Beautiful. In another life long ago, I was a radio repairman at a truck stop. My bench did not look like that.
Electronics Lab Bench Setup Guide
41–50 of 274 posts
Re: Electronics Lab Bench Setup Guide
#42Something isn’t right. You can see the bench surface.
Exactly!
And, there are no burn marks on that desk or the mat, the trash bin is empty instead of full of Jolt or Rockstar cans, and those cables? Not a single knot.
The bins are labeled and the label matching items in the bins.
Those stacked containers on the right middle shelf? Never would be put back in that fashion after labeling them.
Look at the cute scre driver organizer on the bottom wall-shelf, right side! They are in order! How?!
Those drawer bins on the middle wall shelf? It will fall on your face dumping all, specially with the sharp and pointy parts looking for soft spots in your eyes.
I am calling shenanigans!
(Seriously - Good job on the write-up!)
Re: Electronics Lab Bench Setup Guide
#43Earlier quoted context omitted.
Do you buy alot of surplus components/equipment? 50% of my garage workshop is from bulk buys from hamfests and machine shop auctions. Its nearly impossible to keep organized because you always get extra stuff that you "can use later" which just adds to the clutter since there isn't always a place to put it.
>50% of my garage workshop is from bulk buys from hamfests and machine shop auctions Is there a cure for this disease?
Some sort of organizational method. I've thought about it alot, its more of an inventory system with an unknown amount of items and categories.
Simple things become organizational nightmares forcing you to rethink you're bench layout for example: I put my LM317s in a small bin because I only had 3 but now I have a bag of 300, I guess I need to get a bigger bin, or do I just use the small bin and save some for later but where, but how many, how do I know how many I have in total?
Re: Electronics Lab Bench Setup Guide
#44This is just a fantastic page, why aren't more on the internet like this, with specific parts lists and sources? Very similar to the stations we had when I was doing computer repair a decade ago (no, I will not fix your computer.™) and out of everything on there, be sure to get a good ESD mat, or else you'll never stop chasing random glitches. I just want to add that the best way to get over starting friction is to h…
FWIW, I bet the guy has an ESD mat and it was just too ugly to show. The only other thing I would add is boxes or large bins. Not for tools or components, but for project work, so you can put it away and work on something else when you need to. Otherwise it ends up spread all over your desk, Jim Williams style: https://www.flickr.com/photos/mightyohm/6926143499 (which is now at the computer history museum, apparently…
Now THAT looks more familiar!
Re: Electronics Lab Bench Setup Guide
#45Earlier quoted context omitted.
Do you buy alot of surplus components/equipment? 50% of my garage workshop is from bulk buys from hamfests and machine shop auctions. Its nearly impossible to keep organized because you always get extra stuff that you "can use later" which just adds to the clutter since there isn't always a place to put it.
>50% of my garage workshop is from bulk buys from hamfests and machine shop auctions Is there a cure for this disease?
Mine will only be cured by my death. Hopefully not prematurely under a tipped over pile of test equipment...
Re: Electronics Lab Bench Setup Guide
#46That is wonderfully thorough. And overkill for a large number of projects. But if you're doing real EE work, this is excellent stuff.
> real EE work
Oof, we must have different concepts of what that means; I thought just the opposite. The dummy-load is awful and prone to oscillation on certain sources. The o'scope is entry-level, 50MHz (100 with hacks), and doesn't support any advanced analysis. There's no discussion of scope probes whatsoever. There's only one power supply, for cryin' out loud, and it's neither precise nor clean. The DMM is 3½ digits and there's only one of it. There's no AC isolation transformer, variac, or current-limit box. No signal generator, frequency counter (no, the scope isn't very good at that), etc. An ESD mat but no strap or tester.
Further, there's nothing of what you'd want to actually bring a product to market. No EMI/EMC precompliance setup. No hi-pot tester. No ESD gun.
I mean, this is a very capable setup for someone poking at arduinos and stuff. But I wouldn't want it anywhere near analog, audio, radio, or power. It's a great start for a hobbyist with modest ambitions, but "real EE work" would be the last description I'd reach for.
Re: Electronics Lab Bench Setup Guide
#4724 inches (60 cm) is not deep enough, IMO. It's incredibly irritating that IKEA stopped selling reasonably priced 75+ cm deep bench tops (except for in a few markets, like Germany, maybe IKEA thinks they still use CRTs there?). Also: I see that your photos include a proper solder fume extractor, but the BOM doesn't. I think it makes sense to include one. I did some research a few months ago for a suitable model avail…
I have about 40 linear feet of bench space in my garage. Its cheaper to make durable benches out of 4'x8' sheets of 3/4" plywood with another 3/4" sheet of mdf underneath. I cut them to 3'x8' sheets and use the extra 1' as a shelf. You need the 3' bench space for equipment. Ikea used to make things out of real wood but they haven't in years. Anything other than actual plywood will sag.
What's the mdf underneath for? Would another sheet of plywood (offset from the one above, for strength at joints) work better, but is more expensive?
Re: Electronics Lab Bench Setup Guide
#48> Rigol DS1054Z Digital Oscilloscope
Interesting as I'm considering buying a scope. Does this still give the most bang for your buck in 2023? Many online commenters mention the Siglent SDS1104X-E as a more modern alternative.
Re: Electronics Lab Bench Setup Guide
#4924 inches (60 cm) is not deep enough, IMO. It's incredibly irritating that IKEA stopped selling reasonably priced 75+ cm deep bench tops (except for in a few markets, like Germany, maybe IKEA thinks they still use CRTs there?). Also: I see that your photos include a proper solder fume extractor, but the BOM doesn't. I think it makes sense to include one. I did some research a few months ago for a suitable model avail…
I have about 40 linear feet of bench space in my garage. Its cheaper to make durable benches out of 4'x8' sheets of 3/4" plywood with another 3/4" sheet of mdf underneath. I cut them to 3'x8' sheets and use the extra 1' as a shelf. You need the 3' bench space for equipment. Ikea used to make things out of real wood but they haven't in years. Anything other than actual plywood will sag.
I cut 48x96 sheets into 48x32 benchtops, I find that ideal. Deep enough to hold a lot but shallow enough to still reach the shelves.
Use Gorilla glue to laminate a piece of thin (1/4" or 3/8") ply to a piece of rigid pink foam board, with another piece of thin ply on the bottom. This foam-core sandwich is stiff but lightweight, acoustically dead, and very cheap. You can use a ton of random objects or just a vacuum-bag to apply the lamination pressure. Stick some one-by on the edge and radius it with a router, and you're done.
Re: Electronics Lab Bench Setup Guide
#50This is just a fantastic page, why aren't more on the internet like this, with specific parts lists and sources? Very similar to the stations we had when I was doing computer repair a decade ago (no, I will not fix your computer.™) and out of everything on there, be sure to get a good ESD mat, or else you'll never stop chasing random glitches. I just want to add that the best way to get over starting friction is to h…
> why aren't more on the internet like this, with specific parts lists and sources? There are forums where people post pictures of their benches, but it's a lot of work to document everything and you're going to use whichever distributor has sufficiently similar items in stock at your price point and can ship to your country.
Got any links/suggestions for those forums? I'd love to get some inspiration, like the OP provides in spades.