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

[GreyWoolfe]

My stepdaughter's cats are always trying to get into the office.  I keep a squirt bottle of water to chase them out.  I love cats, they taste just like chicken!

Tom, NW0LF

[nanofrog]

My stepdaughter's cats are always trying to get into the office.  I keep a squirt bottle of water to chase them out.  I love cats, they taste just like chicken!

Tom, NW0LF

Mine's a stubborn little bugger. Squirt bottle didn't discourage him long at all when I tried that (~30 seconds and he's back at whatever it was he got hosed for). Favorite sport is to try and sneak out the back door when I go to the chest freezer, and the door didn't fully latch behind me (figured out how to open it).

As per chicken, I refer to mine as "Four legged Poultry", and threaten to eat him when he gets out of line. Does no good of course... 

[mcinque]

I love cats, they taste just like chicken!

:| I've 3 cats.

[SLJ]

5 cats
2 dogs

[manticore00]

I also have five cats and all but one of them ignores my office completely when I'm not doing anything interesting. The minute I plug in the soldering iron they all swarm and I get nothing done because I spend half my time picking them up off my bench and putting them away from the hot iron.

[AndersAnd]

Maybe it's time to create a seperate pet topic? 

[mcinque]

Yes, maybe a split would be fine.

The minute I plug in the soldering iron they all swarm and I get nothing done because I spend half my time picking them up off my bench and putting them away from the hot iron.

The same for me! 

[george graves]

My cat is very well behaved, has never chewed on a single cable, has never jumped onto the workbench.  He does love to sit on my lap when I'm working.

Oh and...

http://www.adafruit.com/catsofengineering

[SLJ]

I have one cat that plays with bits of wire, tie wraps, etc. she finds on my bench.   The weird thing is she puts them back where she found them after she's done.

[mainman]

I actually don't have a work bench as my apartment is to small so I store my equipment on my wall shelve and pull off what I need as I go and work on a collapsible table.

I do have a extensive set up of tools and test equipment

Tektronix DMM914
TekPower TP4000ZC
MS8261 DIGITAL MULTIMETER
Hantek DSO1060
CSI3005SM  power supply
CSI474 Desoldering Station
CSI825A Hot Air Station
Aoyue 932 Vacuum Pickup Station
Pro Charge Cordless Rechargeable Soldering Iron
Power Probe PPSK Butane Soldering Kit
Weller WES51
TOP2049 Universal USB Programmer
BK Precision 851 Deluxe EPROM Eraser


Here a question guys, since so many of you have all this pricey equipment what do you use it on to justify the money you spent on it.

[SLJ]

Here a question guys, since so many of you have all this pricey equipment what do you use it on to justify the money you spent on it.

I don't really have much in the way of "pricey" test equipment.  The four most expensive items I have purchased new are a Fluke meter, inspection microscope, cheap digital scope, and Weller SMD soldering station.  They are mostly used to fix all the newer junk with crappy capacitors.  Most everything else is vintage test equipment I've picked up used over the years and rebuilt.  I use it to restore even older test equipment.

[calexanian]

I have been working at Alan Parsons house on the never ending re routing and re wiring job. Never ending cause more gear keeps showing up! Anyways, if he has not seen this one yet I will bring it to his attention.

[rodcastler]

Hi, this is what I plan to use as a bench:



Oh wait...

I already did!




I can't afford a permanent bench as I've devoted the room for a home-office. But any time a project comes along, I set up my lab in the dining room we hardly use anyways.

Pretty flexible, it takes me 5 to 8 minutes to set it up completely. Among the benefits is that every time you get started, you do it with a super clean space.

Some tips and more here: http://rodelectronics.blogspot.com/2013/10/how-to-set-up-ee-lab-hobby-workbench-in.html

[macboy]

...But any time a project comes along, I set up my lab in the dining room we hardly use anyways.

Pretty flexible, it takes me 5 to 8 minutes to set it up completely. Among the benefits is that every time you get started, you do it with a super clean space.

That is a really good point. I have the disability that any horizontal surface (including the top of test equipment enclosures) quickly gets cluttered with anything I once had in hand and needed to put down. I want to learn to "put away" and not just "put down" but I can't. You won't see a picture of my bench here unless it is just after a clean sweep. It's too embarrassing.

[rodcastler]

I have the disability that any horizontal surface (including the top of test equipment enclosures) quickly gets cluttered with anything I once had in hand and needed to put down...

Haha, true. Not to mention that after 20 minutes of work the bench itself gets diminished to a 10 x 10cm of workable area right at the edge of the table. This is exactly why having a designated space for everything becomes so important, and the reason why I speak about 5S in the blog post. I hear you with your disability: what I show in the pictures is what it looks like on a Friday. Sunday sight is radically different.

[nanofrog]

I have the disability that any horizontal surface (including the top of test equipment enclosures) quickly gets cluttered with anything I once had in hand and needed to put down.

Somehow, I suspect many here on the forum suffer the same disorder. 

I certainly do. 30"x60" bench, but maybe 24" square available for actual workspace unless I clean up first. And it only seems to take ~5 min to clutter it up again after I clear it off, and it's back to the same available work area. 

[mrflibble]

Somehow, I suspect many here on the forum suffer the same disorder. 

Labgorophobia, check.

[nanofrog]

Somehow, I suspect many here on the forum suffer the same disorder. 

Labgorophobia, check.

Afraid of entering the lab? 

In my case, I'm just impatient and too lazy to keep everything nice and clean.  I'd rather dive into a project and let the mess pile up. 

[mrflibble]

Somehow, I suspect many here on the forum suffer the same disorder. 

Labgorophobia, check.

Afraid of entering the lab? 

Fear of large open spaces in the lab, especially on benches.

[mtdoc]

Did some clean up today so thought I'd take some pictures of my basement utility room lab.

The first is the teardown, repair and soldering bench.  Solar system equipment on the right.

Second is the breadboarding and test bench with furry lab assistant..

[xrunner]

Did some clean up today so thought I'd take some pictures of my basement utility room lab.

Nice view out the window. 

[GreyWoolfe]

I see that you have an "Office Manager" also.  What's the dog's name and breed?

Tom, NW0LF

[mtdoc]

Nice view out the window. 

Thanks. We live on a small lake. Last night it froze..

I see that you have an "Office Manager" also.  What's the dog's name and breed?

Tom, NW0LF

Her name is Elowa.  Not exactly sure what breed - she came from the pound. Our best guess is Malamute and Australian Shepard. 

[cwalex]

Her name is Elowa.  Not exactly sure what breed - she came from the pound. Our best guess is Malamute and Australian Shepard. 

Nice one! Would be nice if more people rescued from shelter/pound Hate to see all the influx of unwanted pets on death row after christmas with all the unwanted "gifts" being dumped like garbage  (sorry for the OT).

[GreyWoolfe]

We did rescue a Lab/Rot mix from the humane society but he turned out to have some really bad issues and was deemed untrainable.  We unfortunately had to bring him back to the humane society.  We have since discovered that our dog is a one dog household dog.   I would love to have a 2nd but she doesn't share well.

Tom, NW0LF