I am in the process of settign up my new computer shop <squeeeeeee>
we are pondering some different designs for workstations and I wanted to bounce this off the dopers.
What we are considering is a custom workbench that is tilted at a 45 degree or so angle so that a typical tower laying on its sidewith a cover off is kinda facing up and toward us.
A small 2"-3" lip along the bottom edge to catch screws and stop the towers from sliding off
We are thinking this will be better for seeing inside a case as well as be easier to access the innards of a machine. better light since the mobo would not be shaded by the top of the case, and just generally a little more ergonomic for people poking screwdrivers in computers all day.
Seems like a solid idea to me. I would add that you may want a shelf above it with under cabinet style lights and/or articulating arm lights that you could move into position. You might also want to put a strip of something at the bottom, so when screws roll away they don’t bounce off the lip and fly onto the floor. Something cushy like a sponge or towel type material.
Also, I would put a row of outlets above it so you have somewhere handy to plug them in.
One more thing, you might want to do a geeksquad type setup with a row of monitors/keyboards/mice on the shelf above with the cords coming down along the back. This will make it easy to check to make sure it’s working without moving it around to much.
Lip or not, I can just picture screwdrivers, disk drives, and lost screws all clattering to the floor. A tilt-able workbench with a flat space beside it for parts wouldn’t be so bad. I second Joey P’s idea of monitors, etc. all being on a shelf above for quick and easy access.
Hmmm, good point, I hadn’t thought about tools. I think, better then tilt-able benches with flat parts in between, would be tiltable benchs with flat parts infront of part of it. Lesse if I can 'splain. Think about it this way…a xx foot long tilted desk with several desks infront of it with 2-3 feet between them. Rather then keeping all your tools next to the computer, they would be next to you and easier to reach.
DESKDESKDESKDESKDESKDESK
E E E E E
S S S S S
K K K K K
I give up on the ASCII coding. Hopefully it makes sense.
This would give you stations. The back long part would be tilted and I think that tools would be easier to grab if they were right next to you rather then reaching over to the flat part that ECG described.
Another thought would be to get several “L” shapped desks and put them next to each other OR Several regular desks and put them together to make L shapes (one along the wall, the next one with the short side against the wall, the another one with the long side against the wall then another one with the short side against the wall etc…), then in the place where you want to work you could make a little triangle shaped wedge to lean the computer on.
don’t forget about power! I can’t tell you how many times our tech benches need to be moved or shifted around so that way we can have a descent source for power. Maybe something built into the side of the table top or inserted into it so that way it is flush with the desk.
Other than that, sounds like a good plan.
As far as ESD, you could have a metal line from the floor around the desk or something. Where person’s arm may rest. That way you are always grounded perhaps?
For ESD protection, the last thing you want is a direct metal connection. What you want is a conductive mat that is connected to earth ground via a high resistance connection. That way any induced charges bleed off slowly and safely instead of going all at once in a nice semiconductor toasting ZAP.
ESD mats and wrist straps that you can clip onto the case of the PC you are working on are cheap enough and will do the job nicely.