New Workplace Day! There's a baby boy coming sometime in the middle of March, so we had to rethink the rooms in our house a bit. We decided to move the soldering room to the other side of the upstairs hall. Once we had installed a desk and stuff like that, it took the time between Christmas and New Year's to move everything.Why? Cuz I'm not the tidiest person in the universe. Luckily, my girlfriend loves sorting stuff. I ordered a few extra parts cabinets, explained the difference between resistor, capacitor and IC markings and we set to work. I've never before been this organized. Lighting is not ideal, but below is a guided tour in photos:
The new room is smaller and has a sloping ceiling, but actually, I now feel it's the better room because it has no weird corners and such like the other one. Behind those white panels at the far end, there's secret storage space.
(http://www.rutgerockhorst.com/MBP/NWD/werkplek01.jpg)
On the left, there's storage (boxes boxes, parts parts, pedals pedals) and a place to populate PCBs
(http://www.rutgerockhorst.com/MBP/NWD/werkplek02.jpg)
As I said: never been this organized before
(http://www.rutgerockhorst.com/MBP/NWD/werkplek03.jpg)
Pedals and a DIY 18W combo amp hiding under the cover
(http://www.rutgerockhorst.com/MBP/NWD/werkplek04.jpg)
On the far end on the right is a space to assemble pedals or take them apart, with appropriate tools nearby and containers to stash the parts so they don't get lost while working on the pedal.
(http://www.rutgerockhorst.com/MBP/NWD/werkplek05.jpg)
Also shown here is my little test setup: a looper with She Sells Sanctuary played into it, a sort of break out box with aligator clips to hook up circuits, and a small practice amp. Behind that is a power supply. Simple, but this makes repair jobs and testing so much easier.
(http://www.rutgerockhorst.com/MBP/NWD/werkplek06.jpg)
And finally, this is where the soldering should happen. I bought a second soldering iron. Instead of switching tips (and waiting for them to cool down) I now can just switch soldering irons when changing from leaded to lead free. I've switched to lead free for new projects permanently. It's actually working out pretty well. The parts bins contain switches and pots.
(http://www.rutgerockhorst.com/MBP/NWD/werkplek07.jpg)
You lucky bugger. I increasingly want a workbench setup like that -- I can't leave things in front of my computer keyboard all the time :(
I can imagine what a visitor would say -- "Wow, this man is so rich, he has a whole drawer full of MN3005!
That's real nice, total pro. I manage to have everything organized into a shoebox and milk crate since my workspace is the dining table. Great job with the shelves and storage bins.
That is nice and organized. I'm jealous. I'm another person who needs to use the dining room table.
Those are some nice digs man! That's a dream setup.
I actually envy all of you guys. My wife makes me solder out in our detached garage.
Quote from: alanp on January 05, 2018, 06:39:58 AM
I can imagine what a visitor would say -- "Wow, this man is so rich, he has a whole drawer full of MN3005!
I have four in there...I would just put them in some assorted parts bin, but my girl friend won't have any of that. Everything in it's own place, she insisted.
Quote from: diablochris6 on January 05, 2018, 06:46:08 AM
That's real nice, total pro. I manage to have everything organized into a shoebox and milk crate since my workspace is the dining table. Great job with the shelves and storage bins.
Ikea is both the devil and your friend for these kinds of things...this is the fourth incarnation of work space. I started out in the kitchen much in the manner you describe.
Quote from: Matmosphere on January 05, 2018, 07:07:12 AM
I actually envy all of you guys. My wife makes me solder out in our detached garage.
I think that's actually very wise...much better than the dining room table.
I used the previous room for two years. I wiped down the desktop after clearing out all the parts and there's a whole lot of little glistening metal residue left from the work. It's almost too small too see with the naked eye when it's on the desk, but piled together on a wet piece of tissue paper it was very evident. Mind you, this is from underneath a sheet of protective plastic. Basically, (and I might be a bit over zealous with this) I treat my soldering work spaces as contaminated areas.
Looks awesome! I have the same Ikea shelving units in my little work area. They're great. I also really like the tray, is it a baking pan? Look at all those enclosures you've got there, just waiting for guts...
My wife has kindly let me take over our dining room area for the workbench. I wish I had a detached garage to work in. We're dealing with lead and fumes, pretty toxic stuff. We're looking to move soon, and I plan to buy one of those small sheds at Home Depot to throw in the yard for my new and improved work space :) This way I won't be poisoning my family anymore.
