DIY Lab/work desk design - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / projects

author: Jakob2803
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: November 17, 2012, 10:33:10 pm
content: Hello, this is my first post and I hope it is okay, even though this forum is specifically for electronics.I watched an older vlog episode, #194, about the lab desk and I was wondering if anyone on here has built their own desk or if you have plans for one.Not having any shelves for the 'scope and so on make it annoying it do anything electronically related, with my computer sitting in the way (living with parents so one room only).I think Dave used shelves mounted on vertical rails that were mounted on the walls, in the timelapse of the new lab build.I've built a work bench for the shed with my father before, so I should be able to construct something good enough to use!

author: poptones
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: November 17, 2012, 11:45:04 pm
content: Hey I don't have much more room than you. Lots of people don't. I live in about 360 sq ft and that includes kitchen, bath, bedroom and living room. My plan is to close off the windows on one wall of my living room so I have about 10 linear ft unobstructed, then build a bench right down the whole wall with shelves above and below. It's MY house, right?There are lots of good videos about building shelves without the slats on the walls. I personally don't like that look, although basically what I plan to do is the same thing but with timber and ply.When my father was still alive and I was living back there with him, one of our "projects" was to build me a steel desk. My dad was a pipefitter and loved to weld, and we had all this 2" wide U-channel. Built a 3x8' desk that you could build a car engine on, it was awesome. Unfortunately all that was lost in the fire.Here's a trick I learned: use a plywood top or whatever works for you. Then cover the whole thing with urethane mouse pads. It gives the top a nice padded surface that is heat resistant, and when part of it gets worn or damaged you just peel up the bad square and replace it! I found a deal online to buy mouse pads for a quarter each in hundreds.http://www.instructables.com/id/The-ultimate-workbench-top/

author: EEVblog
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: November 18, 2012, 12:52:55 am
content: Quote from: Jakob2803 on November 17, 2012, 10:33:10 pmNo, the shelves are not attached to the wall, nor attached to the benches, they are free-standing ones from IKEA.You should be able to see the feet sticking out in the video.It means they can wobble a bit, but can be moved if needed. The benches stop them falling forward if they were ever to be accidentally pulled forward.Dave.

author: GeoffS
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: November 18, 2012, 01:12:59 am
content: I built mine out of 25mm MDF. Easy to work with and fairly cheap.Finish is just a cheap polyurethane.Desk is 2700mm x 800mm with a small return of 800mm x 800mm (I have lots of space!)I was going to build shelves at the back but when I decided to move it to another room changed my mind as it will interfere with the viewA current picture of the desk would show that there's not a lot of clear space as it's full ofdismantled computer, a half built 3D printer and a couple of marine radios I'm fixing. Might have to look at shelves after all.

author: Jakob2803
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: November 18, 2012, 01:32:10 am
content: Quote from: EEVblog on November 18, 2012, 12:52:55 amI just checked and I was in fact wrong! I've looked through the Danish Ikea site and I cannot find anything that resembles the shelves. Oh well.Geoffs: Looks nice, good work!Achmed99: For the shed table we used 2x4s and OSB top, painted a plain gray.Poptones: Thanks for the suggestion. I think I would dislike the "sticky" feeling of synthetic rubber/plastic, though I do like the softness of the antistatic mats on the tables in school.Edit: Watching the video again the shelves are the Broder series.

author: george graves
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 18, 2012, 04:15:34 am
content: I use wood doors for my workbench. Nice and flat - doesn't sag.I'm not a fan of the high workbenchs/stool like dave uses. I like everything to be at a normal desk level - I must be missing something.

author: SeanB
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 18, 2012, 05:59:30 am
content: My mat is a piece of old conveyor belting. Hard flexible rubber, antistatic ( 2M per square or so on my one) and tough. If you can find a belting supplier they often have old belts or offcuts for either free ( my one) or for a low price. When I last went and ordered a belt there was a skip in the yard full of old belting, on it's way to the dumpsite at a high price, as they treat it like tyres for disposal. If you consider belting typically is used in a kilometre length an offcut can be pretty big.

