1/35 scale auto repair shop

[Frederic Testard]

I like this last picture, Dallas. It's not a mess, yet seems more in current use than the one above (morning shot vs evening shot?).
Are the many black dots on the wall nails not being used?

[Malachi Constant]

I like this last picture, Dallas. It's not a mess, yet seems more in current use than the one above (morning shot vs evening shot?).
Are the many black dots on the wall nails not being used?

Repeated that photo here since we've gone to a new page.  Zoomed in on the photo and it looks like there are a variety of empty old nails in the wall ... and places where nails have been removed, or maybe worked loose and fell out.

I like this one a lot too ... perhaps because it looks like a "real world example" of those fabulous Atelier drawings!   

Likely that I'll pick up a lot of little details from this shot:
-- The workbench is a very suitable design and the wooden stool is quite nice! 
-- I'd already planned on using a variety of recycled wooden crates to store parts as shown, so that's a nice reinforcement of that idea.
-- The small benchtop and/or wall-mounted parts cabinets are a must for little screws and fittings, etc
-- The little cabinets on the floor at left are nice too ...
-- Fire extinguisher somewhat buried in the other details ...
-- Planning a similar manual tire mounting machine ...
-- Of course, a variety of unused nails from things that used to be hanging and scrapes, scratches and holes from things that have been removed from the wall.  (And check out all the abuse on the front of that workbench)
-- Don't know if I can get away with a piece of CHAIN as shown in upper left portion of photo, but there's a nice prototypical application of a couple Vector Cut rings/gaskets that I have! 

There's not much stuff near ceiling level here ... but that's only because the guy in this shop never heard of the old trick of driving a nail into a long stick so you can get those things. 

Cheers,
Dallas

[Ray Dunakin]

The Shorpy photo appears to be the "auto parts store" portion of the building, rather than the repair shop itself.

[Junior]

Dallas, that last picture with the wooden stool is really great so much to discover. Why not concentrate on for instance that picture only and then add your tool board to the right or left. Arguments about what´s prototypical or not would then be unnecessary.

Anders 

[Philip Smith]

Clients on waiting list.....  foot tapping



Philip

[Frederic Testard]

Dallas, I've made a search on the Library of Congress site with keywords such as "garage repair". It didn't give tons of results, and most of them don't fit what you're interested in, but there are a few pages that might interest you.


http://lcweb2.loc.gov/pnp/habshaer/wy/wy0400/wy0496/photos/374274pv.jpg

A few pictures there : http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/CA2019/

Here you'll find one in a nice setting (for the diorama you plan to build around the garage in 2056) : http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/MD1072/

The four last shots in this one show the inside (much cleaner than you want probably) : http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/NJ1636/

[Malachi Constant]

Dallas, that last picture with the wooden stool is really great so much to discover. Why not concentrate on for instance that picture only and then add your tool board to the right or left. Arguments about what´s prototypical or not would then be unnecessary.

Anders 

That would just be too sensible!    Actually, I have a hard-headed desire to carry-out my freelance adaptation of Mike Chamber's freelance adaptation of the tool shed on which the structure was originally based ... and modify it into an auto repair shop in at least a somewhat sensible or convincing fashion.  Obviously, I have to struggle with that at times! 

Frederic -- Thanks for those links ... I had cruised the HABS photos years ago and forgotten about that.  The Bonfield garage is about halfway between where I live and where I envision the setting for the 1/35 garage!

Philip -- That's a nice big bus, but Chuck has steered me toward a smaller bus full of reform school girls for later. 

Cheers,
Dallas

[Mobilgas]

Frederic,    I have a picture of the Bonfields Service Station in my files but only had one pic of the building.........the best part i think is the porcelain sign with the clock out front never seen that type of sign before..... with a clock made to fit as part of the sign.......COOL SIGN

[Philip Smith]

reform girls? =  Dirty ole man

[Malachi Constant]

Don't mind me, just doing a little research here ...



Holy contraption, Batman!  Wow, a gasoline-fired water heater in the shop ... oh wait, the article goes on to show this thing installed in the dining room of a restaurant! 



Wow, that's extremely organized ...



Okay, that makes sense, and I've got those G scale milk crates from Wild Hare Models ...



This cracks me up a bit ... BUT ... S-hooks were around for many, many years by this time ... so, you stick some pieces of metal milk crate, old oven racks, whatever on the walls and use some S-hooks to hang things ... sure, why not.



