Surface covering for work bench. HELP.

[diydidi]

Hi All!
I have been doing electronic repairs for about 4 years now. Thing is, many times I end up scratching peoples stuff due to debris on my bench, leftover from previous repairs. Little pieces of solder or wire etc.
What could I use as a surface covering. Carpet perhaps?
Any ideas will be appreciated.

[Heviink]

Carpet would get dirty, dusty and cause static issues. At Work we use conductive rubber matting connected to earth through a 1Mohm resistor.

[tedmich]

Stewmac makes a pad to protect guitars on the work bench.
http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Tools/Sp...ench_Rest.html
IMO you need something which is NOT always there to pick up solder blobs and wire ends because that stuff can stick in a carpet and scratch later, so maybe a carpet scrap that comes out JUST for delicate stuff. Mcmaster carr sells rubber foam by the roll or purpose built bench mats
http://www.mcmaster.com/#standard-wo...e-mats/=hgpo0z
but new clean door mats can work too, or just remnant scraps which are cheap. What gets scratched?

[olddawg]

Most shops I worked in carpeted the benches (and carts) with indoor/outdoor carpet and had a good powerful beater brush type hand vac handy to clean the work surface after each repair. Also had a static mat available for sensitive repairs. At home my bench is carpeted, but I throw down a folded bath towel if necesary. I also have various hard surfaces available for specific tasks like wood, plastic or steel and vices and jigs. Everyone has their idiosycracies, but nothing pisses off a customer like scratching a cabinet or faceplate!

[Enzo]

I always carpet my benches and the shelves for storing repair units. A good brush and vacuum has always cleaned it sufficiently. For that matter a carpet sample from the store can be thrown in place. AGain, easily removed and shaken clean.

I consider anti-static measures for board or circuit repair to be a separate issue from protecting the customer property from damage to the finish. I keep an anti-static mat for such use as well.


There is not a soft surface out there that can;t retain debris. A clod of scratchy solder can imbed itself in rubber as easily as in carpet.


I have never had a static problem with carpet, but having a great deal of experience with static sensitive stuff in the arcade business, we had a very simple solution. Take a spary bottle and dilute a bit of Downy fabric softener in it, then spray it on the carpeting. No more static, and the carpet is now April fresh.

[Sowhat]

My benches are much like olddawg and enzo's. Some nice indoor outdoor carpet and the odd bath towel here and there. I do use a chassis caddy on one of my benches which hold an amp chassis in a rotating clamp assembly for easy working both over and under. My guitar bench uses a soft linen towel with some foam blocks to use as supports as needed. It's all pretty much home center stuff, nothing real tricky or expensive. I really like enzo's antistatic solution, simple, cheap and very logical!

[Zasranets]

Sorry, what

I think that's right!

[Mark Hammer]

I was repairing a buddy's Line 6 Variax the other week, and in the process of cleaning the solder up from one of the boards, a surface mount resistor accidentally desoldered and fell off. Boy, was I ever glad I had decided a few years ago to paint my workbench with white Varathane to make small components easily visible! Have you ever tried looking for a component somewhere between the size of a poppy seed and sesame seed?

As it happened, the guitar body was on a black foam pad. I shudder to think about what would have happened if I had had a piece of carpet on the bench, or if the component had fallen onto the carpet at my feet.

[olddawg]

I was repairing a buddy's Line 6 Variax the other week, and in the process of cleaning the solder up from one of the boards, a surface mount resistor accidentally desoldered and fell off. Boy, was I ever glad I had decided a few years ago to paint my workbench with white Varathane to make small components easily visible! Have you ever tried looking for a component somewhere between the size of a poppy seed and sesame seed?

As it happened, the guitar body was on a black foam pad. I shudder to think about what would have happened if I had had a piece of carpet on the bench, or if the component had fallen onto the carpet at my feet.

That's why I have different surfaces available to lay down like a sheet of white plastic. One shop I worked in had everything on carts. The benches and the carts were covered in the same indoor/outdoor carpet. It was also laid out so the carts slid into the benches, the benches having a square cutout the size of the cart in the middle. There were more carts than benches. It allowed you to set heavy work aside while parts were being ordered, stuff being researched, etc without having to lift the piece off the bench.

[Enzo]

For every surface that saves your ass in one scenario, ther will be another scenario in which it absolutely screws you.

[Mark Hammer]

Sadly, yes.

[Tom Phillips]

... One shop I worked in had everything on carts. The benches and the carts were covered in the same indoor/outdoor carpet. It was also laid out so the carts slid into the benches, the benches having a square cutout the size of the cart in the middle. There were more carts than benches. It allowed you to set heavy work aside while parts were being ordered, stuff being researched, etc without having to lift the piece off the bench.

Great idea!

[copperheadroads]

I see in one of Jason Lollar's Videos he uses a piece of Dear skin under the guitar he's working on
I guess I will have to use some Moose skin ,no Dear on the Island

[Mark Hammer]

And I'm sure many of your fellow islanders would applaud any reason to have one less moose waltzing around on the Trans-Canada.

What moose? Woman can't recall dramatic collision - Nfld. & Labrador - CBC News

[J M Fahey]

Poor old moose!!
Impossible not to see it from at least 400 yards away unless she was either texting with her daughter or friend or painting her nails.
At 90 MPH, of course !!