Do you guys use a de-fumer or just hella fans (like me)? I thought about buying a de-fumer, but reviews seem to be mixed about how effective they are.
Those are Ikea Baggmuck shoe trays I accidentally spotted while roaming their magazines looking for the stuff I actually needed ;)...
bookmarked!!!
i want my private room like that!
Quote from: Loe on January 05, 2018, 07:55:13 AM
Do you guys use a de-fumer or just hella fans (like me)? I thought about buying a de-fumer, but reviews seem to be mixed about how effective they are.
I've been using a Toolcraft defumer like you see in the last picture (it's not a lamp). I previously had a unit standing on the table top and I think this new one with the swinging arm is going to be a nice upgrade. IMO, it definitely helps. I haven't got asthma or anything, but I always noticed sore throat and coughing after soldering without any kind of active ventilation in the past. There's acidic stuff from the resin core in the fumes that can really affect your breathing. I used to use a bathroom fan with a hose attached transporting fumes out of the window years ago. Both options seem to work and keep things manageable. No sore throats or coughing since.
As far as lead goes: the consensus is that it's so heavy that it immediately falls down. There's no real risk of inhaling any vaporized lead particles. (strictly/technically speaking we should be talking about it's vapor pressure: there's no real chance of gaseous lead atoms escaping from the liquid when soldering). There have been quite extensive studies, measuring lead content in the blood of professional solderers. Virtually none was found I believe. Don't eat and drink at your work space and wash your hands afterwards and you should be fine. Wisdom handed down from RG Keen years ago (credit where credit is due).
Here's a picture of the lead free stuff I've been testing out.
(http://www.rutgerockhorst.com/MBP/NWD/soldeer.jpg)
With leaded solders I used to solder at 330 degrees (Celsius). This stuff works nicely with the iron set to 360, maybe a little higher for big surfaces like pots. Flows well, nice and shiny joints just like with the good old stuff. Highly recommended.
On my list still is a heated desolderingpump or maybe a dedicated desoldering station, instead of just the pump and the wire. That should make life a lot easier as well.
Really nice looking. And all those PPP boxes.
Are you on the 3rd floor of your home? The slope and the window remind me of my bedroom in the row house in Veghel I lived in.
Plus one for the workstation envy here! I'm another person working from the dining table. I then have to pack everything into a corner of our music/Lego room when not in use. Whilst trying not to step on Lego while carrying everything. :)
Really nice setup Rockhorst, thanks for sharing that with everyone.
Quote from: BrianS on January 05, 2018, 11:19:41 AM
Are you on the 3rd floor of your home? The slope and the window remind me of my bedroom in the row house in Veghel I lived in.
It's a three story building, three layers of apartments running along the full length of the street. The top floor originally wasn't a floor, but an escape route from one side of the street to the other, it really ran over the entire length of the houses. Originally, it was all apartments for rent, but then the owner (an energy company) sold about 50%, including the parts of the escape route directly above the apartments at the top. So that has now been converted to three rooms and a bath room. Quite spaceous as a result.
Oh man that is nice. I can only dream.
That's a great space. Well laid out. Should be easy to get things done there.
Quote from: pickdropper on January 05, 2018, 03:33:49 PM
That's a great space. Well laid out. Should be easy to get things done there.
Well, let's just say that the room shouldn't stand in the way of that, indeed. Other stuff though ;)
I feel like I need to clean up my workbench.
...and buy like a million enclosures
Quote from: Rockhorst on January 05, 2018, 08:11:03 AM
As far as lead goes: the consensus is that it's so heavy that it immediately falls down. There's no real risk of inhaling any vaporized lead particles. (strictly/technically speaking we should be talking about it's vapor pressure: there's no real chance of gaseous lead atoms escaping from the liquid when soldering). There have been quite extensive studies, measuring lead content in the blood of professional solderers. Virtually none was found I believe. Don't eat and drink at your work space and wash your hands afterwards and you should be fine. Wisdom handed down from RG Keen years ago (credit where credit is due).
The flux is what you should be really worried about. It's nearly always organic (rosin), and when it burns (like, say, when you're soldering things with it), it releases all kindsa crap into the air as smoke.
Quote from: Rockhorst on January 05, 2018, 06:34:58 AM
There's a baby boy coming sometime in the middle of March, so we had to rethink the rooms in our house a bit.
Ha! You distracted us all very nicely with the diygeek stuff, but I noticed eventually!
