Working on my workshop.

[bucketfoot-al]

Wow. you guys make me feel like a rookie. I get nervous and anxious when i have a ton of kits. Then I end up having a sell off keeping only a few I intend to build soon, then i feel better.. time passes, then I have regret for what I just sold and buy again, and the cycle repeats.

Welcome to the club. 10-11 years ago, in the aftermath of the economic downturn I sold off all my unbuilt kits - and most of my built up ones.

Between 2016-19, however, I have not only re-bought most of them (unbuilt), but have added to the pile. (I am very lucky that the "squirelling away" habit of most modelers means that even ancient kits can be found unbuilt in someone's stash).

Makes my wife a little nervous looking at the shelves in the garage/workshop!

[tay666]

I have cleaned out my stash several times.
The first time was due to financial constraints. I had to liquidate kits to help pay bills.
After things turned around, I realized that most of what I sold off, I didn't really miss. Which lead me to look at the rest of my stuff with a more critical eye. I realized there were a lot of pieces I really liked, but that I honestly would never get around to building. So I cleared those out next, and used to money to rebuy the kits I sold off the first time that I did really lament losing.
It was a good wake up call though. I am much more critical when buying ever since. Even if it's cool, I stop and think if I would ever actually build it, or if I just wanted to have it. I also quit snatching up kits just because they were cheap. I had a lot of excess sitting around that I had grabbed at amazing prices, but I honestly didn't really care about.

I also clean out the built kits on occasion. Sometime, just building it is enough for me. I don't care about keeping and displaying it. Sometimes after a few years of display I am tired of it and it goes.
I've got plenty more to fill the space

[tay666]

Back to an update about the workshop.

Sadly there has been little to no progress in the month since the last update.
I finally finished working on the wife's Jeep last weekend, so that is out of the way.
Today I went downstairs to finally get things rolling.
I worked out exactly what height I want the benchtop to be (34" - ideal for both sitting and standing, depending on what I am doing)
Armed with that, I was going to start marking the boards for the legs.
Let's see, the table top is 1" thick. And the casters are how tall? Let me grab one and see.
Hmm....
Where'd they go?
An hour later, I still have no idea where the bag containing 4 casters is.
So, until I can locate the casters, I can't cut the lumber for the legs. I hate this!

[bucketfoot-al]

I custom built my bench (35.5" tall desktop - wish it was higher so I could work standing up - I'm 6'5"). Your comment above made me measure it.

Anyhow, I built it to fit into a nook in the garage of the condo townhouse I was renting 6 years ago. It was around March. By late April it became obvious that the garage would get to 120 degrees 6 months out of the year. So, for about 2 years, I never used it.

Fortunately now that we own our home and the garage is built-in, its fine any time of the year ....

[tay666]

I'm only 6' so 34" seems just right to me.
I've been measuring various tables at work seeing which ones seem most comfortable for working standing up. Then I checked with my old computer chair that I plan on using to see if that would also work for sitting.

Hopefully I can find those casters today.

[kevtk135]

My bench is also in a nook, and all I did was screw 2X4s to the walls and laid a door in the space. I did goof a little and made it a little too high.
But the good news is that I found that Staples has a draftsman chair which rises higher than a regular office chair. So there's always that for anyone that makes an oops with the table height.

[tay666]

Sometimes I wish it was that easy. But my bench isn't actually going to be against a wall.
Also I want almost everything to be easy to move (hence the casters). As eventually I hope to be able to add a subfloor to the basement, to make things more comfortable.

Also, I know me. I have clear ideas on where I want what, right now. But a year (or 10) from now I may decide a different layout will work better. So taking the time to make all workstations mobile now can save me lots of headaches and work down the road.

[kevtk135]

Sometimes I wish it was that easy. But my bench isn't actually going to be against a wall.
Also I want almost everything to be easy to move (hence the casters). As eventually I hope to be able to add a subfloor to the basement, to make things more comfortable.

Also, I know me. I have clear ideas on where I want what, right now. But a year (or 10) from now I may decide a different layout will work better. So taking the time to make all workstations mobile now can save me lots of headaches and work down the road.

[tay666]

Good news!
I found the casters!

Bad news.
I've already started another project
Yesterday we picked up the handles for all the kitchen doors and drawers.
So I need to finish that project before I can begin work on the workbench.

[Heavy Metal Spike]

Good news!
I found the casters!

Bad news.
I've already started another project
Yesterday we picked up the handles for all the kitchen doors and drawers.
So I need to finish that project before I can begin work on the workbench.

LOL

I guess I ought to show you folks what I've been doing over the last 5 days.

