I have found where some people have used Siever’s benchwork. Has anyone used Mianne or Benchridge? I know that many of you prefer your own handiwork, and I do have the tools, but my problem is time. I am afraid that it would take me too long to get that part built, and then I would get discouraged. I am getting up in years.
PRR1 - Welcome to Trains.com! [C):-)]
There was a thread on this topic I believe last December. It starts out on a rather negative note, but I believe that the poster eventually got what he wanted and was very happy. See: http://cs.trains.com/TRCCS/forums/t/200167.aspx?PageIndex=1
Hiring a local carpenter or handy man to build it for you or with you may be an alternative.
I used Siever’s for my benchwork, and I have absolutely no complaints. My orders were shipped very quickly, and they have great customer service.
Here’s an example of how they really pay close attention to their customers. I ordered my benchwork in sections since my layout is built to be taken apart for whenever the evil word “move” comes into the picture. I started out just purchasing materials to make one corner section of the layout so that I could make sure that would work before progressing with the rest of the benchwork. Since two sides of the corner sections that I came up with are attached to other sections of the layout, I only ordered one pair of legs. Shortly after placing the order, I received an e-mail from them asking me to confirm that I was only wanting one pair of legs for the order I’d placed. I explained what I was doing, and they had my order shipped right away.
The orders are very neatly packed, and they include extra nuts, bolts, washers, and screws.
Kevin
The LION, having access to a carpentry shop, fabricated all of the pieces there, and brought them up to the train room for assembly. The process was remarkably quick and painless. That project can be seen here.
Assembling benchwork has got to be the quickest and most straightforward part of building a layout. I mean assembling my own benchwork, to my own plan, from a pile of steel studs and a couple of boxes of little screws. Starting with a bare room, I had all the benchwork in half a garage assembled in about six working hours. The most recent extension, a peninsula 800mm wide and ten feet long, went together in sixty minutes from a standing start.
Since I’m averse to spending more money than I have to, I can’t see paying a professional for work that I can do myself. I’m sure that the difference between what I actually spent and what I would have payed if I had ordered prefab parts was enough to provide me with a hundred yards of flex for the next phase of construction.
Three other, non-standard, factors that enter into my equation but might not apply generally:
- I am building in the dessicated desert, which has unfortunate effects on forest products but doesn’t bother steel.
- My benchwork is not neatly symmetrical. It more nearly resembles the framework for a building designed by a New Age architect (or a retarded chimpanzee.)
- Changing ideas have resulted in abrupt redesign and reconstruction of benchwork - everything from moving (or removing) joists to installing extra C act like L girders to allow cantilever support of upper level trackwork.
In case anyone isn’t already aware, I have the same attitude about commercial specialwork.
I’ll be the first to concede that mine is a minority position, but then again I prefer to march to my own drummer.
Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964 - on steel stud benchwork)
PRR, my Local Hobby Shop bought used kitchen cabinets and they worked well. Has a neat finished look plus there is storage.
I’m familiar with Benchridge and will have to say that his work is very good. The only problem is with shipping. You can e-mail him at the_ridge@juno.com
I’m a pretty handy carpenter and have never used pre-fab benchwork.
That said, Sievers, Mianne, Benchridge, and Woodland Scenics all make benchwork modules. In spite of having an office in Massachusetts. I believe Mianne is in either France or Switzerland. Some people have experienced shipping delays. Mianne, however, is clear hardwood, thus somewhat higher quality. Woodland Scenics modules only come in certain shapes, to fit their modular system, but they are significantly cheaper than the others (although the legs are very short (36") and might have to be extended.
Still, if you have the tools and know how to use them, I would say you’re far better off making your own. Unless your planning a monstrous, large room-filling empire, assembling open grid benchwork from 2x2 and 1x3 dimensional lumber is a weekend project (my C shaped 10x15 took about 10 hours to build, not counting the shopping and the occasional help of one of my boys). If you can’t devote large blocks of time to it, perhaps a week or two will do you. But the cost will be significantly less.
Assuming you already know what your layout will look like (and you should, before building benchwork), I don’t think you’ll lose interest over the short period of time required. Also, remember that it has to be sturdy, but not necessarily pretty. You can always hang a valance around it.
I started the previous thread reference by maxman and admit that at the time I had some doubts about Mianne. However, since then I have been quite happy and am very impressed with the quality of their product. I have placed a couple of additional orders with them in 2012 and they shipped very promptly. I think whatever production bottlenecks they encountered last year are behind them now. They produce a quality product that is very well designed, packaged, documented, etc. Everything fits together with precision.
