For some reason, a lot of bare metal around lipos doesn't sound like a good idea to me. I like the laminate idea. Or worst case, get some smooth plywood and paint it. Our old hobby shop had tables like that and they took a beating.

Good points.
 

Some good points made. What I did was put two 3/4" plywood base boards down to give me 1 1/2" on our shop workbench and then applied a rubber floor treatment over it. It looks great and it is very durable and easy to keep clean. You can get a good variety of rubber applications to make it look just about any way that you want.

Just to clarify what I used is something I acquired from our housing maintenance department. It looks like lenolium because it comes in rolls, but is is the same stuff used on electrical workbenches to reduce static charges and resist conductivity. Seemed like a good idea because of the Lipo batteries, and also because it was free. I just glued it over the plywood countertop with contact cement. If it acquires too much damage you just peal it off and apply a new layer. Very good stuff.

What about epoxy floor coating over plywood? That stuff is invincible...

I'm still leaning toward the laminate, i prefer a nice hard counter top the anti-static mat wouldn't be good for me.

anyone wanna see some sketches of the cabinets that i did? or would yall rather me just finish the damn things and quit talking about them? lol

How about all of the above?

Or, get granite!

Haha, in all seriousness, I think it would be nice to have a two-tone thing going on, the sides being (if it's in a U shape) nice, an shiny (aluminum, or whatever you wish), and then the center as a blackish color, rubber, etc. You could use the center (top of the U) as the "charging" area, and where all of your soldering takes place...

Just my $0.02.

Charging station
 

Designing and building in a Lipo charging station would be a nice add on as well. Something that would be a nice fireproof box with an exhaust fan to keep air temps at a minimum and also minimize smoke issues should you have a pack let go on you. The issue I have with simple laminant countertops is that they scratch, crack, and break much too easily and then they just look like dog crap. They were a good idea in the 70's, but now a days they are just a cheap way to go for people on an extremely tight budget. Don't short change your project and end up regretting it later on. Do it right the first time around and you will be pleased that you did. There are literally dozens of options at your disposal so make your choice considering the usage of the shop for both R/C repair work, and for your quad repair work as well. You want something extremely durable that cleans up nicely, and will last a long time.

here is my original sketch, the actaul plans aren't here but not much changed.

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-..._5110800_n.jpg

on the left you see the parts washer, it has a shop towel dispenser and spray can rack above it (it will also have compressed air with a short coil hose there)

below the parts washer is a big cabinet (prolly keep my tire wash bucket and cleaning stuff in there along with w/e else)

next to that cabinet is a set of shelves that are angled down towards the back, those are for all my bodies.

the 3 sections of overhead cabinets are 54 inches longs each and all have a 4 foot florescent light under each.

the center section of cabinets will have two smaller top drawers and two larger lower drawers. the tops will be for tools, hardware, and oils. the lowers are for parts.

under neath the front left corner is where ill keep my trunk that i take when i dont take the trailer (such as to rock crawling events)

The front left corner up there will be home to all my chargers and a stationary 12v power supply will be mounted directly under the counter (prolly atleast a 12v 45 amp setup)

coming around the front youll see another set of drawers the top will be for my lipos (yes theyll be in lipo sacks) and my different balance boards. the two lower drawers are very large the top for buggy and sc tires, the bottom for truggy and crawler tires. (it might not hold all my tires but i can always toss some tires in the trunk)

then there is another section with a wide drawer on top and cabinet underneath, ill keep a setup station and my setup sheets and manuals in the drawer. Im sure the cabinet will end up with a bunch of junk in it.

the car rack for all the car will be on the opposite wall

I think i'm going to be very happy with how much countertop space i'll have so i can spread out and stay organized better.

So now that you have the plan.. I can't wait to see what really ends up happening..

We all PLAN for countertop space....but..

if i fill up all that counter top then all hell has broke loose in that trailer.

That looks like it is going to be an awesome setup! How many cars do you usually race at an event? I struggle with one. :lol:
For the lipo setup have you seen this?

I usually race 2-4 cars depends on how big the race is and what the time schedule is like.

Thats a neat charging station but not really for me. I have a stand that my pair of 610s will sit on and my 606 will sit next to those, and i keep my other 606 in the box because i don't normally need all 4 at once.

I just remembered i took a picture on my phone a few days ago working on the cabinets, should be finished by next week.

these were the first two sets of drawers. (one is on its back on the benches with all the clamps on it) i'm taking my time and enjoying playing carpenter, don't get to do that as much as id like, so this has been alot of fun.

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-...3_511268_n.jpg

Looks good Ross. What are you building the cabinets out of? I have always wanted to build cabinets, but never really got to learn and just do not have the time these days. They look good, my construction techniques are a bit "agricultural" but I have a requirement that I can jump on anything I build...

im building them out of 3/4" Birch very high grade stuff, had to drive 3 hours round trip to pick it up. well worth it though it easy to work with and doesn't give you trouble like some of the cheaper grades of "cabinet grade" wood

Thats gonna be a nice finished product ROOTAR.....You may want to think about the flex of that trailer before you start fastening the cabinets...If you havent already.