Has anyone built their COMPLETE benchwork with steel studs? Since I may be downsizing to an apartment soon, I have to think of some alternative methods, since an apartment isn’t a good place to be sawing wood and otherwise making a mess. Steel studs can be cut with heavy duty tin snips, and screwed together with drywall screws. My thinking was to maybe put a piece ov wood in the bottom of each leg to allow putting in a foot or a T nut and bolt for levelling, and setting them on furniture cups to prevent carpet damage. Legs and grid would be steel stud, probably with foam on top. I’ve seen pictures of layout with the gridwork made from steel studs but I can;t recall seeing any freestanding layouts using the steel studding for legs as well. Think this might work?
having done a very small amount of steel stud work during a recent renovation i’d say it should work . challenges would be … making the structure square (although once it’s attached to the foam top it shouldn’t be a problem) … and making the legs strong enough to resist bending if the table is bumped . maybe wood legs would be better unless you’re going to do diagonal bracing on the legs . should be fairly easy to use nuts and bolts rather than drywall screws to attach the legs so they could be dissasembled for moving .
also be sure to buy some of the rubber grommets to run your wiring through , those steel studs can be pretty sharp !
My benchwork is entirely steel studs with plywood on top. My layout is a shelf type though so it has no legs, but I think you would be better off making the legs out of wood because a single steel stud would twist and maybe buckle under the wieght of the layout. The thin guage steel is only strong when it is built in boxes. I did cut all of my benchwork pieces with tin snips and its held together with sheet metal screws. The benchwork is very strong, but if you go to the hardware store and actually see the studs, you can flex and twist them pretty easily, not good for legs.
My 36’x14’ layout is made of 2"x4" metal studs, which was cheaper than wood in upstate New York, I then covered the benchwork with 7/16th " plywood and then 2" blue foam board. I have had no problems with the structure and is strong enough for me to sit on without damage. After two other layouts made of wood I will continue to use steel studs, No warping or gaps due to changing humidity in this part of the country.
For legs I considered 2 piecs of channel, either fastened together with a L cross section, or put face to face to make a channel. Might be strong enough… braces ar ened regardless, even with wood legs. It wouldn;t be a big deal to have the store cut the legs to length, and hand-sawing some 1x2’s for braces is no big deal… hmm…
I would suggest that the legs be made of two chennel sections fastened into a box with a 2x4 in the top (to support cross bolting and a 2x4 in the bottom to hold the t-nuts for leveling. All you need is 12" of 2x4 in the top and the same in the bottom. Stores that sell steel channel also have bags of plastic wiring grommets to prevent chafing and shorting of romex so that should work for you. If in doubt on rigidity, cross brace the legs with lag bolts. Fasteners and steel channel is cheap compared to the time and effort on the layout and rolling stock.
This is one of a few sites I have seen in my research travels of the internet. It’s not the one I saw before, I remember reading how impressed the guy was at how easily and quickly it went together, but I can’t find it now. Sorry.
I also found this discussion on this forum about the subject that you may want to look at. Not all good.
Have a similar construction to baron9 and am satisfied with the outcome. In my case, it’s a 6.5 X 12.5 foot layout made up of four modules fastened together for the following two reasons:
1-The layout will someday belong to my grandson(although he doesn’t know it yet).
2-Wanted the benches to pass through doorways from my house to his.
Details- a)There is a four sided studded frame on which 3/8" plywood+2" foam is mounted.
b)The frame is supported by four legs with cross braces(using gussets)on the ends and sides.
c)The two legs at each end of a module rest on slotted 2" X 6" wooden studs below which are lag bolts into “T” nuts for height adjustments.
d)All members of the structure were fastened with sheet metal screws.
Note-Because I had to make angled cuts for the braces,the exposed edges were bevelled and covered with duct tape.
The benches are sturdy and stable. Probably more labor intensive but it meets the objectives.This is my first layout and have used the helpful information from previous posts on this topic.
That first one is exactly what I mean. Got that one saved for future reference now. Pretty tricky, using one long C channel and just cutting the web, makes a leg and brace all in one. About right, too - they come in 10 foot lengths, right?
Sturdy and stable is my goal. It does not have to support an elephant though. I don’t care if it takes longer to build than a traditional wood frame, the construction is clean and quiet, which are key factors. My current layoot has 4 identical 2x8 modules which are bolted together tomake an 8x12 overall, I sawed all the wood by hand - 1x4 and 1x2 dry pine lumber saws easily. So it might take a bit longer to hack up the steel pieces, this will end up being a smaller layout so some extra relaxed building will be a plus.
[:D]-was also told that it would survive an earthquake. When I had the legs attached to the frame, you could easily twist the members(the metal is not that thick). That made me think of adding the braces granted it was probably overkill to a certain extent but each module by itself is pretty sturdy,not only that,but they are light weight by comparison and would be easy to transport. I also duct taped the openings(both sides) in the studs to avoid finger scrapes. The tape can be slit to pass wires thru and prevent chaffing.
So now I’m in other phases of the layout and reading as many posts as I can on the task at hand.
Thats right, I forgot how much lighter it is than wood. Lighter, cheaper, easier to work with. You cant really go wrong. I also duct taped the edges of the openings in the studs to avoid cutting insulation on any of the wires.
My recently disassembled layout used steel studs exclusively for L (C?) girder benchwork, including girders (16-ga 2x4 equivalent), legs (ditto), joists (ditto or 20-ga 2x3 equivalent) and risers (20-ga 2x3, with tops snipped and bent - look, Ma, no cleats necessary. The only wood was chunks of scrap-pile 2x4 at the bottom of the legs to accommodate leveling adjusters (aka 3/8 inch lag bolts.)
All assembly was done using short (3/8 - 1/2 inch) roundhead screws, mostly installed upward from below in accepted L-girder fashion. Subroadbed was plywood, some of it de-twisted with steel angle iron, since wood tends to take exotic shapes when baked in single-digit humidity conditions.
Assembly was quick and painless (I DID wear heavy gloves!) Disassembly was equally quick and painless. Except for a few pieces with fancy shapes (risers designed to hold subroadbed at several different levels,) all of the steel was salvaged and will be recycled into my new, larger layout. Even the screws were recoverable.
The basic primis, as I understand it, is that they have some type of sheeting on each side. They are not that good as an open structural member (as a leg). As an alternative, I would use “excessive” bracing.
I also used steel studs, with 1x4 legs in a L and a small 2x4 block at the top and bottom of each leg for fastening.
One thing I did a little differently is that I used heavy pop rivets instead of screws to assemble the studs. They hold great and can be drilled out to disassemble if you need to.
Just a suggestion - I’ve read good things about using 1" square hollow tube aluminum for framiing. Supposedly very light and very sturdy. I have no experience with it, but plan to try it on my next layout.