Literally, Im scratch building a workbench. This is, unfortunately, the first post of progress pics from any build whatsoever. Its been fun really. I would love to sit here and write my next plans but it will take tooo long and everyone would get bored. For the most part, it will have a spray booth that will be "hidden". I will show progress pics on it later.

It has come a little ways since these pictures. I have completed a set of 5 drawers for it and surprised myself in the process. I was actually expecting to get aggravated with the whole thing and just get on with the current piece of furniture I was using. So without further adue, here are the pics:




Ha.....now that I really look hard, its nothing but a bunch of pieces of wood cut to size and put in a desk-like fashion. Well, as soon as my family finishes their visit, I will post some current pictures of the madness.

For those who are curious....the wooden box is an enclosure I built for a cheap compressor. The compressor was crazy LOUD and I had to find a way to muzzle it. Now that its in this box, the noise is reduced about 75%. It has a hole in the back with a shower drain cap for airflow. The inner walls are lined with a styrofoam cooler I had from a football game.

Ok folks, I will keep you posted.
Cheers

I like the tile floor

I like the "secret" door under the desk. Is this the way you get into the house with your new purchases or the secret door to your stash that SWMBO doen't know about?

Thanks for the post.

Cheers

BIll, the picture does not do the tile any justice.

Shane, unfortunately no. The "door" is actually an access that was made to the pump for a spa in the bathroom adjacent to the room. I actually got lucky with SWMBO. She got me back into the hobby. I was very iffy about getting my hands back on some spru. She drove me to the LHS and bought me the AFV Club MKIII Centurion. The rest is history.

Will post some pics soon.

Cheers

I kinda hope you have something supporting that top..... 3/4" thick top will worp if it's unsupported for more than 36-40 inches or so. My bench is 2 layers of 3/4" particle board with a layer of white high pressure laminate on it there's also a 2x3 framework under that for structure to have wide open kneespace spans.

Matt, I will definately take that under consideration. Actually, I was trying to find a way to strengthen it up a bit. The additions of the drawer cabinets have done the trick. I also plan on running a 3" decorative only piece along the bottom of the table top to give the bench some depth and much needed "appeal" as my wife has wanted.

So folks, here are the updated pictures I promised. The work was actually done through the course of last week and just took me a while to clean off as I had some family stay over. The "workbench" was used to carry a bunch of junk laying around from the move. Oh, I forgot to mention previously that I recently moved into this house......and my wife and I recently (3 weeks ago) had our first baby. So we had some stuff occupying the area of the build.



Things that I need to touch up on are in the left drawer cabinet. The top drawer there is a little too far out and needs to be repositioned a few inches back. The compressor box is now resting on a drawer, allowing me to slide it out and have easy access to the thing when needed. This idea I will not take credit. SWMBO actually came in, took a look, and said, "hey, it would be great if you can pull that thing out and slide it back when using it."

Since I had no experience with wood, I was nervous about the drawers. They came out great! No jamming and they all turned out structurally sound. Using a table saw and chop saw really helped get them accurately cut. Up next, I will hopefully add the doors and applicable trays. I have cut out the doors to dimension. I will be using several different paint jars (with variable size) to figure out the depth needed for the trays. I have a good idea of how to attach them but dont really know how until I dive into them.

As for the anticipated paint booth. The desk top is going to be carefully cut out with a jig saw. The cut piece will serve as the backing when lifted. It will also have hinged the side walls. I will somehow create a base where the blower will extract the fumes. All in all, it should be quite hidden while not in use.

Any questions or comments welcomed.

Cheers,
Mike

Finally, an update on the workbench (aka desk)....

I have to start by saying that I had to think of the size over again. Due to the desire to be able to use the workbench for years to come, SWMBO and I decided it would be best that I scale it down a bit. Our family plans on "expanding", so a large desk would be a pain to move once the room becomes necessary. So I chopped off the smaller section. I originally had a desk length of 7 feet and 5 feet respectivelly. The 5 footer got cut off and I painstakingly changed the drawer cabinet to the 7 foot section.


The drawers were a ridiculous pain. If you do attempt to build your own desk with several drawers for use, please try to number the corresponding rails. I had one length confused and almost took a sledghammer to the entire thing. And this is after my intense model building patience had warn out (roughly 2 hours of fiddling with 1 drawer). Needless to say, I'm happy with the results and they flow nice and smoooooth.



I'm thinking of using some storage bins to help organize the stuff in the drawers but don't know what to use yet. I was looking at SWMBO's kitchen drawer organization thingies; they have this nice polished aluminum look.



I bought another underrail mount for the compressor drawer; it was a little unstable with a single rail.

Next, I moved onto the paint trays. Well my idea was a refrigerator type tray setup that will allow enough room to close the doors. So, after walking around Home Depot aimlessly I ran into a metal stud used to create indoor walls. As I am no contractor or constuction worker, I have absolutely no clue as to the correct name of the piece but you can get an idea as follows:


The picture was taken after I had cut off some sections and formed some trays. My camera was out of batteries again so I got some together while I waited for the battery to charge. First I bent in the edges of each peace to create a nice clean U shape.


I marked them to length at approximately 1/2 an inch less then the entire opening of the drawer cabinet.


Next, I cut off the side walls at approximately 1 1/8 of an inch to bend them upward. This was done to create an end to the rail ensuring that the paint would stay put while swinging the door open or closed.


And the completed pieces.


Here's the function. I ran across the question of strength and I assure you that the rail will not bend under the weight of the paint. The metal was extremely tough to bend and cut; the dimension is small enough to not allow it to give.

Luckily enough, it fits the Tamiya and model master paints.

Here is my hairy friend propping it up to show us the dimension. As you may have seen, I attempted to use the professional door hardware. It went in nicely, but the setup would not allow the drawers to slide out. I tried other, similar, hardware but decided it best to use the proven type before the entire build became airborne.

Next time, I will have completed the installation of the paint rails and will be tackling the stain.

Cheers

The do make 35mm "Euro" hinges that work the box stores don't carry them. The metal stud idea is great!!!! Coming along nicely!!

Enter the Build -A-Tool II campaign HERE this more than qualifies!!!!

Thanks Matt....I was sure that some "Euro" style was out there but I had 3 things going against me at this point:
1. I had made a second trip and purchase what I thought were the correct ones to only find that they did not work as well
2. I wanted to keep things at a particular budget, any additional purchases would kill the thing. When I first thought about it, I thought, "I can probably do this better for less"......so I wanted to stick to that
3. SWMBO wants it done already and another trip meant that no end was in sight. Kinda fealt like I was building a model.......

Oh, if you are interested, I finally posted the "How to" of the compressor box that I've shown several times.
Posted here: https://aeroscale.kitmaker.net/forums/126971

Questions and comments welcomed......Cheers, Mike

Mike,

Woodworking is my other hobby......LOL That and I worked as a drafter at a major Office Furniture company for about 3 years, So I know more that y'all would ever want to know about Drawer suspensions, Hinges and Centeral Locking systems.

Matt