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Ideas for a Multipurpose Garage Workshop?
WTFmonkey asks: "Having looked at several woodworking websites and magazines, I've got some good ideas for the woodworking part of my planned shop. Sadly, I can't find any shop ideas specific to electronics and computer repair. What is considered essential for a good workbench? Dinner-table height or counter-top height (I'm 6'2"), and what is an adequate depth? Lighting strategies, handy equipment, organization issues? To put it succinctly, what are the most comfortable and effective benches you've worked at, and why?"
You may want to have a rubber top of your work bench. Keeps things from slipping around, doesnt stain, and nonconductive :)
If you can't get a bench with it built in, buy yourself a rubber mat, the type hockey rinks use would suffice.
> Sadly, I can't find any shop ideas specific to electronics and computer
> repair. What is considered essential for a good workbench?
Think about what you're going to do on this workbench, where you're going to
want to place things, and what you need as a result. For example, you will
very likely want to be able to slap a motherboard tray on there and have a
place to stick drives and a PSU where the cables can reach. Little shelves
for the drives maybe. Similarly, you're going to want a place to put a tower.
You'll want outlets of course and an ethernet jack or three. Very likely you
will want a KVM switch. Would it be handy to have a keyboard/mouse tray
that pulls out from underneath? Or are you the sort who wants those things
sitting on top of the bench? Where are you going to want your monitor? Plan
these things on paper before you start building.
Oh, and leave room for racks of screwdriver tips and things. Underneath is
probably where you'll put your boxes of cables and spare parts, but what about
screws. Hmmm... you'll want shallow spots to hold various types of case
screws, drive screws, and so on. These must either be central and easy to
reach or, better, movable.
Oh, and make it out of non-conductive materiels.
Cut that out, or I will ship you to Norilsk in a box.
Be plentiful with power outlets. My office has a workbench with a whole lotta plugs right along the surface of the table. Be mindful of wall-warts (Power supplies with huge ass bricks) as well.
"Derp de derp."
While this is not necessarily what I'd recommend for serious metal work or case modding or anything, the following is basically what I'd want in a computer area in my garage (a place where I could repair, upgrade, build, tinker, etc.). It'd basically jive with what I have at the repair center I work at.
First thing: get yourself an anti-static countertop. If you poke around, you may find that it'll cost you basically as much to get a decent anti-static counter as to get a halfway decent metal or laminated wood area. Static isn't a huge deal where I live (my part of Texas is humid enough that I never even bother at the house), but it is nice to have, particularly if you are in an area dry enough to worry about it. I actually prefer a countertop over a desk-height area, with a nice bar-stool height rolling chair. I'd go for flourescent lighting for power consumption, and get a good pull-down incandescent (the hooked sort that have a semi-retractable cable to take them up out of the way when not needed) for when I really need some brightness.
Get a large file cabinet. Fill one drawer with a big-ass, multi-tier toolbox with the assorted big 'n' small screwdrivers, nut drivers, pliers, dremel bits, etc. that you need. Get one of those small, sectioned tackle organizers designed for small hooks, flys, etc. Use it to compartmentalize your screws of different size and type. Fill another drawer with large capacity file dividers (the big, say, 2" sort), and fill those file dividers with anti-static bags with spare components (the assorted video, LAN, RAM, etc. that you might use for trouble shooting). Get some of the gallon-size freezer bags and use them to organize your cables. Unless it's something very non-prone to tangling (IDE ribbons, for example), stow each cable in its own bag. File these.
Get a cheap CRT, a keyboard with zero "grandma" buttons, and a basic, 2button + scroll optical mouse. If possible, have both KB and mouse use USB with PS/2 adapters, that way you're set for whatever randomness comes onto your bench. Get a cheap set of speakers (but make sure they're powered units). Run these into a KVM switch, and have a throwaway old machine with a big-ass hard drive in it for when you need to dump everything off for whatever reason (or preferably, have a file server and never have to worry). Get a cheap 10/100 hub (not switch) for checking LAN functionality and for the occasional time when you might want to sniff packets coming off of a machine you're troubleshooting. Oh, and order a notebook IDE->full-size IDE adapter. You never know when you might need one, and although they cost next to nothing, I never seem to be able to find a local vendor that carries them. If you're planning on, I don't know, tinkering with the neighbors machines for the hell of it (God help you), I'd tell you to snag a cheap PCI IDE card with a couple of controllers, for those times when you need to pop a drive in to pull some data off or check whether the problem is drive, board, or cable.
If you're the type of person who tends to work on a lot of things at a time, just pick-up a wire rack shelf to have some place to stow projects while you work on them.
Note: A lot of this applies to the fact that I work on other people's machines day in, day out. I don't have anyhting near this level at the house, but if I were going to build a small workshop anyway, the costs for equipment mentioned here would be in line with what I'd expect to spend.
I have some ideas after using several inadequate electronics benches. Some of these ideas I've put into practise but some are still on my wishlist.
Make sure the bench is not too deep. Deep benches accumulate more clutter and it's too difficult to reach the back to retrieve things. Sit down and reach across a table; the depth you can reach to is how deep the bench should be.
A bench is most useful when you can use it sitting down or standing up. So make the bench high and get a stool, rather than making it the height of a desk and using a desk chair.
