New Workshop

I don't get chance to come on here much any more, but I figured this might actually be a decent update.
So, my hobby is basically my job. I work in enterprise software, and when I'm not doing the 9-5, I'm usually at my computer doing personal dev projects. Which means I can easily end up doing 12+ hours a day in front of a screen.

I finally admitted to myself that this is... not great for either my mind or my body.
Recently a mate gifted me a home-brew 10w laser cutter, and that pushed me into picking up a new hobby: making stuff. Real, physical things.

The idea is to get me off the computer in the evenings.
I've always been a maker, but it's always been digital. My experience with actual materials and tools is basically zero.
But whatever. You have to start somewhere.
My dad had a workshop my whole life, and I think I always assumed I'd eventually end up with my own man-cave/play space/workshop. So I finally decided to sort myself one out.

I already had a decent sized garage, but it was basically the home of the spare fridge and the washing machine, plus anything we didn't want to keep in the house.
I’m pretty happy to say I now actually have a space to tinker.

Somewhere to rip apart and rebuild computers, somewhere to program microcontrollers that might actually end up going into something physical made on the laser cutter or 3D printer.

The embarrassing bit: I basically own no tools. I’ll be building up a set on an as-needed basis.
Annoyingly, I used to have loads of my dad’s tools: belt sander, jigsaw, circular saw, bench drill. But I hadn’t touched them in the five years since he died, so about three months ago we had a big, brutal clear-out. 

I’ll post some pictures of my new happy place (the starter workshop) later!

My motto is, 'if its broke and you can't fix it, chuck it'. Somehow I seem to forget the chuck it bit!

You might just want the unbroken bit as a spare part for something else  - eventually - perhaps - if you can find where the broken one is hiding!
(those re-used cat-food boxes seem to get everywhere!)

They belonged to Phil, Mike's Dad, one of the two original members of this group, both now sadly passed - the other one being Gary.
For some reason long forgotten, Phil was known as Polly, so he became pollyfilla, the plaster material used for filling cracks in walls.
Pol used to write in the other magazine/forum, until he said something the Editor didn't like, and got banned, as did I and a few others. 
Thus this group got started - originally so that Gary and Pol could chat about their exploits.

Phils last name was Wood, hence Phil Wood hence Pollyfilla. It was Tim Mackie who came up with that one. Garry Pollard was the original Moderator on this site, sadly diagnosed with Throat Cancer, after he told us we never heard from him again, 4 weeks later he was gone, RiP.

So the workshop has had some upgrade works. 
As I said in my original post:

I've always been a maker, but it's always been digital. My experience with actual materials and tools is basically zero.
But whatever. You have to start somewhere.

I have zero experience making real world things but I do possess a "F.A.F.O" attitude (Thanks Dad) 
For those questioning FAFO. It's a linear scale of "fuck around, find out" where the more you fuck around, the more you find out. The brown table at the end of the room was never meant to stay, and the mismatched furniture along the wall had long outstayed its welcome. The real challenge was getting that plan past SWIMBO.

She’s used to me treating projects like penny sweets, picking them up on a whim and abandoning them just as quickly. So when I come armed with a new idea, it’s usually met with a sigh that is, somehow, both kind and supportive still.
It might sound like a contradiction, but it’s true.So armed with the FAFO scale, I set about building a new workbench with absolutely no fucking clue what I was doing. 

 
The frame. 

 

 

Since these photos were taken I've now managed to route a CAT6 1Gb connection in, moved my home server into there. I've also installed some pegboards next to the drawers on the wall and got my hands on some various bits and bobs in the way of tooling (still growing)

The big problem is that it needs to be a "bit of everything" kind of workshop. Lasering, 3D printing, Electronics, Woodwork. 
Christ... If I could also fit a car in there id have a good pop at fixing up an old banger too, 

Those benches need diagonal braces as well, to stop them from swaying side to side - when in use.
(A 4 sided box can twist, a triangle cannot.)

Actually, surprisingly not Eric. (Given my lack of skills haha).
I did consider this so the main left hand section with the shelf has a backing board which prevents lateral movement.

The left hand of the table is rock solid.
The right hand legs do have some lateral instability. They're just supporting some of the downward forces but could of course be kicked sideways but I'm ok with that. I just wont kick them haha!!

So speaks the voice of experience!