Has anyone created the basic modules of Mianne Benchwork in SCARM? I imagine it would make it much easier to determine how much you need and how to make it all fit.
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There's really no need for you to do it, Tim does it all. All you need to discuss with him are the dimensions and configuration of your tabletop. He sends you drawings and is available for actual conversations about it. After you agree with what you want he sends you a list of items needed and the cost.
Of course you can always create a SCRAM diagram of what you want it to look like to him and work with him from there.
Hope this helps.
Mike
ezmike posted:There's really no need for you to do it, Tim does it all. All you need to discuss with him are the dimensions and configuration of your tabletop. He sends you drawings and is available for actual conversations about it. After you agree with what you want he sends you a list of items needed and the cost.
Of course you can always create a SCRAM diagram of what you want it to look like to him and work with him from there.
Hope this helps.
Mike
Ok. Good to know.
I'm still designing, so I was thinking of seeing what I could make using standard parts. Instead of having to memorize all the dimensions, i could just lay them in and move them around like building blocks. I know what space I have, but haven't come up with a table top design I like yet. I'd hate to land on something that requires a bunch of custom pieces.
It might be fun to fiddle with in SCARM, but I agree with EZMike, really no need. You can also send your track plan with dimensions to them and they will fit the benchwork to it. I did that at first, then we decided to move and I had to start over. The second time I ordered one of their kits which I planned to add on to. It's very easy to add on or re-configure as well.
I don't think really really have 'custom pieces' so to speak. I believe it is all in 6" increments and the system can be arranged to fit almost anything using what they have developed. Tim can easily do all that for you. They also use some different pieces here and there for strength and to reduce total number of pieces used.
You really should go take a closer look at their website and download their catalog. Lots of good info there and they are very easy to work with on your design.
In case it's not yet obvious, I really like the Mianne benchwork, I'm sold on this stuff! 
There's a note in the catalog that mentions custom pieces - "Legs are available in any height and custom length I-beams are also available upon request." However, given that Tim uses I-beams that are 12"-48" long in 6" increments, I can't imagine needing custom lengths.
Anyway, it would be pretty time-consuming and tedious to make actual I-beams, etc., in SCARM when simply drawing appropriately sized rectangles will give you an idea of what you'll need. One thing I noticed looking at the website is Tim adds a cross-member when he uses the 48" I-beams. I don't know if he adds them for the shorter 36" and 42" lengths. Be that as it may, the bigger question I always have is how to reinforce the legs. If you look at the photos on the home page, he shows the sample 4x8 kit with lower I-beams in the form of a horseshoe on each end. In the photo below that he shows a different configuration with a lower diagonal I-beam. And as RTR12 has mentioned several times, he had Tim drill some extra holes in the lower part of the legs, so shelves could be added later.
Basically my point is that SCARM can be useful in estimating what you'll need, but talking to Tim will identify some options and get you much closer to what will work best.
The other thing is that the actual length of the I-beams include part of the legs, the exact measurements are from the center of the legs. I believe the legs are 2x2's and that means a 48" I-beam is only 46". It also means that if you lay a 4x8 sheet of plywood on top of a 4x8 Mianne frame, part of the legs and I-beams will be visible, so some folks add a piece of trim to the plywood edge.
One final note is that there's no reason the plywood decking can't overhang the frame. For example, Tim's kits are designed with 24" and 30" depths in mind. So if part of your frame is 30" deep and you want the decking to be 34", I don't see any reason you can't overhang the decking 2" front and back rather that use custom length I-beams. That's something else Tim will discuss when he sees your design.
