# Clear Area layout and storage

**URL:** <https://discourse.southlondonmakerspace.org/t/clear-area-layout-and-storage/2943>\
**Category:** Discussion\
**Created:** [22 August 2016 17:42 UTC](https://discourse.southlondonmakerspace.org/t/clear-area-layout-and-storage/2943 "2016-08-22T17:42:44Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 20\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![stefanoromano](https://discourse.southlondonmakerspace.org/user_avatar/discourse.southlondonmakerspace.org/stefanoromano/32/349_2.png) [@stefanoromano](https://discourse.southlondonmakerspace.org/u/stefanoromano)\
**Post date:** [22 August 2016 17:42 UTC](https://discourse.southlondonmakerspace.org/t/clear-area-layout-and-storage/2943/1 "2016-08-22T17:42:45Z")

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Hi all [@members](https://discourse.southlondonmakerspace.org/groups/members)  
Yesterday I start a deep organizing of the clear area, mainly the electronic bench and the black shelving.  
I tried to follow by best logic from when I set up my own electronic bench at home and now is all handy and in order… If someone think that something is not in the right place feel free to move it 🙂

## Problem

- A lot of stuff for the electronic workshop was basically still packed and almost anyone knew about that
- All the boxes were full of mixed stuff, even those with label on it
- All the mixed stuff inside the boxes was actually in an enormous knot that took hours to untie
- Same situation on the electronic bench where ALL the power cord where tied together

## Proposal

We Clearly need more storage space in there, so

- I propose that we buy more boxes and build a proper shelving set to replace the black one (which is 3 inches too wide and annoyingly the big boxes don’t fit for few millimiters) I think that this should be floor to ceiling.

- I propose that we build/buy/get hold of some drawer units to put underneath the benches so most of the small easily lost tools can have a home.

- I think that some small bins under the benches would be great as well, I don’t need to say how dangerous are all the bits of bare copper when you are working on a pcb

All the above can be achieved with a small effort, and will go in advantage of all the activities in the clear area… basically we need just to agree on the design of the shelves and buy some good looking wood to build it…

- I propose that we buy more boxes and build a proper shelving set to replace the black one (which is 3 inches too wide and annoyingly the big boxes don’t fit for few millimiters)

- I think that this should be floor to ceiling.

- I propose that we build/buy/get hold of some drawer units to put underneath the benches so most of the small easily lost tools can have a home.

- I think that some small bins under the benches would be great as well, I don’t need to say how dangerous are all the bits of bare copper when you are working on a pcb

P. S. I left out on propose the redesign of the actual benches because I don’t know the plan of the [@electrotechs](https://discourse.southlondonmakerspace.org/groups/electrotechs)

From other threads I understand that in those 2 weeks we could have a good number of members willing to help… let’s put it in good use

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**Author:** ![peter\_hellyer](https://discourse.southlondonmakerspace.org/user_avatar/discourse.southlondonmakerspace.org/peter_hellyer/32/16_2.png) [@peter\_hellyer](https://discourse.southlondonmakerspace.org/u/peter_hellyer)\
**Post date:** [22 August 2016 17:50 UTC](https://discourse.southlondonmakerspace.org/t/clear-area-layout-and-storage/2943/2 "2016-08-22T17:50:18Z")

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All is these things sound like excellent ideas. Desk pedestals are probably 10 a penny as reclaim?

Edit: and come up on warp-it a lot

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**Author:** ![Dermot](https://discourse.southlondonmakerspace.org/user_avatar/discourse.southlondonmakerspace.org/dermot/32/14757_2.png) [@Dermot](https://discourse.southlondonmakerspace.org/u/Dermot)\
**Post date:** [22 August 2016 17:58 UTC](https://discourse.southlondonmakerspace.org/t/clear-area-layout-and-storage/2943/3 "2016-08-22T17:58:23Z")

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Excellent stuff Stefano.

Although electronics is one of the few activities you can actually do in the space. It’s important to do this stuff but does it push other activities back? I guess I’m asking if we should concentrate on getting other areas at least up and running before fine tuning things like this?

