Building a new workshop / lab

[Kibi]

I have got the cabling in today. I have the internet in the workshop!! In fact, I am making this post from the workshop over my new singlemode fibre link

Anyway, enough of that. I used 50 continuous metres of 25mm crush resistant flexible copex. Now because it is one continuous length it posed a challenge to get the cables down it. One would use a cobra, but I didn't have access to one, so I came up with a plan.
Very specialist tools are involved here.

You need one of these:


One of these:


and errr... one of these these:


Yes, that is a tampon which I have modified with a bit of tape to maintain it's structural integrity. The tampon will be the mouse. You tie the tampon string to the ball of string. Then you connect the other end of the copex to the vacuum cleaner and switch it on.


The vacuum cleaner end was in my workshop and the open end was lying on my driveway. The copex make a loud screeching sound probably caused by the air rushing past the ridges in it. When I got to my driveway the postman was standing there with a very concerned look on his face
I offered the tampon up to the open end of the copex and wham, it shot up the tube faster than Usain Bolt. Unfortunately, contrary to popular belief, when you buy a ball of string, it is not necessarily one complete length. As the string shot down the copex the loose end went hurtling down too with much string remaining on the ball.
No big deal, the tampon and string were waiting for me at the other end and I just tied the loose ends together and it went well on the second attempt.


I pulled one CAT5e cable down first and then with that pulled 1x Singlemode fibre cable, 1x alarm cable and 2x CAT5e cables as spares for whatever happens in the future. I had room for another two CAT5e's, but I only had two boxes of cable on me.


So, there you have it, all up and running.


There are still lots of odd jobs to do before I am completely finished. Once I have improved the security on the workshop, I'll move all my electronics stuff in.
I'll keep this thread updated as and when any major improvements take place.

[SeanB]

Well, had a nice supper tonight. Batch 2 of 3 on the coals, and very tasty it was too.

Sosaties are pork, and the darker ones are the Impala foreleg from the freezer, chopped into cubes and mixed with lamb cubes, marinaded with a nice sauce. Also did nice pork bangers, mutton wors and a nice tasty ostrich boerewors, along with steaks. The foil was a little of leftover Impala that I wrapped in bacon and filled with garlic cloves, all buttoned up in the foil to cook slowly. A bit tough as expected, but very tasty, the dogs were sitting close so they could get a snack before it hit the floor, but they only got at the table and in their bowls afterwards. Had a nice cheesy garlic bread as well, with a nice mushroom sauce and some stuffed mushrooms I made up as well.

[Kibi]

That is awesome, sounds delicious. We have braai'd every day for the last eight days. There is no point in cooking on a stove when you can cook outside. You don't have any chicken, after all, you must have some vegetables.
The closest we get to game is venison, very nice though. Over the past week, aside from the usual steak and wors, we've done salmon lightly seasoned with salt, pepper and lemon juice, wrapped in foil. Big ass mushrooms stuffed with garlic butter and feta cheese. These are then wrapped in foil and left on the edges of the braai for ages, spinning a quarter turn every now and then.
Today was a bit more lame, just burgers and chicken.

On topic though, I have been doing the odd jobs here and there. I have fitted a 12V supply to run the lock and connected the lock up to one channel of a remote control thingy. The second channel operates my outside light which has now also been installed.
I have also wired up the heating to it's controller. The door still needs to be insulated.
I think I cam move my electronics bench in soon.

[SeanB]

The mini chicken was there, but the whole thing was so small we were looking at the parrot as a bigger meal. Have some nice Kudu biltong, from my neighbour who shot the 48" bull on his farm in Botswana, very tasty it is too.

Have you thought of installing a solar panel on to the roof to power the lock and provide light's off power to get in by remote if the mains is off, and have an emergency LED light to see the door in the dark?

Looked at the OHL TopSola one I have in my room today, wondering why the charge light was not on, then realised the controller was doing charge control as the battery was full. It actually is charging to full capacity with a single 30W panel in the inside of the window, lit by full sun only for around 5 hours in the afternoon at best. 36AH battery is heavy, and the charge controller is a real OHL special literally glued on top of the battery with no info about it easily found, would love to find out what the 4 dip switches do, though I have figured out the connections ( and fixed the wiring to actually make it charge as opposed to Mr Lee just stick wire in so it not go bang, even though he did strip one terminal and soldered the wires instead) and reduced the static power use by adding a switch to only power the led voltmeter when needed. Wonder where I will be able to get 5mm phono plugs though to add extra power outlets, the panel is quite thick steel ( real 1.6mm sheet and no space for most sockets anyhow) and has 20 odd now self drilling screws holding it together instead of the 20 blind rivets it came with. Added a 7905 ( first 5V regulator I found in the box of odds) and a USB female lead to use it to charge phones in an emergency.

[Kibi]

I have been pottering about in the workshop getting a few things done. My desk is in, which is nice. I just have to get things organised and in place.

