Anyone use Mianne benchwork?


M

Marlin39

Well-Known Member
I've been out pricing wood and it was a painful eye opener. Even the crap stuff is 200%-300% higher than a few years ago and the nice, clean, straight stuff is not affordable for hobby work.

I came across the Mianne product and it seems, for the price, it's not that out of line considering lumber pricing and it really cuts the benchwork building time to fractional. I consider building benchwork as one of my least favorite parts of the hobby. Laying track is close second.

Has anyone used the Mianne product?
 
Marlin39 said:
I've been out pricing wood and it was a painful eye opener. Even the crap stuff is 200%-300% higher than a few years ago and the nice, clean, straight stuff is not affordable for hobby work.

I came across the Mianne product and it seems, for the price, it's not that out of line considering lumber pricing and it really cuts the benchwork building time to fractional. I consider building benchwork as one of my least favorite parts of the hobby. Laying track is close second.

Has anyone used the Mianne product?
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I have not used it nor do I know any one that has. I have seen them at the Amherst Train show in Massachusetts. http://www.railroadhobbyshow.com/

They are definitely nice products. Goes together like a puzzle but straight forward to assemble. Not sure how the value of the materials vs. the material in the HD/Lowes would be. I can certainly see the advantage for using it if you are not a that inclined to do bench work from scratch.

www.youtube.com

Mianne Benchwork

www.youtube.com www.youtube.com

Any how they do have a bit of versatility. Good luck and keep us posted on your direction & progress on the build.
 
Yeah, wood prices are up there apparently due to the pandemic and many are doing contruction projects so demand has been high. I'd guess that any pre-fab bench work is going to be eye watering expensive, even compared to the higher prices of lumber. Pre-fab benchwork has always been very costly.

Fortunately I started my construction Nov 2019 and had purchased most of the wood I needed before the price increase, plus I reused a lot of lumber from the previous layout. I do need a little bit more but not much, just some 1x2's to frame the upper yard.

Word from the lumber people is the prices should be settling down this coming spring.
 
I started a new small layout in the Spring of 2019 and found little seasoned pine that was usable at a reasonable price. I used poplar which while expensive was true cut. I built L girders with 1 X 3 and 1 X 4 lengths. Joists are 1 X 2 poplar. Most lumber was found at Home Depot lumber departments. I live in a townhouse and this layout is for an 11' long with a 3' extension area in a spare bedroom and the lumber ran to about $150 including legs. I looked at steel and aluminum framing, Ikea book cases and many other alternatives but wound up with 2 more traditional L girder modules. The layout is 40 inches high and both L girder units and the 3' extension support are on casters and can be split apart and removed easily should my heir need to in the future.
 
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