Hobby Room/Workbench questions

[tubbs]

all real good ideas. I will take a few away from here. the pegboard thing, I used to store my tires on there. you can usually get the pegs from a flea market or junk store. one thing I noticed is my tires like to collect a lot of dust. I am redoing my room now and when the peg board goes back up, I am covering whatever it is that ends up on there with a sheet, or even a flag with something on it. i was sure getting tired of wiping those tires off.

good luck with your room.

[Tom Geiger]

OK guys, for what it's worth, here's my theory on parts storage that has served me well for over thirty years. Before that I was a "boxes full of random stuff" kinda guy.

Ha Alan! You saw my mess when you were here! Good to see you on the board!

[alan barton]

Tom, I think you were a "random boxes full of organised stuff" kinda guy! Having seen bith yiours and mine, I think we operate at a similar level. I'm not bragging when I say that I have ended up with so much stuff that it takes a concerted effort to keep it halfway tidy!

Cheers

Alan

[Danny Lectro]

I've got a really large workbench that I bought at Costco for a good price (which of course still has a really small area left for actual work).

Underneath that I have three of these little metal storage units:

http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/40107872/

which hold paints, parts, decals, greeblies, geegaws, and some tools.

On top, I have a glass cutting board, but I never really use it anymore, mostly because it got cluttered with paint bottles. I bought the glass after reading that its inherent flatness makes it perfect for building things that have to be level, like race car suspensions.

I do my cutting on a self-healing mat.

My light comes from what was already built into my basement ceiling, plus a hanging fluorescent shop-light I picked up at Costco. I have a second shop-light hanging over my painting area.

Edited April 4, 2014 by Danny Lectro

[Aaronw]

I've dealt with the carpet monster and the bouncy tile corner creeper. I can't say one has a clear advantage over the other, although a nice low nap carpet definitely beats shag and has less bounce than tile.

Carpet tends to hide bits, but they will be close to the LZ, tile is nice and flat making hiding seem unlikely but parts can get some serious travel from the bounce and still have a way of finding corners, table legs, under the refrigerator (I had tile in a kitchen based work table) to seek cover.

[Tom Geiger]

I've dealt with the carpet monster and the bouncy tile corner creeper. I can't say one has a clear advantage over the other, although a nice low nap carpet definitely beats shag and has less bounce than tile.

Carpet tends to hide bits, but they will be close to the LZ, tile is nice and flat making hiding seem unlikely but parts can get some serious travel from the bounce and still have a way of finding corners, table legs, under the refrigerator (I had tile in a kitchen based work table) to seek cover.

My model room is a spare bedroom and has a hardwood floor. It's good because when I drop something I can take a card and sweep across the floor and sweep up everything that's there, and often the missing part. The downside of hardwood is that when stuff bounces, it really bounces far!

[afx]

I bought a couple of magnetic knife racks at Ikea. I use them to hold files, tweezers & pliers.

Edited April 5, 2014 by afx

[DrGlueblob]

Carpet Monster Killer -Put a layer of panty hose over the shop-vac intake.. Part stays at the mesh

[Danno]

Ideas from a little bit of everywhere.

[spawndude]

An inexpensive source for a glass top are the glass inserts found in some coffee/end tables.

I bought a set at a garage sale for $15. I kept the glass and put the rickety old tables in the dumpster.

This glass is usually tempered and has finished edges.

I also bought a package of those felt pads that are sticky on one side and are designed to keep things from scratching the floor or table tops.

These raise the glass off the table top a wee bit and you can then slide instructions, photos, diagrams, under the glass.

The glass also comes in handy as a quick paint palette.

Whenever the need arises a quick spray with the water hose combined with a razor blade and you are good as new again.

[tubbs]

I've got a really large workbench that I bought at Costco for a good price (which of course still has a really small area left for actual work).

Underneath that I have three of these little metal storage units:

http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/40107872/

which hold paints, parts, decals, greeblies, geegaws, and some tools.

here is an interesting situation, some you, like Danny here, store all your stuff in drawers, safely and neatly tucked away. I have a couple of lazy Susan's on top of my desk, along with everything else that I use for modeling.

if I kept everything in the desk drawers (I have 2 steel desks with plenty of drawer storage), I would have more room on top of the desk for building. I would have to remember what drawer everything is in. I am pretty good at putting things back after I use them, and I do like things right there. do most of you guys, those who have the space, store all your modeling stuff on your bench at easy reach, or keep things put away for more building space...... or more clutter?

[hedotwo]

The older I get the more I need better lighting and vision help. For the past few years I've been using two Ott lights directly over my workspace a third standard flourescent lamp as background light. I use a cheap pair of magnified reading glasses (from Wally Mart) for overall building and my Tamiya Magnifying Visor for close up work.

http://www.tamiyausa.com/items/tools-accessories-80/tools-74000/magnifying-visor-74092

Rich