Let's See What You Got!

[Peter9DO]

Re: Let's See What You Got!

I think we scared everyone off of doing this because how clean our benches are Smason. LOL!!!! It's not about being clean, it's about what is comfortable for you to work. People starting off would get great insight to be able to see the different variations of work benches dirty or clean.

As you stated about the 10lbs in a 5lbs bag, I know all to well! You open up any one of the drawers in that office and you will see 10lbs in a 5lbs bag all day! lol!

[bluto]

Re: Let's See What You Got!

Here is my basement electronics shop. The room is roughly 8' x 11'. The first two pics are the main bench. The base came from Woodsmith's 'weekend bench' plans - all Douglas fir construction with a 8' x 30" x 1.5" oak plywood top. There are heating and return ducts covered by the soffit above. I cut in a small round register to give me some heat and a/c. I also put in a couple of ceiling speakers in there too. In the second pic you can also see my troublesome MDF storage drawers.

The last two pictures show the opposite side of the room. Here you can see my old bench that has been cut down to 6' from its original 8'. Also seen is my trusty old Packard Bell from the recent 486DX2 just 4 teh lulz thread. The 6 old looking storage bins were given to me containing lots of old resistors, capacitors and some ICs that I have no idea what to do with. The newer looking bin on the right in the last pic has my new Panasonic capacitor assortment as well as my graymark robots from jr high on top

And I guess I don't use it enough because it is so clean.

[momaka]

Re: Let's See What You Got!

Wow, very nice bluto!

It's not about being clean, it's about what is comfortable for you to work.

I agree.
I've worked on some messy benches (not my own) before and I get very inefficient. Things just disappear, then you start looking for them. 5 minutes here to look for something, 5 minutes there, and before you know it you've killed 1 hour of your day looking for stuff.
Like I mentioned, my bench isn't awfully neat, but at least I put things back where they were after I use them.

[ratdude747]

Re: Let's See What You Got!

I agree.
I've worked on some messy benches (not my own) before and I get very inefficient. Things just disappear, then you start looking for them. 5 minutes here to look for something, 5 minutes there, and before you know it you've killed 1 hour of your day looking for stuff.
Like I mentioned, my bench isn't awfully neat, but at least I put things back where they were after I use them.

Q.F.T

same here.

[ratdude747]

Re: Let's See What You Got!

Here is my basement electronics shop. The room is roughly 8' x 11'. The first two pics are the main bench. The base came from Woodsmith's 'weekend bench' plans - all Douglas fir construction with a 8' x 30" x 1.5" oak plywood top. There are heating and return ducts covered by the soffit above. I cut in a small round register to give me some heat and a/c. I also put in a couple of ceiling speakers in there too. In the second pic you can also see my troublesome MDF storage drawers.

The last two pictures show the opposite side of the room. Here you can see my old bench that has been cut down to 6' from its original 8'. Also seen is my trusty old Packard Bell from the recent 486DX2 just 4 teh lulz thread. The 6 old looking storage bins were given to me containing lots of old resistors, capacitors and some ICs that I have no idea what to do with. The newer looking bin on the right in the last pic has my new Panasonic capacitor assortment as well as my graymark robots from jr high on top

And I guess I don't use it enough because it is so clean.

Jealous... most of my tools fit in a tool box... and 3 plano boxes make up my parts stash.

Maybe after I graduate engineering technology school and I have had years to build up a better stash?

[Peter9DO]

Re: Let's See What You Got!

VERY NICE Bluto! I'm a fan of your shelf wrapping around the top! Looks good, thanks for posting!!!!

[Koda]

Re: Let's See What You Got!

Peter and bluto I can only congratulate you on the benches. Ratdude I'm pretty much where you are at, a couple boxes of components and a case of tools. I'm in the process of building my work bench but I doubt I can make it as nice as yours guys, will post some pics soon if I don't forget.

[Peter9DO]

Re: Let's See What You Got!

Koda, I'm telling you I have started setting up a bench about 3 years ago... Stuff just piles up and quick! I have more stuff in my office than I know what to do with at times. Believe me, as you start taking on more work the more stuff you need or feel you need, then you go out and buy it. Next thing you know, you need somewhere to put it all. Also just about everything I used to build the bench was very cheap! The bench itself was from Lowes, they have a heavy duty shelving unit there that breaks down into 2 work benches for $100. It was a GREAT deal! (I have the other at my warehouse). I have also made Harbor Freight my favorite store I bought a giant box of the polly bins for $10.00. Used a monitor that I got for free (recapped it) and hung it on the wall. Then the shelving system was like $100, but that was an impulse buy. Now just load it up with some fun tools! BGA rework station, oscilloscope, soldering iron... and all that other good stuff, little at a time! You're not going to get it all overnight... Hell I'm still buying stuff... I think I do this just so I can support my electronics habit, it's like crack! lol!

[KeriJane]

Re: Let's See What You Got!

Maybe we need a poll....

Are you a "Messy Bench" or "Clean Bench" person?

I'm a Messy Bench person.

And a volunteer member of Clean Bench Anonymous, a group dedicated to helping our well-meaning Clean Bench friends and co-workers cope with their unnatural, harmful and distressing obsession with tidiness.

