My Own Rocketry Room

My oldest child moved out about two years ago. He still hasn't tried to move back home so I decided it was finally safe to take over his room in the basement and claim it as my own. I don't usually post about new things that I get and I tend to get a little bit jealous when I see posts of people's dedicated rocketry space. But now it's my turn to share. It's not big, but it's all mine:



After clearing out his remaining junk (boxed and put in the attic), I installed the adjustable shelving on the wall. The workbench is a ready to use bench-in-a-box from Home Depot ($79) and I painted the bench top and shelf with Rustoleum laminate paint hoping to create a hard surface that will be easy to clean. It didn't dry as hard as I would like, but we'll see how it holds up. The small desk in the corner is what I've been using for the last two years for my rocketry projects. There's a small window above the workbench where I'll install an adjustable speed blower to move air and provide ventilation when working with smelly stuff.

I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out and it might almost be enough space for everything :eyeroll:
Maybe after I finish organizing and moving things in I'll take an "after" picture

Congrats on your new Work Area!

Looks great! My dining room table and I are jealous.

I hope the door by the bench isn't your primary entrance/exit. Congratulations!

...son comes home,"you're sleeping on the couch for how long?..."

Two years? I would have waited about two hours - maybe.

chadrog said:

Two years? I would have waited about two hours - maybe.

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Two nano seconds...

That room is way too clean. The carpeting - I got carpeting in my "workshop" area just like that!!!

- Well, It used to look like that eight years ago.

- Countertop - look for a big scrap piece of laminate material at one of the big-box "home" stores. Glue it down with contact cement - way better than painted wood or flake board.

Let's see. I'd take out the two bottom shelves on the wall-slide in a lathe. Remove the little desk for a band saw. Cut the bench in half and bolt a drill press on it. Maybe wedge the explosive magazine by the door. Fill the remaining shelves with 'the build pile' and put up peg board for misc tools. Put in a paint booth where you were standing to take the picture. Then go back to building on the kitchen table.
(Seriously- it looks really nice- Enjoy your Man Cave/Rocket Dungeon.)

fyrwrxz said:

Let's see. I'd take out the two bottom shelves on the wall-slide in a lathe. Remove the little desk for a band saw. Cut the bench in half and bolt a drill press on it. Maybe wedge the explosive magazine by the door. Fill the remaining shelves with 'the build pile' and put up peg board for misc tools. Put in a paint booth where you were standing to take the picture. Then go back to building on the kitchen table.
(Seriously- it looks really nice- Enjoy your Man Cave/Rocket Dungeon.)

Click to expand...

Dave! You forgot the stripper pole!

mikemech said:

I hope the door by the bench isn't your primary entrance/exit. Congratulations!

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Fortunately no, that goes to the electrical panel - It opens plenty wide enough for me to get in. I'm standing in the doorway taking the picture

chadrog said:

Two years? I would have waited about two hours - maybe.

Click to expand...

We had thoughts about using the room for a guest room, but our families are so far away we only get visitors about every two years - they can take the inflatable bed in the TV room.

scsager said:

Two nano seconds...

That room is way too clean. The carpeting - I got carpeting in my "workshop" area just like that!!!

- Well, It used to look like that eight years ago.
- Countertop - look for a big scrap piece of laminate material at one of the big-box "home" stores. Glue it down with contact cement - way better than painted wood or flake board.

Click to expand...

I might still put down some vinyl mats over the heaviest work areas to protect the carpet (at least a little bit)
Good idea on the scrap laminate. I'm not too happy with the paint.

fyrwrxz said:

Let's see. I'd take out the two bottom shelves on the wall-slide in a lathe. Remove the little desk for a band saw. Cut the bench in half and bolt a drill press on it. Maybe wedge the explosive magazine by the door. Fill the remaining shelves with 'the build pile' and put up peg board for misc tools. Put in a paint booth where you were standing to take the picture. Then go back to building on the kitchen table.
(Seriously- it looks really nice- Enjoy your Man Cave/Rocket Dungeon.)

Click to expand...

Thanks! I did move my small bench-top drill press in there. The shelves are filling up, most of my unbuilt kits are in a closet that you can't see in the pic. I might end up moving more power tools into the room against the other wall you can't see. The blower I'm going to install can move 600 cfm so I'll have good dust removal if needed.

tmacklin said:

Dave! You forgot the stripper pole!

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That's in the next room over - need to cut out a pass-through window.

I'll post an "after" pic this weekend when I get a little more organized

Nice ! More room than I have...

Very nice! I have a refit of my basement area planned - I like the home depot bench a lot for the price, but may just build my own, as I have some longer space to fill (corner space, where I plan 6' on one wall, 6' on the other wall of bench space).

Any dimensions on that work bench?

BLKKROW said:

Any dimensions on that work bench?

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72"W x 22"D x 34.5"H.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Unbranded-72-in-Fold-Out-Wood-Workbench-WKBNCH72X22/203083493

And it was $69, not $79 as I mentioned earlier. I sanded it a bit and put a few coats of polyurethane on it before painting the top. The top and shelf are just MDF. I'm sure someone could build a better one for a little less, but I like that it can fold down for moving if needed, and sometimes your time is worth the money.

farsidius said:

72"W x 22"D x 34.5"H.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Unbranded-72-in-Fold-Out-Wood-Workbench-WKBNCH72X22/203083493

And it was $69, not $79 as I mentioned earlier. I sanded it a bit and put a few coats of polyurethane on it before painting the top. The top and shelf are just MDF. I'm sure someone could build a better one for a little less, but I like that it can fold down for moving if needed, and sometimes your time is worth the money.

Click to expand...

Thank you! Yeah I have the tools to build something like this but I have no time as I work full time and go to school. This will hold me over for a while until I build on it.

farsidius said:

72"W x 22"D x 34.5"H.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Unbranded-72-in-Fold-Out-Wood-Workbench-WKBNCH72X22/203083493

And it was $69, not $79 as I mentioned earlier. I sanded it a bit and put a few coats of polyurethane on it before painting the top. The top and shelf are just MDF. I'm sure someone could build a better one for a little less, but I like that it can fold down for moving if needed, and sometimes your time is worth the money.

Click to expand...

Hmm, I just remeasured my area. I have 6' along one wall, and 8' along the other. What I might do is buy one of these 6' benches, then build an 8' clone of it. Very nice find.