New house, no space - so what to do?

[GrahamS]

54 minutes ago, jackroadkill said:

 

Sadly this is also out of the question - something about the UDHR, or something.  Either way, it looks like she's staying!

 

Well, what about a mistress with a spare room?

 

Graham

[jackroadkill]

35 minutes ago, GrahamS said:

Well, what about a mistress with a spare room?

 

Graham

 

Ha, I'm not sure I could stand the pace!

[danbuoy]

I know you said space is at a premium, but would something like this be an option?

 

IMG-20210919-WA0000 by Dan Hardy, on Flickr

 

Its a second hand bureau I got from British Heart Foundation for £45. I can store everything in the drawers, or in the case of my lamp and toolbox, underneath. When the lid is folded down, it creates a useful working surface;

 

IMG-20210919-WA0002 by Dan Hardy, on Flickr

 

Takes me just a couple of minutes to set everything up each time (get the mat and paints etc out of the drawer, plug lamp in etc) and it sits in the corner of the dining room.

Edited June 21, 2022 by danbuoy

[Pete F]

I know that mobile work stations have already been suggested but I thought it worthwhile mentioning the ones from EBMA. I am not connected with this company in any way but have bought several storage units from them and found the quality excellent and their service very good. They are flat packed but easy to make - you just need decent wood glue (I use Gorilla brand). They do two portable travel cases that may suit your needs.

 

https://www.ebmahobby.co.uk/index.php?route=product/product&path=81_105&product_id=123

 

and the smaller 

 

https://www.ebmahobby.co.uk/index.php?route=product/product&path=81_105&product_id=124

 

The thing that attracted me to these is the way you can customise them at point of purchase to suit your individual needs. Even though I have plenty of modelling space I am drawn to the A3 version for its compactness.

[jackroadkill]

7 hours ago, danbuoy said:

would something like this be an option?

 

Sadly not, as there's just nowhere to put it.  The frustrating thing about all this is that the floor plan of the house is quite large but there's not an awful lot of useable (well, useable whilst not sleeping on the sofa) space due to things like huge internal windows, islands etc.  If I could get rid of one decent-sized item of furniture I'd be sorted.

 

54 minutes ago, Pete F said:

two portable travel cases that may suit your needs

 

I've been looking at the EBMA gear and it looks very good; whilst I have a lot of my materials in one of those drawer-stack things, it isn't purpose-built with kit-mangling in mind, so whilst I can fit five 14ml tinlets in each drawer there's a bit of wasted space.  Regardless of the domestic situation, one of these might be handy anyway.

[Paul J]

I can't  help but often face the same situation when wifey pops up with a house for sale  and asks me what I think. I study the property details and always a horror when I see that there will be no room for me or a big enough shed to relocate my modelling stuff and  builds . So I diplomatically make the excuse it's not suitable but she is wiley and knows exactly why I reject it. But I do feel the time is coming for me to pack it all in during my advancing years and  relent to swmbo desire to downsize the home to one with smaller garden,no grage orbited parking  and so on

 

 

[Pagey]

13 hours ago, Paul J said:

I can't  help but often face the same situation when wifey pops up with a house for sale  and asks me what I think. I study the property details and always a horror when I see that there will be no room for me or a big enough shed to relocate my modelling stuff and  builds . So I diplomatically make the excuse it's not suitable but she is wiley and knows exactly why I reject it. But I do feel the time is coming for me to pack it all in during my advancing years and  relent to swmbo desire to downsize the home to one with smaller garden,no grage orbited parking  and so on

 

 

 

I was lucky, when house hunting earlier this year, we were looking round a house (the one we are in the process of buying) which had a large garage and the wife said to me 'you could turn this into a really good workshop'  I think she just wants to keep me out of her lovely new house 🙂

[Fnick]

4 hours ago, Pagey said:

you could turn this into a really good workshop'  I think she just wants to keep me out of her lovely new house 🙂

So let me get this straight. She wants you to spend more time in the garage!😲  She's a keeper!😄

[Ngantek]

Just a quick thing (sorry if it's been mentioned and I missed it), do you have a work desk at home (I assume not?). I personally use my work desk, and have the inconvenience of all modelling stuff being packed into various boxes each time. It's workable, but setting up the spray booth and airbrush gubbins is definitely enough of a palaver that I have to line up jobs in advance. One of the advantages of living out of boxes is that if the other half is using the office, I can unpack on the kitchen table with only a little more faff. But it does work. Biggest issue is it limits your ability to 'just do a quick 15 minutes here and there'.

 

I guess similar with the kitchen table if you don't have a work desk, but I agree there is the added wrinkle of having to give up that space a lot of the time.

[dnl42]

While I have a house, I don't have a dedicated building space. Not for lack of space, but as a social preference to be with my family. Having written that, I do have a dedicated painting bench in the garage, which is critical considering Mr.Color is my preferred paint.