It does require a plywood top however (I used 1/2" Baltic Birch rather than the recommend 1/2" luan). It doesn’t really lend itself to using spline roadbed in an open frame type construction. That wasn’t an issue for the type of layout I am building, but you should be aware of this.
I know there are cabinet makers and professional woodworkers amongst us, but frankly, I have never seen “home made” benchwork that comes close in overall quality and appearance to the Mianne product. I think you get what you pay for in this case.
Keith
Having considerable woodworking skills and and tools, commercially available benchwork is of no interest to me. I do however think one thing said here deserves comment:
I obviously don’t know the quality of the “home made” layouts you have seen, but this comment begs the question - Beyond the required accuracy in size, level plumb and basic fit, why would someone do “cabinet level” work for something not seen? The framing in your house is not done to cabinet standards. Yet it is square and accurate to the required tolerances.
I am currently rebuilding my layout into modules that will allow it to be relocated in the future. Strenght and accuracy are very important. But even at that I would not call it cabinet work - but maybe you would if the quality of the “home made” bench work you have seen was poor.
Sheldon
Typical quality out there must be pretty poor. I have visitors to my layout and people viewing my blog tell me all the time about the high level of finish on my benchwork, but it’s nothing more than 1X3 furring strips from Home Depot assembled with drywall screws. I probably exeercise more care in assembly than I need to given that it will all be hidden under scenery but I wouldn’t consider it cabinet grade or anything close.
Now I realize my mistake in all this, I forgot we don’t teach things like “woodshop” in high school anymore.
Yes, I am one of those grumpy old people who is amazed at what people can’t or won’t do for them selves anymore.
Sheldon
I’ve used Siever’s for two layouts and found their product to be excellent, as is their service. Their shipment arrived very quickly, is easy to put together, and from my viewpoint their benchwork is very sturdy and well worth the cost.
Wayne
I think some of you might be missing the OP’s point. He said that he had the tools, and he didn’t say that he couldn’t do it. What he did say was that time was an issue, and that he was getting up in years. I don’t know if “up in years” was meant to be literal or figurative. But I think that (almost) everyone would agree that assembling what amounts to a benchwork kit has got to be easier than hauling off to the local big box store and wrestling home with a bunch of raw material.
Or is this another instance where the benchwork scratchbuilders take issue with the kit (or is it almost RTR) benchwork builders?
Go back and read my first post in this thread. My rsponse was NOT to the OP or his choices, but was a response to a response that suggested that “factory made, purchased benchwork” was vastly superior to what most/many modelers could/would/have done.
And/or that benchwork should for some reason, be cabinet level woodworking.
All my comments flow from my first post.
Sheldon
I was responding to Sheldon’s point about “cabinet grade” benchwork as well, not the OP’s question. You raise another subject as well:
I wouldn’t say that I take issue with someone using commercial benchwork, as that’s a personal choice. I will say that for myself I find “scratchbuilding” benchwork to be a fairly quick and easy process, including the trip to the lumber yard or home center. It is necessary to sort through some lumber to find suitable pieces, so if you would rather pay for a benchwork supplier to provide pre-sorted lumber with pre-drilled holes, go for it. It’s a valid option if that’s where you want to direct your hobby $$$.
I agree with Sheldon… to a point. It is a shame that we don’t teach kids how to really make things any more. Everything my kids know about using tools, they learned from me.
OTOH, I like making things out of wood, and I can see how someone without the proper tools and training might be very intimidated by the thought of making his own benchwork.
On the other hand, I know of very FEW people (actually, no one personally) who have cabinet-grade benchwork. Even if I wanted something “showroom quality” under my layout (what’s actually under there is a lot of boxes of stuff and the benchwork hidden by a valance), I would put a false front on it, not try to make something structural like true cabinetry.
But the point is, it has to be level, and it has to be sturdy (it doesn’t really even have to be plumb, although that helps with stability). Anyone with a bubble level should be able to figure out “level” and “plumb” and a miter saw, especially a power one, makes short work of angle braces.
I’d strongly encourage anyone with even passable woodworking skills to give benchwork a try.
And for the person who said you need to put plywood over prefab benchwork, you don’t. Extruded foam panels work just fine. Baltic birch plywood is really overkill for under a layout. If you’re going to use plywood, ordinary construction grade stuff is just fine.
Convenience of using a benchwork kit is just that, a convenience. Much like using an electric refrigerator/freezer instead of an “ice box.” How many of us have canned food in the kitchen, or use frozen food instead of “scratch building” dinner every night?
When allocating time and resources, benchwork kits are very convenient for many modelers, myself included. The use of these kits is neither a reflection of one’s modeling skills nor does it have any direct relationship to the quality of one’s completed layout—it’s just a convenience that some of us choose to use.
Wayne