Whats your Work-Bench/lab look like? Post some pictures of your Lab.

[hwj-d]

@little_grey
i'm missing a scope   

[little_grey]

@little_grey
i'm missing a scope   

Stored safely at work for the moment. Plus lunch time tinkering

[cdev]

Make sure to test the old paint for lead! There is a product called "lead-chek" which is basically an ampoule containing two liquids you break, then it saturates a small brush you can brush over old paint on things.

 If there is lead it turns a bright magenta.

If there is lead in the paint around the old window area you should follow lead abatement procedures to remove it before adding to the building because if you dont once you build the new structure's roof it will be harder to do it safely.

Lead paint is very common in older buildings and it tended to be used around window frames, etc.

You probably are okay but its smart to check.

On your original question.. what is the climate there?  Also, if it gets direct sunlight, you may want to have a white roof or a light colored roof, because of the heat. You could probably paint metal white and get much less heat absorption.

Also, (now see that you are in UK) watch out for mold!

Make sure any place you plan to spend a lot of time is healthy.

[little_grey]

A very good shout on the lead paint.
It had half crossed my mind,particularly with the roof being (previously) asbesdos which was professionally removed.

Here is hoping that it's just masonry paint.
But as you say better sorted now rather than later.

To stop pulling stuff off topic I'll start my own thread after the weekend

[cdev]

buildingscience.com is a useful resource.

The "building envelope" is the official border between indoors and outdoors.

In my own experience its good if you can agree ahead of time on the building envelope's location and then stick to it. Health problems most often emerge when that border isn't clearly defined..

Here you are potentially adding some additional space to the "indoor" part of the building, or are you?

Make sure you get that straight. How will it be heated? Cooled? You're likely to need more insulation if you get direct sun or get particularly cold weather too. Also, what about drying of walls. Concrete and brick are both somewhat porous, that means if they get wet they need to dry out, how will they dry out?

In the old days most buildings were very drafty and they had so many holes air could just blow in and out through them, but now thats too expensive so buildings are getting better and better sealed. That can potentially cause problems with moisture and condensation.

Carefully consider what happens if you add anything that acts like a vapor barrier.  Also, dont put carpeting on a concrete floor without insulation. Where will there be condensation, and where will it go?  Also when water falls off the roof, where will it go, good if it can be channeled a bit of a distance away. 

What happens if it rains. What happens if it rains a lot. What happens if branches fall. What happens if its really cold or really hot.

[jhenderson0107]

... - but how come you guys' benches are so neat! Where are all your cables, connectors, adapters, cutters, solder and general stuff?

It's a disease. 

When in the wood shop, I restore tools to their bin though they may be needed for a pending task.  I clear my bench prior to working on each new project.  I think it reduces frustration. 

Most cohabitants (such as my son) disagree.

[hwj-d]

It's a disease.

Yes and no. In my opinion its a question of frequent business and available free storage space. If my workbench is "clean", i have nothing to do, but that's never going to happen 

[Mr. Scram]

Lead paint is not really dangerous unless you eat it. If anything, it will reduce EM radiation More seriously, the lead in your solder and old equipment is much more likely to harm your health if not dealt with with enough care. I would be more concerned about asbestos in the cement or maybe bricks. Have they been tested? Drilling a fixture can suddenly turn into a potentially hazardous situation, even though you have less to worry about when you're past age 50. It would still be nice to safely show your children or grandchildren your projects.

Maybe it would make a good topic for a thread. How much of a danger is lead really and what can you do to protect yourself while enjoying electronics as a hobby?

[rdl]

The problem with lead in paint was mainly young children chewing on windowsills and such which had been painted white with the pigment being mostly "white lead" (Lead carbonate). I don't think white lead was used much as a pigment after the sixties, except maybe some niche applications. I started in the paint business in the mid eighties and never saw lead pigment be used. The industry had already switched to Titanium dioxide which was actually a better white pigment anyway.

[Mr. Scram]

The problem with lead in paint was mainly young children chewing on windowsills and such which had been painted white with the pigment being mostly "white lead" (Lead carbonate). I don't think white lead was used much as a pigment after the sixties, except maybe some niche applications. I started in the paint business in the mid eighties and never saw lead pigment be used. The industry had already switched to Titanium dioxide which was actually a better white pigment anyway.

Lead flakes are apparently sweet, which is obviously a risk for young children. However, if you have properly painted sills and no flaking paint, the risk should be fairly minimal. Attempting to take it all off and causing huge piles of lead rich dust might be much more dangerous.

[little_grey]

Some governmental advice on lead paint.
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/advice-on-lead-paint-in-older-homes

[floobydust]

Jim William's bench picture, Amazon sells a jigsaw puzzle of it. "Jim Williams' Linear Technology Famous Bench Jigsaw Puzzle", I stumbled onto it.

I think most of us could find anything in that and solve it in minutes. It's actually organized.

