Moving shop again (again)...

[AdeV]

Hi John - if I didn't hate painting so much, I probably would! As it happens, I chose the dark wood because my hand touched it first I figured it'd hide the oily streak

A little more progress today - a batch of carpet tiles turned up, so I finished off the floor (3 different shades of blue. Classy). Then dug the two big desks out & assembled them. Unfortunately, I don't have quite enough room to put both sets of desk drawers out, it all gets a bit close to the coffee machine; so plan B: Don't bother with one of them. The knock-on effect of that, annoyingly, is the 2 desks which will go across the end of those desks, are too long, and will stick out a few inches. Ah well. I've got a circular saw, maybe I'll shorten one of them 

Only one photo today. Lovely desks... just need to give them a good scrubbing before they inevitably vanish under piles of computer bits, unpaid bills, swarf, pens that don't work, loose change, unfinished parts from the machines, half a mile of random electrical cable.... all the usual stuff.

[AdeV]

Decision time approaches.... I am putting a load of old kitchen worktop (rather nice worktop as it happens) along the back and side wall, from where the fridge is, around the corner and away towards the pool table. This worktop will mainly be for playing with electronics, (dis)assembling smaller things, and so on.

I had planned to set it at the right height so I could stand and work at it without having to bend over, which puts it around 3 1/2 feet off the ground. But now I'm wondering... do I really want to be standing up all the time I'm soldering, etc.? Good for the fitness. Not so good for the old achy back...

What do people think? Set the bench at standing height & maybe have to buy some bar stools to sit down to work? Or set it at around desk height (maybe a squeak higher, just because I'm long in the back) and sit at it to work?

Of course, the ultimate solution would be to make it adjustable on the fly... I've seen desks in police stations like that, press a button & up it goes, another button and it comes back down again. Very swish... very expensive... and with a machine shop just down stairs, doable on a shoestring I reckon 

[vtsteam]

Hey nice workspace Ade! First I've seen this thread.

Whatever feels right to you for the electronics countertop height. I guess for me I like to look down on that kind of counter so I can see all the way to the back, where small parts hide, and clutter develops. Cans of pencils and brushes, solder, test gear. And I want to see down into gear I'm working on. So whatever the height, the seat isn't much below it, for me. Since you might stand up to work sometimes, I guess I'd maybe try 3 feet in height and a tall stool.

[chipenter]

Does it all have to be the same height ? don't forget a swivel desk chair goes up and down .

[SwarfnStuff]

I don't mind the painting bit. The prep and cleanup are another thing. 
  Won't offer to come and paint it for you though as it's a bit of a swim from down-under.
       As for the benchtop height, I would opt for standing and look for a bar stool or two. Preferably with swivel seat and back rest.
   Next thing will be, do I want castors on me stool so I can scoot along to grab that bit over there or get off me butt and walk to get it? 

  BTW. My entire workshop would probably fit in the space your desk uses. Good point is that nothing is more than 2 - 3 steps away and I HAVE to keep stuff reasonably tidy to fit it in. I became, "Surplus To Requirements" work wise  Christmas 2000, so retired. Bewdy!   
John B

[howsitwork?]

OK Ade

so whats the radio control unit for that's hiding behind the lathe back in photos? Been indulging in a few new toys while you're away???

Regards Ian

[MetalMagus]

Some drawer slides and a cheap bottle jack arrangement under the desk might give you the adjustment you need.

We have the electric rise and fall desks at work and they are mega-bucks for what they need to do.

Cheers

Sean

Decision time approaches.... I am putting a load of old kitchen worktop (rather nice worktop as it happens) along the back and side wall, from where the fridge is, around the corner and away towards the pool table. This worktop will mainly be for playing with electronics, (dis)assembling smaller things, and so on.

I had planned to set it at the right height so I could stand and work at it without having to bend over, which puts it around 3 1/2 feet off the ground. But now I'm wondering... do I really want to be standing up all the time I'm soldering, etc.? Good for the fitness. Not so good for the old achy back...

What do people think? Set the bench at standing height & maybe have to buy some bar stools to sit down to work? Or set it at around desk height (maybe a squeak higher, just because I'm long in the back) and sit at it to work?

Of course, the ultimate solution would be to make it adjustable on the fly... I've seen desks in police stations like that, press a button & up it goes, another button and it comes back down again. Very swish... very expensive... and with a machine shop just down stairs, doable on a shoestring I reckon 

[AdeV]

so whats the radio control unit for that's hiding behind the lathe back in photos? Been indulging in a few new toys while you're away???

Hehe - actually, no, it's part of a job lot of knackered radios I bought on eBay a while back. One of my many many projects is to build a drone... I won't say too much about it yet, as I'm hoping it'll be a world first (or first documented anyway) - novelty factor rather than anything particularly clever or innovative. The reason I got broken radios is I intend to use an Arduino and digital comms to run it; rather than build the case from scratch, it seemed easier to use an old one.

Some drawer slides and a cheap bottle jack arrangement under the desk might give you the adjustment you need.

We have the electric rise and fall desks at work and they are mega-bucks for what they need to do.

There's no way I'd buy rise and fall desks, as you say they cost an arm and a leg. I'm off to find the back of an envelope now to sketch on, I've got a couple of ideas for a mechanism which would be nice and cheap, and rewarding to build  The bottle jack idea is a good standby, jacking 3 or 4 of them simultaneously might be a bit of a challenge though!

[PekkaNF]

Oddly here used office fourniture is cheap. Very presentable (sold to offices) recycled mehanical tables are are about 200€ and electrivcal ones 400€, if they come too tatty for offie, they sell about 50-100€ and still would be nicer than any work table I have home.

Check the second hand market. They are very nice to work with...only downside is that you really can't pile stuff under or over them....and you learn to route computer cables 

Pekka