I'm now building out a workspace in my large studio apartment. I have trestles and a large battery pack that I haul downstairs into the back alley to route holes into my open baffle projects.
Currently a foldable plastic table with adjustable height is my work bench but I'll be splurging on an 8ft x 2ft countertop soon using fittings from makerpipe.com and electrical conduit.
I got a saddle stool popular with dental assistants/tattoo artists and love it. The lamp is good for now but have my eye out for better solutions as better coverage would be great.
@Turbowatch2 mentioned transparent storage solutions from Ikea. If you are a disorganized person like me being able to see everything that is inside is a big help. This is an acrylic makeup case from Muji (Ikea of Japan) but you can find similar products for less money at office supply stores etc.
Of course cables are a real hassle as well... I ended up getting large S-hooks for bird feeders and velcro for the longer cables and this little rack off amazon.
I'm looking at peg board and rolling steel tool chests to round out my storage solutions. The key for me is that everything needs to be in sight or easily accessible. Deep drawers or containers, especially with lids, do not work well for me. @EC8010 mentioned Bisley cabinets, which I've also looked at. It's smart to use those because they are shallow, which means things are less likely to get lost and you spend less time rummaging for things.
This is a great idea for a thread! I'd really like to see pictures of other people's spaces and solutions. Keep it alive!
Currently a foldable plastic table with adjustable height is my work bench but I'll be splurging on an 8ft x 2ft countertop soon using fittings from makerpipe.com and electrical conduit.
I got a saddle stool popular with dental assistants/tattoo artists and love it. The lamp is good for now but have my eye out for better solutions as better coverage would be great.
@Turbowatch2 mentioned transparent storage solutions from Ikea. If you are a disorganized person like me being able to see everything that is inside is a big help. This is an acrylic makeup case from Muji (Ikea of Japan) but you can find similar products for less money at office supply stores etc.
Of course cables are a real hassle as well... I ended up getting large S-hooks for bird feeders and velcro for the longer cables and this little rack off amazon.
I'm looking at peg board and rolling steel tool chests to round out my storage solutions. The key for me is that everything needs to be in sight or easily accessible. Deep drawers or containers, especially with lids, do not work well for me. @EC8010 mentioned Bisley cabinets, which I've also looked at. It's smart to use those because they are shallow, which means things are less likely to get lost and you spend less time rummaging for things.
This is a great idea for a thread! I'd really like to see pictures of other people's spaces and solutions. Keep it alive!
For cheap velcro I go to the garden store and buy rolls of treetape which is essentially velcro and can be cut to length as needed.
Seems no matter how much I get there is never any spare in the workshop when I need it...perhaps I have too many cables...or the gardener keeps raiding my stash.
Will have to have words with her 🙂
https://www.amazon.co.uk/VELCRO-Brand-One-Wrap-Plant-Ties/dp/B0010YQJZ0
Seems no matter how much I get there is never any spare in the workshop when I need it...perhaps I have too many cables...or the gardener keeps raiding my stash.
Will have to have words with her 🙂
https://www.amazon.co.uk/VELCRO-Brand-One-Wrap-Plant-Ties/dp/B0010YQJZ0
You have a battery pack, with corded tools and an inverter, or...?
I finally started work on the workshop today, mostly swapped stuff around. To unpack the Saw box, put the wood saws with the woodwork tools, hacksaw with the metalwork tools was easy but what to do with the circular saw...keep a Saw box for dual purpose saws? Then I have saws in 3 places...and so on. Tried not to be too obsessive/OCD, but it took far too much time. Mainly because I would think about what to do, then try it, decide it didn't work efficiently, think some more, retry, etc, etc.
The tool boards are OK, the overhead cabinets less so. I installed them because they are more or less standard practice but found them inconvenient once I loaded them, took out most of the stuff and put it on the tool board. Maybe I can use them for flammables, solvents and the like.
I think I just need to take the financial pain and buy a tool cabinet with lots of drawers.
Any Aussies have recommendation?
Boxes still make sense for tools that need to travel to site, masonry work or plumber's tools.
Anyway, some improvement today, and should be more tomorrow.
Best wishes
David
If you can't lay your hands on the tool you want within 2s, you're not organised and can't work efficiently. Sadly, you have to bite the bullet and spend money on appropriate storage. I have five 15 drawer Bisley cabinets, sixteen Raaco cabinets for component storage, and a cabinet with twenty one 6" x 3" x 15" (WHD) drawers for intermediate size tools. It all cost an arm and a leg, but it allows me to do stuff without wasting time searching for things.
