When [Nisker]’s son got a very, very loud and annoying toy, he did what any good maker parent would do: instead of removing the batteries, he sought a way to lower the volume instead. This, of course, meant cracking open the toy and going at the circuit board with a soldering iron. Not having a permanent electronics workbench meant [Nisker] needed to dig out his Weller from a bag full of tools. Surely there must be an easier way to be a tinkerer with a small workspace.
[Nisker]’s solution was to build a mobile electronics workbench. The resulting wooden box has more than enough space to hold a signal generator, power supply, soldering iron, multimeter, and a bunch of other tools required for making or modding electronics projects.
The case was designed in Google Sketchup and constructed out of 12mm plywood for the sides and 6mm ply for the shelves. All the pieces were cut out with a circular saw and pieced together with screws and glue.
Now [Nisker] has a very compact – 16.9 x 7.9 x 22 inches – electronics lab he can carry just about anywhere. Not a bad project if you’re limited by your current space, and classy enough to keep around once you finally set up a proper workshop.
All to solder a few resistors.
He also got a comment from a twat out if, which kinda trumps your achievements by a few resistors.
Shut up Justin. He has done nothing, this by no means deserves a post on hackaday!
+1
Cause he’s never going to use it for anything else ever again.
I love looking at peoples organization ideas. My local hackerspace is trying to get an after school program set up and something along these lines is definitely required if teaching electronics on the go is a goal.
It’d also be useful at various cons and fests
I would have gone with “tit”, but I quite agree.
Some people have a problem seeing beyond what is explicitly written. I must admit though that the article spins the story just as much around the toy as the mobile workbench which may be confusing… I guess… for some people.
There’s generally a problem with hostility. Ranging from people who think its only an accomplishment if you made a jet motor out of a pack of rubber bands and a strawberry to people who just like to say “booo” all the time.
I love the cabinet, but to change the volume of my kids’ toys, I regularly used tape over the speaker.
sounds like me coding. I sit down, see the compiling and linking mess, craft elegant makefiles, scripts to auto download headers for the chips… and 3 days later, with the perfect setup, I move to something else.
also, i’d love to “not have space for a soldering iron” but have the means to work out a dozen revisions of some woodworking contraption
The real problem might be W.A.F? >_>
With limited space that easy becomes a factor :)
I am planning to spend several months this winter in Costa Rica. I so need to build one of these to the exact specifications (size and weight) for air travel.
Not to dismiss Nisker’s build, but this can be made lighter, and yet strong. Look to vintage luggage,chests, and even some military campaign furniture for construction technique clues. Not that 1/2″ plywood is that heavy, but it’s heavier than need be if paying to ship it.
Sintra/plastic maybe?
The plywood thickness was determined by finding a suitable piece at a good price. I think you could go with 6mm/0.24″ for the back as well (the front already is 6mm) the but for the the frame I would not go below 9mm/0.35″ – the power supply and soldering iron supply are quite heavy and it would most likely bend.
Also the weight is not a big issue for me – I rarely move it very far.
Large capacitors look too much like….
Large capacitors look too much like…
I’m guessing some people don’t bother reading the articles? Nisker has space, he just doesn’t have space indoors where he’d like to be messing with electronics. It’s a nice solution to a problem a lot of people have.
1
Some people will always see the brown first when looking at a rainbow. Still looks shiny to the rest of us tho :)
Nice job OP.
They’d think this: http://www.cynical-c.com/2008/12/11/piano-tuners-tool-chest/ was crap too.
While I understand they wouldn’t zactly meet the goal here, but when electronics techs made house call they where able to travel with an amazing amount of gear in a compact space.
Sweet build – I especially like how the front plate double as work desk, thus saving the table underneath from the occasional drip of melted solder.