Category: Workbench

Screw that

Some problems with having built an electronics workbench with relatively little horizontal surface are that that work surface gets cluttered quickly and the storage I have within easy reach only works for items that are fairly compact.

Both of the precision screwdriver kits I have consume too much horizontal space in use and don’t really fit the pegboard bins I bought. My anti-static mat does have plenty of bit holders but everything I keep on there is one more thing I have to remove and return whenever I rinse off the mat.

Probably I should buy a precision driver with built-in bit storage, but LTT isn’t selling theirs yet and how could I buy something else knowing it will be massively inferior? Plus none of them hold enough bits.

With much searching on Amazon, I did finally find something quite compact with lots of bits plus some handy extras for just $10, satisfying my inner tightwad.

It fits my pegboard bins just fine, sticking out about 2 inches. Placed upright it barely takes up any of my workspace surface. The quality overall is Meh but it’s plenty Good Enough™️ in all the ways that matter.

Workbench

Several weeks ago, a Jeff Geerling video teased a future video on his new electronics workbench setup:

Jeff Geerling's Electronics Workbench

It just so happened that I was also building a dedicated electronics workbench, using a 48×24-inch motorized desk as the base, and I’d been mulling over how create storage for all my electronics tools and components around such a limited space. I wanted to somehow attach some pegboard but was struggling to figure out how to make that both cheap and sturdy using only tools I already have and materials I’m comfortable working with.

Jeff’s shelving kit looked perfectly adaptable to my goals, and being impatient, I scoured the Internets to learn what they were: Shelf Links by 2x4basics.

This is, honestly, an amazing result. All the important stuff is within easy reach, with plenty of space to store less-frequently-used items, all squeezed in to the narrow space I could devote to it in my home office.

I lucked out on getting the desk on manufacturer clearance for half-price (now sold out, sorry), so all-in with the shelf links, lumber, and organization products I spent about $500. If you want to build something like this on a motorized platform, do be aware of its weight limits. Wood is heavy. I’ve got about 100lbs of lumber here and a solid wood desktop of more typical dimensions can easily be another 100lbs.