Whats your Work-Bench/lab look like? Post some pictures of your Lab.

[dimkasta]

Thanks for all the suggestions guys. Really appreciate the input

But as I said, at this point I do not have the energy or the time for woodworking. I have too much stuff to do as it is, and I'd rather spend the little personal time I have in things I (currently) find more relaxing
Although woodwork can be quite therapeutic itself

I will just add some longer extension screws on the feet and just live with one of the tables being ~5cm higher than the other.

[Dielectric]

If I understood correctly, he needs to cut 0.5cm off of one end to squeeze two of these between 2 walls, in which case the cut end would be snug against a wall.  So finishing it or covering it with laminate is unnecessary. If it was me, I'd just file or sand the top edge of the cut smooth and perhaps use a strip of white duct tape across the cut end before putting it up against the wall.

If it's going to be a semi-permanent installation, then a small bead of white silicone caulk between the top cut edge and wall might also be a good idea.

There could be a problem, depending on how cheap IKEA was being that day.  Those look like their standard Lack tables, which are made like hollow-core doors so there isn't much meat on the ends.  5mm might be all there is before you expose empty space, which isn't very good for a torsion box.

[james_s]

i suppose you could cut it down and then cap off the end with thin plywood, properly bonded that should in theory retain the strength.

[palindrom71]

The only piece of my lab I can show shameless

[Messtechniker]

You may find an additional arm rest to the left an right useful.
I did anyway when dissecting out salivary glands from 3 day old
fruit fly larvae.  Yep - Drosophila melanogaster - you know the one.
Even so, I have not yet come around to do smd work. Trying to
avoid such as the plague, although not being jittery yet.

[DTJ]

palindrom71 I've got a similar microscope.

I removed the base and reattached it so the platform is at the rear. I put a heavy metal block on it to act as a counterbalance.

I found it worked much better as the boards can sit on the desk surface, it also puts the eye pieces a little lower.

[palindrom71]

Unfortunately it's not a good option for me, as I use backlight often. Great feature for pcb w/o ground plane. I'll have to make additional led ring around objective though. BTW, its price tag is identical to Rigol 1054z 

[MrMetthew]

That's just awesome!

[capt bullshot]

Every lab need a Jacobs Ladder, so here's mine:


Videos (embedded HTML5 / ogg, may not work on anything else but firefox)  here:
http://wunderkis.de/britzel/index.html

[TerraHertz]

Speaking of arcs... my main workshop has two doors; one for me and one for the cats. Pic1.
The cat flap is good in theory, but not so great in practice. One cat is too thick to ever figure it out. And one of the local possums is smart enough to use it, to get to the cat food bowls inside. That's bad enough, but having got inside it also then decides to explore for comfy possum nests.

Which in a large workshop there are plenty of, among the expensive and precious equipment and storage areas.
But I highly disapprove. Anyone who knows how destructive possums always are will understand. They chew everything (including wiring - both signal and mains), and their pee is corrosive enough to eat through stainless steel (an actual thing that happened here.) Also they pee everywhere they go, to mark their path. So hopefully people won't frown on the next part too much.

Pic 2 is a small hand held Tesla coil. These are normally used to find vacuum leaks in glassware, by observing where electrons can get through, causing more visible ionization in the low pressure internal gas.
It's currently taped on a stick, so it can be poked into small spaces in cupboards and other difficult to access spaces a possum would like. This setup is the result of a recent argument with Mr Possum, over whether he's allowed in my workshop. The Possum Prod (Tesla on a stick) worked pretty well, and wins that argument on the spot.

Fortunately that time he'd chosen a cupboard full of non-electronic stuff (lab glassware and kitchen utensils mostly) so the Tesla coil could be used without destroying equipment.  But possums are incredibly stubborn, and he came back in the next night briefly. I guess the next step is a cage trap and transporting to some very distant bushland.

Pic 3 shows the type of arcing these little units make. Nothing visible unless it's held within an inch of something. Concrete, possum...

Pic 4 is it in contact with a light bulb. The glass is still insulating, so there's ionization streamers radially on the surface, and a capacitively  coupled streamer inside.

Pic 5 is a few seconds later. A point on the glass has heated up enough from the high frequency dissipation, to become conductive. The hot spot glows, there's no side streaming, and a stronger internal ionization path.

20170502 edit to add pic:  A funny looking cat.
20170505 edit to add pic: Caught. Will be relocated to a nice new (and distant) bush home today.

[tautech]

Speaking of arcs... my main workshop has two doors; one for me and one for the cats. Pic1.
The cat flap is good in theory, but not so great in practice. One cat is too thick to ever figure it out. And one of the local possums is smart enough to use it, to get to the cat food bowls inside. That's bad enough, but having got inside it also then decides to explore for comfy possum nests.

Which in a large workshop there are plenty of, among the expensive and precious equipment and storage areas.
But I highly disapprove. Anyone who knows how destructive possums always are will understand. They chew everything (including wiring - both signal and mains), and their pee is corrosive enough to eat through stainless steel (an actual thing that happened here.) Also they pee everywhere they go, to mark their path. So hopefully people won't frown on the next part too much.

Pic 2 is a small hand held Tesla coil. These are normally used to find vacuum leaks in glassware, by observing where electrons can get through, causing more visible ionization in the low pressure internal gas.
It's currently taped on a stick, so it can be poked into small spaces in cupboards and other difficult to access spaces a possum would like. This setup is the result of a recent argument with Mr Possum, over whether he's allowed in my workshop. The Possum Prod (Tesla on a stick) worked pretty well, and wins that argument on the spot.

