002 The Smart Industry X-Change System (SIXS) - Benchwork Construction

Let's build the Chemical Products Solutions plant!  I'm in an apartment now as the divorce proceedings drag on. No house in the near future until its done, but no reason to stop building.  While my apartment is small I've always believed that there is always someplace for some trains!

Here is Chemical Products Solutions, from the prototype Chemical Products Corporation located in Cartersville, GA.  Just drive to Emerson and go North until you smell sulfur!  Pew!  I'll post some prototype photos later.  Its a massive complex, almost a half mile long.  This is very compressed, but if you look at the model, and know the prototype, you will get it.

For some reason my tiny apartment has a very large bedroom, so I'm going to build the two section layout here in the corner.

I'm still recovering from the stomach flu, so I didn't want to get too crazy today.  But it is 70 degrees and sunny her in Fort Mill in FEBRUARY.  I just had to get out.  I bought a cheap Ryobi battery powered drill and saw, along with a free battery.  Remember, I have NONE of my tools here other than what I have in a small bag.

Cutting wood in the apartment is a no-no, and I can't do it outside of the apartment because of noise.  So I drove to a local power sub station and used their parking lot.  No one seemed to care.  The battery powered saw worked great!  I am in shock!  I thought I'd get a board or two cut and have to recharge, but I sawed all the lumber at once on the one battery and didn't even use the back up.  Get one of these tools!

I picked up some hardware for the layout.  The dowel pins are for aligning the two sections together.

While on the phone with friends and watching re-runs of Night Court I started the assembly.

Although I miss my powerful DeWalt drill, the Ryobi was $69 (saw was $69 and I got a free battery) so its always good to have a back up drill.   The bits are a $8.99 set that won'd last long.

Using my kitchen sink (I'm having to get VERY creative here with the small space and the need to minimize dust) I drilled some wire holes in the center boards.

The first section is 5 feet by 2 feet, just as long as the wall.  It is called a SECTION because it is not standardized to fit any other section.  MODULES interface with other modules.

More boards!  Let's build a 3 foot by 2 foot section for our tiny L-Shape layout.

See, when you have the flu you should NOT use power tools.  For some reason I measured twice, cut once, and screwed up the board by cutting it too short.  I don't have my board stretcher here as its back in Utah.  Luckily I had a little more board stock.  Using my trusty sink (that gathers the sawdust nicely for washing away!) I measured and cut a new center board and drilled two wire holes.  Clean and easy and I had a Coke Zero from the fridge while working.

Framed and squared, here are the two sections.  All my tools are sitting on a towel.  The towel collects dust and wood particles as well has having a handy way to move all the tools around the tiny space very quickly.  You just drag them around!  In a tight spot, this is critical otherwise you are moving and losing tools all the time.

I used the cheapest lumber I could find for all the boards except the legs.  The legs are kiln dried cabinet grade wood.  These need to be nice and straight, and of high quality so they don't warp later.  With wood and women, always go for the best legs!

The module will interlock with the 2x2 legs up top and rest on the running boards.  This way I can easily pop off the section to work on it at the table, or carry to a show.  The legs still have some more assembly and we'll get to it tomorrow.