Pictures of your Work Bench

[Wisconsin Railfan]

Good Day All!

Sorry if this has been asked before.

I see that there is a forum topic for posting pictures of your layout, and your weekend projects.  I would like too see some pictures of your work area, and any ideas or tips for setting up a work bench.

 

Steven 

[tomikawaTT]

Work bench?  Would you believe a 4 x 8 sheet of Masonite temporarily flopped on the joists of a not-yet-in-service 5 x 9 disconnected end of what will become a peninsula?

Add a stack of folded cardboard boxes, a bunch of assorted tools more-or-less grouped by type, about a dozen boxes of assorted screws, nuts, washers (plus a few bolts), miscellaneous lengths of steel stud, a stack of yard sale sectional track, rolls of wire, plans penciled on scraps of paper, an old newspaper, two rolls of paper towels, six tubes of caulk (assorted types and colors) etc., etc, et al, ...  Kind of looks like a cross between a salvage yard and the county dump.

If you've gathered that I'm not Mister Neatfreak, you got it in one!

Chuck (modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)

[stebbycentral]

I would like too see some pictures of your work area...

Steven 

I would have to find it, first. 

[ham99]

I don't have a website, but I have pictures I could e-mail.  My workbench is located at the end of my layout and has a display case on the wall above it, where the trains have direct access to the layout.

[larak]

Controlled Chaos! The lens would shatter if I tried to photograph it.

[Wikious]

It's really a miracle I get anything done as it is. I have less than a square foot to work in. I'm not even supposed to be on this table.

 

[steinjr]

 Guess my work space falls somewhere in the middle.

 I needed both a workshop and a layout, so I fit them both into the same 6.5 x 11.5 foot room - layout is on a L-shaped shelf above the work area on two walls, and then there are another set of shelves above the layout shelves - that is used for storage and for holding the lights for the layout.

Layout plan:

 

 Pictures of room: 

 

 

 Lower left hand side of room - worktable area. I have a 2x4 feet work table (with shelves for tools underneath), and more low shelves for tools between that and the door (where pics below are taken from). Two more shelves along the wall above the work table and tool storage area.

 

 

 

 Upper left hand side of room - storage under layout and over layout. Under layout storage is reachable from chair by worktable.  Under the long side of the layout I have a 2x10 foot table, mostly used for storing tools. Under that is boxes on wheels with scrap lumber and such stuff.

 

 

 Upper right hand side: this is where cassettes with cars to be swapped in and out of layout will be stored (under layout). More storage space above layout.

 Still haven't finished the shelves above the layout in this corner - will hold lights for layout, but also be available for storing stuff on.

 

 Last corner is left - umm - right (the other left ...) of door. Have left that area for storing long materials (up to 8 feet high, 2 feet deep) upright in corner. 

 What has worked for me :

• Enough storage space that I have a place to put away stuff like kits, scratchbuilding supplies, tools, paint etc.
• Place to sit reasonably comfortably while working on small things, with adequate lighting.
• Boxes and organizers to keep things that belong together together.
• And a reasonably big surface that can be cleared off when you need work space.

 But as with anything else in this hobby - there is no one size fits all. We all have different work habits. And how you organize your workbench (or not) has preciously little with what kind of results you get.

 Grin,
 Stein

 

[AltoonaRailroader]

Here's my little table for now. Man does that tool box come in handy. I'm kinda of a neat freak so this is very messy for me.

 

[mobilman44]

Hi!

I do not have the wherewithall to send a picture (yet).  My really nice computer/hobby room has a terrific table top w/cabinets as legs, that gets cleaned off about twice a year.  It never ceases to amaze me how it gets covered with stuff so quickly.  And yet, I've built some pretty nice projects on it amid all the clutter.

The funny thing is that so many other modelers are in the same situation.  I recall an article years ago in MR about a very accomplished modeler who tended to use a tv dinner table for a workbench. 

Mobilman44 

[OzarkBelt]

I would like too see some pictures of your work area...

