Let's See Those Toolboxes & Workbenches!

[Nephasth]

We've seen tons of fine examples of craftsmanship in this hobby, but it wouldn't be possible without the tools! Show us what you're working with; toolbox, workbench, woodshop, paint booth, 5 gallon bucket with a rope... Where does your magic happen?

[Le Chuck]

Where does your magic happen?

Are you wanting pics of my bed or my shower?

[Nephasth]

 

[harveybirdman]

Cool thread, when I hit the shop this weekend I'll post some pics.  My dad came up with a nice trick to put casters on heavy table-saws etc, that otherwise were not structurally intended for them.

[ArcadeSeeker962]

PL1 referred me to these tools for working with crimping and quick disconnects:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00164C0KW/ref=oh_details_o06_s00_i04

http://www.amazon.com/Klein-11046-Stripper-Cutter-Inches/dp/B0000302WS/ref=sr_1_11?ie=UTF8&qid=1336706197&sr=8-11

I'll be buying these eventually, but I would like to see what other members of the BYOAC forum think of the choices I made. I've been reading the Project Arcade Book, and it has been very helpful in all of my other decisions for my arcade cabinet.

[loz1962]

If this is what your looking for, then this is where the work happens when I can commandeer the conservatory. The 6ft round top is a removable mod  on top of a 4ft oval Oak table thats highly polished, and protected by a layer of foam rubber. The tool kit is the basics, but I have 6 other tool boxes scattered around the house ( small house). Trying to sneak another tool box in behind my missus back.

[Louis Tully]

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[spkywlnt73]

My work bench has been everything from my pooltable to a pair of saw horses with an old door layed across them! I'm interested in seeing some of these work stations/areas. Awesome idea for a thread Nephasth! I'll post some pics later of my current setup.

[Dawgz Rule]

Are you wanting pics of my bed or my shower?

Should be more careful drinking coffee when I read this stuff.  Too funny.  Now to clean up the mess.

[kahlid74]

Where does your magic happen?

I don't think there's a room in our house that isn't safe from magic happening.

When I get home I'll post pictures of workshop.

[TopJimmyCooks]

The Bureau of Wood Adjustment:



Half a 2 car garage, walled off from the other half.  The bench is the 2x4 based one from New Yankee Workshop plans, with shoulder vice/dog holes, cheapo face vice.  The box underneath has four drawers on the other side for small tools. 

Note the junior B.W.A. bench near the door as well.  Good for working on bartops.   

[mcseforsale]

My workshop is 1/2 of our 2 car garage.  The other half is taken up by my kids bicycles and my bicycles (yes...plural).

It's a bit messy in the middle of this build (about a month ago..), but I had just put away all the crap from my bench.  It's 6' x 3' laminate counter that I picked up from HD.  If I'm going to be jamming on something, I use the 3/4 plywood bench at the back wall.  

I have enough tools to rebuild a car...sans lift, and enough wood working tools to build my cabs, some fences..whatever.  My main hobby is and always will be building/refurbishing 80s BMX bikes.  I love building wheels from scratch (there's something cool about putting those weak parts together and coming up with something so strong...)



Leaning on the bench, watching the little man kick the crap outta bad guys in TMNT (heros on the half shell).



I turn these:



Into these:



AJ

[elkameleon]

OMG I want! That sure takes me back to my early 90's at the BMX track.

[Nephasth]

Great stuff guys! Keep it coming!

I was a diesel mechanic for a number of years, so my tools reflect that. My interest in woodworking is growing, and I'm envious of all of you with large selections of woodworking tools. Some day, some day...

I don't really have a specified work area, sometimes it's the kitchen table, sometimes it's a hotel room... But since we moved into our new house, the garage has been pretty handy.

Here's my box. I want to build a decent work bench for where the bikes and ---steaming pile of meadow muffin--- are sitting. The side locker is full of manuals and misc parts. I'll be throwing up some peg board behind the box soon. That little cabinet with all the little drawers... yup, filled with Molex.


Sockets.


Wrenches.


Pliers.


Drivers.


And too many specialty tools to post up...

[ArcadeSeeker962]

That's an amazing set of tools, Nephasth. It's a bummer that my family doesn't have a garage(we converted it into an apartment for my grandmother to live in). As long as this thread continues to stay active, I'll post a link to my final choice for the disconnect crimping tools, so that the members here can review my choice.

[smalltownguy]

I recently redid my entire work area. Moved my workshop into the furnace room of my basement, clearing my workshop and turning it into an aracde.

The resulting work area:

[BadMouth]

I'm amazed at the quality of the work guys like RyoriNoTetsujin and Martijn have turned out without much of a place to work.

[mcseforsale]

I'm amazed at the quality of the work guys like RyoriNoTetsujin and Martijn have turned out without much of a place to work.

+1,000,000

This ^^

AJ

[yotsuya]

I'm jealous of your storage space, guys. We're looking to move this year, and space for my stuff will be a big factor.

In the mean time, this is my "workspace":



Awesome tool setup there, Nephasth!

