Hey guys,

Well I hope I'm not the only one with this problem, but my garage is turning into a cluttered mess with all my RC gear. Presently I'm working on top of a makeshift workbench (two saw horses and some cement backer board left over from my bathroom remodel).

We don't park cars in the garage and its kinda my space to tinker with, so I'm contemplating building (or buying) a decent workbench and configuring my garage into an appropriate hangar for my planes. I would love any suggestions, pictures, reccomendations etc. from you vets on how best to set up your workbench/workshop. Right now I'm wranging with about a 1,000 different charging cords, tools, glo fuel etc and invariably nothing is where I need it to be. My planes sit on the floor just waiting for me/my wife/my son/my dog to step on and I have a makeshift rack on the wall for my wings.

Any advice would be much appreciated.

Joe

I have a 10' x 16' shed which I "share" with the snow thrower, power washer, weed wacker and push lawn mower plus a couple of cans of gasoline and some miscellaneous stuff.

What I did was:

1. Went to Home Depot and got a metal work bench that had wheels. On top of that I put a piece of 1" thick plywood 24" x 60". I recessed the holes and bolted it in place. On top of the ply I have a 2'x4' ceiling tile. While it is awkward to sit and work on anything, it is great if you are standing. The total height is 39" and the "workbench" is moveable. I can put many of the tools I use in the drawers underneath (2 of them ).

2. For power, I ran an electric line to the shed and installed three 4' long florouscent lights in the overhead (the lights are on a switch as you come in the door) and 6 outlets about 48" from the floor on the wall. 2 of them on each side of the "workbench". Power to the outlets are always on. All of this goes through a 20 amp circuit breaker inside the house and a GFI outlet outside the shed, then into the shed.

3. On the 10' wall (there is a window there and I put one of the florouscent lights above ) I built a 30" wide workbench on 2 levels. 4' of the work bench is 39" high and 6' is 30" high. The bench is constructed of 2x4 (bolted to the floor with "L" brackets), leveled and topped with 5/8" chipwood with a 2'x4' & 2'x2' ceiling tile on the 6' side. A 6" bench vise is bolted to the 4' side.

I now have a workbench I can sit at while I work, a moveable workbench that I can get at all sides of plus easily get out of the way if needed, a place to use the vise at a height that is comfortable while standing, electrical outlets within easy reach of both work benches and plenty of light.

Hope this provides some ideas.

You have a relatively good climate there. Not too hot in the summer and a small space heater in the winter will keep you going. If that is a 2-car garage it is even sweeter. At any rate you probably already have power there so now you need to build a work bench or two. There are several threads on that if you do a search. It would be nice if you could sit at it to work and if you could get all of the way around it although the latter is not imperative. You need GREAT lighting to protect your eyes from the strain of working on small things and arrange it to avoid shadow areas. Have enough power outlets to cover tooling you will use in the assy area, either in the wall or drop cords. Place larger tools (drill presses, table saws, grinders, etc) away from the clean (assy) area. Put an exhaust fan in the wall to suck out balsa dust and paint/glue fumes as many of those can be toxic. Must also have fresh air. Keep a shop vac handy to keep the place clean, you'll make a mess in a hurry. A cabinet or shelving system to store things on/in. Wings on wall racks on opposite side of garage from work area and suspend fuselages from the ceiling if you have the headroom, otherwise find a way to hang on wall also. Wall hooks nearby to hang transmitters on and to keep them charged maybe a power strip of some sort. Do not overload your circuit breakers/fuses.

I don't know to much about building a workshop in the garage but I did do this in a room I built in my basement- the table is made from the ply that is used under laminated counter tops 4'x8' 1" thick. I had the homedepot do most of the major cuts and I did the trim. I sealed and varnished and waxed the wood to protect it from glue. For support I purchases heavy duty shelf brackets and the metal black shelves from Lowes. (see pic).

To store planes I use the cheap shelf brackets with the sliplock supports covered with thick self adhesive pope insulation. Allot has been done since these picture were taken (more shelves) lots of hangars for tools and electric goodies.

Hope this gives you an idea or two..

Not really big enough for building on, IMHO, but could assemble ARFs on it. I'd like to see a minimum of 3' x 6' and 4' x 8' would be nicer. Room to spread things (including large plans) out and still have a place for parts you are going to use in a particualer step to sit. Much bigger and I think it would be unwieldy. And don't forget to have a heavy vice on those outer tables I mentioned before.

The wall shelves are good.

My main building table is 2.2' X 5' it is the long table with the red plane on it (see pic above). I am currently building a AKM Su-27 with no trouble at all. Having the ability to access the model from three sides help allot. I do not use the plans as a whole though- Instead I cut them into the individual builds and work on them one section at a time. I have thought of creating a building island or even a flat table with a folding surface that folds flat against the wall when not in use. When I get a project that is to large for my current table I will take that route but until then I think I will be ok..

As long as you are happy. Your future plans sound good too. I have plans for a 4' x 8' table in my garage that will be hinged to the wall for large projects. My problems is climate control. Hot & humid in the summer and cold in the winter. I know, WAHHHH! Oh well, it's my right. My spare bedroom/building room is good up to most 60 size projects, after that it is going to be too crowded.