Steven 

I would have to find it, first. 

That's me! lately, the kitchen table has to do!

[jecorbett]

You certainly don't want any tips from me other than how not to do things. I have not one but two work benches and they are both a mess. For that matter, all the unfinished parts of the layout are used for work space and they are a mess too. Disorganization is my middle name. I spent the first week of the MR season this year straightening eveything up and organiziing it. It was a temporary fix. After a few months, chaos rules again. I spend more time looking for my tools than actually using them. I can hide something from myself in a blink of an eye. It's frustrating as heck and after having made numerous vows to change my ways, I have come to the conclusion it is hopeless.

[fiatfan]

Here's mine.  It's made from an old hospital door so the surface is formica.  Just finished a project so the bench is somewhat cleaner than usual.

 

Tom 

[nbrodar]

I have an old roll top desk:

I have plenty of drawers and cubbies for tools, parts, paint, etc.  And well, as you can see by the top, a sizable stack of projects.  Two lamps, equipped with the same type CFLs as the layout room, provide plenty of light.

Nick

[ereimer]

just take several of the above pictures (not including nbrodar's of course , his is much too neat ) add a bunch of computer parts , some warhammer 40k bits and pieces and you'd have an approximation of my workbench . or is it my hobby storage area ? not much work gets done there , since it takes about an hour of putting stuff somewhere else to make enough space to work in . since the floor is the most convenient place to put stuff , it looks a lot like the workbench . i'd move the stuff on the floor to shelves , but they're already full of magazines , books , stereo , cds , kits ...

[last mountain & eastern hogger]

Good morning fellas & gals,

My workshop area is in a main floor bedroom that serves as the computer room as well.

I have a 60" X32" commercial desk (steel) that I picked up at a Restore Store, (Habitat for Humanity) for $25.00 What a deal. Lots of stuff on it as most of us have, so my workable surfaces is down to about 24' X24". Must clean this up some...........Then I have a four shelf bookcase and a closet for projects waiting to get started. And also a large Rubbermaid square tub with lid that hold rolling stock kits.  On the desk I have available a couple of tempered glass cutting boards that are pebbled surface, but I use them upside down for a smooth flat surface on which to build and check truck and coupler height (on an old section of brass track).

Behind the desk on the wall I have a two track test track with a left & right hand #4 turnout. If units work here they will work on my layout which is in the basement and other than some yard tracks and an occasional spur most of my turnouts are at least #6s.

Over the years I have picked up several cutlery trays at garage sales, for a few cents, that work great in transporting Locos and rolling stock from the layout to the work-bench for service and back down again.  Good investment.    I line the sections of the tray with that thin foam packaging or small bubble wrap to cushion the units a little.     ----  WORKS FOR ME -----   Good Thread, it is always nice to see that MOST  of us are in the same boat when it comes to tidiness.

Johnboy out..............

[perry1060]

In the garage...

[Otis]

My 2cents worth on work areas. Stream of consciousness rather than careful writing here.

I was able to set myself up in the storage space of our new townhouse...a nice room with general storage for the household.  And I took over one end of the room +.

What I like: cheap 1X2 shelving, desk made of leftover Medite from layout expansion in new place, carpet on floor for my cold feet, Ikea display case holding locos completed, lots of plastic containers for individual projects on the go, no through traffic, layout is around the corner in adjoining room

What I don't like: room has no natural light, room is narrow, I can access one side of the layout from here, but to get to the control area, I must go through the garage, Ikea case shelves are too short to hold a coupled steam loco and tender, carpet is mottled--know what I mean? I am definitely going to get one of those attachable jeweler's aprons from Micro-Mark

Recent additions:  More rubbermaid type storage containers for projects...should have done it sooner. Two more of the Ikea display cases as I have over 80 locos (each case holds 27 locos 3 to a shelf).  They are not cheap, but I really like the look of them, esp. when a light is placed inside at the top. New shop vacuum for exclusive use in the work area and on the layout.  I was tired of washing the wheels, body and hose of the vacuum after I had used it in the garage or some other dirty place.  New one was just $40 at W*Mart.

