Workshops

[Oceaneer99]

I've been enjoying all the discussion of workshops in small sheds, on boats, in fire stations, and in huge barns, so I thought I'd start a topic on the subject.

In my present house, I work on models mostly in the basement at a 3x7 foot workbench, though I have my wood stock and a fairly messy woodworking shop in my garage (along with a canoe, a kayak, and lots of spare parts).

I did build a shed at our previous house; it's actually where I built my P-40 solid model about the time I joined SMM.  It was 8x12 feet, had a double French door for getting big things inside, and for opening to the breeze on summer days.  I had two 2 x 2 foot insulated skylights, two sliding glass windows, a 750 W heater, and underground electric service from the house.  When I added curtains (old one from a previous rental that didn't fit our house's windows), my mother-in-law said that she was ready to move in.

I spent some time in Scotland this past summer, and my oldest son and I were fascinated by all of the old coal and garden sheds we ran across.  We managed to get into some behind a cottage where we were staying so that we could have a look around.

Garet

[Mothman]

Britain is a nation of shed builders, Garet.  We love 'em!
A man needs a shed.

Cheers,
Martin

[lastvautour]

The majority of my work takes place in the baement. It is not finished as living space, so I have it all to myself. For bigger projects, the garage is the place. I have had shed in tha past, but today the heated basement is my heaven.

Lou

[cliff strachan]

Thanks Garet for starting a new topic. I was remiss in including my observations in another area. However, as I've posted elsewhere, part of my remarks were in hope that at least some of our members - of the really great number that we have - might be encouraged to submit their thoughts concerning what amounts to older methods and techniques versus the modern equivalents. How was your trip to Scotland?

Cliff.

[Peter]

I have a work bench in the garage for anything messy or went I want some quiet time away from the wife and kids. Other than that its the kitchen table. Some day I might get a shed, some day, sigh.

Peter

[Balsabasher]

If you want to see a large selection of sheds in Britain then look no further that the many allotments scattered throughout the country,they come in all shapes and sizes,some are really beautifully done out and others spartan and functional,each one has a small gas stove to brew up on,has a workbench to fettle pots and other things associated with allotments ! some are points to gather and chat,others to place the spades and forks.
I come from a mining community in the north of the country originally where sheds were made from any scrap timber around,a strange ritual happens when someone passes on,the shed is slowly stripped down and the planks and fabric used on other sheds,nothing is ever wasted but taken quietly away to be born again into another shed.
I know this is nothing to do with solid modelling but the comraderie and friendship is very akin to those of us who do model building.
Barry.

[Oceaneer99]

While I don't bemoan my current large-ish garage, I did find that I had to be very organized to keep my small shed from becoming unusable. I was also creative about expanding.  I pulled my tablesaw outside the double doors when I needed to use it, and even had hooks and a rose arbor to put up a tarp as a roof when I needed to work outside in the rain.  A lot of Seattle weather in the winter is 5 C and raining, so it was often possible to bundle up and do some work under the tarp.  Inside the shed, the skylights and thick insulation warmed things up quite a bit.  I could run out and turn on the heater to its lowest setting and things would be very comfortable in no time.

My garage now is a "1.5 car garage": the door is about 12 feet wide, so only one car could be stored inside, but that isn't possible for all the workbench, saw, canoe and wood racks inside.  The door doesn't seal at all, with a large gap across the top, and I've only insulated one wall so far, so it can get pretty frigid when the freezing weather comes.  The ironic "problem" with the extra space is that unfinished projects can get moved over to make room for a new project, until there is no more room to work.  I've spent a lot of this summer trying to finish off a lot of these projects and do a long-overdue cleanout, which is far from finished but definitely helping.

Barry, my son and I took a lot of time looking at all the boat sheds on Holy Island in Northumberland.  When a wooden boat was no longer useable, they would flip the hull over, saw it in half, and add a wall with a door in it.  The older ones had canvas sails tacked over them which were then tarred for waterproofing.  I was definitely fascinated by the sheer variety of sheds that I saw throughout Britain.  I think there is something about sheds that reminds me of building "forts" out in the forest as a boy -- a little place you could call your own and in which you could read a book in peace or plan your adventures from. 

Cliff, our trip to Scotland and Northern England was wonderful.  I enjoyed the food (seriously! had the best venison I've ever tasted), the people were friendly and helpful (even when my mis-use of our common language confounded a few, such as the banker who said, "You do realize that you've just asked me to give you 100 pence?").  The castles, palaces, ruins, brilliant green hills, and great hiking were all stunning.  The various war memorials, battlefields, and especially the commando memorial in the Highlands were sobering and helped to bring back memories of all those history textbooks and books I've read.  Running into statues of Nelson, Wellington, Watt, and Maxwell, David Douglas (who named the Douglas Fir that is so common in BC and Washington; I was stunned to run across a large Douglas Fir in Scone, Scotland, before learning that was where Douglas had been gardener) brought even more history alive for me.

Garet

[Boomerang]

Greetings all,

  On the subject of workshops I have a room downstairs thats designated as mine
  Work bench is from a recovered door. I use the basic tools .
  I have purchased a scroll saw which resides in a garden shed out the back.
  Currently with work I travel backwards and forwards from Canberra and Sydney so therefore any model that I'm working on is required to fit in a small
  cardboard box for transport along with the necessary tools (has to fit into a back pack to take on the bus).
  Any painting is done when I get home ( subject to prevailing weather).
  I consider working on a model or researching on the net as extremely therauputic and relatively cheap.
  Recently discovered that the basic components of 2 models to 1/32 will fit in a Scotch bottle packing tube.

Cheers

Gordon

[lastvautour]

The maid did not show up today!!!

Lou

[cliff strachan]

Good grief Lou! That's quite a set up. But I can't help wondering if it's possible to make Solids without having access to quite all the equipment, paints etc.  that you've shown in your posting. Some of our members from other than the G20 countries might like to reply.
Cliff.

[Mothman]

Sheesh!
That's a bloomin' factory!  I wouldn't know what to do with all that space!!

Martin

[Oceaneer99]

We once had a thread going called "The Box Project", on the previous forum site.  Inspired by that discussion, I assembled a basic set of tools for making models.  I figured I could make "kits" of 1/72 scale ID model parts, with the parts rough-cut on my scroll saw so that I could finish them with hand tools.

I have one model (my 1/288 scale Heinkel) that I made during lunch breaks at a picnic table on the edge of a forest near where I worked.  I kept all my tools in a small plastic schoolbox.

And I did the carving for my Yak-1000 at a hotel in Vancouver, BC, where I was staying for a conference.  I used the same small box of tools as for the Heinkel (though didn't have a saw in there at the time, which meant that some operations took a lot of work with the knife).

Garet

[Balsabasher]

Thats the way I like to see a workshop Lou,its a proverbial solid model workspace and I know that you spend many happy hours in there.
I like the chisel rack and do not sit on your glasses they are on the chair !

To Cliff,I used to do the same thing when I was on lunchbreak whilst working on the real aircraft,I would pre-cut the parts then carve away when I had any odd moment,it is surprising how much work you can get done in this way.

Barry.

[lastvautour]

Being fully retired I do spend a fair amount of time down in the workshop but it still takes me quite a while to put things out. I have several project going on at once and every now and then, two or three will come out in short order. Ah the joys of boyhood(at 62).

Lou

[buccfan]

This is my "in the house" space where I build my plastic kits, mark out bits for cutting, painting etc,



And this is my workshop where I have to clear a space on the benchtop at the moment to work, but when my renovation work is done I will probably move all my modelling into.Regards Paul.