New/Old Workshop

My old hobby workspace/workbench was just a computer desk in our finished basement. This led to all sorts of issues like not enough space for larger projects, very limited shelving space for instruments, and generally too flimsy. The flat surfaces were just thin particle board that had bowed over time.

Plus, it had gotten dirty and messy so it was time for a change. I wanted to clean up the basement anyway so I decided to move everything to my old workbench in the utility room.

This is the result (so far). The old workbench is a sturdy 8' piece of marine plywood on metal legs. This was also an opportunity to clear it of junk I had not touched in 20 years.

The shelves are metal "bakers'" racks from Lowes. They were intended to be a 4-shelf freestanding unit, but I assembled it in two separate units, which worked well. They are very sturdy. I also replaced one of the old fluorescent lights which had died with an LED unit, also from Lowes. It is much brighter and uses a lot less energy. Not visible is my drill press off to the left. I may move that to the other side of the room to give me even more bench space. To the right is a huge pegboard with tools on hangers.

It is not perfect but makes for a much more useful workbench. Drawbacks include being close to the furnace, which is noisy when it runs (disrupting any listening tests I want to do on amps) and can make the room warm in the summer months - but comfortable in the winter.

This is the shelf unit I got from Lowes. I think it sells for $59. As I mentioned, I assembled it in two separate sections for the benchtop. This yields two shelve units, each about 36" wide and 14" deep. Shelf height is fully adjustable.

These 4' dual LED shop lights are a bargain at $25. Very bright.

Since you can never have enough outlets, I got this long 12-circuit strip from Amazon (Amazon Basics version) and placed it on the bench in the back. Seems to be well made and reasonably priced.

While I was at it, I decided to add a new pair of test speakers (also for casual listening while at the bench). These are Moukey brand (what a horrible name) Chinese 3-way passive boxes that sound surprisingly good. I think I paid $79 for the pair on sale, shipping included. These are not studio grade monitors by any means, but seem to have fairly low distortion. At some point, I may run an analyzer on them to see how flat they are. In any event, if an errant amp takes them out, not a huge loss.

Other equipment on the bench: