Mianne benchwork???

Thank you, Cape Cod Nothern!  See you at York!

Cape Cod Northern posted:

My wife and I help Tim and Lynn out in the booth both at York and Springfield. They got here Sunday and us Monday night. We will be setting up the booth tomorrow and Thursday morning. I spoke with him and alerted him to this thread and he thanks all for the nice comments that have been posted. The focus this week is on the show and a short time after until they get back to Massachusetts, unpack and get things settled. After next week, don't hesitate to call him at the shop. He is the only one who answers the phone.

Thanks!!!  I need to make sure I let him know the plan I emailed has already been changed   Nothing as far as trackage, basically the 45 degree corners.

I'll give him a call Monday or Tuesday.

I'm also getting my kitchen remodeled (find out tomorrow if the price is near what I think it'll be), both these projects ought to take care of everyone's Christmas presents for the next few years.

I'll be glad to get rid of my dropdown/duckunder section of track on the current layout, and more than doubling the mainline.  Hopefully next year I'll have the GGD Silver Meteor polishing the rails of a new layout!

I'll have to wait for early spring for my update.  I'm thinking that I'll get the layout all planned and my list of stuff I need before the spring York and order it at York.  Take advantage of the free shipping.

Smart move John.

I've been playing with this track plan for a year now.  This will be in 2-rail code 148.  I'm getting/got sections of Micro Engineering track and have built six #5 (I think, I'll have to go back and look!) turnouts (3LH, 3RH):

The 2-rail gurus have been a big help with the turnouts, but there's nothing like getting your feet wet to find out if you can do it.  Jay Criswell will be hearing from me soon (again) for more parts.

I've tested them and all my 3-rail equipment seems to run on them without any problems.  All my engines will be BPRC on this layout, I'm surprised the big flanges on the Williams brass USRA 4-6-2 don't bottom out but they ran great.

Spoke with Mr. Foley last week and sent him another plan.  I need to call to make sure he got it. 

I spent quite a while at York talking with Tim both Thursday and Friday and I would have trouble thinking or a more accommodating person to deal with. As busy as he was when it was my turn I got his undivided attention for as long as it took to answer my many questions. 

I'm the type that likes to touch and feel before I buy and having done so I am totally impressed with the quality of this benchwork. I am also totally impressed by the attitude of the people I met at the booth at York. Tims answer to my many questions after going over my layout drawings was he could custom make whatever I need. Im having a hard time justifying going in any other direction.

One could certainly purchase one of the many "kits" that Tim has listed in his catalogue and then design a layout to fit the space. Rather than you conforming your layout to his benchwork, Tim would rather design his benchwork to conform to your layout. That would include available space, obstructions or space limitations, areas that need access. If you have a trackplan and send it to him, he can then design his benchwork to fit it rather than the other way around. If there are special features you want to put on the layout, rivers or water scenes, turntables, he can make sure they can be where you want them. This is a service that Tim provides at NO CHARGE. The more homework you do and the more information you provide to him, the more he can design his product to fit the layout you want to build.

I'm going to let Tim design the benchwork to fit my space, that will logically give the best outcome.  My plan is to draw up a rough outline of what I think will fit and see what he can do with it.  I also plan on listening to his suggestions for any improvements.

John, you won't regret using Mianne.  I've expressed my complete satisfaction with my Mianne benchwork in another thread.

Just checking it on at York convinces me that it'll be a good investment.  I can build it myself, but I'd like to hit the ground running and get on with doing the actual layout.

I knew that you had a good degree of common sense and logic! Enjoyed talking with you at York.

Same here, and I can't wait to get moved.  I'm knee deep in boxes, parts, trains, and the process is just beginning!   It'll be a long road, but I like the destination.

gunrunnerjohn posted:

Just checking it on at York convinces me that it'll be a good investment.  I can build it myself, but I'd like to hit the ground running and get on with doing the actual layout.

