FINALLY!!!

[rocket88]

after a much lengthy down time, i have my electronics shop/office/music room completed. i still need to finish a few things, like bench lighting, grab my dad's old oscilloscope, move my grandfathers drill press over, finish organizing, etc. but the good news is i can start building as soon as i get time, which is THIS WEEKEND!!!! in case no one can tell i'm beyond happy to be able to get soldering again. so as i said what seems like an eternity ago, i would post some pictures when it's done, but i can't wait anymore so here's how the bench side looks now.



under: all components


left side: pots, stomp switches, DC jacks, and jacks
right side: knobbies, toggle & rotary switches, LED's, trimmers, board scraps, and smaller boards

[boratto]

Awesome! Ready for launch these litle rockets!

[Chris60601]

Maaaan - That is nice!!! Very envious! But wait, where's the drill press?!?!
Awesome, very awesome. I'm still pinned to the dinning room table till Spring.

Cheers
Chris

[rocket88]

It's still at my grandparents house. I was given all of my grandfathers tools, when he passed away, that my dad already has, so pretty much every big tool for woodworking is mine. Since I bought the house and moved in I can finally start moving all the tools over. The drill press is a 1940-1950's drill press I think it's a delta. I also have his same vintage craftsman radial arm saw, jointer, etc.

Since I was cramped on my old bedroom when I was living with my parents it's nice to have my own space. The bench is built the same as my dad's and it's just over 7ft long, and he had the idea of building the cabinate draws into the wall to save space. We did all the wiring, a and had to put in a new sub panel to get enough power for the room.

Now since this is done, I have a little more to do in the garage, then next up in the basement is the wood working area, which is right near my gym. Then I can start building instruments again, as well as some other things.

[Silver Blues]

Dude that's sick! I wish my space looked like that  At home I have to shuttle things back and forth from the kitchen table, and although my dad has dedicated workspace, pedal building isn't its only or main function, so it always looks like a grenade went off, plus we have a drill press mounted on a computer-desk-sized table  this is awesome. Here's to many more pedals/amps/instruments/miscellaneous, my friend!

[Heath]

Dude, if you could see my workspace you'd cry.  I literally have a 2' X 3' area to work in.

My drill press?  A shaky hand and a 12v cordless Chinese drill.

My drawer for transistors?  A large cigar box.


This is what happens when you move and THEN discover a hobby.

[IvIark]

Very nice mate, love it

[Stinger25]

Wow, looks like heaven!!!
Enjoy it, man. Must be a pleasure to work in a place like that!

[ξεναγος νεκροπολης]

jealous...i am...

[rocket88]

Thanks. I've had no room and make such a mess when I build I'm happy I can finally sprawl out and not have to be in everyone's way. If I was building late I would have everything all over my bed and floor, and I would have to clean just to go to sleep, then wake up and try to figure out what the hell I was doing. I still have like 5 cut boards that I don't know what they were.

Plus, I got room to build with friends, so don't forget I got a fridge full of beer too for anyone that wants to join in on some building

I really need to figure out a better method component storage. I'm thinking about using the empty draws for Si clipping diodes, maybe schottkeys too. But, I got to find omething else other then the boxes Ive used. They're packed.

[Frank_NH]

Sweet!  Your methods of part storage pretty much resemble mine.  The plastic bins work well in sorting out major part types.  For example, I have one bin just for boxing parts (bezels, 3PDT switches, knobs, etc.) and bins for caps, pots, and resistors.  I also use a lot of plastic bags to further sort and identify parts, especially ICs, transistors, diodes, sockets, and trimmers.

One thing you'll probably want more of is lighting.  I have several desk lamps with the long retracting arms so I can put light right up to the work area where I need it.  More light is always good!

[Beaker]

Frank is right here - you NEED light. I would reccomend fitting kitchen style under-shelf lighting strips along the front edge of your top shelf. It will make a massive difference.

My work bench is in my cellar, directly under a support beam, so I was easily able to fit Ikea kitchen under-shelf lights to it.

Well done Zach, that's a great work area.

[rocket88]

Yea man, that's exactly what I'm looking at getting. There are one nice looking LED undermount lights that I'm looking at getting jut haven't had time to go out and grab them. Im going to try and get them tomorrow or today afterschool, but I d have one kid coming for extra help so it will be after that.