Brings tears to my eyes though    bless his soul

[xrunner]

I think most of us could find anything in that and solve it in minutes. It's actually organized.

Yep, it would be surprisingly easy to put together.

[GreyWoolfe]

I think most of us could find anything in that and solve it in minutes. It's actually organized.

Yep, it would be surprisingly easy to put together.

it would be fun to hang in the office, though.

[cdev]

Its surprising how many smart people I've met who have "very densely populated" desk spaces.

[cdev]

When i've looked for it it seems it only shows up in places where it was used to add durability in adverse weather and use situations.  For example, where I live now, there is old lead paint in the lowest layer of trim around my garage door, but nowhere else

Often its buried under several layers of newer paint which is good. that reduces its shedding of dust.

It was often used in weather exposed trim like around windows.
 
Quote from: rdl on 2017-08-26, 09:40:35

The problem with lead in paint was mainly young children chewing on windowsills and such which had been painted white with the pigment being mostly "white lead" (Lead carbonate). I don't think white lead was used much as a pigment after the sixties, except maybe some niche applications. I started in the paint business in the mid eighties and never saw lead pigment be used. The industry had already switched to Titanium dioxide which was actually a better white pigment anyway.

[Mr. Scram]

Its surprising how many smart people I've met who have "very densely populated" desk spaces.

That might not be surprising.

A study by the University of Minnesota suggests, that the messy desk of geniuses is actually linked to their intelligence. If you don't spend much time cleaning and organizing everything around you, your mind is obviously occupied with more important stuff.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/intelligent-people-tend-to-be-messy-stay-awake-longer-and-swear-more-a7174256.html

[baldwin1974]

I actually went through this entire thread, for ideas about organizing my space.  (I'm not great at organizing.)  Anyway, I thought I'd post my space after I took a shot at reorganizing it.

[MrW0lf]

Soon year of hanging around forum so maybe time to come out of closet. In past I had two lab spaces focused on low freq EM physics experimentation. All emphasis was on projects, very little interest in actual T&M gear. Then I had to pack it all up and keep low profile in small apartment to channel finances into acquiring some more permanent real estate. It has not gone well because in small space with no room for projects T&M sickness has kicked in In about half year when finally unpack boxes in new lab v3 there will be much more interesting picture on shelves to inspect

Until then some pics from archives, only accidental pic of lab v1, but compensate with some mess on desk:

Lab v0 on kitchen table... Friend visited and after some well working reed switch pulse motor emerged



Soon there was lab v1:



And some more pulse motor projects:







After some years lab v2 (excuse stuffed puppy, I was forced to place it there ):

[Mr. Scram]

You've got some mighty fine toys there! I have a bit of the same problem, just not enough room for a nice lab.

[MrW0lf]

You've got some mighty fine toys there! I have a bit of the same problem, just not enough room for a nice lab.

Thanks, think will eventually solve room problem with lab v4 About 100m2 should settle it v3 will be about 12m2, much same size as previous ones but it will be at least mine this time, not in rental house... Workers are busy installing screened wiring and shielding paint. Hard to be volt/timing nut if everything flooded with whatever found in wiring/air nowdays...
Otherwise looking back at good times busy building motors it's surprising how little T&M gear actually need for this. Some multimeters, simple PSUs, 25MHz USB scope and LCR meter - thats about it. But next phase will be more in RF territory and this where gear starts to count. Or at least it's good think this way as excuse for severe T&M sickness I'm lately suffering from

[Beamin]

PIC Programmer: PICkit2
Oscilloscope: B&K precision 2540
USB Logic analyzer:  USBee SX
PowerSupply:     Old Computer ATX PSU, +5v 15amp, +12v 6amp, -12v 0.3 amp, -5v 0.3 amp
DMM: Some Cheap meter from lowes.
DMM: Some Cheap meter from radio-shack.
Soldering irons:  Cheap ESD 15Watt, Cheap 30Wat, And a ECG 45watt De-soldering iron
Breadboard: about 5000 contacts
And a small collection of parts.

The bench is a bit of a mess. 
The room is about 8feet by 10feet, and this room is my bed room, I sleep over-top of the work-bench.
I live in a single wide mobile home.

I don't think badSCR is active anymore. Weird to see the internet get old. Like when you see a 1990's web page with spinning .gif's and "This page is under construction". 

[technix]

Somehow my workbench is under constant evolution... Now things are being moved around a lot. It is still a combined EE/CS workbench with both electronics and computer gear. This does make experimenting extremely simple.

It is not my idea to add the lace trim though, although it did catch falling SOT-23 packages multiple times. Also a lot of IKEA involvement included. The wooden shelf will worth another separate post.

[GerardWassink]

Perhaps you guys know the situation when all of your equipment has to be on your workbench, taking precious real-estate from your experiments... I made a new rack for my workbench for my most important equipment, click here for a short report.

[Unordung]

It's not the tidiest of benches but it is functional.