New EEVblog Lab Tour (Incomplete Edition)

[EEVblog]

A tour of the new (totally incomplete) EEVblog lab space.

[tautech]

Replace the matting and old ESD matting to David's proposed new soldering/inspection bench.
Why, well it's gunna be just inside your entrance door and you know what they say about first impressions. 

[MT]

Dave! not broodaar, you say it with sorta short vocals "broder", translated to Austranglish it means brother!

Anyone handy with a welder could probably build something similar to broodaar with Ikeas ALGOT system.
https://www.ikea.com/se/sv/catalog/categories/departments/bedroom/11468/



Shelf holders.
https://www.ikea.com/se/sv/catalog/categories/departments/living_room/10398/

[Towger]

The ESD mat is manky, get rid of it.

[bsudbrink]

Ooh, glass walls.  Put up a surveillance camera to catch people walking into them.  EEVBlog blooper reel!   

[johnlsenchak]

You  should set  up  your  benches  like  Shahriar Shahramian   over at the "Signal  Path" where all the  equipment is neatly  placed  in   the back  shelving

The  mailbag  table looks terrible  on a angle with the shelving  in back  Just my opinion  here

A big table in the middle of the  room  is  where the mailbag  should be done  !

[kcozens]

Dave mentioned that some people have been talking about those freestanding shelves he has behind the workbenches and wondering where you can buy something like it. I did a search and found something that looks promising. It is the Elfa Freestanding system from The Container Store. If you want to have a look, check out https://www.containerstore.com/s/elfa/components/elfa-freestanding/. Some of those units would be useful at my workbench. I just hope the shipping cost isn't as much as the total cost of all the pieces I would need.

Disclaimer: I have no connection whatsoever with this company and know nothing about them or the product I linked to other than what is on the website.

[wilfred]

You  should set  up  your  benches  like  Shahriar Shahramian   over at the "Signal  Path" where all the  equipment is neatly  placed  in   the back  shelving

If that ever happens we shall know Dave's been taken over by aliens. Dave and Shahriar are literally the definition of polar opposites in terms of neatness. As long as there's Dave there is at least one person arguably less neat than me.

Yes, to new ESD matting.
No, to the corner mailbag.
Yes, to full length shelves. Unless you intend removing stuff that used to live there.

If you want to keep the place tidy you have to schedule time to do it little bits often. Or so i've been told. I'd suggest trying to develop a habit of starting AND finishing things so you can get the materials right off the benches.

[Bud]

Leave dirty bench mats to shitposters like AvE, get a new one to maintain caring EE image.

[Dr. Frank]

Hi Dave,
the problem with crammed shelves originates from your personal habit, and probably (you) won't change any more.
Therefore, less shelf space will as well be crammed, as will happen with even more shelf space.
Therefore I'd recommend to still use all the existing shelves you had in the old lab, because there's nothing more valuable in a lab than storing space.

Anyhow, where do you want to store all that stuff from the old lab? Time to bring a lot of unneeded things to the dumpster room by yourself.

I don't like at all this intended Mailbag Monday corner, the background is really disturbing, in terms of light / shadow, but also to these skewed angles of the shelves.
Just imagine having to look on instruments or other things in an inclined perspective.

In the end, that's a nice place to work, a real improvement for your eevblog, room for new ideas.
And I hope that Dave II has some smart ideas how to use that additional space cleverly. 

Frank

[boffin]

My comments

• One big bench in the middle, that's where mailbag should be as well
• The shelves on the back wall, at 90 to the wall, should go shelf, gap, shelf, shelf, gap, shelf, and put one at 90 degrees to the middle of the back to back ones, which you can use for mailbag backdrop.  That layout gives you wider access to the shelves, and the same density, plus if you have a really big item that's more than a shelf deep you can still store it.(see attach).  Also the shelves are easily painted with some metal paint.  Make them a fun colour (EEVBlog Blue?)
• On the shelves, standard cardboard bin-boxes are your friend. They're available in nice 2, 4, 6" widths, cheap as dirt, and great for holding parts, and have the shelves the minimum distance apart
• I think you'll probably need 2 sets of equipment shelves behind the benches, but not all three.
• Put power strips (ziptied) to the bottom of the Ikea bench shelves at the back
• David II is right, the soldering/camera room is likely a good idea, and you can place all of your microscope, soldering and SMT oven stuff in there.
• The area inside the door to the right (your proposed mailbag area) is a good 3D printer area if that's going to become a bigger thing.

[MrMobodies]

I like the idea of the island. Any stuff on the ground can go so no tip toeing.

The lightening looks good and I like the daylight through the blinds.

The triangular mailbag desk does look a bit strange to me.

[Monkeh]

I have but one suggestion with the shelves: Don't put one in front of the breaker panel like that. You will, one day, kick yourself. Especially when it's the lights.