Wish List: some magnetic tool holders to put on the wall above the workbench, swing arm lamp that doesn't rotate off the edge of the desk and fall on the floor, more time.

Must haves: panavise or some such articulated "grabber", power bar, cordless dremel, magnifying head band, lots of divided-type trays/cases, good quality hobby pliers and tweezers, controlled climate (for me that meant careful weatherstripping against west coast dampness out the back door and addtional oil fin heater to remove dampness from windowless room...I let the heat take the moisture upstairs through open workarea door)

[Mark R.]

I spend more time in my workshop probably than anywhere else in the house so it's gotta at least be a pleasant place to be in. It's located in one corner of the house, so I'm blessed with having two windows ....

 

Mark.

 

[fiatfan]

, swing arm lamp that doesn't rotate off the edge of the desk and fall on the floor, more time.

Otis, do what I did.  Just drill a hole in the desktop.  Make it snug enough to hold the lamp but easy enough to swivel.

 

Tom 

[Bill54]

This table has been used for several hobbies I've been into for the past 20 years.   It was our dinning room table when I first started using it.  Boy did the wife get upset when I spilled my first bottle of thinner  LOL!  Now it resides in the basement and only used by me as my work bench.

Bill

[superbe]

Well, here's my sanctuary. If it had a door on it my wife would fill it full of clothes.

Bob

[BlueHillsCPR]

I was going to post pics of my workbench(s) but I was reading in this other thread how a photo can make a small flaw look like a huge mistake.  I applied that to the minor mess my bench is currently in and got a major catastrophe! 

[Anonymous]

 

 Mine is just a corner table out of Tennessee with a glass top, strong construction I bought it for 30 bux in a yard sale on sight. The drawer holds the DCC electronics like the DS-64 etc.

The rest of the room is the railroad with a open area in the middle where heavy work gets done. Sometimes in my thinking I will have to expand that space and triple it saving that room for a workshop only. I would not be putting much more than 25 dollars a square foot into it, seeing the home is only worth double that per sf.

[Otis]

, swing arm lamp that doesn't rotate off the edge of the desk and fall on the floor, more time.

Otis, do what I did.  Just drill a hole in the desktop.  Make it snug enough to hold the lamp but easy enough to swivel.

Tom 

Otis, my man, are you ever slow.  How many years would it take for me to think of this.  What's my excuse? Must have been that bad acid in '67, man.

[mobilman44]

Hi,

My table top has two swing arm lamps, both secured directly into the top.  It works out nice, but you may want to experiment with the type/power bulb to find what suits you best.

Mobilman44

[stebbycentral]

Obviously none of us are in the same class as Norm Abram when it comes to workshops.  Although my workbench IS built from a New Yankee Workshop plan.

I share the space with the washer and dryer,and currently also winter quarters for the family pet.  She has an outdoor cage that she lives in most of the year, but we have to bring her inside when it gets so cold that we can't keep her water supply from freezing.  It looks like it's time to replace her litter...

[superbe]

Hey stebbiecentral,

Great looking bunny and oh the work bench looks good also.  Reminds me of the Playboy bunny.

As a child I raised rabbits until my neighbor moved in with a German Shepard.

Bob

[Anonymous]

I once witnessed a bunny among house cats that were eyeing the thing. The speed of that bunny sitting still made the cats look lethargic and tired. The bunny was having trouble among predators. Luckly the cats never learned that Bunnys are prey... however the instinct is there.

[fiatfan]

Hi,

My table top has two swing arm lamps, both secured directly into the top.  It works out nice, but you may want to experiment with the type/power bulb to find what suits you best.

Mobilman44

I use Feit daylight CFL's in the train room and in my swing arm lamp at my work bench.  That way, the light is always the same.

 

Tom 

[twhite]

It's my kitchen table, which right now I don't seem to be able to find. 

However, here is a photograph of my assistant, testing out a recent modeling project:

Tom