Workbench crowded

[schmitt trigger]

I have a serious problem with this. Any horizontal surface is soon covered with all sorts of things to the point where it is impossible to work on it.

Not only horizontal surfaces. Vertical surfaces also become crowded, although not as much.

Speaking of horizontal surfaces….. the ceiling is pretty much empty. Do you think I could attach a scope over there with Velcro?  ;

[schmitt trigger]

Another messy workplace legend was Bob Pease. I was fortunate to have it seen personally during a visit to Nat Semi in the mid-90s.  I can tell you that looking at his desk is similar to viewing El Capitan at Yosemite Park. No photo, no matter how large the resolution, can compare to witnessing it personally.

[G0HZU]

I think the important thing to always bear in mind is that the workspace is there for the operator and not the clutter or the test gear. A lot of people make the mistake of cramming way too much stuff into the main workspace, they typically try and find a place on the bench or the shelves for almost every piece of test gear they own. This creates a huge and wide stack of test gear. Very impressive to look at, but most of it will end up out of immediate reach. Then they try and add tool storage and component storage. Adding lots of databooks and other literature to the main workbench is bad, because it also eats up valuable space and it can be a fire hazard, especially if stacked above electrical items on the workbench. A small fire or flame could soon cause a fireball if there are lots of databooks stacked above it.

When I look at the 'show us your workbench thread' or look at various youtube videos, the person often ends up with a free work area of about 50cm x 50cm on an otherwise huge workbench. They no longer own the workspace, it becomes owned by the test gear and the tools and component storage bins. Add some project hardware to the 50cm x 50cm space and all the free space is gone...

I've made all these mistakes in the past, and I've since realised that it's much better to relocate the clutter and unused test gear to a compact storage area, even if it means regular trips to fetch and return it. This creates and maintains lots of space. The difficult bit is then to not get lazy and let the space fill up again with clutter.

[nctnico]

I agree. I have seperate shelving for test equipment and I only put the equipment on the bench I actually need for a project. Once a piece of equipment is no longer needed, it goes back into 'storage'. This saves a lot of space at the work area.

[dietert1]

Maybe the images of those "VIPs" just demonstrate that the workbench wasn't very important for them. I'd guess they spent more time elsewhere, talking to others.
Or they wanted it as a quiet place where others wouldn't feel comfortable.
The confusion can also be meant to deter spies and thieves. I knew people who thought like that and would put piles of old stuff on top of the interesting things, just in case.

Regards, Dieter