The state of the Electronics benches [aka random stuff left on them]

#1

Hello everyone,

I would like to discuss about the electronics benches .

A lot of work is been made for the new benches (thanks @joeatkin2 and everyone who helped there!) and now we have a wide and bright work surface were we can work on without bothering the big table in the center . Theoretically.

At the moment, every time someone need to use the benches he/she have to spend at least 15 minutes to clear them from various left overs , unfinished projects and instruments.

There are , in my opinion 3 major issues leading to this problem :

  • People don’t know were to leave tools and materials , because at the moment, there are only non labelled boxes with , mostly , random stuff in them.

  • There is no a bin near the bench , and I understand that sometime , in a rush, some people are keen to leave the leftovers of their projects on the benches , wait for the “next one” to clean.

  • We need a clear rule about the projects/parts/materials left in the space.

My thoughts about these points are :

  • We need boxes for the components, labels and a proper toolbox/rack for the tools. I’m happy to help with this, but , once in place, everyone have to respect the content of the boxes and the labels, and not start to mix things around.

  • We can use the “3 weeks bin” approach :

    • We can have 3 bins , every one will sit in one position , 3 weeks , 2 weeks , 1 week , and every week we swap them and once one is one week after the last week, we trow the content in the rubbish bin (or recyclable ). If someone find any kind of material (projects included) without label or unattended and no one knows about the ownership of it, it goes in the 3 weeks bin. from there the owner have 3 weeks to retrive it.

  • If a project is too big or the owner can’t carry it home , the project MUST be labelled with the member’s discourse name and announced on discorse (we will need a new category for this…)

Everything is IMHO , I hope I don’t get across a too harsh but the space is growing and is better to start asap.

6 Likes
#2

Thank you for raising this topic. I was going to start a forum thread on this very thing, but did not really know how to put it so I have requested a discussion of tool organization/tidiness at the members’ meeting tomorrow evening instead (to encompass more than just the electronics benches, however).

We badly need some sort of system, as I am finding the disorder a major impediment to the activity of making things. One has to negotiate the mess left by others, and also to spend most of the time searching for required tools or consumables (sometimes finding them, sometimes not). I am actually finding it more attractive at this point to buy tools and make at home, and only come to the Makerspace if I want a chat, or to use something like the laser cutter.

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#3

I think with electronics people might think that many de-soldered components and removed circuit boards are recyclable and so leave them out on the desks because we currently have no place to put potentially recyclable materials. Perhaps we should have one.

We also used to have a special electronics waste bin and now we do not (last time I checked). Maybe this confuses some people about what to do with electronics waste like scraps of wire, insulation and solder that usually litter the work surface on the electronics benches.

I do not know if encouraging people to sweep up after themselves works, with things like notices to that effect, but sweeping the surfaces down would be easier if they were not littered with components and bits of people’s projects.

#4

We could have a 2 weeks “scraps” bin, I guess.

#5

oh, I somehow missed that, sorry :slight_smile:

#6

Yes, ‘a place for everything, and everything in its place’ is the mantra we need. It really needs tobe clear where stuff goes.

Signs telling people to clear up aren’t as effective as a culture of clearing up, plus finding the place tidy will encourage the majority to leave the place tidy. The stragglers can then be encouraged to fall in line.

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#7

Hi, a lot of stuff has been left there by me, things I thought were for electronics after clearing the tables for recycling. Apologies, twas a bit of a guess game for me. Also I didnt want delicate things to get broken in the pile left by the wall and lots of small things that may have got lost. It will take sorting, I’ll help if you point me in the right direction. Thanks.

#8

Hey,
My proposal. Lets get the benches as we would like them (which will take a little bit of time to do), then take a photograph of them in pristine state with everything where it should live
and put the picture up near the benches.

I’ve seen this work in a busy hostel in spain.

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#9

I appreciate the honesty , I think that this is the issue more common, I want to believe that everyone at the space want to have a good attitude about the shared space :slight_smile:

#10

Very good idea.I’ve done this for my kitchen to remind me just how lovely it can be😂

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#11

Hi Andrea, thanks. Most members respect the space so once it’s sorted it’s about upkeep and looking at the photos for reference. It’s a very impressive area.

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#12

Get me some more ply and I will fix it :wink:

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#13

I bet is your answer to many problems :stuck_out_tongue:

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#14

Most problems

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#15

What to do about tools & component storage is a frequent discussion between myself & Joe & others, continuing the construction of the electronics space. Yes we have benches thanks, mostly to Joe but the project is far from finished so in the meantime it’s necessary to put up with tools in bags etc. That’s where they go at the moment. It’s up to users to put stuff back where they got it. If people look after their own mess everything will get better bit by bit as it has been doing. It’s a shame that as soon as the benches appeared so did the mess on them and it’s not fair on other users.
The stuff Jackie is talking about is not a problem. It’s a neat temporary storage system in no ones way. Before long it will be a better solution made out of plywood !

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#16

Have now found 8 sliders so we will be in business soon

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#17

components for open scorce (sharing) is a great idea clearing up after yourself is a good habit I was a volunteer
at Oxfam electrical no could leave until the benches were cleared
linbins are the industry standard i can get some if you want

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#18

linbins on a wall hanging sheet would be very good. Think you can even get lids to keep the dust out

Courty

#19

Do we have the wall space, though?

#20

How about the electronics evening all about organising?