Your Toolbox

Got around to putting all of my most commonly used components in drawers, and added a Hakko soldering station (amazing!!) and Quad Hands (much better than the old RadioShack Helping Hands I was using).
The box on the bottom shelf is full of seldom-used-but-might-come-in-handy component values. The two bags are full of PCBs- I still need to come up with a better storage idea for those and my populated buy yet-to-be boxed boards
Also need to procure some form of tool holder for my snips, pliers, screwdrivers and sockets
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All of these work wonderfully, I've just to box them up, and seriously come up with a better solution for storing them... Or, maybe just try to build one-at-a-time:ROFLMAO:
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Inking supplies and various tools:
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My most valued employee (the cats are assholes)
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DGWVI said:
Got around to putting all of my most commonly used components in drawers, and added a Hakko soldering station (amazing!!) and Quad Hands (much better than the old RadioShack Helping Hands I was using).
The box on the bottom shelf is full of seldom-used-but-might-come-in-handy component values. The two bags are full of PCBs- I still need to come up with a better storage idea for those and my populated buy yet-to-be boxed boards
Also need to procure some form of tool holder for my snips, pliers, screwdrivers and sockets
View attachment 3312

All of these work wonderfully, I've just to box them up, and seriously come up with a better solution for storing them... Or, maybe just try to build one-at-a-time:ROFLMAO:
View attachment 3313

Inking supplies and various tools:
View attachment 3314View attachment 3315

My most valued employee (the cats are assholes)
View attachment 3316
Click to expand...

Looks good, I have the same workbench. And once you get a Hakko, nothing else will do.
 
DGWVI said:
Got around to putting all of my most commonly used components in drawers, and added a Hakko soldering station (amazing!!) and Quad Hands (much better than the old RadioShack Helping Hands I was using).
The box on the bottom shelf is full of seldom-used-but-might-come-in-handy component values. The two bags are full of PCBs- I still need to come up with a better storage idea for those and my populated buy yet-to-be boxed boards
Also need to procure some form of tool holder for my snips, pliers, screwdrivers and sockets
View attachment 3312

All of these work wonderfully, I've just to box them up, and seriously come up with a better solution for storing them... Or, maybe just try to build one-at-a-time:ROFLMAO:
View attachment 3313

Inking supplies and various tools:
View attachment 3314View attachment 3315

My most valued employee (the cats are assholes)
View attachment 3316
Click to expand...

I can't believe there is someone worse than me at populating boards and not finishing them!
 
Here's mine... finally got this set up last Summer after a few years of cobbling together tiny, inpermanent workspaces. I've tried to get my shit as organized as my ADD brain can manage, and it's helped tremendously with efficiency. I think that the afternoon I spent organizing all of my resistors into storage bin drawers was by far the biggest time saver. But having most commonly used stuff within an arm's reach, but some things that require me to get up and walk around a little, has been a good balance between efficiency and moving around a little.
 

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You guys are giving me some workbench envy. Here are a couple pics I have from a month ago. It's "organized chaos" and slightly more clean at the moment but I'm too lazy to snap a new pic.

My workspace / home studio is in a finished attic with a ceiling so low that I can't stand up. By the end of the year I will be moving it all to a dedicated tiny (115 sq ft) building at my garden in the mountains --- will be a HUGE upgrade.

BTW, my favorite tool on my bench is a block of wood. I'm not joking. It's a 4x4 scrap of wood about 4.5 inches long. Comes in handy for leaning boards against to populate parts, raising boards up closer to see when I'm inspecting with my magnifier glasses, using as a weight to stabilize wobbly big PCBs while I'm soldering the other end, and so much more. I've never seen anyone mention having a block of wood on the bench but damn it's really handy!

My other fav tool are the "corncob" LED lights. They are so bright. I've got one that's warm and two that are cool hue so the overall color balance is nicer to my eyes. It's made such a big difference to be able to light up the bench. There are also 2 strips of LED lights under the shelf above the bench which help a lot too.

Probably the only other thing that makes a big difference is the Hakko 888 soldering station. Everything else I have is fairly standard and not very expensive (hot air station and signal generator are from Aliexpress, work great), but I cannot imagine trying to solder without a proper iron -- the single-piece pencil type totally suck and are more frustration than they're worth. I really would not wish one of those on my worst enemy. I highly recommend the Hakko.

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MightySmallElectrons said:
What tips do y’all prefer on your Hakko?
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I use a T-18 C2 which is the "angle cut cylinder" style. I've also tried the chisel type and the pencil type. I prefer the angle cut because if I rotate my iron I can attack the joint at different angles and also get into hard to reach places, where with the chisel you really only have the flat side and the narrow side. And the pencil type just sucks in general.
 
Wow - you guys have actual workbenches! I have a desk, in an office. Well it was a bedroom but now it's my office. I work from home. My office is where I keep my guitars, computers, amps and about a gazillion pedals. I have a Marshall bar fridge in there too - my wife bought it for me. She's a keeper but I keep her in a different room. I keep all the electronics parts in a couple of drawers and they are well organised, but my desk is a mess. My office is right at the front of the house and as I work I can see outside to the front gate. It means I can often have the front door open before the delivery man rings the doorbell.

Sometimes I actually have to stop building pedals or playing guitar and do work. That sucks.
 
NIIIIIIIIIIIIIICE! Cool setup. Even cooler wife for allowing that in the living room. You had better not be flicking any solder into the carpet.

A moose tapestry, how Canadian, eh?

And what's that behind the monitor, mood lighting?

Hey! Look at all that vinyl! This photo is like a Hieronymus Bosch painting. Every time I look at it, I see something I hadn't noticed before.
 
Chuck D. Bones said:
NIIIIIIIIIIIIIICE! Cool setup. Even cooler wife for allowing that in the living room. You had better not be flicking any solder into the carpet.

A moose tapestry, how Canadian, eh?

And what's that behind the monitor, mood lighting?

Hey! Look at all that vinyl! This photo is like a Hieronymus Bosch painting. Every time I look at it, I see something I hadn't noticed before.
Click to expand...

hahaha, I will let the wife know next time she looks at the corner and sighs that it is actually fine art much like the moose tapestry. We have another one (this time Elk!) elsewhere in the house, they’re so ridiculous I can’t take them down. Fun to stare at under the influence of certain substances :o

Behind the monitor is a pair of plastic mannequin legs my wife glued artsy rocks to and stuffed with outdoor lighting, it’s the “always on” light of the house.



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And a turntable playing actual records - I have one in my office too. My son's girlfriend loves vinyl and bought me some records a while ago. I love that vinyl has made a comeback. CDs are great for convenience but I don't stoop to MP3s for listening except on aeroplanes. I still play my records from time to time. My son stopped by my office when I played one and was surprised at how good it sounded - what was he expecting??
 
Cassettes? I remember those.
I put off buying a CD player for a long time because when CDs first came out, they sounded like crap. The record companies had no clue how to master a CD. When I finally bought a CD player, I set it up and compared Who's Next vinyl vs. CD. CD sounded pretty good, but vinyl was clearly superior. Of course I can't play vinyl in my car...
 
Well I’m moving at the end of the month, the place we’re going is empty and they don’t care if we start setting up ahead of time. I get my own pedal/guitar cave room in this place so I am over the top excited about it! Now all my stuff won’t be in the living room.

First things first is a proper workbench I am mounting in the little alcove corner by the window (proper ventilation!). Took a sheet of MDF and cut it to 30x70 and just clamped/glued/screwed leftover bits to double it up.

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More pics to come as progress is made.
 
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Here’s a mock-up of what my desk looks like:
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