author: RRobot
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: November 18, 2012, 07:12:24 am
content: QuoteThe Broder system was unfortunately discontinued as far as I know. But not before I stocked up.

author: Jakob2803
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: November 18, 2012, 03:26:29 pm
content: Quote from: RRobot on November 18, 2012, 07:12:24 amIt is still on the American Ikea site so I wrote the Danish department about it.

author: ptricks
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: November 19, 2012, 01:36:49 pm
content: I use a desk that is all steel with 2" thick top covered in formica. Measures 29 1/2"H x 72"W x 36"D.I got it at an Military surplus auctions for $25, retails for $700 .It is deep enough that even with scopes on the back of it I still have almost 2 feet at the front and it is strong enough for the equipment and even me if I were to stand on it tooDownside - very very heavy and hard to move.Excellent site for good stuff if you are near any of the auction locations, especially the test equipment. I have seen scopes worth 50K go for $1200 working.http://www.govliquidation.com/

author: ivan747
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 19, 2012, 06:30:30 pm
content: Quote from: Jakob2803 on November 18, 2012, 03:26:29 pmThey are not restocking them a lot on the Dominican store last time I checked (about 6 months ago). They may be discontinuing their sale in some countries.

author: sprocket
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: November 23, 2012, 03:12:21 pm
content: They dont sell them anymore in IKEA, I was in my local IKEA a couple of weeks back because I had finally dicided to toss out a old selfsystem and invest in that BRODER system that you see in Dave's video. Was meaning to buy them about six months back, but decided to wait. I guess I shouldnt have since they are now discontiuned. So unless you can find them used some where you wont be able to buy them.And I havnt been able to find a similar system anywhere else, and I can live with a wee bit of wobble as long as I dont have to drill 2 gazillion holes in walls that I have in my aparment. Walls that could have been designed and used as bunkers on the atlantic wall during WW2, thats how much steel and concrete thats in them. I have to use a pneumatic powerdrill just to make a dent in them

author: SeanB
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 23, 2012, 03:24:17 pm
content: Good old Milspec concrete then. 1 part cement, 1 part sand and 1 part gravel is the mix, instead of the usual 1,2,3 mix. Makes a strong wall, I saw one that was hit by a pickup at 160kph, it had an imprint of the front grille and the numberplate embossed into the paint, but was otherwise totally undamaged. The vehicle was a half length version afterwards, even the loadbin collapsed to half length. Passenger DOI, driver survived until the fire brigade arrived, kept alive by the steering wheel sticking out his back. We used to go borrow a massive Hitachi SDS drill to do any holes in it.

author: T4P
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 23, 2012, 04:05:29 pm
content: Quote from: SeanB on November 23, 2012, 03:24:17 pmThe first actual LOL i had on the internet without watching TopGearI guess i have slightly milspec concrete for walls too i guess, using a powerful metabo hammer drill (Of course ... It's just a normal chucked hammer drill but i'm surprised it's that powerful even for it's 450W footprint, goes through normal concrete no problem)takes 20mins to make a 6mm hole ... and a lot of pressure.I really need to try out a 50$ SDS hammer drill cheapy from china (The same ones element14 sells under duratool for 100 bucks)Our buildings are built to withstand Cat 4 Tornados and 6 richter scale Earthquakes and the newer flats have "bomb bunkers" built-in which have what seems 70mm of very very tough concrete although we will never have any natural disaster here unless indonesia and malaysia gets flattened. Even so any tornado would have stopped just in front of us anyway

author: SeanB
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 23, 2012, 06:15:57 pm
content: Better than plasterboard and plastic siding................

author: M. András
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 23, 2012, 08:58:52 pm
content: i would trade these "brick walls" for a decent concrete. an old power drill made a 20mm slot in the brick with a 6mm bit, sometimes i wonder how does this house still stand.as for desk i can suggest you a nice wood bench go to the closest wood shop. buy a whole table of particle board and make a nice bench from it the thickest you cna buy is the better some nice timber square stocks for legs. you can make it for any shape etc. the finish of these board are fairly robust if you dont attack it with sharp objects