Confessions of an addict. (Show us your bench.)

[jonathan perez]

its changed since, but this is roughly what it was.

now i do it on an old green suitcase.

im building one in the garage, cut me some slack. 

[calpolyengineer]

Hey is that the wire stripper from a ColdHeat soldering iron? I noticed you use a regular soldering iron though.
Me too, that peice of crap is worthless, but the wire stripper works great! My setup is almost exactly the same as yours, just some beige carpet instead.

[jonathan perez]

Hey is that the wire stripper from a ColdHeat soldering iron? I noticed you use a regular soldering iron though.
Me too, that peice of crap is worthless, but the wire stripper works great! My setup is almost exactly the same as yours, just some beige carpet instead.

yeah my mom broke down and got one. at 10 bucks, what the hell?

but the strippers are great. (wire).

the solder they provided as well is TERRIBLE! absolutely garbage. i prefer the old shakey-hands-lead, thank you very much.

[Also Wik]

How small a wire can those strippers strip? I was thinking about purchasing the equivelent from partsexpress.com but it only strips up to 20ga, and i need at least to 22 or 24ga.

[Mark Hammer]

Although more and more people are migrating to digital cameras, there are still plenty who take regular photographs with film.  I imagine it must be possible to get fistfuls of empty film canisters from a local photo development lab if you ask nicely.  That might be a good source of containers for an arrangement like Birt has  (which I like).

The resealable sandwich bag idea is also one I've been using for a while, partly because of how I would shop.  The place I would go to most often in Toronto has bins and bins of things, and it would take forever to total up the purchase if everything was mixed together.  I lived in constant fear of the tow trucks circling the block (and if you've ever been to downtown Toronto, you'll know what I mean).  So what I would do is bring a box of sandwich bags and a permanent marker with me.  Then, as I pulled out parts from the bins, I'd mark the quantity, unit price, and component value on the bag.  When I brought it up tot he counter, they'd just read the bag, add it up, and I'd get out in a hurry.  Once I got back home, all my parts would be neatly sorted already.  I'd throw them into a shoebox-sized tupperware container, but you can also just have a pegboard and hang parts off that, just like a store might.  Your very own Radio Shack!

[Paul Marossy]

I have a bunch of 35mm film cans with various parts in them. They can come handy for things like that. 

[Dave_B]

I lived in constant fear of the tow trucks circling the block (and if you've ever been to downtown Toronto, you'll know what I mean).

I remember Toronto:
1) being really clean
2) having a spiderweb of power lines in some parts (for a trolly system?)
3) having a bunch of competing 24-hour Chinese restaurants that served flank 140 different ways.   

[mac]

My desk is about 20cm x 50cm... the top of a Laney LC-30 II. Big enough to place a breadboard, a DDM and 2 plastic boxes, one with resistors, caps, etc, the other with my precious germaniums. I love to see how everything dance when I crank the amp.
And no, I don't solder over the amp... yet.

mac

[finkfloyd]

Heres my contribution, a not very impressive bench(wardrobe) which is too high! But hey ive got a beer fridge in it!

[Paul Perry (Frostwave)]

I'm trying to find a better way to manage my odd-value resistors.  I've had good luck keeping them in their Mouser bags sorted by value but as the collection grows, that's going to be more difficult to keep organized. What do you all do?

Even the strangest resistor gets its own drawer or bag here, but some people put them together in clumps.
I've been suprised how many pro technicians (at least at home!) keep resistors in trays by decades, eg "under 1K, 1K to 9.9K, 10K to 99.9K" and so on. I've even seen a resistor collection divided into THREE bins, that's a bit rough..

[calpolyengineer]

How small a wire can those strippers strip? I was thinking about purchasing the equivelent from partsexpress.com but it only strips up to 20ga, and i need at least to 22 or 24ga.

I have gone down well below 24 guage (not sure how small it actually was). I was sure the stripper would break it but it worked beautifully. The only problem is that the handle is just a piece of bent sheet metal, mine got bent a little from dropping it and now it doesn't work.

[Sam]

[puretube]

This thinkshop has been posted before, the metalshop too...,
but is moved, now (still under construction...):
workshop:

storage:

[nelson]

that isnt a bench, its a factory!

Damn you Ton, im jealous.

[nelson]

So, I organised my bench again.








Ready to take care of those graveyard projects now.

[gaussmarkov]

this is about as organized as i get    notice the diskscan at work on the right ... 

[finkfloyd]

What is the pedal there on the table Nelson? If you dont mind me asking.

[nelson]

What is the pedal there on the table Nelson? If you dont mind me asking.

You mean the board sitting next to the helping hands?

Its a Polyphase.

There are a couple of dead pedals on there too, a modified clone theory, a modified Red Llama and an opamp muff thats gating badly.

I really need to get some shelfs and storage. My semiconductors have outgrown there storage.

[phaeton]

Some amazing pics you guys.  Here's a sample of my work area, after I've let it get disorganized for a day or so.  I'm not the classic 'neat freak', but I do enjoy a little more order in my workspace:



Most of the magic happens on the right half, of course.  The pile of newspapers and the digicam box were placed there by the lovely missus.  The rest of the mess i have to take the blame for all by myself.

[Paul Perry (Frostwave)]

Nelson, I like the 'adjustor' sitting on top of the scope! And, are you left handed (it's driving me nuts..).