What do you build/ tinker on?

[novicelad]

Afternoon All,

Just wondering what people tend to build/ tinker on? I set myself up on the dining room table with an old towel but I am finding that's a bit rubbish as screws tend to get lost in it. So the other day I acquired an old carpet tile, turned upside down it works quite well I think. it has a firm but springy surface and can be wiped down and its big enough to move the model out of the way to work of something more fiddly.

What do you peeps use?  

 

[Rb4276]

I bought a duratrax pit mat on amazon a few years ago for around $15-20 which ismabout half price because it was listed as ripped wrapper. 

[Badcrumble]

I use the dining room at home. We have a ‘fablon’ type table cover. I have a cutting mat and an assortment of pots.

My desk at work is a lovely white surface and I have a rack of 12 mini really useful boxes for parts.

[evssv69]

kitchen table....much to her dismay.......with a old double folded curtain and 2x of them thick foam yoga mats to protect it......hopefully........

[Tamiyabigstuff]

Dining table with A0 size cutting board.

Wife can also use the cutting board for her hobbies.

[Kingfisher]

Cheap plastic fold up picnic table. It was supposed to be temporary, but I got used to it and now like it. 

[Mahjik]

I use a wood roll-top desk with a cutting mat like the following:

 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06Y5G3XG4/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

The desk was used for bill paying when we bought it, but everything is electronic these days so the desk just sits there.  The mat is the best thing I've purchased so far...  I was originally trying not to cut up the desk and ended up slicing my finger pretty bad trying to save the desk.  With the mat in place, my fingers have been saved.  

[Juggular]

I have a dedicated desk downstairs.  But instead of using that, I use my computer desk with a glass cutting board.  The polymer cutting mat @Mahjik linked is good.  But it takes a week to get the smell out from a fresh mat.  So this time I've gone with glass.  It's loud if you drop metal parts on glass.  I might break it too.  But it's easy to clean grease and glue.    

A computer desk doesn't give me enough space.  But I can see instructions in PDF files on old Willy's M38 that I have no paper instruction for.  If I need some parts, I can order on the spot too.  One problem is wife keep sneaking in to use my computer, because she can't wait a minute until her tablet or laptop is on.  Last week, I found that she had swept down the entire "A" part bag of Kongead in the bin under the table with the sleeve of her fluffy gown.   

[Phil5556]

Big desk in the study. It doesn't look like this at the moment, it's much messier.

[Jason1145]

I have a HPI workmates which has ridged compartments at the edges for holding loose screws so they don’t roll away... and it rolls up after use. 

I often sit on the floor tinkering but should really use the kitchen table too.

[magnumb]

A large wooden cutting board when sitting in bathtub. Candles and some wine when i'm feeling a bit cheeky. 

[nowinaminute]

Wonky old Ikea desk hidden away in my bedroom that wobbles and sends everything tipping over whenever I try and saw something. It is 2 slabs of MDF with honeycomb inside like a cheap door! It was one of those jobbies where you choose the legs and top you want. The legs are pretty sturdy but the desk part you can squeeze the two sides inwards between your hands! I guess I should keep an eye out for something sturdier but then I'd have to clear all the stuff of it!

The one positive is that I don't have to worry about working directly on it because I don't care how scarred it gets! If i need a smooth surface for something precise I have an A4 cutting mat.

I keep the desk upstairs not because of my 6yo daughter, but my cat who will most definitely give it a daily reorganising. Out of the entire rest of the house, the part of the desk that is occupied by a disassembled gearbox or ball diff etc will be the only place she could possibly get comfy. Not to mention she has sinus issues and would probably like nothing better than to sit there sneezing over my stuff all day.

That's the "official" desk but of course that spends 99% of the time completely covered in "stuff" so my usual workplace can be anywhere from the coffee table, kitchen worktop or even the bed if I'm indulging in a bit of relaxed building on a lazy Sunday afternoon. I also do a lot of stuff at work, there's only the 3 of us so it's tight knit and boss doesn't mind me tinkering during down time as long as he get's to "ave a go" with whatever I'm working on.