Or is it just going to tumble back into chaos if we don’t at least sort out electronics storage right now?

There’s been some excellent research done into boxes, which seemed to land on Really Useful boxes as the brand to go for.

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**Author:** ![stefanoromano](https://discourse.southlondonmakerspace.org/user_avatar/discourse.southlondonmakerspace.org/stefanoromano/32/349_2.png) [@stefanoromano](https://discourse.southlondonmakerspace.org/u/stefanoromano)\
**Post date:** [22 August 2016 18:17 UTC](https://discourse.southlondonmakerspace.org/t/clear-area-layout-and-storage/2943/4 "2016-08-22T18:17:25Z")

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No no… the shelving will serve all the activities… I’m not talking about only electronic at all…  
I focused on those benches yesterday just because is the only one in which I have experience and therefore a logic to follow  
Having a efficient way to store things will help everyone in there… And yes for now electronic stuff are overwhelming other areas

Can we buy the boxes then?  
Can I try to design something for the shelf?

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**Author:** ![peter\_hellyer](https://discourse.southlondonmakerspace.org/user_avatar/discourse.southlondonmakerspace.org/peter_hellyer/32/16_2.png) [@peter\_hellyer](https://discourse.southlondonmakerspace.org/u/peter_hellyer)\
**Post date:** [22 August 2016 18:21 UTC](https://discourse.southlondonmakerspace.org/t/clear-area-layout-and-storage/2943/5 "2016-08-22T18:21:05Z")

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the only problem with the really useful boxes are they are really un-usefully expensive. They will however survive the apocalypse, so maybe this is a good investment.

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**Author:** ![stefanoromano](https://discourse.southlondonmakerspace.org/user_avatar/discourse.southlondonmakerspace.org/stefanoromano/32/349_2.png) [@stefanoromano](https://discourse.southlondonmakerspace.org/u/stefanoromano)\
**Post date:** [22 August 2016 18:32 UTC](https://discourse.southlondonmakerspace.org/t/clear-area-layout-and-storage/2943/6 "2016-08-22T18:32:18Z")

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We use those in our vans at work… they really are tough!

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**Author:** ![unknowndomain](https://discourse.southlondonmakerspace.org/user_avatar/discourse.southlondonmakerspace.org/unknowndomain/32/30593_2.png) [@unknowndomain](https://discourse.southlondonmakerspace.org/u/unknowndomain)\
**Post date:** [23 August 2016 00:22 UTC](https://discourse.southlondonmakerspace.org/t/clear-area-layout-and-storage/2943/7 "2016-08-23T00:22:43Z")

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Sorry to be the bearer of bad news but I have just spent the last several hours reorganising the clean room as an experiment towards the layout of the electronics area me and @courty discussed before he went away.

> [@stefanoromano](#):
>
> - I propose that we buy more boxes and build a proper shelving set to replace the black one (which is 3 inches too wide and annoyingly the big boxes don’t fit for few millimiters) I think that this should be floor to ceiling.

This shelving needs to go to make space for the electronics bench that has always been intended to go along that wall.

> [@stefanoromano](#):
>
> I propose that we build/buy/get hold of some drawer units to put underneath the benches so most of the small easily lost tools can have a home.

To avoid the huge backlog the [@electrotechs](https://discourse.southlondonmakerspace.org/groups/electrotechs) have approval from the directors to buy some benches that we can just knock together, we are time poor and relatively cash rich.

* * *

When @Courty is back I plan to meet with him to look at agreeing what the plan is, we’ll take on board your feedback and get something sorted.

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**Author:** ![unknowndomain](https://discourse.southlondonmakerspace.org/user_avatar/discourse.southlondonmakerspace.org/unknowndomain/32/30593_2.png) [@unknowndomain](https://discourse.southlondonmakerspace.org/u/unknowndomain)\
**Post date:** [23 August 2016 00:26 UTC](https://discourse.southlondonmakerspace.org/t/clear-area-layout-and-storage/2943/8 "2016-08-23T00:26:03Z")

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The layout is an experiment, we tried a few different ideas, the plan is to try to eliminate the dead space along the wall, and create more space either side for Electronics and Textiles.