[TopJimmyCooks]

So true, I'm super impressed by the dedication to carry your project and tools and materials down flights of steps to an open air courtyard to work.  Props to all the shopless out there.  Or drive to a remote workspace.

Me:  Hmm.  I really need the porter plunge router for this job.  . . . I'd have to move the Pinball machine over two feet to get it off the shelf (pinball machine is on a wheeled dolly). . . . Maybe I can just use one of my other routers that happens to be laying on the back bench.  Its already plugged in and has some type of bit in it already, way to go!

Hmm.  I know I've got a perfect piece of wood for the project, on the lumber rack under two other boards, which are kinda heavy and which would  require me to take the stepladder down off the wall hook.  Oh well, this offcut I just stepped on, that's been on the floor of the shop for 3 months, will do quite well. . . . . . . .. . . . ... . . . . .

Hmm. the temperature is more/less that in my fondest hopes.  Let me turn on my dedicated fan/heater.

Hm . . . . . .  It's a nice/nasty day outside - let me open/close the garage door - wheres the clicker?

My shop spoiledness knows no bounds, but I do appreciate it.  I like to be able to let something lie ignored for a few months if it's pissing me off.  

[Nephasth]

  That gave me a bit of a chubby...

[Louis Tully]

.

[yotsuya]

Nephasth - That's some mad organization. 

Yotsuya -  Dude. That's so badass it makes using a ruler and pencil seem wrong. 

This is what I used for the master file:

[Nephasth]

Now you HAVE to start a projet thread!

[yotsuya]

Those parts are for the jukebox I am building, an arcade sign, a cherry master machine, and replacement panels for my existing cabs.

I bought a 4ft x4ft sheet of metal for $25, and the shop teacher taught me how to use the plasma cutter. I tried to use every inch of that sucker.

[yotsuya]

PBJ-

I'm trying to convince him to buy a wood CNC machine for the wood shop! If I do, I'll trade you a custom cut Pac-Man for a pinball and case of beer.

[Rando]

Looks like some car guys above,
I have something to make you jealous: My Garage has a pit.

I have no automotive abilities, though I do have an old car.  Basement has 2 doors into the garage.  One is to a few stairs taking you up to the garage level, other is to a large pit that you can park your car over and access the undercarriage.

Wish I knew what I was doing so I could utilize it, right now it just accumulates bugs. 

[moknitro]

While I haven't actually built anything yet, I'm rather envious of you guys and your set ups. I was starting to build up a nice collection of tools until my tool box disappeared... At the moment I've got a table set up with a small vice and all my tools are in a rather large box. My garage has already been converted in a distribution centre/office for my house mate's business.

[Ond]

Great topic idea,  here's my set up.  The work bench I built from oak in 2005.



Here's some of my favourite tools to work with, some are good quality like the Metabo sander and the Triton saw while others are cheap like the two Ryobi routers,my drill press gets used often as does the Bosch hand drill. The Ryobi stuff may be cheap but it's never given me any trouble, the routers are just a bit underpowered.  One day I'll invest in a better router, maybe a Dewalt or a Metabo.  I had a Makita router I really liked, more powerful than the Rybobi's, it got used so much and got clogged with MDF dust that it burnt out .  The Dremel type tool is very handy too.  The PC under the bench is a P4 Dell I scored from work, in fact I scored 5 or 6 of these with monitors, they were all destined for the scrap heap as part of an IT refresh, there's nothing wrong with them at all and they make good test rigs for apps destined for my arcade projects. I shovelled as many as I could fit into my car boot on the day  
The high swivel chair I picked up at a Firestation bric-a-brac sale for $5.  The low roller stool comes in really handy when I'm sanding projects or working on stuff near to the ground.   Not pictured is my saw table with various fittings, one of the best investments I've ever made!

[Nephasth]

  The finish on that workbench is beautiful!

Nice floor jack too!

[TopJimmyCooks]

here's what I build in the shop between pinball projects:





Kayaks!  Man I need OND's swivel chair so badly!  and a workbench pc. 

[harveybirdman]

Our Shop, I say our because this is pretty much my inheritance


Shop 1 by harveybirdman1, on Flickr


Shop 2 by harveybirdman1, on Flickr


As I mentioned earlier Dad came up with a pretty clever idea to make the table saws and sanders mobile throughout the shop

Take one of these

Metal Beware by harveybirdman1, on Flickr

Add an extra bed frame and some cheap casters and...

Stable and mobile

Stable Saw by harveybirdman1, on Flickr

The wife is yelling at me, but I'll post my two FAVORITE tools.

First this thing is helping me fix router mistakes already, I have to come up with a sweet name for her

AWESOME Sander by harveybirdman1, on Flickr

And finally, this 12V lithium gem makes drilling and screwing almost better than sex

Better than sex drill by harveybirdman1, on Flickr

[Louis Tully]

.