Now, the insulation is performing very well indeed.
The nights have got a bit chillier these days. One night it was 12ºC outside. The temperature inside was 19ºC, great. However, I was inside for about an hour doing a few odds and ends and the temperature rose to 20.7ºC. The heating was switched off, just my body heat was enough to raise the room temperature. I left the light on and went to have my tea. After an hour I returned and the temperature had dropped to 20.1ºC. After that, I was inside for another hour and the temperature went up to 21.4ºC. Bear in mind also that the door has not yet been insulated, so I'll expect even better results when that has been done.
I am impressed with that insulation. It will work well in the winter time.

I will post more photo's when I have got a bit of order inside.

[Kibi]

OK, it's been a while since my last update. I've had to get on with other stuff before it gets too cold, like clearing all the rubbish from the project and performing a major service on the car amongst other things.
Things have been happening and the inside of the workshop is now pretty much complete. I have put up more shelves (no such thing as too many shelves), cobbled together a computer and done some general sorting. I found a faulty (bad caps) 24" monitor on ebay for £20. I have repaired it and I'm happy with it. I just need some decent speakers, those crappy ones are driving me mad. Mmmm, I detect a new project coming over the horizon.
I have insulated the door now, so the heating only needs to be switched on for 20 minutes to get up to 20ºC and then the heat output from the computer (80-100W) will keep it up. In fact it will increase. I'm very pleased with the insulation.

So, I thought I'd upload a little 360º photo gallery.

[Kibi]

I have finally built some more seated desk space and made the layout more efficient.
I used 18mm ply for the worktop, it's tough enough for the job. I have put the monitor on an arm that will swing around to be close to the main workbench if required.

[notsob]

Sweet, now enjoy your efforts and if I lived nearby, your mill and lathe would have a new friend

[IanB]

I can't quite remember if this workshop is in the UK or or in Zim or somewhere overseas? I guess in the UK the weather is a bit cold right now, so the insulation must be good for that.

Do you have extra electrical sockets behind your electronics bench to plug in all the things?

[SeanB]

He is an expat Zimbabwean ( are there any that are not) living in the UK.

[Kibi]

I can't quite remember if this workshop is in the UK or or in Zim or somewhere overseas? I guess in the UK the weather is a bit cold right now, so the insulation must be good for that.

Do you have extra electrical sockets behind your electronics bench to plug in all the things?

Yes, I am a Zimbabwean, but I live in England. The insulation is doing very well. I just need to switch the heating on initially to get the heat up to a nice cosy 16 degrees, then body heat and equipment heat takes it up from there.
My old PC used to kick out 100W of heat, the new one is only about 20W, so it's a bit slower these days.

I have a 9 way socket strip under the desk to plug everything in nicely. There are still three spares. Then a six way to the right of the soldering desk.
There is also a six way under the computer desk and another six way above the desk. There is no such thing as too many sockets.

[nardev]

pretty, i just wish i have more room for my staff

[IanJ]

Hi all,

As an update I made a wee video tour of my electronics workshop.

Ian.

[ScienceProg]

Impressive work. It takes time and resources, but once its finished - you get your own space. Most hobbyists like me have smaller version of labs at home...

[Kibi]

Nice job Ian.
I cannot rate that insulation highly enough. Celotex worked out cheaper for me as it's made in England. IIRC Kingspan is made in Scotland, but it's the same stuff really. It is expensive but worth every penny in my opinion. Now that  the temperatures barely go above zero, the performance is really noticeable.
What do you do about frost protection? Do you somehow keep the temperature in your shed high enough at all times? You don't want condensation forming in your expensive equipment. My workshop thermometer is set to not allow sub 10ºC temperatures.

[IanJ]

Nice job Ian.
I cannot rate that insulation highly enough. Celotex worked out cheaper for me as it's made in England. IIRC Kingspan is made in Scotland, but it's the same stuff really. It is expensive but worth every penny in my opinion. Now that  the temperatures barely go above zero, the performance is really noticeable.
What do you do about frost protection? Do you somehow keep the temperature in your shed high enough at all times? You don't want condensation forming in your expensive equipment. My workshop thermometer is set to not allow sub 10ºC temperatures.

I don't heat my shed at all if I'm not in it.....which does mean it goes below zero on occasion. However, I heat it very slowly, usually taking an hour before I can go out to it. Since I started using the calor gas heater instead of electric I have noticed a very small condensation problem down in the corners behind the storage drawers. A dehumidifier, having a couple of high vents and allowing air to circulate really helps though.
I'd love to stick to electric heating but the cost to do so would be horrendous.......but maybe the 10ºC thing is an idea I will look at.

Ian.

[SeanB]

Do what Warren did and install a bathroom extractor with inlet vent and heat exchanger. That way you can vent the room when you are in it, and run the vent for an hour afterwards via a timer to keep it dry. Possibly have a time switch to power it for 15 minutes a day at night so it always will get dry air in it.