As this is an experiment and there is no where to store spare furniture, I’ve stacked the spare tables on top of the others, but the idea would be to dispose of all 4 desks and replace them with better suited electronics benches.

 ![](https://slms-discourse.s3.dualstack.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/original/2X/f/ffe9f18da015c4dc52639dbce286c492848e4456.JPG)

This bench has been setup as usable if a little cramped, but I would really like to act on buying benches ASAP.

 ![](https://slms-discourse.s3.dualstack.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/original/2X/2/2a8ee40afdac127a5f6ba487f62242c044475047.JPG)

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**Author:** ![unknowndomain](https://discourse.southlondonmakerspace.org/user_avatar/discourse.southlondonmakerspace.org/unknowndomain/32/30593_2.png) [@unknowndomain](https://discourse.southlondonmakerspace.org/u/unknowndomain)\
**Post date:** [23 August 2016 00:49 UTC](https://discourse.southlondonmakerspace.org/t/clear-area-layout-and-storage/2943/9 "2016-08-23T00:49:39Z")

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This is a not even close to a scale drawing, I could use some help @tomnewsom

The plan would be a smaller soldering/rework station which doubles as a general computer station and storage like @stefanoromano has described.

A larger main station 90º rotated from the photo above, as per the drawing below, 1800mm wide 900mm deep, with loads of parts bins mounted on the wall with the network cabinet.

This can be somewhat experimented with however.

 ![](https://slms-discourse.s3.dualstack.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/original/2X/5/5b945cd8c3b457691887160044553e2de847e692.png)

Was looking at benches like this:

Large bench:  
BiG400 Bench Workstation 1677h x 1830w x 915d mm With 2 Top Shelves 400kg UDL Galvanised

Small bench: (Size to be confirmed)  
BiG400 Bench Workstation 1677h X 1220w X 915d Mm With 2 Top Shelves 400kg UDL Galvanised

 ![](https://slms-discourse.s3.dualstack.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/original/2X/6/6d00ff8f239f886e3f7acf71146029cd35320a51.png)

I am sure we can build something cheaper, but I am concerned it’s just delaying the other work further, and holding up this work also.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![unknowndomain](https://discourse.southlondonmakerspace.org/user_avatar/discourse.southlondonmakerspace.org/unknowndomain/32/30593_2.png) [@unknowndomain](https://discourse.southlondonmakerspace.org/u/unknowndomain)\
**Post date:** [23 August 2016 00:50 UTC](https://discourse.southlondonmakerspace.org/t/clear-area-layout-and-storage/2943/10 "2016-08-23T00:50:17Z")

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Sorry for the long posts and confused reply, I hadn’t anticipated having to approach this conversation this way.

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**Author:** ![Dermot](https://discourse.southlondonmakerspace.org/user_avatar/discourse.southlondonmakerspace.org/dermot/32/14757_2.png) [@Dermot](https://discourse.southlondonmakerspace.org/u/Dermot)\
**Post date:** [23 August 2016 07:45 UTC](https://discourse.southlondonmakerspace.org/t/clear-area-layout-and-storage/2943/11 "2016-08-23T07:45:30Z")

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Can I ask if you have a plan for the side wall? And why is it described as ‘dead area’?

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**Author:** ![RichM](https://discourse.southlondonmakerspace.org/user_avatar/discourse.southlondonmakerspace.org/richm/32/2991_2.png) [@RichM](https://discourse.southlondonmakerspace.org/u/RichM)\
**Post date:** [23 August 2016 07:58 UTC](https://discourse.southlondonmakerspace.org/t/clear-area-layout-and-storage/2943/12 "2016-08-23T07:58:33Z")

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Low headroom? Ask me how I know…

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Dermot](https://discourse.southlondonmakerspace.org/user_avatar/discourse.southlondonmakerspace.org/dermot/32/14757_2.png) [@Dermot](https://discourse.southlondonmakerspace.org/u/Dermot)\
**Post date:** [23 August 2016 08:00 UTC](https://discourse.southlondonmakerspace.org/t/clear-area-layout-and-storage/2943/13 "2016-08-23T08:00:08Z")

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But for desks?

