The Electronic Workshop (Workbench)                

 Now all that you need  is the workshop.

In this section, I'll provide some guidelines on how to establish a workshop, how to build a workbench, and how to store components and tools so that what you need is always to hand without too much searching and turning over of rocks. I'll also make a brief mention of how to maintain your tools once they are installed and racked up in the workshop, and how to approach your work correctly once the workshop is in place and being used for its intended purpose.

The Right Place at the Right Time -

 The first challenge is to select the place in your house, garage, outbuilding, shed, shack or cave that will become your workshop. I know that your choice will be limited by available buildings, space not dedicated to other uses, and the overall size of your house and outbuildings, so consider the following solely as guidelines.

Try to establish your workshop in a space no smaller than 20 feet by 40 feet (around 6 metres by 12 metres give or take).

Ideally, the space should be one that can be permanently dedicated as a workshop. There's nothing worse than having to clear all your tools and gear away in the middle of a half finished job. In addition, the best way to avoid becoming cheesed off with the job in hand is to know that you can walk away, close the door on it, and return whenever you wish. Always remember that this will be your hobby, and that it should always be fun and a form of relaxation and recreation, not a chore. In some cases I've finished projects in a weekend when I've been in the right mood. In other cases it's taken me six months to a year to complete a piece of work, and I still have projects ongoing now that I started years ago. Having a dedicated workshop allows me to do pursue my hobby in this way.

The ideal floor covering for this space will be smooth concrete with a coating of floor paint, or floorboards covered with hardboard and linoleum, depending on the type of building. Carpet will inevitably get stained, etched, burnt and dirty and dropped components have a knack of disappearing into it forever.

Ensure that the space has an adequate source of ambient lighting, ideally both natural and artificial, which you can then supplement with your desk lamp for close work.

Ensure that there is a safe and reliable mains supply to the workshop. I strongly suggest that where practical you take a fused spur directly from the distribution board into the workshop board, and feed each workshop socket from a separate RCD. There are different types of RCD, some will tolerate a little more leakage or surge current and take a little longer to trip, others are extremely sensitive and will trip at the first sign of any form of current imbalance on the active and neutral poles. Given the use to which the workshop will be put, always go for the second type of RCD. Okay, this may seem a little over-cautious, and will almost certainly not be cheap, but we're talking about a room in which electricity will be played with on an almost continuous basis.

In comparison with the cost of a human life, a bit of mains wiring and couple of RCDs is an infinitesimally small price to pay. My own workshop is wired in exactly this way. I have of course had the odd mishap over the years, and the majority were due to unexpected component failure, and one or two have been due to working too late into the night and getting tired, or just being bloody stupid. In all cases my RCDs have protected me from any harm by tripping instantly, and I've lived to tell the tale.

Where you must have a temporary work space, portable "in-line" RCDs are available, and one of these should be used as a matter of course. Also make sure that you use the test facility that is provided on these units regularly, to make sure that it is working properly - a false sense of security can get you killed. Do try not to become a statistic!

On a final note, as is the case with all electrical installations, if you're not absolutely certain of what you're doing then for God's sake get the work carried out by a competent and correctly qualified electrician. You can have all the safety devices in the world, but if the wiring itself is a health hazard then you may as well replace your RCDs and fuses with cut off lengths of six inch nails for the good that they'll do you. Even if like me you're a relatively competent amateur, have a correctly qualified electrician at least look over all your wiring before you throw the switch for the first time. If nothing else, at least you've then got peace of mind.

If the workshop will be in an outbuilding such as a shed or detached garage, bear in mind that there will eventually be a fair amount of expensive equipment stored in it, and secure the premises accordingly. Your local police crime prevention unit can generally advise you about how to go about securing your workshop, but common sense and a little low-grade paranoia are just as good. It goes without saying that if there is a window into the workshop then it should be covered by a net curtain, and valuable items should not be left on display.

If you live in the U.K., or a country with a similar climate (hard to imagine but there you go), you will need to think about keeping the workshop dry and warm. If the workshop is in your house then this isn't much of a problem. If you are working in an outbuilding then ensure that it is free of leaks and draughts, and that condensation is kept to a minimum all year round. Electricity and damp conditions are not particularly good bedfellows, and keeping all your tools and components in a damp and cold environment will do nothing at all to prolong their life. As a secondary concern to the well-being of your tools, it's a good idea if you can also be warm and comfortable whilst working, and suitable heating should be arranged to ensure this.

