I want to redesign the legs for my benchwork to make them more visually presentable. My surface is a standard open grid design made with 1’ x 3’ lumber. The dimension is 8’ x 12’ with a small rectangular 2’ x 5’ operating pit, slightly off center. I used 2’ x 4’ legs at all four corners and spaced out under the entire table. I then ran 1 x 3 braces between the legs parallel to the floor about 2 feet up from the bottom. Any ideas on what to build to make it more visually pleasing? All I need is a design for the legs and bracing. Any info will help.
You could try covering it with paneling. You could even create slide panels so that they would be easy to open and close so you could use the underside of your layout for storage and for access to your operating pit. Check the pics at http://www.building-your-model-railroad.com/model-railroad-benchwork.html
If you want to keep the bottom of your layout open, I suppose you could replace the legs with ornamental posts or small columns that I’ve seen in Home Depot. With the proper stain or paint, I suspect they would look pretty good.
While totally covered legs can be appealing, there is also something to be said for uncovered legs don’t you think?
OK … Maybe not of Betty Grable quality but the Jim Hediger idea for all-plywood legs can be visually more sophisticated than bowed and bent 2x2s. Jim used plywood strips, maybe 3 inches wide screwed or nailed/glued to make an “L” that would be the leg. I have not used that for benchwork but did make two artists workbenches for my wife using Hediger’s ideas and apart from the fact that I used cheap and used plywood the visual effect is more pleasing. The legs are very sturdy and strong
Since I use L (actually C) girder benchwork, my table legs are well back from the fascia line. Attaching anything directly to the legs would lose me dozens of cubic feet of under-layout storage.
You could do a mitre (or miter, either is correct, according to Websters) joint, but I would think that butted might be stronger. It would give more material for the screws to bite into.
My benchwork legs are plain 2x3’s. My wife was so appalled at the idea of bare lumber that she stained and polyurethaned the legs before I brought the whole thing up into the family room.
I used triangular gussets made of 3/4-inch plywood to support the legs. That eliminated the need for a lot of bracing beneath the layout, and gave me a cleaner appearance. The lack of bracing also makes it a lot easier to get under the table for wiring work.
I just finished the grid for a small 2’6" x 6’ layout and can’t figure out how to do my legs. I’d like to do something that I can easily remove and reattached. I’m thinking 4 1x2’s arranged to form a squared post, attached with some lag bolts to the sides of the frame.
That’s kinda what Dad and I have, only we did’nt cut them at angles, just to length and screwed them together. they;re also only holding up 32"x4’s with 1x4s under a flat sheet fo something like plywood. WHole thing is light and easy to move.
I also wanted my layout legs to show. The legs on my layout are hand turned from hard maple…you could do something similar with pre-made legs from Home Depot or Lowe’s.