Tree was an American machine tool builder, the trade mark got sold after the factory got closed, last I checked the name belonged to somebody in Singapore.
Well regarded, but you have to account for wear, a new CNC system with new linear scales, and a scraping of the guideways, checking squareness and runout will cost you about half of what you will spend on a new Taiwanese or Chinese mill.
You can buy it as a curiosity, pay per ton. A shelf queen, like an old camera.
A friend sold his Deckel mill, it was a five axis unit, after the controller got problems, could not find a new matching controller, still has regrets, said no wear on slides after many years' use, but the controller became trouble prone, he got a good price.
As for layout, sawdust and metal do not mix, so wood in a separate area, and a common area for assembly / painting, with required tools handy.
Best keep wood work on the porch, outside in the shade.
Electronics, away from both wood and metal.
Well regarded, but you have to account for wear, a new CNC system with new linear scales, and a scraping of the guideways, checking squareness and runout will cost you about half of what you will spend on a new Taiwanese or Chinese mill.
You can buy it as a curiosity, pay per ton. A shelf queen, like an old camera.
A friend sold his Deckel mill, it was a five axis unit, after the controller got problems, could not find a new matching controller, still has regrets, said no wear on slides after many years' use, but the controller became trouble prone, he got a good price.
As for layout, sawdust and metal do not mix, so wood in a separate area, and a common area for assembly / painting, with required tools handy.
Best keep wood work on the porch, outside in the shade.
Electronics, away from both wood and metal.
In spite of my prejudices have recently bought some stuff from Ikea. A tall two door cabinet to keep reference books and test equipment dust free, deep enough to store the oscilloscope sideways plus a 4 drawer, waist high "work bench" with a wooden top also for storing assorted stuff. Perhaps check out their catalogue?
The multidisciplinary workshop can be difficult. I faced the same problem. I decided to have a dirty workshop for woodwork and metalwork and a clean area for electronics and design work. Since I only have a small space now, organisation was very important. My french cleat tool wall keeps frequently used tools very accessible and off the work surfaces. I have four bays of shelves for storage in the adjacent garage. Good lighting and dust control for the woodworking tools is important, too.
Test gear needs to be on a sturdy shelf above the bench and ready to use; If it was worth spending money on it, why is it not ready to use simply by pressing the "IN" button? Further, it should be used to the limit of its abilities. Even better, beyond. Home-made accessories can often improve test gear. Often, there's a load of plugging needed round the back, I have GPIB fire hoses going to almost everything, also external triggers to DMMs. Oh, and power all plugged in. With it all plugged up permanently, and addresses known to the computer, you can set up complex experiments reasonably quickly.
Sadly, the earlier segregation comments are spot-on. Swarf manufacture does not do electronics any good at all. Wood dust rusts metalworking machine tools. Metal swarf and associated oil wrecks woodwork (even mine).
Sadly, the earlier segregation comments are spot-on. Swarf manufacture does not do electronics any good at all. Wood dust rusts metalworking machine tools. Metal swarf and associated oil wrecks woodwork (even mine).
I have a battery pack with a built in inverter:
I could only route the circles on one side at a time, however. Took two trips. They do come in larger sizes if budget allows but this size fits nicely in a wagon along with the tools, wood and saw horses.
I was going to get a tool chest of drawers but I'm opting for pegboard all the way; however, there's a really awesome resource for flat surfaces called Gridfinity if you're willing to put in the time and effort of 3d printing. I just know that everything I put in a drawer might as well be sent there to die. I have to see it to use it.
Arm reach is super important. I just clamped this cheap craft display to my bench today:
My hand reaches to the bottom of it so it's perfect for everything I'll reach for regularly. I'm a total beginner so I opted for an Analog Discovery, which is a USB electronics lab for EE students. I'll screw it in to the butcher block when the time comes.
My space will alternate uses between film editing, coding and maybe some mold-making. I initially bought a huge 10ft x 4ft plastic sheet for rolling chairs to lay underneath and protect the carpet from any mess. What a mistake—the static was so bad I could see sparks fly off my fingers! I'm now looking into rubber gym mats because the anti-static options are just too expensive...