John....I think you will be very pleased. Great product, and even better customer service.

Pics from 2011:

More recent pics:

I spent about $1000.....I figured it more than covered the ER copays that I would have had to pay to cover sewing my fingers back on...........I am terrible with woodworking and carpentry.......

Peter

The lower deck looks cool, nice use of the space.  That's worth considering, even if I just set it up as storage.  I saw a layout that looks similar to what I'd like to do, and I'm thinking I'll put a second elevated level on the back wall.  For the bridge, I'm, thinking of the Mianne lift bridge.

gunrunnerjohn posted:

I'm going to let Tim design the benchwork to fit my space, that will logically give the best outcome.  My plan is to draw up a rough outline of what I think will fit and see what he can do with it.  I also plan on listening to his suggestions for any improvements.

This is what I did; however, the benchwork has grown toward the middle of the room since the original design, and is going to grow a bit more in the very near future. Tim was great at helping me to maximize my space. 

John

I figure Tim has done a LOT more of these, and also knows his product.  I'm sure they're using some CAD solution to whack out these designs, so it'll be a whole lot easier for him to optimize it once I identify the exact dimensions I want to build.  Less than three weeks to settlement, then I get to start moving and planning.

John

That's what I did. I gave Tim the layout of the room and he designed what would optimize the space. 

Mike 

As I have said before, I am sold on the Mianne benchwork. Tim added extra holes in the legs for more storage shelves. I got the idea from Peter and then Tim helped me figure out where to put everything. You can see some of the extra holes in the top pic, leg on the right. Worked out great. 

I initially ordered a 6'x16' kit. It arrived Fed-Ex in the 3 boxes shown below.

This is what it looked like un-boxed and sorted while I was reading the directions, which were very detailed and color coded.

Here it is partially assembled.

The table completed and ready for the top.

A trip to Home Depot the next morning for the top made of 1/2" sandply. HD cut it to size for me so I could handle it myself. And below is the completed kit with top installed. This took me about 7-8 hours total, including the trip to HD for the plywood. Very easy and very fast!! No saw, no sawdust and no mess!! Just a screw driver and rubber mallet as I recall. Rubber mallet not actually required, I already had a couple.

You can also see here what has been mentioned about the center to center measurement. Plywood, when installed, is 6' wide and 16' long and as you see there is about half of the cross braces and legs left exposed so the benchwork is actually slightly larger than the stated 6'x16' size of the kit. I believe they explain this on their website as well.

A couple of weeks later I ordered the cross pieces for the extra shelves and also a transformer cart (not shown). Shelves were an easy add with the holes they put in the legs for me on the initial order. All parts and hardware is included, including all the screws and brackets to fasten down the top from below. Nothing else needed but the plywood for the top.

This was their standard kit at their standard leg height of 40". This can also be modified at time of order. Just about anything can be somewhat customized if you go over it all with Tim before ordering. Needless to say, I am a big fan of Mianne!!

I spoke with Tim again last week, he got my email with my plan so hopefully I'll be hearing from him this coming week.

Between this and getting my kitchen remodeled the house looks like a tornado hit it

I'm getting excited just looking at the stuff you guys are doing!

gunrunnerjohn posted:

I'm getting excited just looking at the stuff you guys are doing!

Ain’t that the truth!!!

Everything looks so “Professional” makes my feeble attempts at bench work look like a 2 year old did it.

Never heard of “sandply” I’ll have to go to HD and check it out.

Bob, sandply is one side sanded and smooth.  I guess you can get it both sides finished and smooth as well, but what I've seen had been one-sided.

Sandply is about the same price as birch, but when I got mine the sandply had more plys and looked much better than the birch and other furniture types they had. It is really pretty smooth on both sides although pretty sure one is supposed to be better than the other. 3 years ago the 1/2" was about $35 for a 4'x8' sheet. Tim also recommended 1/2" sandply when I asked about the top. 1/2", IMO, is plenty strong and also lighter and easier on old backs and knees, especially if you have them cut it up into smaller, more manageable pieces. They did that for free when I got mine.

