What floor would you have under your model build area?

[GLMFAA1]

What type of flooring would be best to put under your hobby work area to prevent the "black hole" of lost parts from occurring?

Wood, Laminate, Tile, Carpet, Linoleum, or Concrete.

What color would be best to find parts on?

I've got the black Harbor Freight cushion pad pieces and the parts just seem to disappear as soon as they sre dropped and the cushions now have compressed dots from the chair.

      Under the pads I have concrete unfortunately right at an expansion groove that swallows parts.  

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

4 eyes greg

 

[BlackSheep214]

My bench is in my cellar. I have tile cuz it was already there when I bought the house back in ‘98.

[Ace-Garageguy]

I don't like a concrete floor in a model shop because it feels too cold, sterile, industrial, unfinished-basementy...not conducive to me for doing exacting work while sitting, and feels too much like "work" work.

My last house had fairly long pile carpet in the bedroom I used for the model shop. It was comfortable and warm, but parts disappeared easily.

I have a hardwood floor in the area I model in now, and it seems ideal. Chair rolls well, wood is warm and inviting, parts don't fall into anything and get lost; though they might bounce or roll away, they're still easily rounded up, and keeping it clean is no bother, etc.

Edited December 23, 2022 by Ace-Garageguy
TYPO

[Smoke Wagon]

Berber carpet.

It’s really the best of both worlds. Parts won’t get lost in the piling and it’s warm, creating a good modeling environment. When parts do fall to the floor they won’t bounce as far, and the cushioning of the carpet will prevent falling parts from becoming marred or shattering on impact. 

[MeatMan]

I can't "recommend" anything, but take a look at those rubber strips they use at the auto parts stores for standing long periods of time.

My dining room build area had a multi-color rug, but no matter where the piece wound up they were hard to find in all but the lightest color (see Berber above).

My current basement workshop has vinyl tile. Its white with black and gold spots and is probably the worst thing you could have. Its over a concrete floor, so parts bounce when they hit it and you wouldn't believe how far they can go. Good luck.

[Mike C.]

I have the hardwood, but I still loose many small parts. 

[Mike 1017]

Mine is part carpet, cement, and a Gel-Pro kitchen mat. I also have a high-powered LED flashlight. The beam is so strong that it even reflets off of bare plastic and other things.

I highly recommend it. I have not lost one part since I got it.

Mike

[tbill]

I have laminate flooring in my room, can usually hear the offending part bounce off of it so I can have a rough idea of direction of travel, haha. I have kits stacked under my build table, and sometimes the parts find their way into that abyss, I’ve been known to find awol parts a year or so later in there….

[Tom Geiger]

I work in a spare bedroom so I have hardwood by default.  When I lose something unique I will rake the floor with a business card. I find all kinds of whittled plastic, hair and other schmutz, and occasionally the part I was looking for.

If the part is not unique I search briefly and grab another one. The lost part will show up eventually on some subsequent search for something else.  I also find photo etch, pins and parts I hadn’t missed as a bonus.

[misterNNL]

I have vinyl flooring under my bench and some of the dropped parts get hung up on the carefully maintained spider web network in that area. If I drop something and I can't see it at a glance I automatically opt for making another one. At my age my knees hurt too bad to get down under the bench to look around.

[Claude Thibodeau]

HI!

I have white 12X12 ceramic tiles under my bench, and of course, as I do much scratchbuilding... the Evergreen microscopic parts fall once in a while.

No panic: I lay a led flashlight on the floor, with the beam pointing in the direction I suspect the part to lay. Even if it is white on white, the low "sunset" light beam gets the part to cast a shadow (!) that allows me to locate it. Hardly loose a part anymore, and it can't get trapped in the carpet fibers. When I mop the floor, I filter the waste water in the bucket trough an old coffee filter: strange things may show up!

But to Tom's point: my knees are not getting any younger. Oh well...

CT

[espo]

Having lost more parts than you would need to build a model in the carpeting at our old house I went with a light-colored simulated wood floor laminated flooring in my new model room. I still use a plastic chair mat under the desk to protect the flooring and it does seem to slow down the parts when rolling on the floor. 

[Joe Nunes]

I have a concrete floor as the model room is in the basement. The floor is painted a light gray color that has a little bit of a blue tint. I vacuum the floor regularly and keep it clean and, as a result, can usually find a runaway part easily. One other thing that I do:  I wear a long shop apron at the bench and, when dealing with small items, will attach the two lower corners of the shop apron to the framework under the bench with metal spring clamps like those used for holding sheet paper together. The apron will catch the part before it hits the floor and saves me from having to get down on my knees. 

Joe

[peteski]

7 hours ago, Joe Nunes said:

One other thing that I do:  I wear a long shop apron at the bench and, when dealing with small items, will attach the two lower corners of the shop apron to the framework under the bench with metal spring clamps like those used for holding sheet paper together. The apron will catch the part before it hits the floor and saves me from having to get down on my knees. 

Yes, a watchmaker's apron is an excellent idea. I had a strip of fuzzy Velcro sewn into the lower edge, and I stuck strip of the hooky part of Velcro under my bench.  It works quite well and it is easy to fasten/unfasten.

[stitchdup]

In my previous model area i had laminate flooring which just made dropped items bounce into another dimension. When i moved into the other room i already had dark carpet down and its none better. I dropped a bright orange part and it also managed to disappear even though there was nothing else in the room for it to hide behind. Now i copy the apron trick mentioned above and the flooring is not an issue anymore. Also when vacuuming put a pair of tights over the hoover nozzle and you can check for missing parts while tidying up instead of crawling about the floors, your knees will thank you

[Engine 51]

Standard tile, as my bench is in the basement. To aid with the lost parts problem I keep a foam knee board and a very bright LED light under the bench so I can search for escaped parts without further destroying my knees.