[DaOld Man]

^^^^ + 1000

[eds1275]

Damn you guys and your workspaces. It's not that I have nowhere to work... but no storage outside so my tools live in the house, which means I have to clean them before bringing them through. I usually work in my yard, I have a pretty big lot so I just work in the yard. I plan to build a 10x13 workshop this year or next. Probably next. It's going to have some intense dust collection built in, lots of tool storage, and space for my 2 10 foot kayaks. Until then, I work outside when weather permits.

[kahlid74]

The unfinished part of our basement became my defacto workshop.  I built the first workbench and then realized quickly I ran out of room so I had to build a second.  At 6'5" every workbench I've ever been at is uncomfortable so I made these at a height of 40" so they would be more comfortable for me working at.

Here's the first workbench.  It's got my industrial touchscreen monitor in the wooden box for tunes in the workshop when I'm making magic.  Got the swivel monitor too in case I need to do computer stuff.  Table top is MDF with 4 coats of glossy wood stain giving it a plastic/rubber feel on the surface.


This is the second bench I built as I quickly ran out of space on the first.  I wound up then building a drill recharger/holder hanging on a cleat system since my drills were scattered all over the workshop lol.


Here's when you walk into the workshop from the finished part of the basement.  Miter saw is on a movable stand whose sides come up and hold steady for when cutting long pieces of lumber.  Starting of Battletech pod in the background as well as prototype 42" rotatable Showcase cab stand.



And the obligatory server rack and networking equipment shot:

[Woodshop Flunky]

here's what I build in the shop between pinball projects:





Kayaks!  Man I need OND's swivel chair so badly!  and a workbench pc. 

Nice work! 

It's really interesting to see what others are into besides the games.

[codefenix]

Here's the first workbench.  It's got my industrial touchscreen monitor in the wooden box for tunes in the workshop when I'm making magic.  Got the swivel monitor too in case I need to do computer stuff.  Table top is MDF with 4 coats of glossy wood stain giving it a plastic/rubber feel on the surface.

Is that an original Game Boy I see standing there next to the wood glue?   

[kahlid74]

Here's the first workbench.  It's got my industrial touchscreen monitor in the wooden box for tunes in the workshop when I'm making magic.  Got the swivel monitor too in case I need to do computer stuff.  Table top is MDF with 4 coats of glossy wood stain giving it a plastic/rubber feel on the surface.

Is that an original Game Boy I see standing there next to the wood glue?   

It's one of the many pieces of inspiration I have littered around my little shop.  It helps to drive me by remembering where I've been.

[Paul Olson]

Here are the only pics I could find. As usual, taking new pics would require a lot of cleaning.




Edit: I forgot to post a pic of the tools. This is a newer pic with the toolbox moved across from the workbench. Now just this back wall is for working, and the rest of the garage is arcade.

[BadMouth]

I got half a 8x10? shed.  The lawn mower and weed eater get the other half.

When I want to make something big, I make a mess in the basement.

I rent, so I try not to spend more than I have to on a workspace.
(got that beverages sign off fleabay for 99 cents!)

Might have to spring for some pegboard after looking at the nice setups in this thread.

[wp34]

I got half a 8x10? shed.  The lawn mower and weed eater get the other half.

Nice.  Makes me want to go out and re-organize my shed.

[Le Chuck]

Seems like a small table, bumper pool convert or just an arcade sized?

Or is the skeletal cab that gigantic?

[BadMouth]

Seems like a small table, bumper pool convert or just an arcade sized?

Or is the skeletal cab that gigantic?

It's a 6ft table.  Don't let the fancy looking legs fool you.  They are plastic.
Underneath them, the real legs are only 2" in diameter and made out of particle board.
I picked it up on clearance at sears for $100 about 4 or 5 years ago, including balls & cues.
It's a horrible table, has a slight arch in the middle, but I'm not a serious player so it doesn't matter much.
I plan to get rid of it when I'm done using it as a workbench.

The cab feels gigantic to me.  It's standard slim cab height and depth (77" tall and 23" deep without CP), but to accomodate the rotating monitor, it is 32" wide.
That's only 6 inches wider than I'd planned on making it, but it feels friggin' huge.

[mcseforsale]

Wow...and tall too!  77"  6'5".   It's a nice shape.

AJ

Seems like a small table, bumper pool convert or just an arcade sized?

Or is the skeletal cab that gigantic?

It's a 6ft table.  Don't let the fancy looking legs fool you.  They are plastic.
Underneath them, the real legs are only 2" in diameter and made out of particle board.
I picked it up on clearance at sears for $100 about 4 or 5 years ago, including balls & cues.
It's a horrible table, has a slight arch in the middle, but I'm not a serious player so it doesn't matter much.
I plan to get rid of it when I'm done using it as a workbench.

The cab feels gigantic to me.  It's standard slim cab height and depth (77" tall and 23" deep without CP), but to accomodate the rotating monitor, it is 32" wide.
That's only 6 inches wider than I'd planned on making it, but it feels friggin' huge.

[Le Chuck]

The cab feels gigantic to me.  It's standard slim cab height and depth (77" tall and 23" deep without CP), but to accomodate the rotating monitor, it is 32" wide.
That's only 6 inches wider than I'd planned on making it, but it feels friggin' huge.

