Workbench cheap hack of the year? (Well it is to me..) - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: aargee
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: February 18, 2020, 10:27:32 pm
content: My sister was visiting and we were having roast chicken, which I, as the hands on engineering type, was dismantling into pieces.Meat juices were running everywhere off the chopping board onto the bench.Sis then says; "You should go to K-Mart and get some dog feeding mats, they will containing the fluid and make cleaning up a breeze."I did and they do.The dog feeding mats are made of silicone and have a ridge all around to contain mess.... mess... hang on - I immediately though of my flat workbench and it's propensity for letting stuff scatter and roll off onto the floor."Brilliant" I thought. Here are some pictures, I know this has sort of been done before but the price! The small one is $5, medium $10 and large $15 (Aussie dollars)This works really well as can be seen by the second photo showing a workbench simulation - my real bench is way too messy to show off.I hope this is of some value to anyone here.

author: tooki
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 18, 2020, 11:58:21 pm
content: To heck with them as desk mats, or as dog mats, I wish I'd known of these back when I had a cat! (Or that they'd been available at the stores near me, at the time, since I was an avid shopper and likely would have found them, had they carried them.) My cats always liked playing hockey with their kibble, or bottle caps, or ice cubes...(The dog didn't make a mess, since he always ate his food instead of using it as sporting goods!)

author: Mr.B
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: February 19, 2020, 12:20:42 am
content: Our cat was born with a slightly deformed jaw and his top teeth stick out at a weird angle.As a result he is the messiest eater on the face of the planet.The silicone mat has been the best method I have found to contain the mess.

author: Muttley Snickers
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: February 19, 2020, 12:40:24 am
content: Most of my projects resemble a dogs breakfast so I might have to get a couple of these mats, do Kmart have anything for rats nests as well ?.I'm always looking for something to use as a base or back stop when taking photographs of stuff so these mats might be suitable for that also.

author: aargee
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: February 19, 2020, 04:14:04 am
content: Rats nest? No but something to tame my workbench would be good, but that is a human thing.The mats also pass the soldering iron scorch test with good results!

author: MyHeadHz
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: February 19, 2020, 04:37:28 am
content: Do they happen to be oil or fuel-resistant?

author: jogri
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: February 19, 2020, 11:21:21 am
content: Quote from: MyHeadHz on February 19, 2020, 04:37:28 amIf they are made of silicone rubber, they should be fairly resistant to oil but will swell quite a bit when they come in contact with non-polar solvents (gasoline/diesel for example). It should be reversible if you remove the solvent (just let it evaporate), but i wouldn't recommend using a fuel soaked mat.