Yea, Frank it's pretty much like yours.mwhat else can I say other then great minds think alike . Inside those long plastic bins are baggies of parts that are labeled and in order of value. The only thing is I'm finding that the more parts I collect/hoard, the more packed they get. For instance, I have 2 boxes of Si and FETs, 2 boxes of clipping diodes,the IC box and resistor box is exploding out the seams, so I'm thinking how to make it neater and easier. I was thinking about using more of those plastic compartment boxes for all the caps, but I'm going to need multiple boxes since they're odd numbers, ie 36 different values of multilayer ceramics and they're tiny so I don't need jumbo compartment for them.

For now, I'm jut glad to have an actual space to build again. Seriously, it sucks not being able to play or build. The firt time I plugged in and turned my mesa on in a few month I swore I heard Angels singing, or maybe it was the Devils trumpet.  But, it's just being able to get back to normal. Wait till I have the rest of the room done and you see. I'm going to hang a bunch of poster from show I've been too, and met bands and had them sign the poster, like mastodon, Henry Rollins, the sword. I just have to get them framed.

[alex.s]

Was about to congratulate you for such a brilliantly organised, equipped and stocked up man cave, but a "cave" it isn't: it's massive! Tell me it even has windows and I will be forever envious :)

[JaviCAP]

Gratz man!

[Travis]

That looks great dude! I'm jealous of both your new space and that epic part stash!

So.. What's first on your "to build" list? You missed so much while your workspace was down!

[inefficiency]

Very nice, man. I too have been working on a similar thing, which is nearing completion. I just need to pick up some timber for the shelves and sort out some lighting. Maybe a little more storage too.

It feels good, doesn't it?

[rocket88]

Lol. Mark's stash is epic, mine is pretty good . But, man it feels sooooo good. This part of the basement is 10ft x 18ft, so it's a good size for my office, all my instruments and amps, and my electronics work space. It's funny because I bought the house for my gf and me, and she tells me that my office can't be one of the bedrooms, so I too over the whole basement and garage. So 1/3 is this space, 1/3 is my gym, and 1/3 will be for woodworking, while the garage is for my baby, 1971 chevelle and work space for any other car.

The best is she complains that my space is better then hers, but I got shunned to the basement, so I made it suit me.

First on my build list is the BBBOD, silver's poinsettia, greasebox, and I want to do some messing around with different tonebenders. There's a massive list, but I think that's going to be the start.

Here's what I see when I look into my garage from the house


The gym


The other half of the cave


Trust me Alex it's a cave. It's all the way in the back of the basement, it's cold, and I can disappear for hours not to be found. Well if you follow the sound I can be found.  

[Travis]

Dang, I'd like to see Mark's stash. Or maybe the sheer intensity will melt my eyes. Nice Chevelle, dude. Your avatar suddenly makes perfect sense :0

I figured the BBBOD would be your first :) All great choices though. I've overlooked the Greasebox for years. Finally built one (on New Years Day) and I'm pretty blown away. It's so usable in a live context, probably mainly because it's got a sharp peak in the midrange that really seperates it from other instruments. It has a great "feel". The attack, decay, compression, and sustain are all spot on

You're definitely well equipped with transistors to experiment with Tone Benders. Definitely build the Marshall Supa Fuzz which is basically a MKII. That one is kindof a sleeper. It sounds GLORIOUS. Also if you haven't built the Buzzaround, the Buzzaround is incredible

[rocket88]

lol, hey, what goes better with rock then a fast car? i've had her since i was 16, learned to drive on her, built her with my dad, built the motor myself in my high school auto shop, done everything from suspension to interior to brakes, etc. she's actually faster then the last gen porsche and corvette, and actually handles, the suspension is built for 200+mph racecars . i could go on and on and on about her, but this isn't the place for that .

but really, the only thing that makes men different from boys is the size and price of our toys. hehe.

but, i remembered mark posting his man cave a few years ago, and i went and found the post.

don't even get me started on the buzzaround, it's on the list. it's pretty say.......sick.......disturbing? when you have build list that's in the 100's from being out for just a few months. and actually it was your post about it travis that pushed the greasebox higher on my list.