Shoulda used a linear actuator to push the screen out towards the player beyond the sides so it could rotate freely then get pulled back in.  That'd be pretty cool 

[Nephasth]

The cab feels gigantic to me.  It's standard slim cab height and depth (77" tall and 23" deep without CP), but to accomodate the rotating monitor, it is 32" wide.
That's only 6 inches wider than I'd planned on making it, but it feels friggin' huge.

Shoulda used a linear actuator to push the screen out towards the player beyond the sides so it could rotate freely then get pulled back in.  That'd be pretty cool 

That's kind of the same idea I got from seeing BadMouth's build. Except I was thinking about using linear actuators and angled hinges to swing the monitors (lcd) of the Beast into the cab to have room to rotate then bring them back to the bezel.

/pipedream

[Le Chuck]

The cab feels gigantic to me.  It's standard slim cab height and depth (77" tall and 23" deep without CP), but to accomodate the rotating monitor, it is 32" wide.
That's only 6 inches wider than I'd planned on making it, but it feels friggin' huge.

Shoulda used a linear actuator to push the screen out towards the player beyond the sides so it could rotate freely then get pulled back in.  That'd be pretty cool 

That's kind of the same idea I got from seeing BadMouth's build. Except I was thinking about using linear actuators and angled hinges to swing the monitors (lcd) of the Beast into the cab to have room to rotate then bring them back to the bezel.

/pipedream

Wouldn't it just be easier on all of us if we installed monitors that were the full size of the available space then set up the image to be centered at the appropriate size?  That way we could use the bezel art files as well.  How expensive would that monitor upgrade be vs what we're spending rotating?

[Nephasth]

Wouldn't it just be easier...

I'm glad you didn't take that approach on your last project!

[Le Chuck]

Wouldn't it just be easier...

I'm glad you didn't take that approach on your last project!

I'm not saying we should, just wondering where it comes out in the wash.  I'm with Darth, if I can make things spin and turn I'm going to do my best to make it happen.

[Nephasth]

You guys need to step into the 21st century and get a bigass flat screen and be done with it.

Says the guy that hoards 20th century entertainment devices...

[BadMouth]

Wouldn't it just be easier on all of us if we installed monitors that were the full size of the available space then set up the image to be centered at the appropriate size?  That way we could use the bezel art files as well.  How expensive would that monitor upgrade be vs what we're spending rotating?

That was somewhat my original plan with this cab.
A 27" screen can provide the same viewing area as a 19" vertical or a 24" horizontal 4:3 monitor.
It was going to have custom bezels that would put the vertical games in front of player 1.

I was having trouble getting the vertical Taito Type X games to work with the screen rotated in Vista (I have them working on XP).
Then I made the mistake of putting the monitor on it's side and playing some shmups.  
Decided that the equivelant of a 24" vertical monitor went along with the "newer games" focus of the cab.

.......but we're waayyy off topic.

EDIT: Build thread if anyone wants to continue this discussion there http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=119308.0

[Unstupid]

And the obligatory server rack and networking equipment shot:

I see a lot of networking equipment but not a lot of networking cables... What's that about?

[Woodshop Flunky]

I've got the usual suspects in my shop (table saw, drill press, etc...), but one thing I really love is my Workmate.

This was one of my first purchases, and I used it stock for just a while, but the top didn't seem beefy enough.  So, I took two pieces of 3/4 inch Russian birch plywood, glued them together, and drilled all the original dog holes.

It's 1 1/2 inch thick now... and can take a real beating... plus it clamps like any other workmate.

[mcseforsale]

Yeah.  I need to do that to mine, too.  That's a good idea.  Mine accidentally was left out in the rain one night and the OG MDF swelled up on all the edges.   

How much bigger did you make the 2 pieces?

AJ

I've got the usual suspects in my shop (table saw, drill press, etc...), but one thing I really love is my Workmate.

This was one of my first purchases, and I used it stock for just a while, but the top didn't seem beefy enough.  So, I took two pieces of 3/4 inch Russian birch plywood, glued them together, and drilled all the original dog holes.

It's 1 1/2 inch thick now... and can take a real beating... plus it clamps like any other workmate.

[CheffoJeffo]

From an older thread of mine on the subject ...

We've all ogled other people's beautiful game rooms.

If you hang around in this hobby long enough, you will eventually ogle other people's amazing workshops, replete with multiple oscilloscopes, EPROM burners, totally pristine test fixtures, Fluke meters, Metcal soldering stations and every cap, resistor, diode, transistor, socket and IC known to man all organized neatly enough to rival the cleanest hospital OR.

Well, my workroom is definitely not beautiful and I would love to have more gadgets and tools, but don't yet have the expertise nor, in some cases, the $$$ to justify them.

So, I ask, what is in your workshop that you can't do without for this hobby ?



My ghetto test rig -- PS with fused QDs, speaker, ISO and monitor. You can also see my logic probe, which I am trying to learn how to use.



Cheapish soldering station, RadioShack DMM, cheapo magnifier/extra hands and mugs to hold bits and bobs as they are removed/installed.



