Re: Work bench for electronics

DecaturTxCowboy wrote:
vorange wrote:
My room is getting cluttered with electronics stuff and I'd like to get
it organized.

Is it worth investing in an electronic workbench?

Noooooooooooo.........

A simple 2x4 wood frame with diagonal cross braces is fine. Buy a 3/4"
*** of AC grade plywood (has a smooth top side). Have them cut it down
to 3x8 ft or 3x6 ft. That gives you a two foot wide working space after
you place two sets of 1x4 ft. metal shelves in the back. Home Depot and
Lowes have metal straps and corner pieces designed to build work
benches. Look for the Simpson "Strong-Tie" rack and they usually have a
booklet there for you to take that has ideas.
http://www.strongtie.com/

The plywood...Prime it and paint it with a latex paint. Paint both side
to prevent warping! An ivory or light sky blue looks nice. My frames are
painted forest green...although Mossy Oak® motif might kick the butch
factor up a notch (that was my rodeo bull-riding boyfriends'
suggestion). A 2x4 attached lengthwise with the 2" wide side up against
the underside of the plywood at the middle and back prevents sagging.

First metal shelf can be 6 inches above the workbench and place your
power supplies under it, then place your meters and scopes on top of
that first shelf.

Personally, I don't like large and permanently placed static mats when
working with bare printed circuit boards. Same for carpet. Rather use a
strip of anti-static panel or carpet when you need it. BTW, some carpet
can be worse than having no anti-static panel at all.

Lighting....an overhead two-bulb fluorescent garage work bench fixture
mounted over the center or just towards the shelf gives even
illumination with few shadows. Two of those swing-arm pantograph desk
laps at both ends of the bench are nice.

Fluorescent bulbs...Go for the "full-spectrum" (a misused term) or the
hottest color temperature bulbs. They are rated in Kelvin degrees.
5,000Kº to 7,000Kº really do look like true sunlight. Mine are
advertised to have the some color of the artic sky. Lamps America (?)
has a "full-spectrum" line that was the worst thing I ever bought. Looks
like an arc welder and puts your teeth on edge. Or you can go with the
3,000Kº bulbs that looks like incandescent lamps.

Power strips...lots of them! A single circuit-breaker, surge-protected
one at the rear or underside can feed five or six other regular strips.
Put a strip at both ends of the bench for plugging in your test stuff.

I have a plastic box (one of the those behind-the-wall, stud mounted
ones) with an electric light switch and ground-fault-protector mounted
on side of bench for an emergency off switch.

Yes, an Earth Leakage Circuit Breaker (ELCB) is essential for any
bench, could save your life one day.

Dave :)

.

Quantcast