Confessions of an addict. (Show us your bench.)

[tiges_ tendres]

I showing my wife these pictures, just so she knows it really CAN get worse!

[radio]

An average bench:

[img=http://img366.imageshack.us/img366/1482/dscn00570tb.th.jpg]

Greetings JME

[steve b.]

Pauls got the cleanest bench so far ( the one set of pics i won't let my wife see)

[Paul Marossy]

Pauls got the cleanest bench so far ( the one set of pics i won't let my wife see)

LOL. Believe it or not, I keep it that clean and organized for two reasons:

1. I hate hunting around for tools. I like them in the same spot every time so I can always find them quickly.
2. I have small children (2 and 4), so I can't really leave small parts and tools lying around. Stuff needs to be put away so little hands don't get into things.

[Mark Hammer]

Pauls got the cleanest bench so far ( the one set of pics i won't let my wife see)

LOL. Believe it or not, I keep it that clean and organized for two reasons:

1. I hate hunting around for tools. I like them in the same spot every time so I can always find them quickly.
2. I have small children (2 and 4), so I can't really leave small parts and tools lying around. Stuff needs to be put away so little hands don't get into things.

I have a big grin right now because I need to keep my bench messy for the complete opposite reason!  If tools are too easy to find, my wife will walk off with the scissors, my older son will walk off with the screwdrivers, and my younger son will sit down at the bench, boot up and install a game or something.  Chaos is probably the only thing that keeps their grubby hands OFF of my bench and away from my tools!  Well, that, and stepping on little wire bits embedded in the carpet that go right through your socks.   

About 2 years ago, we had a major flood resulting from a dishwasher hose that sprung a leak.  The entire kitchen subfloor had to be ripped out and rebuilt with a new lino floor installed.  To do that, all the appliances had to be moved out to nearby rooms.  My workshop/office is a little room adjoining the kitchen on one side and garage on the other.  The fridge got moved into my workshop.  When my older son got home from school and saw my office with the fridge plugged in and parked right beside where I sit to work on the computer, he thought he had died and gone to heaven.  "SwEEEEEEt!!" was his comment.  The idea of being able to work on the computer and not even have to get up out of the chair to grab a nibble was his idea of what Valhalla must be like.

[Paul Marossy]

I have a big grin right now because I need to keep my bench messy for the complete opposite reason!  If tools are too easy to find, my wife will walk off with the scissors, my older son will walk off with the screwdrivers, and my younger son will sit down at the bench, boot up and install a game or something.  Chaos is probably the only thing that keeps their grubby hands OFF of my bench and away from my tools!  Well, that, and stepping on little wire bits embedded in the carpet that go right through your socks.

That's funny!  Funny how life evolves, isn't it?

[Doug_H]

When my older son got home from school and saw my office with the fridge plugged in and parked right beside where I sit to work on the computer, he thought he had died and gone to heaven.  "SwEEEEEEt!!" was his comment.  The idea of being able to work on the computer and not even have to get up out of the chair to grab a nibble was his idea of what Valhalla must be like.

Don't mean to derail the thread but I couldn't help but think about another kid&computer story. A few days ago my 11 yr old son had a row with his 17 yr old sister about the family computer. He thought she was loading stuff on it that was "slowing it down" or something. His solution? He disabled admin privileges on everyone's account (including my wife & I) except for *his*, of course... We had an interesting "chat" about that one...

Doug

[Herr Masel]

Mine looks like the alot of these, but there are always at least two empty coffee cups and beer bottles, and more random junk that serves no purpose.

[Stompin Tom]

I really envy all of you with your own space... I share a tiny (new york) apartment with my girlfriend and I have to fold out the 'kitchen' table and pull all my stuff out of various storage places whenever I want to tinker... and I can't stay up too late or I keep my girlfriend up! I'd share pics, but that'd just be too depressing. Sometimes I wish I lived in South Dakota...

[David]

Here's how mine looked last year. It still looks the same and is just as neat. I just have some more recording stuff to the left of the main work area now.

You are a sick man!     May my wife never see that picture...   

[Paul Marossy]

You are a sick man!

Shhh!!! Don't tell anyone... 

[Mark Hammer]

Don't mean to derail the thread but I couldn't help but think about another kid&computer story. A few days ago my 11 yr old son had a row with his 17 yr old sister about the family computer. He thought she was loading stuff on it that was "slowing it down" or something. His solution? He disabled admin privileges on everyone's account (including my wife & I) except for *his*, of course... We had an interesting "chat" about that one...
Doug

We solved that around our house by everybody having their own.  Well, actually my wife has "her own".  Me and the boys have several each.  Still doesn't stop people from monkeying around with mine, though.  I'm the only one who seems to avoid installing anything and everything on their machine, and the only one who engages in preventative maintenance, so sometimes I'm the only one with a functioning machine.

Don't think of me as a husband and father.  Think of me as live-in tech support.

[runmikeyrun]

Show you my bench?  And have it declared a Superfund site?  No way!

DOn't worry, Superfund went bankrupt under Bush... the site near me in the National Park is just sitting there...

[birt]

i should do something to clean up my mess/bench i think :s
http://sic.fotopic.net/c883713.html

[Dave_B]

Hey Birt, what are those blue tubes you're using for your resistors?  I've just about had enough of the shop organizer things like this:

[Connoisseur of Distortion]

this is enlightening. i discover that i am actually better than most people about organiztaion.

better than everyone but Paul, who has a soldering iron that doubles as an eating utensil... 

[birt]

Hey Birt, what are those blue tubes you're using for your resistors?  I've just about had enough of the shop organizer things like this:

something like this: http://www.hightechfinland.com/2005/healthcare/nutrition/en_GB/raisio/_files/72485605716796700/default/raisio2b.jpg
but i need to make something good to put them in because i've got so many. and i want to put some caps in those too.
oh and they have a hole punched in the side so it's not completely closed from the outside.

[Paul Marossy]

better than everyone but Paul, who has a soldering iron that doubles as an eating utensil... 

Yep. Gotta eat a hearty breakfast each morning. 

[Paul Perry (Frostwave)]

Here's an interesting option for people with enough space:
now that professional graphic art, architecture etc is largely paperless, those multiple wide flat drawer stacks that used to hold posters & architects drawings are being thrown out. You can get a lot of little bits into those! including coiled leads!

[Dave_B]

I'm trying to find a better way to manage my odd-value resistors.  I've had good luck keeping them in their Mouser bags sorted by value but as the collection grows, that's going to be more difficult to keep organized. 

What do you all do?