Cheers,
Attachments
Same
6 x 4 metre wood and metalwork shop.
6 x 4.2 metre electronics and Jewellery workshop. Library ,sitting and thinking space in the sun, oh and a 30 ton press.
6 x 4 metre crafts and organics workshop
2 x 5 metre lapidary workshop
French cleats just the best!
12 x 6 metre house 🙂
(Several dwellings ago it was referred to as "a sound-room with life-support" now we have fun making-spaces with life-support.... and listening spaces)
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That's a lot of drawers!
I had planned an 1800mm tool trolley with maybe 15 drawers, I had 12 boxes on shelves under the work bench and was a workable granularity for my needs.
I do have a lot of other boxes however, so I understand the need for lots of compartments.
I recently shopped at IKEA for some stuff, to my surprise their cables were not only the cheapest but excellent quality.
So I had a look around, but didn't find any useful workshop stuff. The electronics set up is in the house rather than the workshop, for all the reasons that several people have already mentioned, but I won't even think about that until the workshop is done.
Best wishes
David
I secure all of my major large tools, band saw, drill press, router table, jointer, lathe, etc., onto plywood platforms with wheels. Instead of leaving everything in fixed locations I move the ones I'm not using out of the way and off to the side. Then bring the tools I am using at the time into the center of the shop. It takes a few minutes to move everything around, but I think it is well worth it. I use retractable wheels so once the tool is moved to where I'm going to use it, I just drop it down onto the pads and it's very solid and secure.
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I take it that you live out of town?
Are the 6m areas subdivisions of one, continuous 6m wide shed or structure?
One option I have considered is to extend my current structure but have a slidable partition between the dusty woodwork area and the metalwork tools.
👍 I am a little similar, would love to see pics if you are comfortable to post them.
Best wishes
David
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Yeah, I think I should do this for some woodwork tools, partly to roll outside for dust control, as well as space.
I assume your lathe is a woodwork unit?
My metalwork lathe is a little too heavy to haul around.
Best wishes
David
I recently started an overhaul in my basement to accommodate my newfound audio/tube audio restoration interest. I rent a hangar at the local airport where I have a decent metalwork setup with lathe/mill/fixture table etc. but I wanted something at the house so I didn't have to travel 30min every time I wanted to work on projects. My basement is roughly 1250 sqft (116 m2??) with half taken up by two simulators and the other half was just a bunch of shelves with stuff randomly stacked on them. I would say I am about 2/3s of the way through the overhaul and am quite pleased with the outcome. I had planned on welding up framing for all the benches from scratch but in the process of reorganizing all the shelving (from Costo) I realized I could just modify the shelving system to accept a work surface. With a bit of additional framing I was able to come up with the bench system you see in the picture. I have yet to finish the central work benches but am planning on 2 to 3 3'x6' (roughly 1x3 meter) work surfaces as that is the largest size I can practically get down the stairwell. I wanted/neede a relatively large flat work surface as I also dabble in sewing a bit as well, stuff like upholstery, equipment covers, backpack mods, etc. I'm almost done. Still a few things to finish out but I am able to work on projects for the moment.
It might be worth watching mend it Mark's video on setting up his new workshop, he's got a LOT of experiance in electronics, and a lot of "reason" to how he's laid it out.
The problem with watching mend it Mark's video is that you will likely end up getting "test equipment envy" and have a wallet thinning event of disturbing magnitude. lol...
Not that that has ever happened to me... 😉
I really like Erik's Electronics Workbench video on isolation transformer/current limiter/variac setup. It's very comprehensive.
Not that that has ever happened to me... 😉
I really like Erik's Electronics Workbench video on isolation transformer/current limiter/variac setup. It's very comprehensive.
A couple of comments: A lot of the light is being wasted from those fluorescents. You really want lots of light in a lab/workshop. Ideally, the ceiling fluorescents want to come down. I understand why they're above the bottom of the joists, but a lot of light is being lost. It would seriously help to paint the joists white. The fluorescents above the bench are lighting the top of the test equipment. Is that useful? Probably not. But moving them to the front underside of the lower shelf and putting something in the way to prevent direct sight of them would illuminate the work surface. The other thing to think about is electrical muckiness. I have a clean end (where electrometers live) and a dirty end (where the leaky Topaz isolating transformer lives). Other than that, I'm deeply envious of that amount of bench space - my bench is only 6ft long and its (sturdy) shelf is stacked high with test gear. At one end is floorstanding rack of shelves, and beyond that are the electrometer shelves. At the other end are book shelves and the Topaz. Available walls are covered with Raaco cabinets and the fitted wardrobe is filled with floorstanding racks of shelves.
