Can someone please tell me how to construct a benchwork like this?
I want l-girders, a fascia, valance and a place to fasten my lighting. Please draw a picture of it, it’s much easier for me to understand if you do.
Thanks in advance.
electro,
Our own Joe Fugate has an excellent web page that has just what you are looking for. Scroll to the bottom of the front page and click on “lighting technique” and look through that page. I think it will give you a good running start. Here’s a link (I hope you don’t mind Joe);
Not a problem, pc.
Electro, do you have my volume 2 DVD? It has a stick-by-stick 3D computer model of how you construct benchwork similar to what you are describing.
When I started the Siskiyou Line, reasonably straight dimensional lumber was still moderately priced. These days, I would cut my “lumber” out of birch plywood and use that to build my benchwork.
Use a pilot drill and assemble the benchwork using drywall screws.
Also, electro, on another thread you mentioned maybe building a modular style of construction. L-girder benchwork is not very good for modular benchwork. A standard grid style is much more sturdy.
L-girder tends to warp and twist without a lot of extra bracing, because the structure is not designed to handle up and down stresses that you would get when you move a module around.
I highly agree with Joe on the “make your own lumber”. I work in the cabinet industry and this really is cheaper, faster, and stronger. It is also more stable with humidity changes. I’ve got almost 100 lineal feet of grid style frames and wouldn’t have done it any other way. But you’ve got to find a way that works best for you with the equipment available. Juat another opinion.
Guy
Yes I have all 3 volumes and I know what you mean by stick by stick, really great that you did it that way in your DVD, so easy to understand. But as you mention on this page l-girder is maybe not the best option for the modules. Maybe I can take some of your ideas and mix with standard grid style?
The lumber I can get here costs 2 USD for a 240 cm 2" x 2". Around 3 USD for a 360 cm 1" x 4". I don’t remember the price for the 1" x 2" but it’s less then 2 USD. I don’t know what the lumber in the US cost. Maybe someone can tell?
Yes I eat everything Joe writes for breakfest every day [:D][:D][:D] Thanks.
Joe,
I noticed that in the one pic you mentioned that the valence is only about 13" above the layout surface. Is this consistent throughout or just on the lower deck? If not, what spacing do you use elsewhere?
Thanks,
Mike Tennent
Mike:
13" on average, where average here means “most of the time”. In a few places the deck separation is as little as about 11", mostly on the upper end of the branch near Camas Valley on my plan. 11" separation works because the benchwork width here is also only 12" or so.
You can tighten the deck separation if you make the deck narrower as a general rule. In my case I did a lot of mockups with cardboard boxes, books, pieces of track and a few rail cars. I’d just stack the boxes and books to get a height I wanted to try, put some track and cars down, then stack a few more boxes and books up to hold up some scraps of board at the valance or bottom of the upper deck height.
There’s nothing like experimenting with some 3D mockups to help you figure out what will work heightwise and what won’t.
I was actually surprised to find a 12" deck separation (give or take an inch) actually looks very good if the bottom edge of the upper deck is at the tip of my nose – which works very well for a mushroom design where the upper deck faces the opposite direction and is viewed from a raised floor.