Pliers, cutters, drivers and a truckload of security bits.



Moderately organized bins of caps, connectors, ICs, sockets, diodes, resistors and assorted bits.





Space to store the tons of junk (most of the tons are not shown, but reside in boxes scattered around the shop)





Important reference material -- Atari's The Book, Randy Fromm's Big Blue Book and, of course, stacks of GameRoom Magazine!

Not pictured, but definitely heavily used: Dremel, heat gun, GoofOff, GooBGone, Soldapult, crimping/stripping tool, pink erasers, flux remover, Novus, spare wiring harnesses, not enough patch cords and a bunch of things that I have forgotten about and will probably buy again before I remember.

What do you have in your shop that you can't do without ?

Only difference now is a little more clutter and some new gear and reference material (include the Randy Fromm videos) on an iPad:

[Woodshop Flunky]

How much bigger did you make the 2 pieces?

There are 3 pieces on mine (middle one is removable).  I made it just a little larger than stock, but I can't say by how much.  The rough dimensions are on the following picture.  I didn't draw any hole patterns... besides, they likely are different between years or models.

[kahlid74]

And the obligatory server rack and networking equipment shot:

I see a lot of networking equipment but not a lot of networking cables... What's that about?

The stuff in the white rack runs the house and all cords are neatly orchestrated in the back.  The two 6509 chassis's and rack of equip to the right are for test labs only.  They are for either practicing my certs or hammering out something that doesn't make sense in the real world, usually design conundrums.

[mcseforsale]

Nice kit.  CCIE?

AJ

And the obligatory server rack and networking equipment shot:

I see a lot of networking equipment but not a lot of networking cables... What's that about?

The stuff in the white rack runs the house and all cords are neatly orchestrated in the back.  The two 6509 chassis's and rack of equip to the right are for test labs only.  They are for either practicing my certs or hammering out something that doesn't make sense in the real world, usually design conundrums.

[Paul Olson]

And the obligatory server rack and networking equipment shot:

I see a lot of networking equipment but not a lot of networking cables... What's that about?

The stuff in the white rack runs the house and all cords are neatly orchestrated in the back.  The two 6509 chassis's and rack of equip to the right are for test labs only.  They are for either practicing my certs or hammering out something that doesn't make sense in the real world, usually design conundrums.

Just curious:
I understand having the racks to test stuff with, but what do you actually use all of that for in the house? I have one little linksys router, and it does pretty good at keeping up with 6 computers, 2 360s, and 2 phones. What am I missing. I wondered this when I was taking my networking classes too, but since we were mostly learning software, I haven't even used all of that rack equipment.

[leapinlew]

And the obligatory server rack and networking equipment shot:

I see a lot of networking equipment but not a lot of networking cables... What's that about?

The stuff in the white rack runs the house and all cords are neatly orchestrated in the back.  The two 6509 chassis's and rack of equip to the right are for test labs only.  They are for either practicing my certs or hammering out something that doesn't make sense in the real world, usually design conundrums.

Just curious:
I understand having the racks to test stuff with, but what do you actually use all of that for in the house? I have one little linksys router, and it does pretty good at keeping up with 6 computers, 2 360s, and 2 phones. What am I missing. I wondered this when I was taking my networking classes too, but since we were mostly learning software, I haven't even used all of that rack equipment.

I have a rack in my office and it has:

Media center PC
Switch
wireless router
Phone
Blu Ray
Cable box
Receiver
Speaker selector
Alarm system
NAS storage devices to stream media

There are plenty of other things I would like to add too. Doesn't take long to fill up a rack.

[wp34]

From an older thread of mine on the subject ...

Only difference now is a little more clutter and some new gear and reference material (include the Randy Fromm videos) on an iPad:

+1

You can't beat an iPad for reference materials in the shop.  Your collection looks a little better than mine though. 

[DirtyDachshunds]

My contribution.  Newly finished too!

[kahlid74]

Nice kit.  CCIE?
AJ

Nah, CCNP.  Not really sure if I want to complete the CCIE.  So much work, so specialized and kind of a dead end road.  Being a Data Center Architect I push to be more well rounded, so Cisco/Juniper/Microsoft/VMware/Linux/Security/Citrix certs overall.  I like to hold certs in the advanced area but not the expert area.  Gives me time to touch more technology and explore different ideas.

Just curious:
I understand having the racks to test stuff with, but what do you actually use all of that for in the house? I have one little linksys router, and it does pretty good at keeping up with 6 computers, 2 360s, and 2 phones. What am I missing. I wondered this when I was taking my networking classes too, but since we were mostly learning software, I haven't even used all of that rack equipment.

So the stuff in the white rack comprises what runs the house.  In it is a Cisco 4507R-E which runs my network.  Linksys routers like you mentioned work great but their hardware is very low grade/low engineered.  So 1 Gbe on a Linksys $50 dollar router != 1Gbe on the 4507R-E.  There's a bell curve on how Network flow works and on lower end gear buffers and memory often times limit the rate of transfer.  So for me, I need pure 1 Gbe all the time, never limited by how much I'm transferring.  This is because of what else runs on the 4500.

