starter kit for a small Lionel OO layout using their 3 rail track(27" diameter curves).  Seems to be the perfect size for this scale, I can reach across it along with accessing my wall shelves that hold my G scale trains.    Any pro's or con's to this benchwork.   I am a hack when it comes to wood working, so building something this nice is wayyyyy beyond my skills.    Mike the Aspie

Here is the kit package I am looking at getting

[Buckeye Riveter]

Mike...As far as I have heard, Mianne benchwork is just fine, but expensive. If you want to have the benchwork finshed quickly, Mianne would be a great choice. If I still lived in Loganstport, I would build your benchwork. It is really simple. 

http://cs.trains.com/ctt/f/95/t/278056.aspx

 

 

[emdmike]

I appreciate the thoughts!  I dont mind the cost so some extent, its made of hardwood vs pine and can be reused and configured in many ways and added to much easier for me. If it wasnt so expensive for true custom benchwork I would have something like this made for me to put my OO on.   

I really love this benchwork

 This would be the more simplified version

[cheapclassics]

Good morning all,

I have to give an enthusiastic thumbs up to Mianne benchwork.  My carpentry skills are non-existent and all I had to do was saw 2 feet off of some 4x8 plywood to make the tabletops.  Depending on the size of the table, I might add more bracing pieces to what comes in a kit (which I will do later).   I also recommend getting the casters as well unless you are on carpet (might as well leave the table in one place).  I have a 4x8 for the O gauge, 4x6 for the HO and 6x12 for the Standard gauge.  I hope everyone has a good day.

Keep on training,

Mike C. from Indiana

[emdmike]

Thanks for the thumbs up Mike C!  Where in Indiana are you at?  My wife and I hail from Kokomo.  No need for casters as the layout will be against walls on 3 of the 4 sides.  My room is only 9x9, so I put it on the north wall below my shelves, thats the only wall a 4x8 or in this case, a 3x8 table will fit and not block doors and such.   A friend is going to try to make me one of those custom tables as the wood should be cheaper than the Mianne stuff. Just have to wait and see what he comes up with.  I can put my track on my old set up for the moment so I can enjoy the trains till the new table is closer to being ready.  I plan to empty out the room, get rid of the old shag carpet and replace it with laminate flooring, along with clean up and spot paint the walls to bring the room back up to snuff.    Mike