Work bench design

Rubin,

I think you should design your layout first.  How much of the 28'x18' will be layout?  Where will the layout be positioned in the room?  There are many questions to ask and answer.

Your storage should probably be mostly under the layout.

I certain recommendation:  Either use a drawing tool (Visio or similar) or get a large piece of graph paper and play with various size components (layout, paint booth, workbench). 

Oh, and put your e-mail in your profile so people can send you stuff (drawings, etc.).

George

No one ever complains they have too big work table.
mine is 8’x3’ average table height

And I always keep it where the trains are, so I can listen to the idle sounds as I work on a train.  

18’x28’ is a nice start…504 sq ft

I started with 400, then added a dual mainline along the soffit, that also runs through the storage/laundry room…

amd now, I’m stealing space along a wall I wasn’t planning to use…,for stub yards.

But, it’s my Local Train Store Resellers fault-he keeps buying collections-and then selling me trains😀

https://youtu.be/5jvSbPNvG70

with the latest addition

one more to go, we’ll😀 maybe two

https://youtu.be/VRFyauHiaww

good luck containing yourself

as you can see

i failed

Rubin, congratulations on the possibilities that you have. I agree with George, and take the time to plan and read. If this is a new room then consider  the location of outlets and add more now rather than later. In addition to the wall outlets I had floor outlets installed as well. For my room I used adjustable ceiling lights. Each section has its own switch and they are all on dimmers. HVAC also needs some thought as well as humidity issues. This Forum is an outstanding resource.

Check into SweetHome3D, a very useful room planning package, and it's free.  I used it to initially figure out where everything was going in my new empty basement.  The big empty spot was where the layout went.

The bigger the better for a workbench, you'd be surprised how fast they fill up!  My backroom workbench is 8x2, and I wish for another six-eight inches of width.

Painting and dirty stuff happen back here.

My electronics workbench is 6x3, and it gets full at times.  As they say in the movies, this is where the magic happens.

The most incredible workbench area, measured by cleanliness and organization, can be seen in most any of Jim Barrett's OGR videos. Tools magically pop down from the ceiling! 

Here is one example: http://video.ogaugerr.com/video/200484908

First of all, I want to thank all of you for your helpful insights. This is such a great group.

As a practical matter, I can’t fully design the layout before the room is built. The room size and dimensions are constrained by the fact that it will sit above the first floor master bedroom that we are building ( By the way, one may no longer refer to a “ master bedroom.” It must now be called an “ owners’s suite.!” When I saw the plan, I asked where the loge was,)

In any   event, the real area for train layout, workshop, etc is 18 x 26. I am also stuck with a 7’4 “ ceiling height. So my next question relates to what kind of lights you would recommend andin what format.?

I am planning for a flowing  E shaped layout with 042 minimum curves.

BTW, my email address is now in my profile  

Thanks.

Rub in

for any additional thoughts or ideas you may have.    

For general task lighting for the layout and the workbench, I like 4' long "garage lights" with LED tubes. Mine are in a suspended ceiling and covered with clear panels that help to diffuse the light. The LED's come in a variety of brightness levels - I'd have to check but I believe mine are 3600.

To highlight specific areas of the layout, I have LED spots in different areas - also recessed into the ceiling.

For the workbench, in addition to the general task lighting, I use an adjustable arm LED light with built in magnifier, similar to the one below, but black.

It's also good to have a quality outlet strip with multiple outlets for the workbench.

My shop is adjacent to the train room. To maximize space, I mounted the tool boxes under the bench work. I probably have 10 times the tools the average operator would ever need, but the boxes hanging under the bench are super convenient,….I’m trying to convince my Snap On man he needs to donate some really nice roller bearing drawer boxes to replace the ancient Craftsman,….😉

Pat

Snap On dealers are always happy to donate anything you'd like to buy!

Steve

@Rescued Trains posted:

Snap On dealers are always happy to donate anything you'd like to buy!

Steve

When you’re restoring the Snap On man’s Ford Bronco, he tends to be very loose on product,….😁

Pat

RubinG, congratulations on having such a nice sized space. As part of a renovation I have a dedicated train room too. I would suggest you consider extra outlets around the room and also consider some floor outlets. Also think about a backdrop. At the very least consider painting the walls blue. I was very pleased with using Sherwin-Williams “cloudless “.  As an FYI, my room dimensions came in some what different than what the drawings indicated.

This is my general train maintenance/repair bench next to my layout. Heavy duty work or painting takes place at the garage workbench. Bench is about 2'X4'.

Thank you everyone. Your thoughts, insights and pics are really valuable and helpful. I’m thinking about a layout based on the Clark family layout shown on page 42 of the January 2018 CTT. Any thoughts, suggestions or critiques are welcome.
my new room won’t be ready for at least 6-8 months. In the meantime I’ve got to get busy dismantling my current layout and figuring where I can get climate controlled storage off site, while we rebuild or redecorate a large swath of our house.