Do things seem to just disappear on a normal, well-rounded work surface?
Don't blame the clutter!
You just need to develop your innate ability to know where stuff is.

We at CBA can help! Intense training sessions are offered featuring modified barking collars that give the victim, oops, trainee a mild reminder to stop obsessively cleaning tools and putting them away in neat little rows, socket rails or in hardcore cases, original packaging.

The practical benefits of a well-stocked work area (that some might call messy) are demonstrated and explained and include:
1-Nobody but you knows what is going on with the current project(s) thus ensuring your continued employment,
2- Never having to order or send out for that special little doodad because underneath that glorious mound of highly productive matter is EXACTLY the right part left over from that other one you did a few weeks ago and...
3- Stuff like tools can be left out in the open, right at hand and ready to go free from the fear of theft because nobody (else) can find it!



No, I'm not a reformed Clean Bencher. I was fortunate enough to be born into a messy bench family.

[Peter9DO]

Re: Let's See What You Got!

Lmao!!!!!

[Junk Parts]

Re: Let's See What You Got!

Here is my bench and all my tools. I use the Yellow thing to check the volts in my car. The black thing is used to melt holes in plastic things as well as to burn the shit out of my fingers. I just found that drill bit in my desk. It goes in my set that I also can't find now.

[Agent24]

Re: Let's See What You Got!

Maybe we need a poll....

Are you a "Messy Bench" or "Clean Bench" person?

I'm a Messy Bench person.

I'm the kind of person who doesn't really keep anything tidy, waits until it's horrific and then does a big cleanup.

This cycle repeats ad infinitum...

I might at least keep a workbench tidier if it were bigger and it was easier to organise things. Then again it might just get worse faster! Currently I don't have a lot of space, in fact only last year I migrated from just using the table.

Now I use a computer desk - literally. A few old computers stacked up on each end with a sheet of MDF on top

That's in one corner of the lounge. There is no spare room that could be used, sadly.

There is slight method to the madness though, things can generally be found according to chronological order...

[DMCrimson]

Re: Let's See What You Got!

Well, there's the thing - I'm of a messy type myself, and if _someone else_ cleans up the mess, I cannot find a thing

[Jack Crow]

Re: Let's See What You Got!

All,
This posting I will regret.

My shop is truly too small for all the stuff in it.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/9010884...7629162479689/

Most of what I do is two way / ham radio related. So lots of little things and cables.

Later.
Jack Crow

[momaka]

Re: Let's See What You Got!

My shop is truly too small for all the stuff in it.

As long as you know where everything is .

The only problem I see with your shop is if your drop something, it may not be easy to find it .

[Jack Crow]

Re: Let's See What You Got!

M,
Gravity is not my friend, so your right about that.

On the other hand I do make some very good stuff.
The guys like my APRS radios, got about 45 of them out in the world.

What part of VA are you in. Home is Herndon, near Dulles Airport.

When people comment about the status of my work bench, I refer them to the devine example.

The astroid belt is a mess also.

Jack Crow

[PeteS in CA]

Re: Let's See What You Got!

I'm not by nature a clean bench person, but am forced to be such at work. At work, security rules don't allow me to bring a camera into the building, so no pix of my boringly empty bench. But here are datasheets on the two instruments I use most often: Agilent U1253A handheld DMM (the datasheet is for the "B" version, but what I have is an "A"); Tektronix 3034B oscilloscope. The OLED display for the DMM means it must be recharged every day or two (possibly better in the "B" version?), but the accuracy and resolution are wonderful (and needed when trying to set a ~4000V regulated output to +/- half a volt or so!). Tek's TDS3000 series came out in the late 90s and is currently being sold new in the "C" or "D" version. It is a freaking workhorse! My "B" version has a 3.5" floppy, but the "C" version has a USB port for using a flash drive. When I worked at Boschert I used a Tek-adapted Polaroid camera that used B & W instant film; capturing a single-sweep waveform took some interesting "gymnastics". And if a flash drive just isn't good enough, the TDS5000 and TDS7000 series oscilloscopes have built-in Windows PCs that control the 'scope and can be ethernet-connected to a network. So you can capture your waveform(s) and save them directly to your preferred network drive. I used one of each of those at my previous employer.

[momaka]

Re: Let's See What You Got!

What part of VA are you in. Home is Herndon, near Dulles Airport.

I'm actually pretty close to that - just a few miles below in Fairfax County.

[ELItheICEman]

Re: Let's See What You Got!

I still have a lot of work to do on my workshop out back, but will post a few pics soon. For now I have some teaser photos, from the days when my shop was also my bedroom. Noteworthy features: the fan, soldering iron, glue gun, etc. are controlled from the 386 laptop on the shelf (using Qbasic) the bigger shelf has a 24v power supply and an ATX power supply that are also controlled from the laptop.

Edit: The cardboard box is a square wave generator

[shovenose]

Re: Let's See What You Got!

I'm actually pretty close to that - just a few miles below in Fairfax County.

I live in Fairfax too the other Fairfax

I'll take a pic of my workbench/desk when it's clean right now it's embarrasing!