The servers at the bottom of the rack are HP DL385's running dual 6 core AMD chips and 64 GB of ram.  They each have anywhere between 20-50 VM's running at a given time.  These VM's can vary based on what I've got going in my head at any given time.  Sometimes I'm building an armada of tiny Linux boxes to see how I can affect NetFlow or to see if I can DDoS something on a low scale.  Sometimes I'm running 24 GB VM DB boxes so I can gauge what real world environments look like. 

Outside of testing/projects I run three AD domains each with two DCs.  My root Domain and then a home domain and a lab domain.  The Home domain runs VM's for thin clients around the house as well as any services around the house.  Stuff like MS SharePoint with workspaces for myself, the wife and friends.  I also run stuff like iFolder, an awesome program that is basically DropBox only you can run it on your own server.  Dropbox's limited space got me pissed.

I've got three SANs totaling 20 TB of space.  This space holds all Arcade related stuff, my MP3 collection, Games collection, Work stuff and Movies/TV shows.  When our son was born I wanted to give myself and my wife the ability to instantly run any cartoon on any TV in the house.  So she can go to the TV in the Kitchen and click it on and boom, there's every episode of sesame street ever.  Or Dora the explorer or whatever.  So that was kind of my inspiration for some of the build out.

So by no means do I need half the stuff I have but I've enjoyed living in the IT world so far in my life and my passion for it outside of work has reflected back into my work and it's visibility only helps to bring about new challenges and exciting paths forward in my career.

[yaksplat]

When our son was born I wanted to give myself and my wife the ability to instantly run any cartoon on any TV in the house.  So she can go to the TV in the Kitchen and click it on and boom, there's every episode of sesame street ever. 

The same exact inspiration behind my 14TB media server.  It's nice now that they can pick their own cartoons.  I have no problem with them watching cartoons, as long as they're good ones.  Transformers, GI Joe, Phineas & Ferb, all the disney classics, looney tunes....

[Paul Olson]

Nice kit.  CCIE?
AJ

Nah, CCNP.  Not really sure if I want to complete the CCIE.  So much work, so specialized and kind of a dead end road.  Being a Data Center Architect I push to be more well rounded, so Cisco/Juniper/Microsoft/VMware/Linux/Security/Citrix certs overall.  I like to hold certs in the advanced area but not the expert area.  Gives me time to touch more technology and explore different ideas.

Just curious:
I understand having the racks to test stuff with, but what do you actually use all of that for in the house? I have one little linksys router, and it does pretty good at keeping up with 6 computers, 2 360s, and 2 phones. What am I missing. I wondered this when I was taking my networking classes too, but since we were mostly learning software, I haven't even used all of that rack equipment.

So the stuff in the white rack comprises what runs the house.  In it is a Cisco 4507R-E which runs my network.  Linksys routers like you mentioned work great but their hardware is very low grade/low engineered.  So 1 Gbe on a Linksys $50 dollar router != 1Gbe on the 4507R-E.  There's a bell curve on how Network flow works and on lower end gear buffers and memory often times limit the rate of transfer.  So for me, I need pure 1 Gbe all the time, never limited by how much I'm transferring.  This is because of what else runs on the 4500.

The servers at the bottom of the rack are HP DL385's running dual 6 core AMD chips and 64 GB of ram.  They each have anywhere between 20-50 VM's running at a given time.  These VM's can vary based on what I've got going in my head at any given time.  Sometimes I'm building an armada of tiny Linux boxes to see how I can affect NetFlow or to see if I can DDoS something on a low scale.  Sometimes I'm running 24 GB VM DB boxes so I can gauge what real world environments look like. 

Outside of testing/projects I run three AD domains each with two DCs.  My root Domain and then a home domain and a lab domain.  The Home domain runs VM's for thin clients around the house as well as any services around the house.  Stuff like MS SharePoint with workspaces for myself, the wife and friends.  I also run stuff like iFolder, an awesome program that is basically DropBox only you can run it on your own server.  Dropbox's limited space got me pissed.

I've got three SANs totaling 20 TB of space.  This space holds all Arcade related stuff, my MP3 collection, Games collection, Work stuff and Movies/TV shows.  When our son was born I wanted to give myself and my wife the ability to instantly run any cartoon on any TV in the house.  So she can go to the TV in the Kitchen and click it on and boom, there's every episode of sesame street ever.  Or Dora the explorer or whatever.  So that was kind of my inspiration for some of the build out.

So by no means do I need half the stuff I have but I've enjoyed living in the IT world so far in my life and my passion for it outside of work has reflected back into my work and it's visibility only helps to bring about new challenges and exciting paths forward in my career.

After reading your post, I was interested in checking that out, then I looked at the price of that Cisco 4507R-E. ouch. I guess I will stick to my $200 router. It works well as long as I power cycle it regularly. I don't usually watch movies or TV shows more than once, so I am still trying to fill a 500GB drive. lol I will have to look for a cheaper one of those, though. I am interested in checking out iFolder.