I often fantasise about having my own man cave or a shed....or you know, just a cat who isn't intent on spending all day testing Sir Isaac Newton's theory of gravity with the desk contents.

[TwistedxSlayer]

Either the computer desk, or kitchen table, or living room floor. Using a Trackstar rubber mat and turnigy towels.

[Jonathon Gillham]

I have 3 places I use. I tend to build kits on the kitchen table with a cutting mat and some containers. I also have a bench in the garage where I do maintenance, soldering and jobs that are less than about an hour. Then there is a coffee table which my son uses as a table in the lounge where I will do similar to what i do in the garage. The maintenance type jobs.

A lot depends on who is around and what else is happening that day and whether I need to be out of sight or part of whats going on.

I have set myself up so I can just grab everything and go wherever, tools in an rc tool box etc so its not hard to move around. I don't have 2 sets or a small set for taking with me and big set for home or anything, so everything is together

[MadInventor]

Worktop in the garage that used to be chipboard flooring. When I bought my first house before the other half moved in, I had the watch maker's lathe set up on the dining table 

[Peter_B]

I have a couple of aluminium folding picnic/camping tables. One is quite long and I recently got a shorter one to take racing. I can set those up wherever I need to - dining room her indoors is about, living room if I can get away with it.

On top of the table I use a Turnigy rubber work mat that was about £7 from Hobbyking.

Tools etc are currently in the old pit box I used to go racing with when I was younger. But I recently got a Corally Pit Case that I'll be transferring over to.

[TurnipJF]

At the diningroom table, on a towel, with a small plastic cutting board on one side for scalpel work, and a small multi compartment tray on the other to keep screws and small parts orderly. 

[Grumpy pants]

Well the new lady in my life is looking forward to me tinkering at the dining table 👍

There was some talk about helping though.... 

But for now the 2 Lunchboxes will be the 1st ones to get finished and then hopefully my Wild One before we go on holiday in July.

[racer1]

Desk in my office.  It's a large "L" shaped desk.  One side is for work the other is for my hobbies.  I try to keep them out of the kitchen to keep the GF happy

 

[markbt73]

Most of my work is done at a cheap Ikea table in my office/study, but anything noisy or messy, or that generates dust or fumes, is done at the workbench in the garage. I do a lot of fabricating parts out there, and then bring them inside for assembly.

[Saito2]

Pretty much the same for me. I have an old dining table in my study/hobby room. Any fab work is done on a work bench in my garage. If there's anything really specialized like lathe work, etc. I take it to work with me at the restoration shop and mess around on my lunch break.

[Parkesy]

5 hours ago, TurnipJF said:

At the diningroom table, on a towel, with a small plastic cutting board on one side for scalpel work, and a small multi compartment tray on the other to keep screws and small parts orderly. 

Yep same as me. Works well. The first couple I worked out of the bags and cut the tops off, but I reckon half my build time was spent just getting the parts out of the bags with tweezers or carefully with my fingers. Added the multi compartment tray and makes things so much neater and faster. 

[Re-Bugged]

Started in the lounge on a 2” x 3” wooden table, then shifted into the spare room on the now redundant bigger felt covered LEGO/train table with the purchase of more kits. But sadly back on the tiny table as the big table is used for my wife’s paperwork in her new venture. It’s a bit tight on there trying build a static Motorbike from Xmas, SRB/Blitzer maintenance + paint/ brushes tools etc. I would like to empty it out & put worktops down 2 sides to make life easier. I did find one of those green with a yellow grid on it cutting mats buried in there though that’s a bonus.

But my son should be off to the States to study in August so there will be another room up for grabs with a desk already in it !!

[StrokerBoy]

I've got a small workbench in the garage but it's covered in motorbike parts, plus it's too cold and cluttered to work in there for more than 10 minutes.  So I use our kitchen table with a TRF work mat on it, plus a cutting board where necessary.  Unfortunately, the kitchen table is also my work desk, so Mon-Fri there are 3 laptops preventing any model making (or eating for that matter).  We're trying to move house soon with a view to solving all of these problems.