Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

Not that I'm envious or anything, but... where's my shovel, I need to dig out a basement in my house... Maybe I can do it ala 'The Great Escape' so the Commandant (Wife) doesn't notice, am sure I can 'hide' the soil under the artificial lawn

lone dirty dog wrote:Firstly congrats on the wedding to you both may your life be happy and full of joy
Great work on the man cave envious of the space you have all looks good and plenty of workspace.

Thanks LDD! We appreciate the love! "Plenty" was what I was going for

Viktor von Domm wrote:cant help you with the constructions... that´s not the scale i work with...although i have built a gaming table recently...pics later on^^..

also...our apartment has bulging walls...you don´t get any 90° corners....argh....we have built loft beds in two rooms...and it was a nightmare...and for the second one we had a friend who is a carpenter at our side...^^

one slight suggestion tho...all that sweet and natural wood...will you seal lthe lot of them...please? the beating, paints and glues...i couldn´t have this on my guilt bank account to not suggest varnishing here....?

I've thought about this, but I'm not really using furniture-grade nice wood, it's just construction-grade structural lumber. Also Al my crooked screwheads and split corners are very very visible. It would look kind of crappy with a nice varnish. Even if I just sealed the tops, I really should've done that before I screwed them on from the underside. I figured by using cheap wood, I can just replace a piece it if it gets bad. Think of it as sacrificial wood. Like a giant cutting board, made of much, much softer wood than a cutting board (in oak, these tops would cost Tens of Thousand$! I'll probably use thin sheets of luan over working areas that get the brunt of abuse.

stonned_astartes wrote:So much space!

Thanks man! That's my favorite part!

Camkierhi wrote:Looking fantastic, definitely reading several times a day. Painting desk looks awesome. Plenty of room.

Maybe peg board for the walls, or you could line it with spice racks. Or I have seen on Dakka someone made a board where the pots where stored on their sides. That was quite cool. Or like me make lots of shelves from foam core.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
What about using cutlery trays on their side as shelves, think I saw Theo do that one. All these smaller shelves could be stuck to a bigger back board.

I'll board over the studs, just like in home construction (that was the idea) then I'm planning on custom-building shelves inspired by this

Just not nearly as high-end.
...and My airbrush booth will be integrated right in the middle seamlessly!

Nevelon wrote:You can never have too much power.

Have you thought about wiring an outlet or two into those risers in the bench? Might want to put some in on the workbench side as well.

Never know when you’ll need to plug in a dremel, charge your phone, or whatnot.

And if you wire things now, you’ll be set for whatever the future brings. When the rest of us are reworking out workspaces to accommodate the new fangled electric paintbrushes, you can just plug in and get going.

Thanks man! I have 4 foot surge protectors for each bench's edge, and the shelf bench already has it's own power for the laptop I'm typing this on right now The Dremel and Dremel workstation have their own dedicated space and power. But you're right, you can never have too much. I'm thinking I can nail those blue plastic new construction boxes to the stud legs. I'd imagine I'd need power lower rather than higher up on the wall, then I don't have to fuss with jig-sawing box holes out of the wall material. The good news is each outlet you see (one on each of the three sides) are all on separate 40 Amp circuits. So we shouldn't have any capacity problem, I've been running my Delta Compound Miter saw throughout this project, and it doesn't even dim the lights as it draws amps.

Cleatus wrote:That's a sweet painting and modelling space. Looking great. Thanks for sharing!
Also, Gumption is good cider.

Thanks for reading and commenting! Appreciate it! It is good Cider! I need to pick up more.

Theophony wrote:Welcome back Dave, I've been lurking and shall continue to do so for a while, but wanted to congratulate you on the wedding and getting your space straightened out .

Also congrats to beans whose parents have finally made her a legitimate child .

Thanks Theo! Man I'm really glad you're still around too! I was afraid Dakka may have petered out, I'm glad all you guys are still around! Yep, Bean is legit!


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 Ruglud wrote:
Not that I'm envious or anything, but... where's my shovel, I need to dig out a basement in my house... Maybe I can do it ala 'The Great Escape' so the Commandant (Wife) doesn't notice, am sure I can 'hide' the soil under the artificial lawn

If you just put a coffee can full in the garage a week, you'll be done in a few centuries!
Thanks for being around Rug! I need to get caught up on you guys' threads very soon! as soon as I have some down time, I will.

Dave is nearing man-cave perfection for the hobbyists!

 shasolenzabi wrote:
Dave is nearing man-cave perfection for the hobbyists!