 

I do all my building at my desk. At different times it might have a model on it, some Arduino boards, or some other projects,

 

 

I use trays to hold ongoing builds. I found 2 types at Ikea, small square (13in/33cm) green trays and larger "cafeteria-style" trays. These are useful as I switch between projects by moving trays around.  In-use tools are kept in a desk organizer. Other materials are in boxen and a cabinet behind my desk; most of my tools are in a drawer. 

 

 

HTH

-- 

dnl

 

[jackroadkill]

6 hours ago, Ngantek said:

do you have a work desk at home (I assume not?). I personally use my work desk

 

That's what I did in our old place; I was perfectly happy with it and it worked really well.  Any work for my job that I do at home now has to be done on the kitchen table, which isn't my first choice at all due to the distractions and clutter, but needs must when the devil drives.

 

4 hours ago, dnl42 said:

 

I do all my building at my desk. At different times it might have a model on it, some Arduino boards, or some other projects,

 

That's what is great about a decently-sized and solid desk, isn't it?  I'd build kits, tune air rifles, dismantle engines etc etc at mine in the old place.  Thinking about it, maybe that's why 'Er Indoors is so dead set on me doing the same here!

[jackroadkill]

Well, we have a development; I came home today to find that my partner, 'Er Indoors, had decided to rationalise her wardrobe.  In the doing of this she decided that she could do without a chest of drawers in our bedroom.  Now, whilst this wouldn't be my first choice for kit-ruining, I'll gladly and gratefully take it, at least until the negotiation of some workshop space can be undertaken.  One swift EBay session later and I'll have a small desk arriving shortly.

 

More to follow, as they say!

[Pagey]

On 6/22/2022 at 2:25 PM, Fnick said:

So let me get this straight. She wants you to spend more time in the garage!😲  She's a keeper!😄

 

ha ha.  yes, I think she is a keeper (also, she has been with me for a long time, she almost feels like part of the family 🙂

[jackroadkill]

Well, we have some progress at last.  The worktop is 1000 x 600mm, so not huge, but much better than nothing, which was what was here previously:

 

 

I think there might still be some further organisation to come - for instance, I'm going to struggle to get my home-made spray booth to fit or work here as it is, so a major redesign of that is next on the cards.  I was hoping to actually mangle some plastic this evening but work and having to chat to my neighbours for ages put paid to that.  Still, Wednesday night looks promising, so maybe the little Stuka can have the dust blown off its' WIP thread then.

 

Cheers,

 

JRK

[jackroadkill]

I managed to finish my new spray booth this morning.  The old one was a plastic five gallon drum with one side and part of another cut out for access, and laid down on its side.  There was a 125mm USB powered fan on the back, taking the fumes etc down a piece of ducting to the outside.  It worked, but due to the lack of space on my new bench it wasn't practical or comfortable to use it in the new house.  I salvaged the fan and the ducting and fitted them to the new booth, which looks suspiciously like a plastic storage crate (mainly because that's what it is).  The ducting is not fixed on this one, it fits tightly over a 125mm top hat fitting behind the fan, which is bolted on.

 

 

One advantage of this version over the old one is that it will all pack away into the box which then hides nicely under the bench, rather than flopping about like a semi-anaesthetised octopus and having to be banished to the attic between uses.

 

This set-up isn't what I would have chosen, but it's getting there now.  I can at least build and paint kits again, so I'll take that.

 

Cheers,

 

JRK

[Bertie McBoatface]

37 minutes ago, jackroadkill said:

I managed to finish my new spray booth this morning.  The old one was a plastic five gallon drum with one side and part of another cut out for access, and laid down on its side.  There was a 125mm USB powered fan on the back, taking the fumes etc down a piece of ducting to the outside.  It worked, but due to the lack of space on my new bench it wasn't practical or comfortable to use it in the new house.  I salvaged the fan and the ducting and fitted them to the new booth, which looks suspiciously like a plastic storage crate (mainly because that's what it is).  The ducting is not fixed on this one, it fits tightly over a 125mm top hat fitting behind the fan, which is bolted on.

 

 

One advantage of this version over the old one is that it will all pack away into the box which then hides nicely under the bench, rather than flopping about like a semi-anaesthetised octopus and having to be banished to the attic between uses.

 

This set-up isn't what I would have chosen, but it's getting there now.  I can at least build and paint kits again, so I'll take that.

 

Cheers,

 

JRK

 

That's exactly how I made my spray bay, except I used a mains powered kitchen extractor fan with 6" hose to go out of the window. It's very good as a sanding dust extractor too.

 

I'm incredibly lucky not to have any kind of partner (Yes Tess!), except for the dog. The whole living room is my hobby area, with selected parts of the loft, bedroom and storeroom also dedicated to model making, and reading of course. It's also really cheap living on my own so money for the hobbies isn't ever a problem.

 

All you need to make it work is an anti-social personality and a delight in your own company.

 

And Britmodeller to keep those last shreds of sanity attached to the mast.