So you thought you designed the perfect bench

I got one of those $2.50 plastic clipboard reading stands to attach to the shelves in back, at approximately eye level. That way I can keep instructions or reference materials out and visible, rather than having them end up UNDER whatever I'm working on, with paint spills and such.

Rather than an attachment to my bench, I built an ancillary "bench", actually I call it a stand.  I do a lot of ship models, and rigging those frequently requires the model to be at differing heights.  So I built a little stand, with a top about 8 inches by 18 inches.  The top sits on a leg of two pieces of drain plastic pipe that sort of telescope, with holes in the bottom piece so I can stick a large pin in to hold it at a reasonable height. I find when I am building a model that that is a convenient place to stick subassemblies if I am not doing a ship, or if the ship is not at the rigging stage yet.  The stand stays adjacent to the left front corner of my workbench (it sits on floor).

I've been doodling my next workbench and have come up with three things that will help with the clutter, and make work easier:

First, a shallow drawer underneath the middle of the bench, with dividers or just kitchen drawer organizers so that the tools I'm not using can go home and be easily found when I need them again.

Second and third, a back wall with corkboard to pin up reference and a steel strip so the instructions can be hung up with magnets, and two 4-6" high end panels to keep stuff from being pushed off the left and right sides.

And now fourth, a place to park subassemblies. The next bench is always the best bench!

mike

If I ever get out of apartments there's a bunch of stuff.

1.) Dedicated sink so I can stop using my bathroom for washing parts, cleaning airbrushes, and stripping paint

2.) a spray booth so I can stop worrying about the wind/weather/outside dust

3.) More lighting

4.) More Storage

5.) More electrical outlets

6.) More leg room under the bench, my current computer desk sits too shallow/low for my 6'1 frame.

Best addition I ever did to my bench was a magnetic rail for my tools. It really lessens the clutter on your desk and you still have all your tools right where you can grab them.

However....we moved and now I do not have any dedicated workspace or bench. Which kinda sucks but we are planning to build an exstention this year.

12-inch tall barbed wire fence to discourage the cats from jumping on the bench....

I'm pretty happy with what I built. I often think that I should have built it a little bigger....but as it is, everything is within arms reach. Any bigger, and I'd have to get up to reach things that would definitely be too far away. Having worked at this bench for the past three years, I still wouldn't change anything. I have just enough room on either side of my main work surface, that I can keep two kits going, and seperated!

The only addition, since I built the bench, was a paint rack, for the larger Model Master paimts. I hung this on the wall, at arms reach.

All in all, I've got a pretty good situation!

   Although Fermis has me beat as far as overall setup, I'm happy with mine the way it is. Rather than custom build something, I used a 6ft folding table supported by a 2-drawer file cabinet on each end. The toolbox on the right contains all my paint and tools. The tall black file cabinet in the corner holds reference material, scratchbuild materials, mixing containers, modeling chemicals, and diorama supplies. The beauty of it is that it's modular and can be moved pretty easily if I decide I want to change the setup.

good idea!!!