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New model room

I bought a very bright task light that I move wherever it is needed (glass setup area, drill press, oscillating sander, lathe, mini-saw, etc).

It simply clamps on the shelf that runs the length of the workshop. I have a few small hooks to hang the cord so it stays out of the way.
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I bought a very bright task light that I move wherever it is needed (glass setup area, drill press, oscillating sander, lathe, mini-saw, etc).

It simply clamps on the shelf that runs the length of the workshop. I have a few small hooks to hang the cord so it stays out of the way.
View attachment 497712View attachment 497713
Lotsa ideas here yo use. The movable task light is tops. I as I go have to build all my benches. I think I'll have ar area for nachines like my saw and so forth.
 
Jeff, During my working career I flew in and out of Duluth well over100 times. It’s an old NORAD Air Force base. The MN Air Guard still flies F-16’s from there. It has nice long runways and can handle all sorts of aircraft including Air Force 1. Unfortunately weather can be terrible; not just ice and snow, but also fog. Sadly reliability of Duluth’s regional service seems to have declined to the point where many of us find it easier to just drive to Delta’s regional Hub at MSP.

Roger
 
We’re about to buy some property here in Tokyo and build a house. I’m hoping to be able to put a second floor above the garage and fit it out as a modest workshop. Won’t be as spacious as the basement shop I had to give up in RI, but will be an improvement over what I have now.
 
We’re about to buy some property here in Tokyo and build a house. I’m hoping to be able to put a second floor above the garage and fit it out as a modest workshop. Won’t be as spacious as the basement shop I had to give up in RI, but will be an improvement over what I have now.
I plan to start a model(I have many kits) before installing ofr building work benches. This will give a guy like me some idea of what I works best.
 
That’s a good idea. Everyone has different work habits. It also depends on the models that you like to build.

Roger
 
Corian Benchtop? My work habits are such that my bench tops take a beating and I often need to fasten things to it. For example, a hot soldering iron needs something to restrain it or it becomes dangerous. I have a cheap Menards soldering iron holder that I screw down to the bench top. My bench top also gets splattered with paint, layout dye, etc. It’s easy to lightly sand it and repaint.

Roger
My benchtop is actually butcherblock. What I have is a slab of corion that was derived from the cutout area of a corion kitchen top. I went to a fabrication shop and they had no use for the cutout which is about 36 inches long. They kindly fashioned 4 feet for the corners from scrap. It sits up on my benchtop and saves it from being beaten up.
 
As said above, LOTS of lights from various angles. The "new" paddle lights with four or five adjustable paddles are super. Three or four of these multi-paddle lights eliminate most shadow areas.

Another thing I have always wanted to do is stop losing small parts that drop on the floor. I do not recall where I heard this idea but it is a good one. Lay down a checkerboard of black and white tiles in the work area. If something falls on the floor it is easy to move the bits and pieces around with your hand from tile to tile so the dark parts show up on the white tiles and the light ones show up on the black tiles. Simple but effective and will look like the floor in the great cabin aboard ship.
Allan
 
ive built quite a few shop work benches. my bench has 4x4 legs and skirted with 2x6 lumber frame topped with 4'x8' 3/4" ply. i threw a coat of varnish on it to seal the wood. well 45 years later, its still solid as a rock. ive overhauled engines, built furniture and several model ships. my kids used it for their projects and even played under it as their club house.

my smaller work benches are made of old solid core doors i got from dumpster diving. id build lumber frames for the undercarriage. some are on wheels so i can pull it out for walk around projects. some have drawers built in for tools. the doors are virtually indestructible. a nice 1-3/8 door mounts a wood working vice very nicely at the end as well. the door bench at my daughters house has a small craftsman drill press and a band saw bolted to the bench. the other has a radial saw. my router table is mdo for a smoother truer flat top. my work shop also has darkroom equipment... photography is another black hole hobby of mine.

how much space do you have and what tools and other uses do you expect to have in your shop?

btw for light, im using flat led ceiling lights i got at home depot. you can put smaller panels over perimeter work benches. the nice thing about leds, you can change the color temp from warm white to bright white light depending on what you are doing. a smaller spot lamp on the table can be moved around like an operations light focused on the work.
 