Near....I can't afford to go "ultimate", but I'll make do
Seriously though...thanks Shas!
Remember, the basement STILL has room for seating, tv, 4x8 game table, and bar..just no bathroom

 dsteingass wrote:

 shasolenzabi wrote:
Dave is nearing man-cave perfection for the hobbyists!

.just no bathroom

Didn't you say there was a pipe under your workbench??? Enterprising young chap as yourself could fix that up. Never another need to step away from your desk again.

Theo....I wish, unfortunately, sewer pipes need to vent stinky air and help equalize the pressure. If I take that cap off. It'll vent into my face

Man, that hobby space is really starting to take shape. Cracking stuff.

EDC

The workspace is shaping up very nicely, but it looks like general overhead lighting/ambient lighting needs something. Plans for that?

Also, that wardrobe. Not left behind because it was too heavy. It was left behind because it is haunted. You'll see in about 11 days from today

 dsteingass wrote:
Ok...I MIGHT have a problem...

I don't see a problem, but i will take void and dreadfleet if your conscience is bothering you

Thanks guys!

@Red- are you commenting on my reference photo? That guy has LED lights above his paint racks, and little ambient light.
Or do you think I need more?

Light is one of those things you can never have enough of. OK, that’s a slight exaggeration, but I would err on the side of too much, then not enough. Also give some thought to the flavor of light. Different bulbs, different spectrums and all that.

If you don’t want to custom build something, I hear good things about people getting paint racks designed for nail polish. But take my advice with a grain of salt, I just have pots scattered across my desk...

Heh...I think i'm ok with custom-building at this point

Yeah, those instant start ballasts with daylight tube really cover the work areas. The small bench light is almost too much spot light, and there is an overhead fixture that just needs replaced with something better.

Need more. Look at the very strong shadows on the floor of your photo. What you have is good task lighting. Add some good overall overhead lighting. It won't take much.

Barzam's comment about different sort of lights is a good one. If have too much light from the high Kelvin bulbs (5500K and up) things will get too blue. A fair number of 'daylight' bulbs do this. Consider some natural light bulbs. Something with a CRI -- Color Rendering Index-- of 90 or higher for your painting area. Philips makes some. Many of those Daylight bulbs are under CRI 90.

These are the new T8 6500k tubes- no blue at all- just daylight. They've really improved these since I bought daylight bulbs last. The small desk is just a plain jane flourescent tube, that actually looks too harsh on that desk to me. I don't think my phone camera really does that good of job, but yeah- there is an overhead fixture that needs replaced. I positioned the overheads so there would be no shadow at all on the working surface. Do I really need to eliminate shadows under the bench? other than finding a head or lasrifle that fell, why would that matter?

for finding bits that felll off the "world" i have a mini LED torch close at hand^^

 dsteingass wrote:
Do I really need to eliminate shadows under the bench? other than finding a head or lasrifle that fell, why would that matter?

You say that like it’s not something that happens all the darn time!

What you should be doing is rigging powerful lights pointing sideways at floor level, so any dropped bits cast a stark shadow making them easy to find.

i recently also got me a pair of glasses...cheap ones you get at a drug store...in fact because Red mentioned these to me...and these also comes with LED lights...s if i put them on and look for stuff that droped i look almost like Cyclops...(xmen if you´re confused^^)

Honestly, It already looks like I'm welding down there. Perhaps Instead, I should paint the floor flourescent orange, so the little grey bitz stick out

well...actually....a new color for the floor would be a blessing...something soothing like blue? or green to ease the eye strain after hobby work?^^

Goblin Green.

Flocking the whole room is optional.

Haha Vik- I haven't seen the glasses, but I saw they were selling baseball caps with LED lights in the bill.

Goblin Green flocked floor....brilliant

 dsteingass wrote:

 shasolenzabi wrote:
Dave is nearing man-cave perfection for the hobbyists!

Near....I can't afford to go "ultimate", but I'll make do
Seriously though...thanks Shas!
Remember, the basement STILL has room for seating, tv, 4x8 game table, and bar..just no bathroom

Still, looking good so far! so sounds like just the inconvenience of having to go upstairs for potty breaks from Gaming, TV, hobby work! still a great basement!

