I'm starting to put together my "work bench" this weekend

[nbabmf]

And by that I mean buying organizers for all the little components, picking up any tools I might need to make DIY life easier (ie. wire strippers, nipper clippers, 3mm drill bit), a toaster oven from the thrift shop so I can bake finishes, and maybe getting a cheap folding table or something from the thrift shop so I don't ruin the dining room table.

Am I missing anything?  Any and all suggestions are VERY welcome!

[Albot]

Nice idea. I've tried it and failed many times, bumping a box with transistors mixing them and spreading possible tweaking components all over the floor just to collect it as a mess afterwards.

Might work for you though just make sure you don't have a rug under the table that could catch fire or that you care very much about because it will probably get nasty melt/burn marks from the solder.

Iv'e been thinking about something like this http://www.eclipsetools.com/ProductPics/Latest%20.jpegs/900-099.JPG because i seem to always lose my soldering-iron and solder rolls in separate locations. I don't have one yet though cause im poor.

In my attempts i used one box for onboard components and one for offboard, like pots wires and all that.
There's alot of fancy ideas and stuff you could buy but i don't know very much about those yet.

Hope you'll post some pictures.
Good luck.

[nbabmf]

I got a little soldering iron holder thing like that from Sears.  It makes me feel a hell of a lot safer around that 900 degree stick of death haha.

Also, I had to correct my grammatical error in the thread title.  It made me feel like a dumbass.

[nbabmf]

I picked up a 44 drawer storage unit at Target today.  It's made by Akro-Mils and has small drawers on top which will be perfect for resistors, capacitors, and that sort of thing, and larger drawers on the bottom can hold pots, switches, jacks, etc.



I just need to order the components to fill it now hehe.

[BubbaKahuna]

I picked up a 44 drawer storage unit at Target today.  It's made by Akro-Mils and has small drawers on top which will be perfect for resistors, capacitors, and that sort of thing, and larger drawers on the bottom can hold pots, switches, jacks, etc.



I just need to order the components to fill it now hehe.

What did that cost at Target? Might be worth a trip over there (couple towns over). Looks nice.

[nbabmf]

It was only $16.99.

[JOHNO]

my mum just caught me baking stompboxes in her toaster oven.shes not impressed i might have to got and get one from the op shop too

[Hiwatt25]

Johno, you will NEVER EVER want to eat any food prepared in that oven again.  Seriously, keep that one and go by your mom a new one.  Don't use that one for food anymore.

[mdh]

Regarding component storage, particularly resistors, caps, and relatively static-insensitive transistors (JFETs, bipolars), I use a system similar to something R.G. suggested in various threads in the past.  You can get these little coin envelopes that are perfect for storing components, and they take up a lot less space than enough plastic bins to store all of the resistor and capacitor values you'll wind up with if you end up having a pretty well-stocked bench.  It sounds sort of like an organizational nightmare to have all of these loose envelopes, but the ones I have are about 2.5 x 3.25 inches, and fit upright in those ubiquitous little drawer organizers that you get to keep your pencils and paperclips organized in your desk.  You can label the envelopes, sort them in order of component value, and find what you need as quickly as you could flip through a file cabinet.  It makes it really easy to find out if you're a little short in your inventory of commonly used values before you run off to the store or place your order.  On top of that, you can store far more values in much less space than with one of those big cabinets.

[Pushtone]

I use one of the parts bin things and group components.
I label the drawers like this...

Resistors 100R to 1k
Resistors 1k5 to 10k
Resistors 10k and up

Caps 0.00XXuF
Caps 0.0XXuF
Caps 0.XXuF
Caps 1.0uF and up (almost all electros)
Caps all pF values (ceramic and silver mica)

It has worked for me to quickly find the values I need for a build.

[nbabmf]

I'm trying to compile a list of the small things I'll need or that make things much easier... the stuff I might forget, say oh shit because everything is closed, and end up starting a project later because of.

- wire strippers (RS has these cool ones that flip around to trim component leads down)
- track cutter for vero (or a 3mm drill bit and something to hold it in)
- extra soldering iron tips

[ambulancevoice]

get an anti static wrist strap and mat etc, before thou know it, thou could be handling static sensitive componts soon yes?

