After a while, everyone's workbench starts to get cluttered with nests of cables, tools, tiny components and more. Thankfully, there are a lot of products designed specifically for engineers and makers that help organize the loose parts and cables, and give your bench a tidy and professional appearance. Time spent searching for things will be cut down dramatically once everything has its own little compartment.
Cable Management
Over the years, engineers and makers typically build large nests of cables. Without proper organization, this can make any kind of troubleshooting a nightmare. Walking barefoot or on your knees on cables gets a little annoying after a while.
Label Maker
The first step in organizing cables is labeling. It can be a pain to print a label when you just want to plug in and go, but it eliminates the time wasted later when you need to trace each cable to figure where it goes.
Barcode Scanner
Many label makers can print barcodes. If you've got a lot of cables, a barcode scanner makes it one step easier to figure out what they are.
Wire Marker
If you have a bundle or a snake connecting instruments with multiple channels, wire markers are a great way to go.
Clip-in Cable Marker
Heat Shrinkable Wire Marker Sleeves
Heat Shrinkable Wire Marker Sleeves
Cable Tie
Cable ties or zip ties are very handy; an inexpensive way to quickly bundle up unruly cables.
Cable Tie Tension Tool
Rather than doing it with your fingers, you can grab a cable tie tension tool. They cut and tighten in one press of the lever.
Twist Lock Cable Tie
Twist lock cable ties bundle your cables with a convenient twist. They're also reusable, though I guess zip ties are also technically reusable (as long as the new bundle is smaller than the last).
Spiral Wrap
Spiral wraps make it easy to make a bundle out of a group of cables. This is something I've previously done using duct tape, which, of course, only sounds like a good idea.
Cable Reel Holder
Cable reels are easier to store and manage than coils lying on the floor. If you deal with a huge amount of cables, cable reels make organization easier.
Cable Spool Rack
Most engineers and makers have to dig in their drawers to find the right cable spool; make things easy, and put them on a rack!
Jumper Assortment
Having a box that is divided into sections is much easier than having all your jumpers in the same shoebox (along with loose resistors and capacitors).
Component and Tool Storage
Speaking of resistors and capacitors, another source of of clutter is the large amount of tiny components lying around on every bench. Add surface mount components to that and we've got ourselves a serious problem!
Storage Cabinet
Every engineer or maker absolutely needs one (or twenty) cabinet with several small compartments. This saves untold hours in reading resistors.
ESD Cabinet
For ESD sensitive components, an antistatic cabinet is required.
ESD Bags
With some of the more sensitive components, it might be worthwhile to have some ESD bags on hand.
Portable Tool Case
Now onto our tools, because I've stepped on my pliers barefoot for the very last time! You've probably already got a cabinet for your tools, but a portable tool case is very handy for tools that you might need to carry around.
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