Make Electronics

Customizing Your Work Area

232 Chapter 5

The surface of your desk or workbench will undoubtedly become scarred by ran-

dom scuffs, cut marks, and drops of molten solder. I use a piece of half-inch ply-

wood, two feet square, to protect my primary work area, and I clamp a miniature

vise to its edge. To reduce the risk of static electricity when working with sensitive

components, I cover the plywood with a square of conductive foam. This is not

cheap, but offers advantages in addition to protecting chips from being zapped.

Instead of scattering stray components, I can stick them into the foam, like plants

growing in a garden. And like a garden, I can divide it into sections, with resistors

on one side, capacitors on the other, and chips straight ahead.

Inevitably, during your work you’ll create a mess. Little pieces of bent wire, stray

screws, fasteners, and fragments of stripped insulation tend to accumulate, and

can be a liability. If metal parts or fragments get into a project that you’re build-

ing, they can cause short circuits. So you need a trash container. But it has to be

easy to use. I use a full-size garbage pail, because it’s so big that I can’t miss it

when I throw something toward it, and I can never forget that it’s there.

Last, but most essential: a computer. Now that all data sheets are available

online, and all components can be ordered online, and many sample circuits

are placed online by hobbyists and educators, I don’t think anyone can work

efficiently without quick Internet access. To avoid wasting space, I suggest you

use a small, cheap laptop that has a minimal footprint. A possible workbench

configuration, using a steel desk, is shown in Figure 5-7.

Figure 5-7. An old steel office desk can be
as good as, if not better than, a conven-
tional workbench when building small
electronics projects. It provides a large
work area and ample storage, and has
sufficient mass for you to ground yourself
when dealing with components that are
sensitive to static electricity.

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