[mcseforsale]

Its funny, I taught the CCNA for 5 years and each class I would hand out a router....usually an 1800 series, or anything cheap that would run IOS.  They'd then configure them to run together, separate, VLANS, access lists, you name it.  But, there was always these questions...why can't my XX router that cost me 12 bux at a yard sale do all this...and I would answer just like that.  Its amazing just how slow the backplanes and buffers on these routers actually are.

Hadn't taught for 5 years and I just got a call wondering if I was interested...after saying I'd never do teaching again, I'm now the newest Net+ instructor at a local large telnet company.  Oh, well...

A

[knave]

I've got three SANs totaling 20 TB of space.  This space holds all Arcade related stuff, my MP3 collection, Games collection, Work stuff and Movies/TV shows.  When our son was born I wanted to give myself and my wife the ability to instantly run any cartoon on any TV in the house.  So she can go to the TV in the Kitchen and click it on and boom, there's every episode of sesame street ever.  Or Dora the explorer or whatever.  So that was kind of my inspiration for some of the build out.

What do you use to play your media? It sounds like a nice setup, do you use a thin client at each TV? Curiosity has me ...

[Drnick]

@ Kahlid  Some of your equipment there puts the stuff I use at work everyday to shame. 

[eds1275]

Oh all right I'll put up a pic of my stuff. But only because I bought a new camera and want to use it.


Originally a room I built to house my collection of guitar cases, until I build a shed that's where the tools live. And much to my fiance's dismay the guitar cases take up 1/3 of the laundry room. Plus I put the beer fridge in there.

[Nephasth]

BUMP!

Got a pretty sweet soldering station and desk this past Christmas from the family. I set up as a pretty decent little work station in my furnace room, which is right off of my game room.



Soldering station is an Aoyue 968A+. Heats up almost instantly and has a fume sucker. I don't know why I ever held off from getting a soldering station, it makes it so much faster and easier.



In the previous pics you'll notice some banana jacks in the middle of the desk along the back edge. I made that assembly today. I've got it connected to a spare PC power supply so I can have 12V, 5V, and 3.3V right at the top of the desk. The black push button on the left turns the power supply on and off. I've got the power supply sitting in a little tray that is under the desk between the legs. Also have a power strip mounted to the underside of the tray.

[lilshawn]

you buggas... cleaning up your junk before you take pictures!  how about we show what they REALY look like.





 

[ids]

lilshawn - love it!  Tell it like it is!  I'll try to do the same if I get a chance - no cleaning up, just the real deal.

[chopperthedog]

Bench pretty much stays consistent with looking like that.



Unused tiny bedroom where some evil doings occur. Also doubles as a spay booth  add exhaust fan to window and spray away.



Forgot that I took this during the thick of donkey madness. I got so fed up with 4' work shop fixtures. Added 7 boxes and screw bases spread throughout the garage and used 120watt bright white cfl's. Cheapest and best shop lighting I have ever had. Sucked parking in the street for 3 weeks.


good day.

[RyoriNoTetsujin]

I'm amazed at the quality of the work guys like RyoriNoTetsujin and Martijn have turned out without much of a place to work.

+1,000,000

This ^^

AJ

Awwwwww! You guys! Guess that's what I get for not ever looking in this thread before now... 

Yes, by now, most everyone has seen the sadness that is my "workshop" ...



... but WAIT! It gets better!! The gf just salvaged this tiny beauty from an electronics recycling drive she was running downtown:



That's right people! Chris is movin' on up! Got my first MULTIMETER! And it works!! And it's color coordinated to the cabinet!!!

Don't know how to use most of it, but it's mine, damnit!

[PL1]

Don't know how to use most of it, but it's mine, damnit!

Easy stuff, Christopher.  Here's what you need to know.
* DCV - DC Voltage (used to test live circuit)
* ACV - AC Voltage (used to test live circuit)
* Diode Check - black lead by the band, red on the other end should read as a short and if you swap leads it should read as an open (test with no power applied)
* K Ohms - For measuring resistors/potentiometers (test with no power applied)
* Cont (Continuity) - For checking wires/direct connections. Meter beeps when it measures a direct connection <~2 Ohms. (test with no power applied)


Scott

[Nephasth]

* Diode Check - black lead by the band, red on the other end should read as a short and if you swap leads it should read as an open (test with no power applied)

Will also dimly light LEDs to verify which lead is positive on the LED.

[mcseforsale]

AC V alternating current...such as your house.

DC V direct current...such as USB, PC power supply output, batteries, etc.

AJ

[RyoriNoTetsujin]

Thanks for the quick tips! I'm hitting some YouTube tutorials now too.

[danny_galaga]

Making the CP



Where I built the cab



I kid you not 

[kahlid74]

I've got three SANs totaling 20 TB of space.  This space holds all Arcade related stuff, my MP3 collection, Games collection, Work stuff and Movies/TV shows.  When our son was born I wanted to give myself and my wife the ability to instantly run any cartoon on any TV in the house.  So she can go to the TV in the Kitchen and click it on and boom, there's every episode of sesame street ever.  Or Dora the explorer or whatever.  So that was kind of my inspiration for some of the build out.

