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

[Mr.B]

At work we have very large nitrogen generators that are used to purge chillers that contain fresh fruit... Lots of fresh fruit - 15,000 tonnes of apples at the height of the season.
A sophisticated monitoring system manages the air mixture "recipe" to prolong the life of the fruit.
Leveraging this technology, we have our comms room hooked up to the system as well.
Normally the comms room runs at 21% oxygen, however in the event of a fire the controlled atmosphere equipment drops the oxygen level to exactly 15%.
15% oxygen is insufficient to support fire and gives people plenty of time to exit safely.

[Circlotron]

My specialty - racecar ignition systems. I r&d at home for a friend. Board loading is inside the house.

[rx8pilot]

My specialty - racecar ignition systems. I r&d at home for a friend. Board loading is inside the house.

Do you still have all your fingers?

[Mechanical Menace]

I guess because Halon was so good a killing people...

Actually, it wasn't/isn't.  It causes "slight giddiness".

That actually depends on the exact compound used and the nature of the fire. Some are incredibly toxic in their own right, most are fine for short term exposure but will cause liver damage. The ones used in fire extinguishers while pretty harmless on their own will produce chlorine compounds similar or identical to those used as chemical weapons as they release their halogens. Their only advantage is they leave no residue so cause less damage to equipment.

[oodavid]

13 years as a software developer has not prepared me for 2 months of electronics engineering!

Seriously, I've gone from a purely minimal setup; desk, chair, laptop and monitor to:

• Soldering Station
• Clamp
• Third Hand
• Printer
• Anglepoise
• Electronic Components Everywhere
• Power Strips
• Another computer (desktop)
• Extra Monitor
• Stationary Galore
• Moar Books
• Hand Tools
• Bin (for all the bits of wire and solder and whatnot)
• Power Adapters
• Shredder
• Fume Extractor (Well, a Fan)
• Strip Lights
• (Possible) 3D Printer?
• Wire-Spools on rails
• Fire Extinguisher

It's just crazy! How do you guys deal with the physical bloat?

Well, I guess a good work-bench / lab. So I've spent some time reading trough this thread (well, most of it) and watching a few videos on youtube and I think I've half a plan...

My current (stressfully messy) setup; all cramped onto my once clean desk.


Plan A - move all that junk onto a stack and clear my desk.


Which makes me think of...


Any golden tips beyond: "more power", "get a fire extinguisher", "put spools on spindles", "have a place for everything", "MOAR DRAWERS"...?

[AF6LJ]

Yes;
A twenty by twenty foot barn with a loft.

[inteljoe]

Quick update;

I was becoming annoyed with the clutter and having to constantly move things out of the way to access my parts cabinets, so I did some cleaning and I'm much happier now.
I also labeled some previously empty drawers, moved some stuff around, etc.

If you pay attention the walls, you can see just how small of a space I'm working with. I don't recall the actual size, but maybe 8' x 8'.


I also took a picture further out, so you can see the desk under the shelves with my computer.



Every parts drawer but 1 is now being used and is now correctly labeled.



The oscilloscope is under the towels, I leave it covered so my cats don't mess with it. The other equipment is not as sensitive or expensive to replace as the scope.



"Additional Storage" for more parts, my tools and other assorted stuff under the work table.

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[TSL]

The oscilloscope is under the towels, I leave it covered so my cats don't mess with it.

 I'm impressed that you have a cat that knows how to use an Oscilloscope 

[oodavid]

My current (stressfully messy) setup; all cramped onto my once clean desk.

Anyone who lines up Post-It notes like that has got to be stressed  by any kind of mess. Makes me wonder what the colours mean. That can't be random. 

It's a sort of agile-for-one system that I've developed, works pretty well for me as I spend (most) of my time in the home office. At the end of the week I review the board and move completed tasks onto my spike, reviewing each note as they come off - often resulting in other actions such as sending invoices, follow-up emails or new related tasks.

My current spike has about 200 post-its, my spikes hold around 300-350 tasks, then get archived to the loft never to be seen again...