Fortunately that time he'd chosen a cupboard full of non-electronic stuff (lab glassware and kitchen utensils mostly) so the Tesla coil could be used without destroying equipment.  But possums are incredibly stubborn, and he came back in the next night briefly. I guess the next step is a cage trap and transporting to some very distant bushland.

Pic 3 shows the type of arcing these little units make. Nothing visible unless it's held within an inch of something. Concrete, possum...

Pic 4 is it in contact with a light bulb. The glass is still insulating, so there's ionization streamers radially on the surface, and a capacitively  coupled streamer inside.

Pic 5 is a few seconds later. A point on the glass has heated up enough from the high frequency dissipation, to become conductive. The hot spot glows, there's no side streaming, and a stronger internal ionization path.

My Telsa on a stick is .22 calibre as we're allowed to shoot them here. 

Yep. they love vacant sheds especially when the weather has broken to our Autumn and Winter.
When I was a kid we loved hunting them up in trees where they slept, we didn't get many as we only were allowed pocket knives back then and we soon learnt to respect their sharp claws and teeth. 
In the following 50 odd years I must have shot thousands.....which reminds me there's another one I saw the other night in the tree behind the house....another that needs dealing to.

[xrunner]

Speaking of arcs... my main workshop has two doors; one for me and one for the cats. Pic1.
The cat flap is good in theory, but not so great in practice. One cat is too thick to ever figure it out.

I have a flap in the door leading into my garage from my kitchen, which my cat knows how to use very well.

The funny thing is if I'm in the kitchen she will wait at the door for me to open the main door, instead of using the flap.

Go figure ... 

[tautech]

Speaking of arcs... my main workshop has two doors; one for me and one for the cats. Pic1.
The cat flap is good in theory, but not so great in practice. One cat is too thick to ever figure it out.

I have a flap in the door leading into my garage from my kitchen, which my cat knows how to use very well.

The funny thing is if I'm in the kitchen she will wait at the door for me to open the main door, instead of using the flap.

Go figure ... 

Dogs have masters............Cats have servants. 

[tautech]

Speaking of arcs... my main workshop has two doors; one for me and one for the cats. Pic1.
The cat flap is good in theory, but not so great in practice. One cat is too thick to ever figure it out.

I have a flap in the door leading into my garage from my kitchen, which my cat knows how to use very well.

The funny thing is if I'm in the kitchen she will wait at the door for me to open the main door, instead of using the flap.

Go figure ... 

Dogs have masters............Cats have servants. 

However, who said you can't train cats ?

[xrunner]

However, who said you can't train cats ?

Yea I've seen that, and it's impressive, but the more amazing thing is that cats can actually train humans. 

[bitseeker]

Cats being trained to use a bell is a ruse. They're just playing along in order to empower themselves with the ability to call their servants from a distance. Don't try to "train" them to use a smartphone. You have been warned.

[bitseeker]

The Possum Prod (Tesla on a stick) worked pretty well, and wins that argument on the spot.

Fortunately that time he'd chosen a cupboard full of non-electronic stuff (lab glassware and kitchen utensils mostly) so the Tesla coil could be used without destroying equipment.  But possums are incredibly stubborn, and he came back in the next night briefly. I guess the next step is a cage trap and transporting to some very distant bushland.

Sounds like you need to mount the Tesla on a stick beside the cat door along with an RFID transceiver and microcontroller. Then, put corresponding chips on your cats. Door opens without proper ID? Vacuum leak test engaged!

[rdl]

I was once able to train a cat to use the toilet. I never could get her to flush it though.

[TerraHertz]

Sounds like you need to mount the Tesla on a stick beside the cat door along with an RFID transceiver and microcontroller. Then, put corresponding chips on your cats. Door opens without proper ID? Vacuum leak test engaged!

Hmmm... And the failure mode is???
I'd thought of that. Too much trouble and risks zapping my cats. A better way is just having an IR camera outside looking at the cat flap, and monitor inside at my desk. Plus the ZAP button. But despite the video-game-like satisfaction factor this still has flaws. In that possums are so stubborn I expect the 'training' wouldn't be reliable.

Trapping and relocating the cute little destructo-monster seems the best way. That doesn't involve an axe. (Since we're not allowed to shoot them here.)

[tautech]

THz, they're suckers for a flour and aniseed lure in low light conditions so shouldn't be hard to entice into a cage trap.
Bit of aniseed rag tied onto the cage trip trigger should do the trick. Half a nice apple works well too.

[Johnny10]

Today I am working on the case for the Dos4ever uTracer.
Re-purposing a Microsense capacitive meter.
Works great case has handles, meter, detachable lid, 20vdc power supply, switches and fits PC Board perfectly.

[PA0PBZ]

I thought my DSA was not exactly a space saver but you have 2 of them! 

[Johnny10]

If you put some old HP Linear power supplies and a Dell Server Rack next to them they don't look so big.

[Joel_l]

Here is my work bench. I never quite feel it's optimized, no matter where I put something it seems to be the wrong spot. I recently replaced my 11302A and 8920B with lunch box replacements. I like the extra space and at least now it's easy to move things around ( the 11302A and 8920B pretty much had permanent locations ). I'm thinking of making some movable racks to stack some things but not sure what I want to do.

For now, this is the way it looks. It's 8 feet wide and 3 feet deep. The top shelf is not really sagging.

Joel

[bitseeker]

Sounds like you need to mount the Tesla on a stick beside the cat door along with an RFID transceiver and microcontroller. Then, put corresponding chips on your cats. Door opens without proper ID? Vacuum leak test engaged!

Hmmm... And the failure mode is???
I'd thought of that. Too much trouble and risks zapping my cats.

Certainly. It was not intended to be a serious project concept. Who knows how reliable and consistent RFID would be in such a setup.