On Thu, 6 Jan 2005 00:32:26 UTC, "Dave Plowman (News)"
wrote:

I've got my workshop in a first floor bedroom. There's no point in making
an ultra strong bench since I'd not risk heavy hammering etc with a
suspended floor and ceiling underneath.

I agree. As it happens, this is ground floor (front!).

I made mine out of 2x2 PAR with the legs at 2ft spacing, and a perimeter
frame at the top, and at about a foot off floor level for shelves, with
all the joints simple half overlap types, glued and screwed. There are
also horizontal strengtheners front to back alongside each leg at the top
and shelf height. The shelf area is made out of flooring tongue and
groove, with a sort of pelmet across the front to keep things in. It's
screwed to the wall, and covers 1.5 walls, including a cut out for the
rad. The top is 1" blockboard covered in strong lino, and has a hardwood
edge, flush with the perimeter frame.

I'm slow this morning - PAR? It sounds more solid than what I was
planning - heaviest thing that'll go on it is the laser printers I
repair sometimes...but that's no reason not to do so of course.

This isn't a place where I'd have a big vice or anything like that, it's
more electronics and minor hardware...!

The beauty of making one is that you can tailor the height to suit
yourself. I'm 6ft, and standard kitchen worktops are too low.

Yes...I'm 6'4" and that is a consideration. However the kind of work I
do is mainly sitting down, so it comes down to compatible seating more
than anything.

Everything in the workshop is designed for easy removal in case I ever
needed to move, or have it as a bedroom again. So all worktop sockets etc
are surface mounted and the wiring in surface conduit, so after a bit of
filler and a tosh of paint you'd not know anything had been there.

As it happens, I had that idea too...but for another room. In the case
of the workshop, the major power point users are the PCs etc., and they
all run from one 13A socket, via a beefy UPS. Since I've just rewired
the house (well, one bit isn't quite finished!) there are plenrty of
sockets in the room.

This other room is larger (4m x 4m) and is a spare bedroom used as the
'office'. This has another four PCs in it (or will have, we're currently
camping out in the next room and the office is being rewired etc.) and
these too will run off a UPS. But there *is* extra wiring needed, over
and above a normal bedroom, and, like you, I plan to use surface conduit
and sockets for lots of network wiring, power (from UPS) and the like. I
haven't yet worked out how to arrange all this table/worktop wise yet as
SWMBO is involved in this one, and anyway we only stripped the room out
three days ago.

(BTW, this was after completing decoration on the living room on Dec
23rd, having new carpet (4m x 7m) fitted at 9am Christmas Eve, and
completing other stuff an hour before relatives arrived on Christmas Day
morning!)

--
Bob Eager
begin a new life...dump Windows!