Supplement the brackets with a number of legs along the front of the bench which should be securely anchored to the floor. The top of the bench can be covered with thin aluminium sheet or heat-resistant Formica, or you can do the whole job in one fell swoop by getting hold of a suitably sized lump of kitchen worktop. This is an excellent option if you don't want to mess around with Formica and evo-stick, or if aluminium sheeting wouldn't exactly blend in with the room's existing décor. Tools which will be permanently attached to the bench, such as your band saw or drill press should be fitted within easy reach, but away from the section that is to be your permanent working area. It's a good idea to attach about eight mains sockets with double pole switches and integral neon tell-tales to the top of the bench, and to feed these from the RCD board that you can attach to the wall beside your bench.

                                               

Since you are now completely broke (as we established earlier :-), good workbench tops are expensive! An alternative that I have used (am still using, actually) is the "hollow core" interior door. These are usually inexpensive, and are surprisingly strong because of the cardboard matrix inside. Minimal bracing is needed (or none at all), and they will happily support 1kW power amplifiers without a complaint. Surface treatment is optional, since most are pre-painted with an undercoat and they look quite good as well as being the cheapest worktop you will ever get. Just don't drop heavy things on them, or the hardboard surface will break. Not normally a problem - mine has moved premises several times and has been in constant use for well over 15 years with no protective covering at all ! They are not suitable for heavy bench mounted tools such as drill presses, grinders or a vice, so don't even think about it.

Storing tools is a fairly simple job, and you can make an excellent rack with a decent sized sheet of MDF and a pot of assorted self-tapping screws. There's the added bonus here that you can lay everything out just as you want it without having to compromise as you would with a shop-bought tool rack. Once you've decided what will go where, use a pencil to trace the outline of the tool onto the MDF backboard. It may all seem obvious when the tools are in the rack, but when they're all out on the bench and it comes time to put them away, all you'll see is an irregular matrix of random-sized self-tapping screws. If you think this is the voice of experience speaking here then you'd be absolutely right :-)

Storing Components - I've tried the lot - margarine cartons, empty syrup tins, homemade boxes, carefully sub-divided desk drawers, cardboard boxes. You name it. In the end I had to bite the bullet and buy a big metal rack containing many, many, many small clear plastic drawers. I eventually expanded this installation to include a couple of rails and about ten parts bins for the bigger items such as motors, trannies and large capacitors. The whole lot cost me about forty quid so it wasn't cheap, but now everything is correctly labelled and I can find what I want when I want it. If you can find a cheaper and more efficient way of storing components then by all means go ahead and do it - this one works for me.

Looking After Your Tools and Yourself - This is nowhere near as difficult as it may sound. Ensure that the things such as knives and wire cutters which should be sharp stay sharp, and replace items such as drill bits, files and screwdrivers as and when they become blunt. Always use the right tool for the right job and remember that if you are forcing a tool whilst grunting and sweating profusely with effort then you're using the wrong tool, or the right tool in the wrong way. Stop what you are doing immediately, take stock of the situation, and decide on an alternative approach before either you or the workpiece are damaged.

The moving parts of tools such as pliers and wire strippers do need to be lubricated from time to time. Use only a small amount of light machine oil and lubricate only the linkages, not the business end of the tool.

A good mental attitude in the workshop can make the difference between a successfully completed project of which you are rightfully proud, and an expensive piece of junk which you will have to bin. If you watch a competent amateur or a trained profession at work, you'll see a composed individual working calmly and methodically towards completion of the task in hand. His work area will be well laid out and tidy, and all tools will be carefully selected and correctly used. Only commence work on your projects when you want to. Never rush to finish a project and don't drive yourself unnecessarily. Remember that this is a hobby - it should make you happy and enable you to relax and derive reward from what you do. Before starting work, make sure that external distractions are at a minimum, that the lighting is correct, and that you are warm and comfortable.

Never work beyond your capabilities. If you don't know what you are doing then stop immediately and use a suitable source of information to learn what you need to know. You have to be very lucky indeed for all your guesses to be correct ones when working with electronics. More often than not the end result of an uninformed guess is sparks, blown fuses, smoke, a nasty smell and a steep retrospective learning curve.

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