Powerpoints! Lots of powerpoints, each with their own indicator light and switch. These need to be off the bench and within arms reach.
A grip (ie, a vice) on a movable arm. This can be mounted to the side of the bench, just so long as the arm reaches to where you work.
A shelf about 1 foot above the bench to hold all your test equipment, power supplies, etc. It must be within arm's reach so not too deep and not too high.
A flouro just below the shelf to illuminate the whole bench. Make it bright. Put a thin strip of wood in front (attached to the shelf) so the flouro doesn't shine in your eyes.
A second much brighter lamp on a movable arm (eg, halogen). Attach it to the shelf to keep the bench space clear.
A vertical rod coming out of the bench, off to one side, to hold spools of your most commonly used wires, solder, etc. About a foot long is all you need.
Attach a raised lip (about 1cm high) around the entire bench. There's nothing worse than crawling around the floor trying to find tiny pieces that rolled off the bench.
A kickback across the back of the bench. Same idea as the lip but go all the way up to the shelf. It stops tools falling behind the bench.
A sliding drawer under the bench, off to the side, with compartments to store all your most commonly used tools (eg, side cutters, needle noses). Btw, don't go overboard with things under the bench (eg, drawers, cupboards, etc) because they just get in the way of your legs.
I hope some of this has been helpful.
You can't overstate the value of good lighting - I've got a halogen worklight right above my compeuter work area, and it helps alot.
A fine is a tax you pay for doing wrong and a tax is a fine you pay for doing all right.
I'm 6'4 and I can tell you DO NOT put it at counter-top or table-top height. I dont know how much of a difference 2" will make. But I find that my back really gets sore after in the kitchen for longer periods of time.
I recently built a work bench in the garage for multi purpose things and I set it fairly high up. So that if I'm standing at it with my elbows bent it feels confortable. I'd say about 2" - 4" below your elbow. Trust me, you dont want your back bent if your going to be standing there working.
Also, I got a bar stool for it too. Since it's so higher up if I have the urge to sit down I can still get that "table-top hight" feel.
Don't forget a big-ass emergency stop switch in a very obvious position, that does the *whole* bench.
i tem approach.
This way when (not if!!) things smoke you only have to slam that button down to switch it all off, rather than the find-the-right-powerboard-that-feeds-the-burning-
Oh, and a good residual current device (earth leakage) can save your life as well, so don't forget that.
You are in a twisty maze of processor lines, all alike.
There is a lot of hype here.
Most of this comes from building biomedical research laboratories, but the principals still apply. I'll go from top to bottom.
1) Ceiling/Lighting: A light colored ceiling will help with indirect lighting. A couple of coats of paint will make a HUGE difference in how you see things - literally. Use long, narrow light fixtures - fluorescent, cool white. The fixture should be over the benchtop with the outside edge of the fixture lined up with the outside edge of the benchtop.
2) Shelving. Use unistrut/kindorf strut as shelving standards, mounted verticallt to the wall every +- 4 feet. Mount about 12" off the benchtop and run to within 1' of the ceiling. Mount these as securely as possible, as everything alse will hang off them. Now mount shelves or even cabinets using shelf brackets and spring-nuts. One neat trick is to have the depth of the shelves increase as they get closer to the ceiling. Top shelf for big, light, rarely used stuff, bottom shelf for every day small stuff.
3) Electrical/Communications: Across the bottom of the Unistrut standards, run surface mount electrical raceway aka Wiremold. Try getting the stuff that has 2 separate raceways - 1 for wire, one for communications.
4) Mechanical services: Compressed air is always good, both for blowing out cases and quickly cleaning your benchtop.
5) Benchtop: If it was a lab the only choices are epoxe or phenolic resin. For you, go with masonite, for all the reasons others have mentioned. I'd advise against rubber or metal. Rubber is irritating when trying to clean, and also hinders repositioning stuff on the benchtop - everything must be picked up, not slid. As for metal, it's too hard; if you drop something, you want to damage the benchtop, not the component.
6) Bench Components: Generally use standing height (36" +-) components. That way, you can alternate between standing and sitting on a high stool. If you use cabinets, leave a "kneehole" where you can sit and put your legs.
7) Floor: Smooth and cleanable is the key. We use a lot of vinyl tile in labs, wiht seamless sheet vinyl and engineered epoxy coatings where there are special requirements. Epoxy painted concrete is good. Stick with light colors with a light pattern: dropped components will show up well, but the patterning will hide the dirt.
8) FIRE EXTINGUISHER! Mount at waist level near the door you would use to exit in a hurry.
9) Misc: Task lighting, vise, etc.
"As God is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly." A. Carlson
Have you considered how you will keep the sawdust from leaving the woodshop side and entering the computer side?
If you have the room, you might want to use 2 benches. I have one tall bench (good for use standing or sitting on a stool) & a desk that can be used sitting in a regular chair. This is in my basement, and the way its set up, the desk is away from the wall (next to a telepost). This works great because I can easily access the back of any boxes I'm working on simply by walking around the desk - no need to swivel the computer around, pushing other stuff off the desk, tangling cables, etc.
...especially if you'll be doing any extensive soldering work.