I am still excited about mine (in case you hadn't noticed) and glad to see you guys getting excited about it too!  It also looks good too, IMO. My wife even asked me about getting a table made from Mianne. One forum member, Strangtrain (I think it was) stained his and it really does look like nice furniture. He added shelves to the sides and some other stuff and it really looks good. I believe he has it in his living room or family room, very nice! He may have posted pictures earlier in this thread, I have seen them somewhere around here fairly recently.

Thanks guys!  Anything lighter is fine with me, I need to get it cut so I can carry it upstairs and get it around a corner.  I made the railing so it comes apart and know a 36" wide piece 8' long can go up, maybe a 48" wide can but I don't need any.

My dad was a carpenter and I saw him carry 2 sheets of 3/4" plywood around like it was nothing, 5'-6" of pure muscle.  I'm not sure if I could have done that at 25, but at 66 I'm not even going to try

IMO, Mianne Benchwork is very nice, well made and constructed with precision, but I preferred to have most of my layout bench work constructed by a carpenter from one inch clear 1 x 4 pine.  My basement has a humid environment and all wood construction seemed the best way to go. I would not feel comfortable with table work with masonite (that is not solid wood) in my hostile basement environment.

Dennis LaGrua posted:

IMO, Mianne Benchwork is very nice, well made and constructed with precision, but I preferred to have most of my layout bench work constructed by a carpenter from one inch clear 1 x 4 pine.  My basement has a humid environment and all wood construction seemed the best way to go. I would not feel comfortable with table work with masonite (that is not solid wood) in my hostile basement environment.

A dehumidifier should be used for a variety of reasons if you really have a humid environment, excess humidity can adversely affect all sorts of stuff on the trains, especially modern stuff.

It seems that Mianne has addressed this concern in their FAQ, and they also use hardwood instead of pine.    I find it hard to believe that clear pine is going to be more dimensionally stable than what that Mianne's design has done.

Q. Why not just use solid wood for frame members instead of I-beams?
A. There are a few of reasons for utilizing a built up I-beam instead of solid wood.
1) Stability - every piece of wood is different and therefore reacts to seasonal changes differently. Our I-beams have a MDF core, with a hardwood frame. This creates consistent seasonal movement in all pieces. More stability equals more reliable trackwork and running of trains.
2) Consistency - the I-beams are produced on dedicated machines and are therefore consistent in tolerance. This makes for easy and reliable assembly.
3) Weight - we have achieved great strength with low weight. This makes for easy construction and helps keep shipping costs down.

Dennis LaGrua posted:

IMO, Mianne Benchwork is very nice, well made and constructed with precision, but I preferred to have most of my layout bench work constructed by a carpenter from one inch clear 1 x 4 pine.  My basement has a humid environment and all wood construction seemed the best way to go. I would not feel comfortable with table work with masonite (that is not solid wood) in my hostile basement environment.

Dennis,

You have made this same statement ever since you joined (since around 2003) the OGR forum and when the Mianne Benchwork subject comes up. You may choose to believe that a 1" piece of clear soft pine is less apt to warp than an engineered piece of straight grained poplar that is glued and stapled into an "I" beam configuration (with an MDF core) if you like. If the humidity in your basement is as "hostile" as it is, the least of one's worries would be a model train layout located within it. ( I think I have been saying this in response to your post since 2003).

I am now working on my second layout built on Mianne benchwork. The first layout (12-by-8) was begun in 1999 and took about five years to complete. It is still up and running. The second is 10-by-5 and 90% complete. I would never consider doing a layout on anything except Mianne benchwork. Tim Foley is a very capable and helpful fellow.

MELGAR

GRJ, your ship horse has come in!! Gunrunner Wins Breeders Cup Classic 

Sounds like a BIG increase may be in order for next year's train budget!! 