[Towger]

Hi Dave,

Have you looked into the lack of RCD protection and if different Phases are supplying different sockets?

[mairo]

Dave, do you think mounting castor wheels (with breaks) on your benches could benefit in the day to day work, specially for the island bench.

[mikeselectricstuff]

Dave, do you think mounting castor wheels (with breaks) on your benches could benefit in the day to day work, specially for the island bench.

Maybe multiple wheeled tables that can be locked together or used individually.
And you'll need a power drop from the ceiling.

[EEVblog]

The ESD mat is manky, get rid of it.

Replacements seems to be in the 4 digit price category.

[EEVblog]

Dave, do you think mounting castor wheels (with breaks) on your benches could benefit in the day to day work, specially for the island bench.

Not for the benches, no. Island bench, yes, possible.

[EEVblog]

Have you looked into the lack of RCD protection and if different Phases are supplying different sockets?

Strata have organised someone to come fix it.

[EEVblog]

I have but one suggestion with the shelves: Don't put one in front of the breaker panel like that. You will, one day, kick yourself. Especially when it's the lights.

I know, that's not the final setup.

[Halcyon]

It's looking great Dave! Also great to see David getting his own office. The guy has certainly earned it!

It sure beats that small(ish) bench he was working at previously surrounded by your stock of multimeters. ;-)

[Brumby]

I'm tending to agree with several of the comments here...

The triangular mailbag area doesn't feel right.  Certainly I would not locate such a spot right near the main door/corridor.  Could be distracting if people are walking down there while you're shooting.

Also thought of this arrangement for the side wall shelving:

.... unless you were thinking of the two middle shelves holding things that only took half the shelf depth and were set back to back (like component drawers, for example).

I, too was concerned at your intention to reduce shelving on the long benches to reduce junk accumulation.  It's going to accumulate anyway, so having shelving will give it a place to live that isn't all over the floor.  Being forced to organise the accumulation due to not having the storage space to put it is going to mean throwing potentially useful stuff out (there's an ominously familiar tone in that thought) and/or spending time you don't have to perform the organisation when you need to.

Either way, there will be greater discipline in how you act - so I suggest you work on a storage scheme which can achieve that.  I have found "containerising" stuff to be very effective - utilising containers of consistent sizes which enable stacking.  Put labels on the visible side to give an indication of contents (I often don't need to know that "A" and "B" are in a given container as I can usually remember that they were with "X" or "Y" - and so long as I can quickly find the containers holding "X" and "Y", I will usually find the object of my search.)

Colour coding - YEP!     You have expressed an ideal approach (IMO) so follow through with that.

ESD mat ... yeah it does look daggy.  But but the budget might overrule replacement.

I like this idea, too:

Dave, do you think mounting castor wheels (with breaks) on your benches could benefit in the day to day work, specially for the island bench.

Maybe multiple wheeled tables that can be locked together or used individually.
And you'll need a power drop from the ceiling.

No doubt you would have a storage shelf beneath the multiple tables and if they are on wheels, you could unlock one and move it out to gain easy access to something stored right in the centre of the island bench.  I would totally avoid storing things on the floor under the tables.  You could even have a shelf close to the floor with additional castors that will support the shelving, in order to store boat anchors.  It could work like a 2D Compactus.

Open window access for a laser cutter would be nice - but you can get filtration system solutions for entirely indoor operation (not cheap, I know).

[EEVblog]

I'm tending to agree with several of the comments here...

The triangular mailbag area doesn't feel right.  Certainly I would not locate such a spot right near the main door/corridor.  Could be distracting if people are walking down there while you're shooting.

Any other orientation and the bench visually projects into the main room as you walk in making it all look crowded.
People walk past in the previous lab and the office. The office they can see right in, I'm used to it.

Also thought of this arrangement for the side wall shelving:

.... unless you were thinking of the two middle shelves holding things that only took half the shelf depth and were set back to back (like component drawers, for example).

The shelves are going flat against the wall.

I would totally avoid storing things on the floor under the tables.

That's the plan.

[inOr]

Good idea!  The problem with square rooms is that that, except for dining rooms, all that space in the center is normally wasted.  That's why those granite-top islands are used in swankier kitchens everywhere (Well, at least in the US of A).  Also why mobile homes and boats can jam so much into so little space - stuff is against the walls and middle of the rooms are just walkways.  So yeah, put something useful and swank in the middle of the lab room. 

[inOr]

Gotta agree with everyone who says replace the mailbag mat.  The other benches aren't going to be on video every week.  Put the dirty mat on one of those.  ASSUMING the UV and grime haven't destroyed the ESD dissipation of the top surface, that is.  Is there a way to test that?  Might be an interesting topic for yer show.  You want your presentation space(s) to be schmick (Is that how you write it in Oz-speak?), so please, spiff it up.  BTW, I like the EM  Radiation chart as a backdrop for mailbag talks.