Re: Lab setup: Parts and tools cabinets

Spehro Pefhany wrote:
On Fri, 24 Apr 2009 09:47:56 -0400, Phil Hobbs
<pcdhSpamMeSenseless@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Okay, now that the digital scope issue is apparently settled, there are a couple more things. First off, I need some nice drawer cabinets to keep parts in. At IBM, I had a whole bunch of nice Lista drawer cabinets, but they apparently don't make the 28 x 30 inch size anymore. Stanley Vidmar has them, apparently identical to the old Listas.

But wow, do those cabinets hold their value! Really mangy-looking dinged-up old ones are going for $950 on eBay, when shiny brand new ones from the factory are (by actual quote) $1400. Mind-boggling.
So I'm looking at something like this for optical and less-used electronics parts: http://www.stanleyvidmar.com/products/cabinets/preconfigured-cabinets/standard-eye-level-height-model-340
(the 15-drawer one at the bottom of the page), about $1400 with no drawer dividers,

and two of these with an 8 foot laminate countertop for a workbench:
http://www.stanleyvidmar.com/products/cabinets/preconfigured-cabinets/standard-stand-height-model-200 (one each of the two at the bottom, also with no drawer dividers) (probably $2k altogether).

The top 5 drawers or so are full of parts in neatly labelled plastic trays, which makes it really easy to slap things together to try out. Unfortunately neither Lista nor Vidmar makes the 1-1/4 inch high drawers anymore--they were really great for small things.

I'd be very interested in what the assembled multitude here uses for parts storage and workbenches.

Cheers

Phil Hobbs

Cheap hardware store parts drawers for jellybean parts.

Eg. http://www.amazon.com/Akro-Mils-10764-Drawer-Cabinet/dp/B000VTSOKS/ref=pd_cp_hi_2?pf_rd_p=413863601&pf_rd_s=center-41&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B000XJOHCA&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=1FGYTSTYTGJ7YZDB3F59

Workbenches, I have custom made ones, but McMaster has some decent
ones, not too expensive. Holes with those plastic thingies through the
top make cords a bit neater. I also have some long metal industrial
power bars mounted underneath for stuff that's always plugged in.
Sam's Club has a sturdy wood top bench (no drawers etc, though, you'd
have to add those) for cheap (around $200 US)... strong enough to hold
a 500lb+ milling machine without complaining. I like Kennedy brown
cabinets for tools.


I have half a dozen or so Akro-Mills cabinets too, but I'm not that fond of them--they're far harder to find things in and much fiddlier than a big steel drawer, as well as requiring getting out of my chair every time I need something that's just out of reach. Ohmite resistor assortments have reasonably nice plastic drawers, once you dump the 5 crummy resistors per division and replace them with 100 good ones.

Good suggestion about the cords--a chronic problem, that. I have to get some wiring done in my basement anyway, since there's only one outlet circuit down there at the moment, so I might have a couple of turret boxes put in at a convenient height. Most instruments use IEC cords anyway, so I can unplug the box end instead of the outlet end.

There's a Sam's Club near here, so I can have a look at their benches--thanks for the steer. The kitchen cart I'm currently using is definitely for a good time, not a long time.

I also need a long working distance binocular microscope, because being nearly 50, I can't see to solder small stuff anymore. :( I have a couple of sets of soldering glasses (under $40 from Zenni Optical) which are bifocals--+0.75 dioptre reading correction and +2.5 dioptre for close work. (They're quite comfortable except that I'd love to have the bottom part made with a slightly narrower interpupillary distance--eyeballs don't rotate around their pupils, so the IPD changes a bit with distance, which causes some eye strain.) They're not strong enough for doing dead-bug prototyping with SMT devices, though.

I used to have an ancient Zeiss surgical microscope on a floor stand, which I liked very much, but they're >$2k, even though they're 40 years old.

Cheers

Phil Hobbs
.

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