Now back to the regularly scheduled thread...

You can't imagine how hard I had to run, I'm still out of breath!

I have been very happy with my Mianne benchwork. As has been pointed out, it is a well designed and manufactured product. It allowed me to jumpstart building my first ever layout, and since I am not a good carpenter, the end result was infinitely better than anything I could have done myself. Likewise, when I wanted to add a freight yard a year after I started, Tim was able to easily tie the addition into my existing layout.

One point I would like to strongly underscore was Gunrunner's comment about leaning on Tim for help with the design. I would definitely recommend getting as much help as possible from Tim. My problem was an unfortunately placed lally column which supports the central support beam of the house, so moving it wasn't an option!!!  I gave Tim the best room measurements I could and he sent me back a design diagram showing a way to get what I wanted with less than an inch to spare around the column. Keep in mind that all Mianne measurements are from the center of the I-beams, so my 30" system (which is the width of the plywood top) is actually 31.75" wide.

This leads to an issue which was mentioned above - what to do with the edge. In my case, bringing the plywood out to the edge would have created a good bit of waste in cutting the plywood/homosote. I chose to attach a band of 1"x2" pine around the top which covers most of the tops of the legs, all of the edge of the plywood and homosote, and gives a lip that keeps and scenicing material on the board!!!

I believe the Mianne to be well constructed and generally a nice system.  For me it is really a case of how much you want to customize your self.  I think you either like to build bench work, and have the tools, or you don.t, and it is a necessary evil.  

If you don't like building bench work, then this system is for you, if you like to build then a trip to the lumber story and your pick of building materials.  For me,  like to build bench work, so while this is very nice, it was not for me.

Love this topic. Saw them at York and even my coworker Bob said he would order from them once he gets set.

Rich883 posted:

I believe the Mianne to be well constructed and generally a nice system.  For me it is really a case of how much you want to customize your self.  I think you either like to build bench work, and have the tools, or you don.t, and it is a necessary evil.  

If you don't like building bench work, then this system is for you, if you like to build then a trip to the lumber story and your pick of building materials.  For me,  like to build bench work, so while this is very nice, it was not for me.

I agree. I like building benchwork also

But, sometime buying ready made benchwork is almost a necessity. I built my first O layout when I was still in the Army, living in an apartment with my wife and tiny kids. I wanted a layout for them, so I bought benchwork from Sievers. (Amazing, light stuff btw .... still as solid and warp-free as the day UPS delivered it)

Jim

Being a carpenter and being "thrifty" I prefer to build my own benchwork.  That said, I have studied Mianne's site and I can say that it is a well thought out system.  

What's the width of the top of the I-beam?  Has anyone applied rubber or carpeting to the tops of the I-beams (would be under the plywood top) to help deaden sound?

I was thinking of maybe some weather stripping or carpet, kinda like this:

A bit over $2 for a 10' roll.

I was going to do my own bench work. I always thought about  how to design it with versatility so it could be reworked if I decided to change it up.  Also wanted to keep the design light weight.  The Mianne bench work looks great and very adaptable. I'm sold and would like to use it so I can get to running trains faster.  Is it fairly stable when completed?

PRR Mark posted:

I was going to do my own bench work. I always thought about  how to design it with versatility so it could be reworked if I decided to change it up.  Also wanted to keep the design light weight.  The Mianne bench work looks great and very adaptable. I'm sold and would like to use it so I can get to running trains faster.  Is it fairly stable when completed?

It's very stable--especially after you attach plywood to the top.

BlueComet400 posted:

PRR Mark posted:

Is it fairly stable when completed?

It's very stable--especially after you attach plywood to the top.

I'll say.  I went over to the Mianne booth at York and did some "pushing and shoving" to see how stable their display was.  That sucker didn't move at all!  I don't think stability will be an issue.

I agree; I visited the Mianne booth at York also.  Solid as a rock; unlike the bench work yours truly has built in the past!  LOL