Organize Your Workbench Wishlist

My personal workbench can be almost anywhere, I keep moving, I haven't been able to organize my things on the desk so far, I don't have too much stuff, so I store them in cardboard boxes, maybe it's the best solution I had at my disposal , so I can put the boxes on top of each other, save some space. Thus, things are also protection from dust. The larger boxes sit on the floor next to the table, and the smaller ones on the table. Those small components such as resistors, capacitor diodes, I store them in small bags, then put each type in a cardboard box, it takes a while to find a certain value, but it works anyway. I also have a small plastic box.
Indeed, a storage cabinet would be much more useful, at least to store a few resistors and capacitors according to values. Space would be found.
Only the soldering station and the multiimeter that are on the table, the screwdrivers and other stuff are somehow organized in their box, I don't have much heavy tools. A portable tool case, not too big, would be useful, so you can take tools and the soldering station with you or something else.
Now, what does everyone use, and where.

These are obviously few, I have not scattered them all.

By the way, very good activity of this community.

I use an IP camera to monitor my printer and CNC/Laser.  That allows me to locate my equipment outside my computer room to isolate the noise.  The camera has PTZ, so I can also check to see if I've forgotten to turn off the soldering iron, etc.

I think this summer I'm going to try to add some AI to the workroom monitoring, so that I can get alerts (I've had failed prints due to filament breaks that I didn't notice and wasted hours of useless operation).  I'd also like to add a horizontal rail with a stepper motor for lateral movement to augment the PTZ for camera positioning.

Thanks!

I have thought about moving the printer, but I have never identified a better spot.  When it is printing, I tend to get a bit too focused on it's progress or I just get mesmerized watching it do it things.  When it is not printing, it tends to become a storage space for papers and tools, so the space is not being wasted.  I had thought of placing it on a roll away cart so that I could move it into the closet when it was not in use.  just might to have to think on this a bit......

Looks well set up!

For years, I had my 3D printer just like you; right up on my desk. Recently, i decided to move it away to another bench away from where I sit. This freed up a decent amount of space on my bench as I don't really /need/ it right there. I use Octoprint to monitor it.

This is a constant problem.  As an example, I have been recently been going through my semiconductors and reorganizing them into small sub sections, breaking up categories like 'interface' into multiple sections like 'radios', 'crystals', 'analog' and 'logic', while leaving an 'interface' section for peripheral parts like RTCs, EEPROMs, USB transceivers, etc.

With most of my ICs in cut tapes, things that come in tubes or trays don't fit in well and need to be dealt with individually.

Nothings constant, but for the most part they are being managed and generally I can find what I am looking for.  That has been a constant problem in the past.

The organization is superb.

Do you ever get in a quandary with yourself about what things get grouped together in a box ?

Its one of my constant battles. For example, do all switches go in the same box  or do PCB mounted switches go in the box with other PCB parts ? Do the 40 pin connectors get boxed with PCB parts or Raspberry Pi specific parts ? Are discrete LEDs stored with blocking diodes or grouped in with neopixels and bar graph LEDS ? Do I store the OLED matrix displays & Nokia 5110s in the box with LCD character displays and other LEDs ? A working inventory is a nice problem to have tho.

Very organised. Nice to see a bit of chaos on the desk though - made me feel at home.

Dubbie

What are your most creative things that you've done to organize your bench?

The most creative things that I have done to organize my bench are utilizing as many low cost objects to provide useful storage.  In my case these items are: Low cost wire shelving units, latching storage boxes (stackables) and multi-bin storage boxes.

In this view of my workspace, there are 6 wire shelves:

1. Lower left - Two shelves, one holding hardware (screws/bolts) containers with filament storage below and next to that (and under the 3D printer) is another shelve holding two UPS units and more containers of hardware.
2. Upper left - A single shelving unit (behind the 3D printer and above the Desktop computer) loading completed projects and robot collection.
3. Center - The main shelving unit, above the twin monitors, holding instruments, testing resources and development systems and my project storage boxes.  These storage boxes are used for work in progress and for client specific components/parts.
4. Right - Two shelves, one (below the soldering station) holds a tool box unit with three drawers and four multi-bin storage boxes, which contain connectors, and various components (servo, stepper motors, etc.) that did not fit well into other storage boxes.

There are also 16 latching, stackable storage boxes.  These boxes are used as follows:

1. Two air tight (IP67 rated) boxes are used to store 3D printer filament (loaded with desiccant container), in close proximity to the 3D printer.
2. Three 15 quart (14L) boxes are used to hold the majority of my electronic component inventory. One box is for ICs and discrete semiconductors, one for Capacitors/Inductors and smaller connectors and the last is just for resistors.
3. Eleven 15 quart (14L) boxes are used for work in progress and for client specific components/parts. Two of these are storing through-hole components and other prototyping supplies (breadboards, etc.).

And lastly, there are 4 multi-bin storage boxes (Duratool D00417).  These handy boxes, with removal bins are used to organize connectors, switches, crimp contacts, prototyping adapter PCBs and motors.

Tell us what we've missed!  There are a ton of great products for organizing your bench; what are your favorites?

Plug strips - The power distribution for my work space is quite impressive.  A pair of UPS units back up all of the power, which is distributed two multiple power strips.  There is a four foot power strip behind all of the instruments to provide their power needs.  There are also 5 smaller power strips used to provide power for the computer/3D printer, and under desk strip for the monitors and USB hubs, a desktop strip for units being built/tested and a pair of strips at the  solder station for the iron, microscope light ring, fume extractor and another for powering various tools and experiments

USB hubs - With the all the USB devices (mice and keyboards), development kits and programmer/debuggers, there is an never ending need for more USB ports.  Also with almost every new design that I build there is very likely a USB interface inside it or a need for some other connection (Serial or DMX) that needs a USB convertor to support it. So I currently have two front facing USB ports on my desktop computer (also equipped with multiple read facing ports, including a new USB 3.0 port for my PicoScope), plus two 4-port USB hubs.

Shelving units - Without these highly useful units, all of my stuff would be in big heaping piles on the ground (which is exactly where they all were prior to this incarnation of my workspace.

Tool holders - While some of my less frequently used tools do reside in tool boxes (drawers), there are several tools that I want to have in close proximity and ready access, so I recently built a tool holder to provide a convenient place to store them.  I wish that I had added even more storage at the time, but I might have to soon add on to this storage unit.

Bonus points for pics of your workbench!

I think the above pictures have fully covered this

I only just recently upgraded from the "Bag-o-resistors" to getting them organized into drawers. Sooooo much nicer now!

The hole is 1.5" because for the last 15 years, that is the only size hole-saw I owned I wanted to go this route so that I could have the back edge of the bench right up against the wall. Then the clutter doesn't fall behind when I shove things back to clear it