Just a thought, but I would rotate those shelves up against the wall on the left hand side by ninety degrees so that they stick out from the wall with narrow paths in between - that would give you more space around your workbenches. You also have some wasted space in the corner, but if you've done as I suggest, you could slide the three shelves along the top to the left, to butt into the corner, moving that wasted space to be next to the 3D printer where it can be used.
You will need loads of power outlets. I have a strip of 21 x IEC guzzouters for the test gear and it's still not enough. Fortunately, I have eleven double mains outlets at working surface height, but almost all of those have now been stolen. Do make sure the bench metalwork is earth-bonded.
Just a thought, but I would rotate those shelves up against the wall on the left hand side by ninety degrees so that they stick out from the wall with narrow paths in between - that would give you more space around your workbenches. You also have some wasted space in the corner, but if you've done as I suggest, you could slide the three shelves along the top to the left, to butt into the corner, moving that wasted space to be next to the 3D printer where it can be used.
You will need loads of power outlets. I have a strip of 21 x IEC guzzouters for the test gear and it's still not enough. Fortunately, I have eleven double mains outlets at working surface height, but almost all of those have now been stolen. Do make sure the bench metalwork is earth-bonded.
Thanks so much for the suggestions...
All the lighting in the basement is actually LED. The lighting you see turned on here was just half the lights actually available. There are in fact lights under the "test gear shelf" that I had just not wired up before I had taken this picture. I'm telling you, when the lights are all on, there isn't a shadow to be found!
Power wise there is one 20a dedicated circuit per 6' bay and a full length power strip on the main bench as well as the "equipment shelf". Two of the bays have isolation an transformer available and I hadn't put the dim bulb tester in place prior to this picture that is in the center bay where I will do most of my work. Also, since this is a modular system and the additions I made are also modular I can adjust the arrangement as well as shelving and work surface heights if needed.
Trust me, I have tried many many permutations of this layout including arrangements with the shelving 90 degrees to the outside walls (library like). I have found that with the space I have available and the type of work I do, this has been the most useful layout I have come up with. The two shelves back to back kinda out in the middle on the left side are actually me just experimenting with additional shelf spacing and orientations, they aren't actually there at the moment. It's sometimes hard to tell from a two dimensional drawing how things work out. Never mind that there a ton of non movable obstructions (plumbing, vents, etc) that are not shown in the drawing. Dead space in the corners is a result of pre-fabricated shelf size as well as obstructions so there isn't much I can do about that. Most of the corners I use for storage of lengthy items like metal and wood stock and the like.
Maybe once it is all complete I will do a proper tour but it's still a work in progress at the moment.
Cheers!
All the lighting in the basement is actually LED. The lighting you see turned on here was just half the lights actually available. There are in fact lights under the "test gear shelf" that I had just not wired up before I had taken this picture. I'm telling you, when the lights are all on, there isn't a shadow to be found!
Power wise there is one 20a dedicated circuit per 6' bay and a full length power strip on the main bench as well as the "equipment shelf". Two of the bays have isolation an transformer available and I hadn't put the dim bulb tester in place prior to this picture that is in the center bay where I will do most of my work. Also, since this is a modular system and the additions I made are also modular I can adjust the arrangement as well as shelving and work surface heights if needed.
Trust me, I have tried many many permutations of this layout including arrangements with the shelving 90 degrees to the outside walls (library like). I have found that with the space I have available and the type of work I do, this has been the most useful layout I have come up with. The two shelves back to back kinda out in the middle on the left side are actually me just experimenting with additional shelf spacing and orientations, they aren't actually there at the moment. It's sometimes hard to tell from a two dimensional drawing how things work out. Never mind that there a ton of non movable obstructions (plumbing, vents, etc) that are not shown in the drawing. Dead space in the corners is a result of pre-fabricated shelf size as well as obstructions so there isn't much I can do about that. Most of the corners I use for storage of lengthy items like metal and wood stock and the like.
Maybe once it is all complete I will do a proper tour but it's still a work in progress at the moment.
Cheers!