As you can see by "Mortgage Review", not all tasks are short (it took about a month to switch mortgages), nor are they all work-related. They get a fat marker line when complete. A quick recap of the top notes:

• Mortgage Review
• Paint Fire Surround
• Switch Gas & Electric Supplier
• File Quarterly VAT Return
• Add Templating engine to Floorplanner
• Push Release 0.9.6

and so it goes on...

The best thing about the spike is that it acts as a great motivator; after a good Friday teardown I can go to the pub.

[crispy_tofu]

Wow, that looks like a neat way to organise tasks! 

[SLJ]

I have a wife.  She likes to organize my tasks. 

[Daniel_Reyes]

Wow, that looks like a neat way to organise tasks!  [emoji14]opcorn:

seriously!  I'm going to implement this setup. I love it!

Sent from my SM-G900P using Tapatalk

[oodavid]

You just can't beat a tactile todo list!

I'm out walking the dog at the moment, but I'll post a more detailed explanation later on...

[Ryano]

Early morning "Art shot" of my bench taken from my bed. I'll post a picture of the "business" end of things when I'm more motivated.

[Daniel_Reyes]

Early morning "Art shot" of my bench taken from my bed. I'll post a picture of the "business" end of things when I'm more motivated.

I wish I could sleep next to my equipment.

Sent from my SM-G900P using Tapatalk

[Ryano]

I wish I could sleep next to my equipment.

It does have its advantages. Especially when you have that "Oh shit! I think I left the soldering iron on!" moment. (See Metcal MX-500 creeping in on the right) Just roll over, click the switch, and go back to cuddling, having never left the bed. 

[Rolo]

Early morning "Art shot" of my bench taken from my bed. I'll post a picture of the "business" end of things when I'm more motivated.

Well, your fluke's have turned their back on you [emoji3]

[GreyWoolfe]

If I am sleeping next to my workbench, it's because SWMBO has relegated me to the dog house!

[inteljoe]

The oscilloscope is under the towels, I leave it covered so my cats don't mess with it.

 I'm impressed that you have a cat that knows how to use an Oscilloscope 

Nice. I would not put it past him to at least turn the thing on, maybe press some buttons. But more realistically I don't want him chewing on it or getting any hair or whatever else on it when he rubs against it, especially the display.

I also have a kitten who is about 3 months old and she tries to eat or at least play with anything she can touch, even furniture. She can't jump on the desk yet, but I'm dreading the day she figures out that she can.

Ughhh... Pets. 
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[Howardlong]

A benefit of having your keyboard on an under desk slideout, other than it not getting in the way, is that when the cat comes over for some attention you can swiftly push the keyboard safely away, rather than having your code substantially overwritten or sometimes worse.

[Mechanical Menace]

when the cat comes over for some attention you can swiftly push the keyboard safely away, rather than having your code substantially overwritten or sometimes worse.

My cat knows not to go near the keyboard lol

[mtdoc]

Early morning "Art shot" of my bench taken from my bed.

I love it - an "Art shot".   I think we need a new thread just for "Art" shots of benches, projects etc.

[Circlotron]

If I have a hard programming problem I just go and lay on the bed and shut my eyes for five or ten minutes and ding! I have the answer. Bed next to bench is a good move. Mine is at the opposite end of the house.

[Ryano]

If I am sleeping next to my workbench, it's because SWMBO has relegated me to the dog house!

Now you see the genius in my planning!

Actually all kidding aside, I have an awesome partner who co-projects with me, watches EEVblog episodes with me (mailbag especially), and makes donations to the blog or the Amp Hour in my name as a Christmas/birthday present year after year. So yes, she is a keeper!

The large upturned computer heat sink seen in the picture is part of a cloud chamber we've been working on over the last month or so.

[GreyWoolfe]

You bet she is a keeper!  SWMBO makes me wear headphones because Dave's accent drives her crazy.   She also doesn't like coming out into my office because she says it's a scary place.  She is a medical assistant and doesn't want to know what goes on in my office.  As long as she can get on the internet with her laptop and phone she is happy, she doesn't care about the process.  She knows what I do for a living, she just doesn't want to know what I do.  I love telling her about a service call I ran or a piece of equipment I repaired on my bench, just to watch her eyes glaze over   Mine is actually a keeper also, she lets me play ham radio, even though she thinks all of us in my club are crazy.