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Standup Modeling Workbench

Started by Carl Smoot · 17 ≡ · ↻ 3 months ago

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Carl Smoot said 4 months ago:
I found as I was getting older , that sitting at the workbench, hunched over so I could see what I was doing, was causing me all sorts of upper and mid back strain, so earlier this year, I decided to add a small work table to my desk so that I could stand while building models. It has worked out well and I generally have far fewer problems with my back.

But the small table had been placed where I used to have my work area which was directly in front of my tool chest where I normally kept all my daily use tools for building models.It was an open design, but getting to the drawers was a pain and because the table was narrower than the chest, I couldn't always open a chest drawer without having to slide the work table one way or another.

I resolved to improve on this and decided to modify the tool chest into a work table so that the drawers would be front and center and easily accessible. The tool chest is a cheap Harbor Freight chest, so I was not concerned about taking it apart and modifying it.

I basically removed the hinged top, removed the latches, removed the slide out drawer cover (which I never used anyway). Then I created a new wider and deep top for the chest and reattached it to the chest with the original hinges. This way I can lift up the top and still make use of the top of the chest for storing less often used items.

The chest was too short however, approximately 4 1/2" too short so I added some legs to the bottom. I placed them on the sides which creates a nice area under the chest where I can place two plastic trays I use to hold things like sanding sticks, and other tools I need but which are not in the tool chest.

So here it is and I've include a photo of the first table for comparison. I still need to clean up and reorganize my work area, but the space behind the chest is now open and available for use. I have a small set of shelves just to the right in the old table photo. This is where I keep my thinners, spray cans, and miscellaneous larger bottles. I am going to make a slide out tray for underneath this so that this can slide into that open space. This will in turn free up the space next to my computer monitor for some other as yet undetermined use.
1. First version of the standup table. See how it interferes with access to the tool chest behind it.

2. This shelf will be modified to slide into the new space behind the second version of the work table (see the other photo)
1. Open space for the slide in shelves I will be making.

2. Tool chest modified into a stand up work table

3. These trays are for other things I commonly use in modeling but which do not have a place in the tool chest.

4. Top is hinged so I can still utilize the space under the table for storing things.
George R Blair Jr said 4 months ago:

Looks like a great work area, Carl (@clipper), and the stand up workbench is a great idea. Now that I have arthritis in both of my knees, I really don't mind sitting while I work.
Spiros Pendedekas said 4 months ago:

A great idea, my friend @clipper!
Thanks for sharing!
George Williams said 4 months ago:

Interesting idea, Carl @clipper, here’s hoping it relieves your back problems.
John vd Biggelaar said 4 months ago:

A great idea indeed, Carl @clipper
Also easy access to your tools this way.
Cricket said 3 months, 2 weeks ago:

@clipper Pretty clever Carl! I like it
Carl Smoot said 3 months, 2 weeks ago:
Thanks everyone, the design has been working out fine. I'm in the second phase of modifying this area now. I'm always thinking on how I can improve my work bench for my needs. That means identifying areas that are still a problem and then trying to find a solution to that problem.

One big problem I have is lack of horizontal surface area on the desk to place things.This is because I keep my in work models in plastic boxes (with lids) and they are near the work area. But the downside is that they take up a lot of desk space. My desk has shelves built over the top and the consequence of that is that there is a vertical leg supporting the upper shelves that comes down in the middle of the desk top.

This vertical support prevented me from using the center of the desk for my stand up work table. So today, I moved the vertical support back enough to make it possible to slide the standup table to the right and make better use of the center of the workbench.

Behind my stand up table is a space that I am going to have a shelf for my chemicals that can slide in and out from behind the standup table. When this shelf is retracted behind the stand up table, a whole bunch of desk space to the right of the table has opened up. Its in this space that I will be moving my plastic in work boxes. This in turn frees up the entire left side of my workbench and gives me the horizontal desk surface I am looking for.

I understand that this might be hard to visualize without pictures. So here is a photo as of today of the work bench. Some of the items noted in the photo have not been accomplished yet. One thing I want to do to the standup table is mount some small blocks on the bench top to keep the table from sliding off.
1. This leg moved back 2 inches so the stand up table can move to the right.