Eureka!  Ah-ha!  So, Mr. Mudgeon sent away for the little pamphlet from Masonite in 1938 ... then got around to organizing things just a few years later.  Yes, it is Masonite ... NO, it's NOT pegboard.  First mention of pegboard (as such) that I can find is 1953.  Which means, I don't have to drill a billion tiny little holes! 

Cheers,
Dallas

[finescalerr]

Kinda thought so .... -- Russ

[marc_reusser]

Dallas,

FWIW, Found this info about Peg Board (Perforated Hardboard) and it's history.

Pegboard:

Peg board, or perforated hardboard, is a type of board material that is used to place hooks or pegs in for hanging tools or other items that require a hook.  Commonly seen in retail stores and workshops, with tool outlines drawn on it, pegboard is amazingly versatile and can be used in a variety of conditions.  It has evolved since the basic pressed hardboard variant and now encompasses a vast range of foundation materials in the creation of other products, and a diversified customer facing product made from steel (sometimes referred to as punch panel), or other metals or wood, all of which can be painted and customised to the customer's needs.  Its most common use is around the home; however it still the most common store fixture used in the US market for retail display. It is the beginning of many pieces of furniture, and part of shop fitting and construction, alongside games and other uses.  It is provided in a variety of widths, and distance between holes, allowing greater versatility whilst preserving its usefulness.  You can hang boxes, pegs, or hooks from it, allowing you to attach practically anything to it, generally the holes are spaced one inch apart, and in Europe and Australia the holes are spaced 25mm apart.

The History of Peg Board:

Perforated hardboard was first seen at the beginning of the 20th Century and has been used for tool storage ever since.   Pegboard is a specific design of hardboard, which is created using one of two processes – wet manufacturing or dry.  The wet manufacturing method is simpler, and involves pumping pulp onto a smooth surface then pressing the top side flat, before drying and drilling holes.  Some hardboard manufacturers use one smooth side, one side with the predesigned holes, like pegs, when pressing.   The dry process simply presses the wood.  This provides a more cohesive lattice effect within the board, with fibres pressing into all three angles, making it much more rigid and strong.  This is a more modern process, but the basics of making hardboard and then drilling it with holes has been used throughout its history.  Both types are then drilled if not already pre shaped with holes, and allowed to cure fully before being used.  For the home garage use the holes are usually 4mm diameter but for shop application and more robust use a 6mm hole is preferred. The Slatbox Hobibox is designed for use in the 6mm holes (the more commonly used commercial board) and is available in both metric and imperial peg spacing.

Where Peg Board is used:

Currently used everywhere from furniture construction, to shop fitting, its most common use is shop fittings and store fixtures, used commonly in hardware stores right through to high end retail stores such as Wal-mart. But it is still commonly used domestically for hanging tools above garage and workshop benches, the Hobibox works really well for storing small things such as screw, nuts and bolts in your home garage application.  It's also used, coated in other materials in soundproofing and beyond.  Pegboard, which is a brand name, is quite literally used in almost everything.  The holes in it allow air to circulate more readily, for example, in wall construction, which in turn can prevent the build-up of damp on one side of a coursing or wall.  Its solid construction, like its sibling, hardboard means that it's versatile enough to use anywhere that requires board of any description.  It has acoustic dampening properties, so coated with plastic, it can be used as a soundproofing treatment to any room – and it's versatile enough to even be used beneath paint canvasses to allow for superior drying.  The stretched canvas should not touch the pegboard, but can instead 'hover' above, allowing the circulation and replacement of air beneath the canvas.

Features and benefits of Peg Board:

Pegboard comes in a variety of sizes and thicknesses, and in set sized panels, so is incredibly easy to fit, and maintain. The most common type is steel pegboard (referred to as punch panel in some markets)– it's stronger, and more easily maintained.  Once in situ, it can be painted, and drawn on – in the case of storing tools, this means you can allot a space for everything, and see at a glance what is missing or hasn't been put away.  As it has regular holes in it, you can use it between walls, or flooring, to provide airflow, much like air bricks and allows for acoustic dampening properties, even untreated.  It's versatility allows it to be used almost anywhere, and is most commonly used as a basis for shop fitting – as tiles or floating walls can be attached to it easily, it's often found in the 'frame' of many buildings.  As drilling into pre-treated hardboard can cause it to splinter, perforated hardboard, or PegBoard is the choice of anyone looking to attach or hang anything from board.  Pegboard is also used as a final wall, where shelves, pegs, or Slatbox plastic storage bins can be hung to display products.

