Coombe Barton Workbench

For the past twenty five years I've been using half of an old church notice board as a modelling workbench. However age as taken its toll and the ply is seriously delaminating. So this is the construction of a replacement. I can now incorporate features that will make life easier that I'd neglected to do for the past quarter century.

I've been using the modelling workbench for a whole variety of things, sometimes including railway modelling. However from the modelling perspective I looked at what the processes were that I had to follow and try to separate them, then looked at the tools and materials needed for each process so that I could accommodate them.

Processes for the workbench (not an exhaustive list) with the general tool types needed.

• Trackmaking - cutting, drilling, fettling, soldering, solvents
  
• Control mechanism construction (panels, lever frame) - cutting, drilling, fettling, soldering, swearing
  
• Loco building - cutting, drilling, fettling, soldering, electrics, clamps
  
• Rolling stock building - cutting, drilling, fettling, soldering, solvents, clamps
  
• Building construction - drilling, scalpels, straightedges, adhesives, clamps
  
• Treemaking - soldering, cutting, messy painting, clay, scenic materials
  
• Detail construction - anything
  
• Painting, spray and brush - paints, airbrushes, fume extraction, brushes, thinners, drying time
  

The purpose of this decision process is to have the common tools to hand and then move specialist kitsets in when I need them.

I'm particularly good at spilling liquids, so have decided that all pots of liquids will live in a deep container, and then when I'm using them (which will usually be one or two at a time - flux and solvent are not normally part of the same operation) I'll put them into an Ikea food container - having tested the reaction of the fluid on the base first. The bottle is held upright and centred by a stripwood frame that's a push fit inside the container. More on this later.

The bench dimensions are to suit me and my workshop site.

Parts list:

• 4ft x 2ft 3/4" ply. (or if in new money, 1220mm x 605mm 18mm ply)
  
• 2 off 8ft lengths of 3/4" x ¼" hardwood strip for edges (2 off 2420mm of 18mm x 6mm)
  
• 2ft of 2†x 1†(600mm of something that's deep enough to hold the board on the table to stop it being pushed backwards - see later for construction)
  
• Depron 3mm foam to stick on underside to protect surface it’s lying on. (I’m also using this for tracklaying). You could also use cork – I did for the original version and that lasted 25 years.
  
• 8ft of 1 3/8†x ¼ “ hardwood (2420mm of 35mm x 6mm) for tool rack
  
• Brackets for tool rack – I used some 35mm sq beech I had lying around
  
• Copydex, screws, panel pins, matt varnish.
  

The total cost was less than £35, sourcing the timber and glues from Wickes.

This is a view of the finished article in use, finally starting the High Level Pannier chassis I bought to do over Christmas!

I decided that my available space was 2’8†wide. Funnily enough this was about the width of the previous version. It can be picked up by one person without too much danger to doors and other furniture. And it also gives a 1’4†remainder that slices neatly in half to form the back and side boards.

Rough cutting diagram

Please note that the dimensions are approximate. Lengths have to be judged at time of construction because the back is slightly longer than the base. After cutting sanding the edges (I used a belt sander) reduces the splinter count markedly.

Construction

Screw and glue back to base making sure that the total length of the back including the stripwood trim is the length of the base plus twice the thickness of the ply. I built it this way round, to screw the back into the sides, but equally I could have screwed the sides to the back. After fitting the back the stripwood edging went on round the back.

For the sides I cut a chamfer at the top front of the sides to save the knuckles when reaching for the tools (believe me, it’s necessary if you’re me), then edge with the ¾†x ¼†hardwood all round strip, glueing (PVA or Copydex) and pinning (panel pins). The edging is to prevent splinters.

Then comes the fixing of the retaining piece. This is the lump of 2 by 1 that is screwed to the bottom of the base to hold it against the edge of the table. It needs to be fitted sufficiently far back from the front edge of the board to take the clamps of the vices and clamps I employ. Precise measurement is not required (about 3†will do and it needs to be well fixed (I used six screws) because you’re pushing against this a lot of the time. Photograph and diagram of this:

It’s important that it’s parallel to the front edge of the base, otherwise you’ll find it difficult to visualise right angles as when you push it back on the table you’re supporting it on it’ll not be square. It may not seem important but if it’s wrong you’ll soon know. A friend made of these following my original pattern and it wasn’t quite square. It was disorienting to work at.

In this diagram I also show the foam/cork, but this is not fitted yet – it comes after the toolholders have been built.

Toolholders

I looked at the price of jewellers bench toolholders and coughed. They do the job, but ...

So it was back to Wickes for 8ft of stripwoood, 1 3/8†x ¼†this time. A toolholder must fit the tools in use. I also had the remains of the ¾†x ¼†strip left, and some 1 ½†square beech from which I could fashion brackets. I wanted racks for pliers, screwdrivers and needle files and somewhere to put clips, solders and the small stuff that doesn’t fit in racks. As a picture is worth a thousand words, here's 4000 words.

After cutting the wider stripwood to fit between the cheeks of the board, and determining the size and shape of the brackets it then came to making the toolholder. 8mm holes seem to be about right, so marking out a suitable spacing to fit both the board and the tool so that they can be grabbed easily is a matter of experiment. I came up with staggered holes at 30mm centres 12mm from each edge of the strip, laying two strips in parallel. The diagram and photographs show it far better than any description. The boxes for solders and clips are glued together.

When allocating tool space I think it's important to separate the sharps from the rest, hence knives and drills are in plastic containers at the back of the board - handy but somewhat protected against stray hands and crys of 'Ouch!'

Then the whole thing is turned upside down and Depron glued to the bottom with Copydex.

To seal a coat of quick drying Ronseal matt varnish (dried in 20 minutes) sealed the dust in.

This is the basic board with the common tools for the processes identified at the start. Then there’s the anti spill trays and the adaptations for the various tasks. These are all extras and will get built when I need them.

The Anti Spill Tray

This is some sort of tray with wooden inserts to hold the bottle of fluid. There's a large base - less easy (but not impossible) to knock over. Construction is a matter of cutting wood to length and screwing together. neither the frame nor the bottle need be a perfect fit - it just needs to be able to hold it upright reasonably securely.