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ive built quite a few shop work benches. my bench has 4x4 legs and skirted with 2x6 lumber frame topped with 4'x8' 3/4" ply. i threw a coat of varnish on it to seal the wood. well 45 years later, its still solid as a rock. ive overhauled engines, built furniture and several model ships. my kids used it for their projects and even played under it as their club house.

my smaller work benches are made of old solid core doors i got from dumpster diving. id build lumber frames for the undercarriage. some are on wheels so i can pull it out for walk around projects. some have drawers built in for tools. the doors are virtually indestructible. a nice 1-3/8 door mounts a wood working vice very nicely at the end as well. the door bench at my daughters house has a small craftsman drill press and a band saw bolted to the bench. the other has a radial saw. my router table is mdo for a smoother truer flat top. my work shop also has darkroom equipment... photography is another black hole hobby of mine.

how much space do you have and what tools and other uses do you expect to have in your shop?

btw for light, im using flat led ceiling lights i got at home depot. you can put smaller panels over perimeter work benches. the nice thing about leds, you can change the color temp from warm white to bright white light depending on what you are doing. a smaller spot lamp on the table can be moved around like an operations light focused on the work.
By my reconingI have 94" along one wall, 131" on the window wall and 113" on the third wall. Coming in from the hall there is no room there. That wall is where the. closet is. I'm thinking if I 'dummy up' a kit(Model Expo's New Bedford whaleboat) to shake some stuff out. I put aside money for this. I haven't told my cat,, CATMAN what I Plan.
 
Here’s an idea I didn’t see mentioned. I got an Uplift Desk frame and used commercially available butcher block top for the top which made the table top 30” x 72”. The versatility of being able to raise and lower the work surface to fit what I’m working on is priceless. Lower the table to my knees to work on rigging or inside POF hulls and raise it up to work on outside the hull or finicky bits without having to hunch over the parts.
 
Here’s an idea I didn’t see mentioned. I got an Uplift Desk frame and used commercially available butcher block top for the top which made the table top 30” x 72”. The versatility of being able to raise and lower the work surface to fit what I’m working on is priceless. Lower the table to my knees to work on rigging or inside POF hulls and raise it up to work on outside the hull or finicky bits without having to hunch over the parts.
I'll check this out.
 
Plenty of LED lighting, 4 ft hanging from the ceiling plus moveable bench top. May I suggest the hanging ones have a pull chain to turn off independently if you choose. Lots of electrical boxes for added equipment later. I have a small hobby room 10 x 9 with a door ( to keep the cats out )in my workshop for all the finer work. All my larger equipment is on wheels, move them into the corner till needed. 2 benches at different heights. 1 for standing at, one for sitting.
Most of all.... a stereo and coffee maker.

I Envy your project of setting up new.
 
Perfect timing on this thread. We are building as well, in addition to the main house I am building an RV Barn with a workshop and 950 square foot apartment that I’ll rent out. The workshop area is 16’ x 25’, the area on the left of the plans will be walled in and the overhead door on the plan replaced with a single metal walkthrough door. So far my plans for the workshop include upper and lower cabinets on two walls with wood butcher block tops, leaving one wall for several Husky height adjustable workbenches that I already have, the workbenches have my scroll saw, jigsaw, planer, sander and drill press mounted on them. But I was stumped about what to do for the workbench in the center where I would build the models. Has anyone built a shop with dust collection along the wall with the woodworking tools. It will be heated and cooled of course, with a 10’ ceiling with plenty of LED lighting.

Image 4.jpeg
 
Plenty of LED lighting, 4 ft hanging from the ceiling plus moveable bench top. May I suggest the hanging ones have a pull chain to turn off independently if you choose. Lots of electrical boxes for added equipment later. I have a small hobby room 10 x 9 with a door ( to keep the cats out )in my workshop for all the finer work. All my larger equipment is on wheels, move them into the corner till needed. 2 benches at different heights. 1 for standing at, one for sitting.
Most of all.... a stereo and coffee maker.

I Envy your project of setting up new.
The window faces east. Plenty light-for a while. I'll shop the stores for L.E.D. The walls are the Sherwin Williams alabaaster color which is white. Hard floors wood grain. I have a bose IV wave on the way and YES coffee.
 
As said above, LOTS of lights from various angles. The "new" paddle lights with four or five adjustable paddles are super. Three or four of these multi-paddle lights eliminate most shadow areas.

Another thing I have always wanted to do is stop losing small parts that drop on the floor. I do not recall where I heard this idea but it is a good one. Lay down a checkerboard of black and white tiles in the work area. If something falls on the floor it is easy to move the bits and pieces around with your hand from tile to tile so the dark parts show up on the white tiles and the light ones show up on the black tiles. Simple but effective and will look like the floor in the great cabin aboard ship.
Allan
That is a great idea, since I am doing a new purpose build that is an easy add, maybe 6-8 (3-4 per side) pointing in toward the center model building table…and then go with surface mount LED panels for the rest of the shop.
 
Where did you get your lighting, which store. This town has only 8,500 people. We're half an hour from Charlotte.
 
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