What do you use to play your media? It sounds like a nice setup, do you use a thin client at each TV? Curiosity has me ...

I've gone back and forth on this many times and at the end of the day I fall back to a computer running Windows 7 with Windows Media Center.  WMC has plug ins for Hulu, Netflix, XBMC, Amazon, media libraries and now the most important, LIVE TV.  I got a HD Home Run 3 tuner box off woot for 50 bucks during Christmas, installed a cable M card and with the SDV from TWC I now have cable tv anywhere on the network.  So for the two main TV's (Family room upstairs and Projector downstairs) i use SMFF PC's running core i5's with 8Gb memory and dedicated vid cards.  That way There's no stutter that can be seen on smaller boxes.  For any other TV in the house I'll either use a USFF pc with a 1.8Ghz Atom and 4Gb of memory attached to the rear of the TV mount.  In the kitchen I have the same with a touchscreen so the wife has a digital recipe book.  My son loves sitting on the counter and messing with it now so I may have to make a portable mini destructible one.

@danny_galaga Space is huge man.  I've always found that if you have space, you're good to go.

@Nephasth nice Welding setup man, good stuff!

@lilshawn I love the sorted hanging bags on the perfboard wall.  I love organization in a workshop.

[ids]

My humble workbench and shop - no cleaning up first:

[jasonbar]

Steel shelving:
Badges/IDs from dozens of events (cons, BattleBots, trade shows, etc. etc.)
Fasteners, sorted by size.
Power tools (& sandpaper)
Hand tools & paints/adhesives.
USPS flat rate priority boxes.
Welder's apron & mechanic's jumpsuit.

White bookcase:
Power supplies.
Soldering station.
Safety gear (face shields, gloves, weight belt).
Zip-lock baggies aplenty.
Cable ties aplenty.
Sockets/ratchets.
Extra pegboard thingies.
Rope/bungee.
Yamaha stereo (w/ overly fat 1/8" AUX cable for iPod (which fits in the top left blue pegboard cup).

Workbench:
Magnetic stuff atop.
Hand tools aplenty.
Bench vise.
Drawers: punches/scribes/etc, solder supplies, manuals, etc.
Cleaning rags/tools/solutions.
Electronics parts milk crate.
Tape milk crate.
Fasteners milk crate.
Ancient AC fan from the 30s or so, from the farm where my mother grew up--currently broken--the cord broke & shorted & blew the circuit breaker. Need to fix it some day...plenty of room to put not only fingers but a whole hand between the cage bars, right into the spinning metal blade!
Saws & fish tape & pipe wrenches & hatchet & crowbar & Sharpies & measuring equipment & worklight.

Right of workbench:
Patch cables of all sorts.


-Jason

PS--all right next to the games--convenient!

[DaOld Man]

Man Jasonbar, after seeing your setup, I absolutely refuse to post any pics of my mess I call a shop.

[jasonbar]

I just moved a couple of months ago, so I had a chance to set everything up nice & neat!

Also, if something is not in its place, I can't find it--I'd be lost! I probably get it from my dad--he had about 15,000 books in his home library, all sorted perfectly by his own system. If I had a nickel for every time he said "A book misplaced is a book lost," I'd have a small fortune! :]


Thanks,
-Jason

[jasonbar]

I finally put up my CNC routed Berzerk panels ( http://www.atariage.com/forums/topic/200102-cnc-routed-aluminium-berzerk-wall-sets-20-shipped/ ).

I didn't like the idea of double-sided taping to drywall, for fear of them falling or damaging the drywall when removing.

Solution: double-sided tape to my steel workbench, which is durable & low to the ground!  :]

I put up the Berzerk set but not the Space Invaders set yet. Still not sure what I'll do with those.

Stickers up above are from ThinkGeek from way back when. I bought a set to decorate the telescope that I built several years ago and had many left over: http://s242.photobucket.com/user/infernolab/library/Space%20Invaders%20Telescope

Thanks,
-Jason

PS--observant readers will notice that my p2k is no longer in pieces & under wraps! =D

[EightBySix]

Here's my 8x6 (hence the avatar name) shed at the bottom of the garden



This is about average tidyness


And some tools

[lilshawn]

that's sweet. Your own little cabin 

[RyoriNoTetsujin]

Chopper, is that a row of PAR cans in the upper left corner of that pic, next to the little grill?

What's the deal?  You a DJ? Theater?  Just have a really kick ass Rock Band setup?   

[mcseforsale]

What part of the world are you in?  If it's quasi-dry there, you could put up a small lein-to and put your yard equipment under it.

My lawn equipment sits in a 5x10 shed attached to the house under the deck.  Regulations in our HOA dictate no barns or outbuildings.

I'm thinking I'm going to get away from that by building a shed with a playhouse on top and a swing set arm hanging off the side since playhouses aren't limited. 
AJ

Here's my 8x6 (hence the avatar name) shed at the bottom of the garden



This is about average tidyness


And some tools