• • (* storage shelving for the entire [boxed] collection - at least I HOPE it'll all fit *)

• • • • • Length 33 feet
        • Height 7 feet (between shelves & bottom of ceiling beams)
        • Depth 3 feet
        
        • Total storage available :arrow: just short of 700 cubic feet

• • 

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[bucketfoot-al]

*Sound of Jaw Hitting the Floor*

Did you say that was for your UNBUILT kits????

Where do you display your build-ups? Do you rent a warehouse????

[Heavy Metal Spike]

LOL - yeah - things got a bit out of hand over the years

The displayed stuff is in my office - completely different room on the main floor.


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[bucketfoot-al]

Pictures please - when you get a chance.

[Heavy Metal Spike]

Pictures please - when you get a chance.

Sure - but it'll take a while - currently undergoing MAJOR reconstruction

• • (* sorry for the thread-derail Trev *)

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[tay666]

(* sorry for the thread-derail Trev *)[/list][/list]


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Don't worry about it. It's not like I have anything to show right now anyway.

Holy crap!
That is a lot of storage, and makes me completely jealous.
Looks like the supports are on 4' centers. Bottom 2 shelves two feet and top shelf three?

[Heavy Metal Spike]

. . . Holy crap! That is a lot of storage, and makes me completely jealous.
Looks like the supports are on 4' centers. Bottom 2 shelves two feet and top shelf three?

Yeah - seems like a lot - but based on my calculations this will be filled . . . 100% PACKED SOLID . . . with boxes once all my collection is moved down there.

Note that this will include the (empty) boxes for the stuff I have on display as well.

• • 99 lengths of Canadian pine - https://www.homedepot.ca/en/home/p.2x4x ... 12108.html
  • • Each is 96" [8 foot] (+ a tinsy bit) long, and 4" x 2" nominal (3½" x 1½" actual).
    • 90 left intact for uprights and main horizontals.
    • 9 cut into 3 equal lengths of approx 32" each for the supporting horizontals.
  • Held together with #8 3" construction screws https://www.homedepot.ca/en/home/p.8x3- ... 52354.html

Support frame construction layout in pic below - usable gap between EVERY shelf is 28" (+9" at top if I used the gaps between the ceiling timbers - which I won't).

• 

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[tay666]

Hmm. Don't see many of those square-head screws around here anymore.
Everyone has gone to the star shaped one. Which I think is good, as I still managed to strip out the square ones. The star head hold the bit super well.
https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com ... L1500_.jpg

[bucketfoot-al]

Well thought out. I like it. (So will your wife - once you've moved it all downstairs!! )

[tay666]

Well thought out. I like it. (So will your wife - once you've moved it all downstairs!! )

Yep.
My wife is much more forgiving of my hobby now that she doesn't have to see it.
No supplies in the living room, dining room, and other corners of the house.

[Heavy Metal Spike]

Hmm. Don't see many of those square-head screws around here anymore.
Everyone has gone to the star shaped one. Which I think is good, as I still managed to strip out the square ones. The star head hold the bit super well.
https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com ... L1500_.jpg

• Well thought out. I like it. (So will your wife - once you've moved it all downstairs!! )

  • Yep. My wife is much more forgiving of my hobby now that she doesn't have to see it.
    No supplies in the living room, dining room, and other corners of the house.

Never seen those "star" screwheads before - but then Canada is notorious for being "a bit behind" as regards "new" products . . . it was a bit of a shock to the system when we came over here from the UK I can tell you! (actually - for us AND Canada ) How long has that design been around Trev?

Did OK with the square heads - they grip REALLY well, so much so it was often hard getting the bit out of the screwhead. As a result, I had to scrap 1 bit in the process of the build (that loss of $1.50 kept me up nights).

The wee Wifey has been awesome over the years as regards the collection and all the piles of boxes. We're lucky that the house is a fair size so it didn't REALLY make things awkward or too untidy. We kept things limited to 2 rooms - my office and the kids "toyroom" - both rooms are large enough that the walls just kept moving slowly inwards (with a reset every so often) The kids didn't mind either, and my Son has now built up HIS collection so it's taken over the rest of the "toyroom" AND his bedroom (I'm so proud!)

Still thinking about the best way to go about the move for storage - I want to make sure stuff is as well-organised as possible. That will involve AT THE VERY LEAST moving stuff / re-packing / re-labeling / ideally photographing parts (to post here), and updating my spreadsheet as needed. It's not THAT bad now - I know where (almost) every kit/prepaint is, but want to be able to get to what I need EASILY from now on


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