Hope all goes well :)
Quote from: Leevibe on January 05, 2018, 04:48:49 PM
...and buy like a million enclosures
It's a hundred enclosures...I took advantage of the big PPP sale earlier 2017 when they were clearing out everything from the shelves...Still sort a feel it in my bank account, but I think I've got enclosures for life haha.
Quote from: alanp on January 05, 2018, 11:33:51 PM
Ha! You distracted us all very nicely with the diygeek stuff, but I noticed eventually!
Hope all goes well :)
Well spotted Alan. So far, it's going relatively easy I think (and my girl friend confirms). We've seen/heard horror stories about the last bits of pregnancy (my sister hasn't been able to walk properly for months now, she's ready to pop, can't sleep etc.). Nothing too extreme here. So let's hope she keeps this up for 9 more weeks and everything goes smoothly.
Quote from: Rockhorst on January 06, 2018, 03:42:58 AM
Quote from: Leevibe on January 05, 2018, 04:48:49 PM
...and buy like a million enclosures
It's a hundred enclosures...I took advantage of the big PPP sale earlier 2017 when they were clearing out everything from the shelves...Still sort a feel it in my bank account, but I think I've got enclosures for life haha.
Quote from: alanp on January 05, 2018, 11:33:51 PM
Ha! You distracted us all very nicely with the diygeek stuff, but I noticed eventually!
Hope all goes well :)
Well spotted Alan. So far, it's going relatively easy I think (and my girl friend confirms). We've seen/heard horror stories about the last bits of pregnancy (my sister hasn't been able to walk properly for months now, she's ready to pop, can't sleep etc.). Nothing too extreme here. So let's hope she keeps this up for 9 more weeks and everything goes smoothly.
For reasons that I can't fully explain, folks that have had kids love to share every horror story of childbirth with first time parents. It must be some sort of hazing/rite of passage. I've seen it do a good job of terrifying people.
Sure, things can go wrong, but there's no need to assume they will. Congrats to you and your girlfriend. I hope that everything goes smooth and that you remember the process as a magical time in your lives.
Quote from: pickdropper on January 06, 2018, 06:13:32 AM
For reasons that I can't fully explain, folks that have had kids love to share every horror story of childbirth with first time parents. It must be some sort of hazing/rite of passage. I've seen it do a good job of terrifying people.
Sure, things can go wrong, but there's no need to assume they will. Congrats to you and your girlfriend. I hope that everything goes smooth and that you remember the process as a magical time in your lives.
Well said. I've given this advice to lots of my friends. Childbirthing stories are like war stories or fish stories. My wife's last pregnancy turned out to be twins. We knew several people who had had twins and they were talking like it was going to be armageddon. We were braced for the worst. As it turned out, it was a lot of work but to us it wasn't anything like what we had heard about. I later realized that for those people their twins were their first pregnancy. By the time we had ours we had some experience under our belt. I think of the week or two after our twins were born as the very best time of my life. I was off work caring for our other two being mister mom and just enjoying life. It was perfect.
Quote from: Rockhorst on January 05, 2018, 08:11:03 AM
Quote from: Loe on January 05, 2018, 07:55:13 AM
Do you guys use a de-fumer or just hella fans (like me)? I thought about buying a de-fumer, but reviews seem to be mixed about how effective they are.
I've been using a Toolcraft defumer like you see in the last picture (it's not a lamp). I previously had a unit standing on the table top and I think this new one with the swinging arm is going to be a nice upgrade. IMO, it definitely helps. I haven't got asthma or anything, but I always noticed sore throat and coughing after soldering without any kind of active ventilation in the past. There's acidic stuff from the resin core in the fumes that can really affect your breathing. I used to use a bathroom fan with a hose attached transporting fumes out of the window years ago. Both options seem to work and keep things manageable. No sore throats or coughing since.
As far as lead goes: the consensus is that it's so heavy that it immediately falls down. There's no real risk of inhaling any vaporized lead particles. (strictly/technically speaking we should be talking about it's vapor pressure: there's no real chance of gaseous lead atoms escaping from the liquid when soldering). There have been quite extensive studies, measuring lead content in the blood of professional solderers. Virtually none was found I believe. Don't eat and drink at your work space and wash your hands afterwards and you should be fine. Wisdom handed down from RG Keen years ago (credit where credit is due).
Cool, thanks for that helpful info!
You've no idea how jealous I am. That's brilliant.
(https://media.giphy.com/media/GnFBKXaMJ1wYM/giphy.gif)