Pegboard adaptors:

Most of the Slatbox bins are manufactured to fit slatwall and other slotted wall systems except for the Hobibox range which is manufactured with small pegs that slot straight into most common pegboard wall systems including metric pegboard and imperial pegboard. Slatbox have developed a unique patented pegboard adaptor so that any of Slatbox's range including Popbox, Shelfbox, Storebox, Cratebox can be fitted directly onto any pegboard wall system.

The Manufacturers of Peg Board, and their Locations:

Manufactured the world, over, Pegboard is a brand name, so you can find more results for it if you search by perforated hardboard.

[Malachi Constant]

Marc --

Thanks, but I do suspect that the Slatbox "history" is somewhat anecdotal.  As a parallel, here's an "official" reply from Masonite Corp:

Pegboard or (HardBoard) was first introduced by Masonite in the
early 1930. I just used google search engine and typed in early Masonite
products.

Um, yeah ... google search is a good starting point, but you do have to sort the wheat from the chafe and the sheepdip from the shinola!    Masonite developed their hardboard process in 1924.  Low-density fiberboard was available LONG before that, but the Masonite hardboard process was apparently very successful at popularizing it ... add to that the depression-era need for low-cost materials and then the WWII need for alternative materials, and the stuff became really popular.  (That said, Masonite was promoting their "plain" hardboard for use in tool displays in 1938, the pegboard doesn't show up in popular use until the 1950s -- if I've missed "real" references, I'd love to see them!) 

There ARE references to the use of "perforated hardboard" in sound-deadening applications prior to WWII.  It seems as likely that the idea for this arose from the availabiility of such material ... but that's not clear.  However, as suggested below, I did find MANY illustrations of various hardboard and/or plywood panels used to create various "tool board" organizers, and, in that regard, the pegboard doesn't seem to show up until 1953 ...



The "Ikea-look" (slatted walls!) circa 1927 ... oh no!  Looks like I could have stuck with my first horrifying design ... and I even could have added an Ikea spice rack to store the small hardware.   



Found many, many interesting references -- searched both Popular Mechanics and Popular Science magazines using Google book search and setting a custom date range of 1920-1945.  Most useful searches were "tool rack" and "tool board" ... "workbench" provides way too many results to really sort, but a few interesting ones popped up.  This one looks practical for a modeling scene.



This one looks like it would be really cheesy in real life ... and even cheesier in a model scene! 



Lots of hardboard tool panels!  Found many examples.  The "Portable Tool Rack" (May 1938) shown in a previous post illustrates a nice arrangement of automotive tools.  The one above has the shadow-box framing, which shows up often ... and there are many references to painting tool outlines/shapes on the hardboard.  Also, many different types of material used to fasten tools to the board:  scrap leather belts, scrap rubber (inner tubes), bits of galvanized pipe strap (at least as early as 1927 there), various wood blocks, bits of wire, old coil springs, wire mesh and so forth ...



Several like this take it a step further and have shaped inserts or holders for the individual tools.  Guess they didn't have routers handy then, but surprised they didn't suggest a jigsaw for the cut-outs!



Historic "proof" that my hardboard tool panel is authentic ... Mr. Mudgeon perusing the May 1938 issue of Popular Mechanics! 

Again, searching thru the old issues of Popular Mechanics and Popular Science illustrates a lot of interesting and "period authentic" ideas ... some very practical, some a bit nutty and some quite fanciful.  (Even saw an "ultra modern" Frank Lloyd Wright-style workshop in a 1939 issue.)  Not sure if the google book search will work internationally -- sorry if that's the case -- but a neat resource.

Also, there are various companies like the one below that specialize in "vintage" equipment, fixtures, etc. from old industrial shops.  Some neat examples of 1920s-1940s metal furnishings and other stuff to be found:
http://www.urbanremainschicago.com/default.aspx?pageID=44

Cheers,
Dallas

[Chuck Doan]

See if this works:

http://books.google.com/books?id=BtYbqYNbg0QC&oe=UTF-8

Dyke's automotive encyclopedia. Has chapters on garage equipement and usefull shop devices. Learn how to listen for axle hum in your flivver!

[Malachi Constant]

Chuck --

Cool link, thanks!  Page 848 has enough "food for thought" to outfit a whole little shop / scene specializing in replacement of convertible tops.  (No, I don't read that fast ... that page just came up in one of the previews!) 

Cheers,
Dallas