When house shopping, we ran across some EPIC basements- completely finished, multi-room, fancy stuff...But the pricing got really high on those, and most were the McMansion-type newer construction look-alikes. They just do not put the craftsmanship into home construction anymore. This house is 75 years old next year. And for a basement poured in 1941, it's pretty sweet

With basements in the Midwest United States, there is always the possibility of flooding though. It's VERY, Very remote, but sometimes we get too much rain and We live at the confluence of 3 rivers, so gak can happen. In fact, we live only about 3 streets from a river, but we're also in-between 2 flood-control Dams. I've built most things elevated down here, and we're insured so...

 dsteingass wrote:
When house shopping, we ran across some EPIC basements- completely finished, multi-room, fancy stuff...But the pricing got really high on those, and most were the McMansion-type newer construction look-alikes. They just do not put the craftsmanship into home construction anymore. This house is 75 years old next year. And for a basement poured in 1941, it's pretty sweet

With basements in the Midwest United States, there is always the possibility of flooding though. It's VERY, Very remote, but sometimes we get too much rain and We live at the confluence of 3 rivers, so gak can happen. In fact, we live only about 3 streets from a river, but we're also in-between 2 flood-control Dams. I've built most things elevated down here, and we're insured so...

Do you have a good sump pump? Dehumidifiers?

As someone who has a damp basement, while you are still in the construction phase, I’d be sure you have these things straightened out. Make sure nothing you care about is on the floor. If it is damp, be sure to run a dehumidifier. Dust + Damp = crud build up on minis. Not a good thing.

(I may be preaching to the choir here, but after bailing out my basement a half dozen times, it’s a subject close to my heart)

Ah, the damp basement. My old nemesis. So I keep the gutters leaf free, and the downspouts attached to additional piping to divert all water well away from the foundation. Also, Drylok is your very good friend, as is some sort of sealer for the floor. And the dehumidifier of course. Here in Maryland, things are humid, very humid, for the summer. I run the dehumidifier 24-7 from Memorial Day to Columbus Day. Haven't had any problems. Well, sometimes the paint dries too quickly We also get the Radon gas worries in some places.

One of the ALTO bulbs from Philips? Some of those have excellent color rendering. Anyway, the CRI is important, moreso than temperature, for painting, since paint can take on odd appearances under certain lighting. The old Games Workshop Space Wolf gray-- the stuff from the mid-nineties-- would do this depending upon the lighting. Something to consider. Other thing is, as the eyes age, they need brighter light. (as I know all too well :( ) Taking care of that now, while you are building the space, will be easier than doing it later. You are planning to be there a while, no? It's not the shadows under the bench really, it's just that there are some very strong shadows in general. I used to find it a bit jarring in my hobby space to have strong differences in lighting. It could just be me. I'm sure you'll get it right for your own needs.

What color are those epoxy sealers for things like basement floors? They come in a light gray I think.

Hey Vik, the glasses do work. I also found a fun little desk lamp. Has a ring of 40 LEDs built around a 5x magnifying glass. Haven't had much chance to use it though. Seems like it will come in handy.

For dropped bits, an old trick from my woodworking days. (1) sweep or vaccuum the floor before beginning to work-- or just keep the floor very clean and (2) if you drop something, a decent hand broom and dustpan. That way you don't have to actually see the bit. Just sweep in general and you'll get it quicker than you would by looking for it.

Hmmm, that turned out to be a long and boring post.

Flock the floor. Good one. Or I should say deliberately flocking the floor. I'm sure that I am not the only one who has accidentally flocked a floor.

Oh yeah. We've got sump pump, all checked, I bought the biggest residential dehumidifier I could find, and I have it piping directly into the sump crock. We're dry down here for sure. We're actually getting new gutters and downspouts as soon as the company schedules us. It's one of those seamless companies, that bring in the big long~ass truck rig and form them to fit your house on-site. No joints, all downspouts will be aimed far away from the foundation with the good teflon-coated leafguards. I'm way ahead of you on that

I don't think the camera shows the light because it's such a long room.

Basement is shaping up nicely, Dave. Good work.

We had torrential rains here the other night, no problems....this time, but like you my house is 78 years old (same as my dad ), one leaks occasionally, the other is My dad .

Thanks Doc! Your sprue furniture still has a better texture

Haha Theo - They are actually calling for patchy FROST tonight! As an allergy sufferer, I welcome it with open sinuses!

I have so much nerd envy. I have a desk in a cupboard. Honestly, I'm like Harry bloody Potter I guess it's a reflection of differences in UK and US real estate to an extent though. I am amused by your wardrobe of wonders (bookcase of boxes? Cupboard of curios) - makes me feel better about my shelf of shame looking awesome all round mate.