[GibsonGM]

Walmart had these opaque plastic boxes with actual hinges on them...I use 3, for caps .001 to .039uf, .047 and up, and another for random caps (semi-used, etc) and those in the pF range you get in packs at RS.   I found a fishing tackle clear compartment box for fishing stuff also, with dividers, that I use for semiconductors (opamps, trannies, other chips, leds, homemade vactrols, diodes).    There is the shoebox full of resistors, LOL - I got 100's a long time ago, back when RS sold EVERY value in a pack for $12.  No way to organize those, I just dig thru them.   

Also have a - ok don't laugh - plastic top 'shelf' from an old Erector set with a handle and many compartments.   This is great for nuts, screws, extra pot washers, switches, random pots with wires attached I use in testing circuits, bits of jumper wire for the breadboard, DC connectors....it sits on the workbench, and any unclassified part just gets tossed in there until I can go thru it and re-organize later. 

Hey nbab...how about small-size shrink tubing?  Hardware stores are starting to carry it now, I've noticed.  The packs with assorted sized aren't as good, try to find all the small size...and, a roll of electrical tape ;o)     Fuse holder, some fuses (1A, .5A, .25A maybe). 
A workbench should have a power supply, too, many choices in that regard (9V, 12, 18 switchable, make your own with a regulator, etc).   
Solder sucker of some kind, and a small pick for monkeying around with PCB traces that short.   An audio probe, small amp nearby.   Lots of alligator clips, to make jumper wires!!!!  And of course, solid core and stranded wire, available at RS as 'hookup wire' (red, green, black).

[JOHNO]

Johno, you will NEVER EVER want to eat any food prepared in that oven again.  Seriously, keep that one and go by your mom a new one.  Don't use that one for food anymore.

what do you mean? I was cookin toasted ham and cheese sanga's at at the same time.MMMM just a hint of toasted stomp box

[~arph]

Mmmm I need like... four of those 

[akc1973]

Johno, you will NEVER EVER want to eat any food prepared in that oven again.  Seriously, keep that one and go by your mom a new one.  Don't use that one for food anymore.

what do you mean? I was cookin toasted ham and cheese sanga's at at the same time.MMMM just a hint of toasted stomp box

Good to see a nice Aussie word like "sanga's" on here...it gives me a warm and fuzzy (with a hint of octave up  ) feeling....

[PerroGrande]

In yet another (probably futile) attempt to get my work area organized, I'm going to try to talk the wife into a side-trip to Target this evening.  A couple of those bad boys along with the ones that I already have will really help.  I just need to make sure the wife understands that *I* need to run in and buy something, *NOT* "go shopping". 

[Idiot]

Don't forget to go to Harbor freight tools & get that thingy w/the two aligator clip arms for $1.99. I undid the magnifying glass & replaced it w/a third roach clip to hold pc boards & pots. Also Big Lots has that lil drill press for $50. & while your at HF tools p/u that step drill for $10 that goes from a 1/4' to 1/2' hole.

[ambulancevoice]

Johno, you will NEVER EVER want to eat any food prepared in that oven again.  Seriously, keep that one and go by your mom a new one.  Don't use that one for food anymore.

what do you mean? I was cookin toasted ham and cheese sanga's at at the same time.MMMM just a hint of toasted stomp box

dont do it again, cause when you bake stompboxes, toxic fumes coat the inside of the oven pretty much (correct me if im wrong)
TOXIC FUMES!
get a new oven

[jrem]

I got away from those plexiglass drawers and went to the flip-top multi boxes, like for beads and luers and stuff, prevents the parts from spilling all over the place when you move or drop the box.  Also, for boxes, the parts are smaller, so I don't need the drawer size.  The drawers still have amp parts in them.

Also, I went away from the boxes for resistors and disk caps and went to envelopes, and put the envelopes in a box, each envelope has the part spec on it and they're in sequence.  I think that was a Mark Hammer idea, or another one of the regulators around here.

And, yes, don't cook enamel in the oven you eat from.