2. This chemical shelf will slide under the shelf behind the stand up table.

3. These in work plastic boxes will be moved to the spot where the chemical shelf currently resides.

4. The entire area of the bench to the left of the stand up table will be open now.

5. This standup holder is going to be mounted on an articulating arm and can hold either a book or my Samsung tablet at work top level when I need a reference handy.

6. I am also in work reorganizing these drawers because they are fairly small and there is some wasted space. I want to make better use of them.
Spiros Pendedekas said 3 months, 2 weeks ago:

Excellent improvements, my friend @clipper! Really nice to improve things to suit your needs and style!
John vd Biggelaar said 3 months, 2 weeks ago:

A very practical layout of your workspace, Carl @clipper
Carl Smoot said 3 months, 2 weeks ago:
I've made most of the improvement that I wanted to add in this improvement session. These go a fair amount of distance in solving some of the more irritating issues I still had with the work bench.

The chemical shelf has been mounted on a slide so that I can retract it behind the stand up work table and free up the space on the right hand side for my in work plastic boxes.

Moving these boxes in turn gives me more desk space on the left hand side and provides good access to my Vallejo paint rack.
1. Chemical shelf on a slide so it can be retracted behind the stand up table (which is temporarily moved out of the picture)
1. Chemical shelf retracted into it's resting place

2. I am now able to move my in work plastic boxes to the right hand side and free up the desk space on the left side (as well as the paint rack)
1. I finally have full access to the Vallejo paint rack
With the boxes out of the way, I can more easily access my commonly used tools in their Lazy Susan setups.
1. This has been around for awhile, but these are all my commonly used tools and brushes conveniently placed in Lazy Susan setups
The drawers under my other tool box and spray booth would always slide around and back and forth, making using them more trouble. So I added boards in front of the wheels and behind the wheels to keep them in position.
1. These drawers would not stay in place until I added the board at the front wheels and a similar board behind the rear wheels.
And to keep my stand up table from sliding off the desk, I added stops to hold it in position.
1. And to prevent the stand up table from falling off the work bench, I added these stops.
Now back to model building! 🙂
Spiros Pendedekas said 3 months, 2 weeks ago:

These are nice improvements, offering great inspiration, my friend @clipper!
John vd Biggelaar said 3 months, 2 weeks ago:

Very nice improvements, Carl @clipper
This is a great practicle bench.
Carl Smoot said 3 months, 2 weeks ago:

Thanks Spiros (@fiveten) and John (@johnb). It's already paying off in an improved modeling experience.
Carl Smoot said 3 months, 1 week ago:
Yesterday, I received something I've wanted to add to my model bench for a long time and I have to say, this has to be one of the more cool additions I've managed to add. With my limited amount of desktop space, having a place to put reference materials where they can be easily used has always been a problem.

Some time ago I purchased a wooden stand with two spring loaded arms which could be used to hold a book open to a specific page. That was useful in its own right, but the stand suffered from the same problem of "Where to put it?" during use.

Anyway, I recently realized I could also use this stand to hold my Samsung tablet and this gave me the incentive I needed to find a solution to the placement problem. The answer of course, is an articulating arm. I found a really nice monitor stand that had a considerable degree of movement and looked plenty sturdy enough to do the job. Best thing was that the price was reasonable at $32.00.

I mounted it to the end of the book shelf where admittedly it is partially in the way of retrieving books on that end, however, that end currently stores binders which I never use anyway and I can always move other books out of the way temporarily if need be. The arm allows the holder to be moved out of the way when I don't need it.
1. Somewhat in the way of other things, but most of these I do not access very often and the arm does move up and also swivels from side to side.
1. When I don't need it, I can move it up out of the way.

2. I have to improve the mounting wood on the backside of the holder as it split when I attached it to the monitor holder. No big deal.
Sorry for all these work bench photos and posts, but I am a big believer in making my workbench as efficient as possible as it has a dramatic effect on my building experience and goes a long way to removing obstacles from building (i.e. lack of mojo).
John vd Biggelaar said 3 months, 1 week ago:

No need to say sorry, Carl @clipper
Your approach in making your workbench more efficient is very successful. I'm happy you are sharing this.
I do like it this way, but unfortunately I don't have the space to create this, well, I do have the space but someone else is claiming that already 🙂

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Standup Modeling Workbench