Ugly (Or Not) Workbench Photo Thread

JimJ Aug 3, 2015

  1. WPZephyrFan

    WPZephyrFan TrainBoard Member

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    I used to have an old metal desk that I used for a work bench. I loved that thing, but it was very heavy and hard to move. I wish I had kept it, it was perfect for what I needed!
     
  2. SP-Wolf

    SP-Wolf TrainBoard Supporter

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    Here's mine:

    [​IMG]

    Thanks,
    Wolf
     
  3. logging loco

    logging loco TrainBoard Supporter

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    20170325_110107.jpg 20170325_110237.jpg 20170325_110107.jpg This was my last "workbench".
    I didn't work out so well.
    It was in the dinning room. It didn't hold enough so I was always getting up to get things stored elsewhere.
    I also had to put EVERYTHING away all the time since it was in the dinning room.
    It was great in the winter as it had a radiator on either side.
     
  4. HemiAdda2d

    HemiAdda2d Staff Member TrainBoard Supporter

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    Having moved recently, and busy with school/work, etc, I haven't had time to set mine back up.
    This was 12 years ago, during a Kaslo/SAR F-45 build....

    [​IMG]
     
  5. BoxcabE50

    BoxcabE50 HOn30 & N Scales Staff Member TrainBoard Supporter

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    Having just passed through a divorce, mine is partially here, and the main portion in a storage unit. Hoping to get it all reassembled soon- Depends upon the weather for retrieving and hauling.....
     
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  6. Hardcoaler

    Hardcoaler TrainBoard Member

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    Very sorry to read of your divorce. :( I hope that things start to look up in 2018.
     
  7. trainman-ho

    trainman-ho TrainBoard Member

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    Sorry to hear of divorce.....Been there done that......twice..... stay positive!!! Best to you in the coming years.

    Jim
     
  8. logging loco

    logging loco TrainBoard Supporter

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    Ditto on the divorce. I went through it too. Tuff time in my life, but it was worth it or I would have never met my current wife of 14 years.
     
    WPZephyrFan likes this.
  9. logging loco

    logging loco TrainBoard Supporter

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    Model trains are like therapy!
     
  10. sp4009

    sp4009 TrainBoard Member

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    I usually clean it and start the pileup over again about once a year...

    [​IMG]
     
  11. JimJ

    JimJ Staff Member

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    I’ve got reading glasses on my bench as well. :)
     
  12. sp4009

    sp4009 TrainBoard Member

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    I have noticed my eyes don't seem to work as well as they did a year ago.. Those glasses sure help with the decal sheets and drilling #80 holes.
     
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  13. logging loco

    logging loco TrainBoard Supporter

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    I have three pair, each of a different magnification. Sometimes I'll wear multiples at the same time to get the magnification I want.
    Any more I use this method instead of the Optivisor. With the glasses I don't have to flip up a visor or strain my neck way back to find a tool in my bench organizer.
     
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  14. Hardcoaler

    Hardcoaler TrainBoard Member

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    I use my Optivisor a lot; it was my Father's. I also have magnifying glasses all over the house.
     
    JimJ likes this.
  15. LA Metro

    LA Metro TrainBoard Member

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    Wow! I always cheat . . . I clean up my workbench before I take any photos!
     
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  16. Hardcoaler

    Hardcoaler TrainBoard Member

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    I have a small portable drafting table with T-Square, ruler, compass, mechanical pencils and triangles that I keep handy near my old desk/worktable. Somehow or other I took a class in Mechanical Drawing 45+ years ago in High School. At the time I had no idea how useful this skill would be in my life laying out plans for woodworking, train layouts and scratchbuilt structures. I suspect that younger people are skilled with CAD and have no need for a table and T-Square, but I'm happy to stick with what I know. I wonder if High Schools even teach such skills these days?
     
    JimJ likes this.
  17. LA Metro

    LA Metro TrainBoard Member

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    The ugly truth . . .

    I'm lucky enough to have three workbenches! One, outside for making my plaster mountains and stuff (below, I've just painted some pre-made, latex-foam mountains). A second one, a glass drafting table, that I have in the living room. And the third, in the garage, which is really just a place to pile a mountain of Kato and Atlas boxes! In the spirit of the thread, and the greater good, I am NOT going to clean up the latter two and will post them AS-IS!

    My new upgraded outdoor Ikea countertop workbench (it's kind of neat because I just built it):
    [​IMG]

    Living room workbench "before" shot:
    [​IMG]

    Living room workbench "after" shot I took just now:
    [​IMG]

    Garage workbench "before" shot (waaaay "before"):

    [​IMG]

    Garage workbench "after" shot that I just took a minute ago:
    [​IMG]

    Pretty ridiculous, isn't it? Feel free to laugh at my mess as much as you like!
     
    Last edited: Jan 25, 2018
  18. sp4009

    sp4009 TrainBoard Member

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    That's the spirit! I feel the messier the bench, the more gets done for some reason, maybe it's because the projects are visible(somewhat...).
     
    LA Metro likes this.
  19. Kenneth L. Anthony

    Kenneth L. Anthony TrainBoard Member

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    My main workbench is a repurposed desk I found over 10 years ago thrown away on a curb. Drawers etc were all gone. I used it as a counter up against a wall to pile things on and under. When I started my new downsized N layout in 2017, I discard large amounts of stores stuff and had no available place for the table against a wall. However, the table fit easily under my 30" x 83" train table (39" tabletop height). My old "junk-piling" table fit even when I put casters on it. Now I roll that table out from under layout as my indoor workbench. It has only 2 or so inches of clearance so I can't leave much on it when I roll it back under.
    DSCF0134.JPG
     
  20. Hardcoaler

    Hardcoaler TrainBoard Member

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    Hi Kenneth,

    Great shots -- thank you! I don't want to derail this thread (har har), but what is the width and length of one of your Kato turnout controls? They caught my eye and I want to see if I might have room for them on my new layout. Have they been reliable? Thanks again.
     

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