Mianne Benchwork Question

You absolutely can assemble it yourself.  Very Easy and comes with instructions.

Yes, you can do it yourself. I actually enjoyed assembling it, which is a surprise for me! Tim provides excellent illustrations and directions. The best part is no mess, simple tools, and Tim's support via phone.

If you have the ability to to turn a screwdriver and can lift a couple of pounds, you can easily assemble Mianne benchwork. Once you get a couple of leg sets assembled, each additional piece is attached to the already standing pieces. It builds upon itself. The hardwood, straight grained poplar wood is very light and the unitized construction of the poplar/MDF beams (up to 4' long) are as well. Full color coded assembly instructions and drawings along with high grade simply installed hardware removes all guess work. The finished assembly should give you a good feeling of accomplishment and you will be quickly moving onto the next phase of building your layout.

Tim Foley, designer/maker of the system provided the benchwork for my layout some 15 years or so ago. I have added onto it five times. My wife and I think so highly of his product that we help man the Mianne  booth at York and Springfield shows.

All great comments and I've been using this for about 7 years or so. Easy. I just tore my old layout down in order to build a new one and you just reuse the pieces. Great product! Terry

Mike;

You absolutely can do it yourself. I'm just a bit behind you at 60 with two bad knees and I assembled a 14'x16' layout myself over the course of about two weeks (I did a bit each day - no rushing). None of the parts, even when assembled, were particularly heavy. Even a nearly 48" square corner section was easy to pick up and move around. Frankly, I did 75% of the building while sitting on an old rolling desk chair I had in the basement!!!

As has been noted above, Tim supplies easy to follow diagrams and instructions. I'd say go for the Mianne. In fact, Tim posted a 20 minute YouTube video last month showing the assembly process which would be well worth watching to get a really good idea of what is involved. 

Yourself for sure. Plus the Mianne staff is great if you have any questions.  The product is excellent; everything is included and you only need a couple of tools. 

I just did it by myself last fall and I am a klutz. As said before I found the pieces light and easy to handle. No problems at all.

Now carrying in the plywood is another matter and nothing to do the with the product but a function of an old tired back and bad rotator cuff.

Thank you everyone for the replies. I think that is the route I will take. Even though this will be a small layout, I want the bench work to be simple for me construct. Seems like I can handle this without difficulty.

  You shouldn't have any trouble assembling it yourself. I built mine in one afternoon with only a cat helping me. The directions are good and easy to follow. If you have a problem you can call them and they will help.

  You are not getting any younger so give serious consideration to table height.

  If you need a customized shape they will be glad to produce one for you.

  Good luck.

Douglas

I have viewed the product and if I had to do it again I would use it.  These folks know what they are doing.

I've assembled the Sievers brand of benchwork ... the dry, light pine went together effortlessly. I know you could do that alone.

Good luck.

To put it in perspective, my Mianne layout consists of two 5 x 9 sections arranged as an L, somewhat similar to what you are discussing. The shipping weight of the whole order was 109 pounds. I put mine together by myself with no trouble.

Photo of all 109 pounds attached.

I used Mianne and it is very easy, you will have no problems putting it together yourself. It is very nice, light weight, well thought out and very easy to assemble. It is really a great system. As others have stated, they give you excellent color coded instructions. They will also help you with the design if need be. I talked to them a couple of times before ordering and they were very helpful. I put my 6'x16' table together in about 8 hours or so and was ready for track. The Mianne took probably about 4-5 hours and the rest was going to Home Depot to get the 3 sheets of plywood for the top and have them cut it into sizes I could handle myself. They guy at HD did all the handling of the full plywood sheets. I highly recommend Mianne.

Thank you guys for all your help. The video was very helpful. I can handle that. Also, the photo of the L-shape 5x9's was helpful, too. It's kind of what I'm thinking, except 12' x 8' with 5' wide tables so I can have a double track Fastrack main.

Marty F,

   I agree 100%, great engineering designs work, and quality wood products from the look of it.  I have only two questions, what is the total cost of each 4x8 bench work and will there be free shipping.

I especially like the Made in the USA Flag, in the corner of his display sign.

PCRR/Dave

will they design a custom table height?  thanks

Pine Creek Railroad posted:

Marty F,

   I agree 100%, great engineering designs work, and quality wood products from the look of it.  I have only two questions, what is the total cost of each 4x8 bench work and will there be free shipping.

I especially like the Made in the USA Flag, in the corner of his display sign.

PCRR/Dave

Dave;

Per Mianne's website, a 4'x8' benchwork is $359. Shipping is 10% of the cost. Considering the size and weight of the boxes for the standard 40" height, that seems reasonable. 

Yes, they will make you about anything you want. I don't know exactly what all they will be able to do for you custom wise, but height is one thing you can change. I believe 40" is their standard height and the cross members come in 6" increments. After talking to them before I ordered mine, I added some extra things for shelves under the layout. and later ordered their transformer cart. It is a very nice system.

Shipping was not free, you will have to talk to Mianne about that. My shipping costs were not that bad, IMO. I got mine a while back so I am not current on pricing, you will have to look at their website or contact them. Considering the time saved and quality of their product I didn't think mine was expensive at all.

From their order form --- *Standard shipping is 10% on all orders $100 or more. 18% on orders under $100 ($15.00 min.). These rates apply only to continental USA. AK,HI or Canada please call for quote. Standard shipping is via UPS or FedEx Ground Service