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**Author:** ![tomnewsom](https://discourse.southlondonmakerspace.org/user_avatar/discourse.southlondonmakerspace.org/tomnewsom/32/2_2.png) [@tomnewsom](https://discourse.southlondonmakerspace.org/u/tomnewsom)\
**Post date:** [23 August 2016 08:34 UTC](https://discourse.southlondonmakerspace.org/t/clear-area-layout-and-storage/2943/14 "2016-08-23T08:34:00Z")

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Here’s floor plan & sections in horrible horrible DXF 🙂  
[slmsdrawings.zip](https://slms-discourse.s3.dualstack.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/original/2X/6/65dfc1ccdb8abf180ed4c2ef905cefe676f87afe.zip) (591.8 KB)

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![unknowndomain](https://discourse.southlondonmakerspace.org/user_avatar/discourse.southlondonmakerspace.org/unknowndomain/32/30593_2.png) [@unknowndomain](https://discourse.southlondonmakerspace.org/u/unknowndomain)\
**Post date:** [23 August 2016 09:26 UTC](https://discourse.southlondonmakerspace.org/t/clear-area-layout-and-storage/2943/15 "2016-08-23T09:26:04Z")

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That’s area just for sitting round the big table.

The way it was before you couldn’t have the desks we had there with people sat on both sides comfortably. It’s too narrow.

This just becomes a way to access the chairs because it’s even more narrow with the desks this way around.

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**Author:** ![tomnewsom](https://discourse.southlondonmakerspace.org/user_avatar/discourse.southlondonmakerspace.org/tomnewsom/32/2_2.png) [@tomnewsom](https://discourse.southlondonmakerspace.org/u/tomnewsom)\
**Post date:** [23 August 2016 09:50 UTC](https://discourse.southlondonmakerspace.org/t/clear-area-layout-and-storage/2943/16 "2016-08-23T09:50:53Z")

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The fire escape is blocked?

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![unknowndomain](https://discourse.southlondonmakerspace.org/user_avatar/discourse.southlondonmakerspace.org/unknowndomain/32/30593_2.png) [@unknowndomain](https://discourse.southlondonmakerspace.org/u/unknowndomain)\
**Post date:** [23 August 2016 09:58 UTC](https://discourse.southlondonmakerspace.org/t/clear-area-layout-and-storage/2943/17 "2016-08-23T09:58:50Z")

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No thats the door.

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**Author:** ![tomnewsom](https://discourse.southlondonmakerspace.org/user_avatar/discourse.southlondonmakerspace.org/tomnewsom/32/2_2.png) [@tomnewsom](https://discourse.southlondonmakerspace.org/u/tomnewsom)\
**Post date:** [23 August 2016 10:04 UTC](https://discourse.southlondonmakerspace.org/t/clear-area-layout-and-storage/2943/18 "2016-08-23T10:04:08Z")

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I mean in the photo

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![unknowndomain](https://discourse.southlondonmakerspace.org/user_avatar/discourse.southlondonmakerspace.org/unknowndomain/32/30593_2.png) [@unknowndomain](https://discourse.southlondonmakerspace.org/u/unknowndomain)\
**Post date:** [23 August 2016 10:44 UTC](https://discourse.southlondonmakerspace.org/t/clear-area-layout-and-storage/2943/19 "2016-08-23T10:44:10Z")

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No, but like the black shelving it comes over into the main doors a bit.

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**Author:** ![pip](https://discourse.southlondonmakerspace.org/user_avatar/discourse.southlondonmakerspace.org/pip/32/9861_2.png) [@pip](https://discourse.southlondonmakerspace.org/u/pip)\
**Post date:** [23 August 2016 22:09 UTC](https://discourse.southlondonmakerspace.org/t/clear-area-layout-and-storage/2943/20 "2016-08-23T22:09:07Z")

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Presumably without the lower shelf so you can get your legs under?

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