Sometimes old tools are better.

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My Dad helped me build this new electronics workbench. What makes it tick? What else will we add? And how can YOU help me make it the most efficient workbench for electronics, computing, and radio work?
Check out the workbench build video over on Geerling Engineering: • Building the ULTIMATE ...
Some of the items on the bench that we referenced (some links are affiliate links):
- Siglent SDM3055 5.5 Digit Multimeter: amzn.to/3WJ5WRU
- Siglent SPD3303X DC Power Supply: amzn.to/3UIH3mL
- Tektronix MSO 4104B Oscilloscope: www.tek.com/en/datasheet/mso4...
- Iso-Tip Cordless Soldering Iron 7700: iso-tip.com/product/quick-cha...
- Iso-Tip Cordless Soldering Iron 8000: iso-tip.com/product/iso-tip-p...
- Weller WES51 Soldering Station: amzn.to/4ak77KJ
- Pinecil Mini Soldering iron: amzn.to/3QM1lKU
- Hakko FX-901/P Soldering iron: amzn.to/3V48id6
- ATEngeus Compressed Air Duster: amzn.to/44PKhtl
- Aven 17010 Adjustable Circuit Board Holder: amzn.to/3ynXXQi
- SE Helping Hands with Magnifying Glass: amzn.to/44GY9Gt
- Quick 861DW Hot Air Station: amzn.to/3K862Lz
- Amaran F21x video light: amzn.to/3wD9SZU
- ESD Mat: www.ebay.com/itm/272769915697
Support me on Patreon: / geerlingguy
Sponsor me on GitHub: github.com/sponsors/geerlingguy
Merch: redshirtjeff.com
2nd Channel: / @geerlingengineering
3rd Channel: / @level2jeff
Contents:
00:00 - The ideal workspace
00:45 - A good tool lasts 50 years
03:15 - Why don't soldering irons have lights?
05:27 - Some things change, some things don't
06:28 - Tools for electronics
07:32 - Bench philosophy and more tools
09:07 - Soldering safety?
10:16 - Lighting and a monitor arm
10:43 - A new place for merch
11:40 - Dad stumps Jeff with retro hipster tool
14:35 - A little fire for your wire
15:47 - How much bandwidth could you cram in 25 wires?

[@antoniorodrigo310]

My life's goal is to have my son talking about me, the same way Jeff talks about his dad. Too wholesome

[@BozesanVlad]

And *with*

[@jawshogga]

Seeing you and your dad geeking off together really makes me miss my own dad. Keep up the good work.

[@b4uc2far95]

I just wish I knew how to get the “magic smoke” back into the device once I let it out. 😂

[@iso_2013]

That's what soldering flux is for

[@misamokuzelpizu]

If you know the magic with the soldering wand, sometimes its possible!

[@acubley]

you go to the same store that sells board stretchers for when you cut one short...

[@szucs3860]

That’s the neat part. You don’t

[@XenHat]

This quote will go down in history. Great show.

[@_Turbocat777]

honestly glad they didn't rubberize the grip since most rubberized coating doesn't last long and gets sticky. -this is cool, I grew up learning on an old maroon soldering gun and it had a light.

[@ouroesa]

This is bitter sweet to watch as someone who lost their dad before hitting 20years old. Happy to see your absolutely awesome relationship with each other.

[@ldandco]

My dad is an Electronics Engineer . He used to have his small lab and factory back in Venezuela. I learned electronics there. You made travel back in time because that same soldering iron is the one I used to solder with quite often as a kid. Thank you

[@ventusprime]

body iam in east eu we learnad on that soldering irons to solder,in school The CUBE

[@ldandco]

@@ventusprime Keep creating, never stop

[@dieSpinnt]

Those soldering irons and soldering stations have been developed and produced at the German site in Besigheim, Swabia (in Germany) for over 50 years. By the way, I'm currently using my WECP-20 soldering station, right now!:) The nice thing about this quality tool of good old fashioned design is that if you own two... you can easily repair one with the other without much effort. Controlling and replacing spare parts is so unproblematic that mine has been in use for over 25 years. Greetings to Venezuela, to Eastern Europe and to the rest of the world from Germany. Happy soldering, friends! :)

[@gorak9000]

The only thing I question about that iron is the physical aspect - how you hold it. After soldering with a micro-pencil for years, that thing looks like it'd be like trying to solder with your left foot. Even now going back to a "regular" fat iron, like any standard weller hand piece, feels like cave-man technology

[@techmouse.]

This is so adorable. Even at that age, they're still like "See, daddy? See?" I hope my daughter is still showing me stuff like that when she grows up.

[@ScottPlude]

My dad was good at his trade, and I have those skills too. Sadly, my dad passed many years ago and I miss him. I would give anything to have him playing a part in my life. I am so glad you still have yours, and ittruly warms my heart to see the two of you together doing stuff. Thank you!

[@jonbee5481]

I love the bond you and your father have, and enjoy seeing you nerd out together!

[@petereit]

LOL! This is so cool! My dad had one of those cordless soldering irons my gosh, 30-35 years ago? I used it for EVERYTHING! Just a couple months ago I was lamenting that I didn't snatch it before my mom got rid of all of his "junk" after he passed away in 2003. So HUGE props for bringing that up and letting me know they're still making them!! WHOOP!! WHOOP!!

[@brentbourgoine5893]

Something that you may find useful since you put the monitor arm on the workbench - they make laptop trays that attach to VESA mounts. Since you may not always need the computer at the workbench, this might save you needing to find room for a keyboard/mouse/trackpad.

[@JeffGeerling]

I'm going to start with just a wireless keyboard/trackpad for now, and see how that goes. It can be stashed up on a shelf, or I might get a little tray to hold it underneath soon.

[@JohnR31415]

I use an old cry wall mount - the bar happens to fit my pole mounts…

[@aleksandersats9577]

@@JeffGeerling I recommend finding a wireless keyboard with a trackball for a mouse. I have one and you can actually be very accurate with it compared to a trackpad

[@FujiLivz]

btw last video you mentioned a chair - consider getting a regular-old-chair that has a high adjustable height (sometimes they get marketed as stools, but they have armrests and feel more chair-like). I used to work IT and we had some sales staff that wanted standing desks, which lead to a want for leaning-chairs (wierd chairs you lean on to sit-stand-ish on them), bouncy-chairs with springs in them, lol I've seen it all. What they ended up liking best were these stupid cheap chairs that raise up really high. They could use it as a sitting-chair, then when in standing desk mode, they could raise the chair and use it like a stool when needed without having to bring the whole damned desk back down. Usually I'd see desks in standing mode with a chair near-by in standing-height, and they'd go back and forth throughout the day but the desks almost never went up and down after that, so... maybe people don't want adjustable desks, they just want tall desks with equally tall chairs, lol.

[@clonkex]

The term you want to search for is drafting chair. Those things go crazy high.

[@JohnnieFoxcsm]

My family history includes an isotip soldering iron. We bought my Dad one sometime in the 70’s. It looked like the gray one that you had on your bench. I spent many hours at my dad’s bench playing with it.

[@dazealex]

My dad's an Electrical Engineer. He had a really gun soldiering iron and a solider sucker, etc. I learned how to soldering when I was like 8... A needed skill.

[@transistorbrains]

Highly recommend getting some kind of light on an adjustable arm as well. Super useful for working on electronics since you can move the light around to exactly where you want it

[@radijoe]

Light/magnifier combo!

[@Tropeas]

I'm very happy to see that you can do that with your dad, taking some of his prior evolving things, I would like to have the fortune to do the same but unfortunatelly it didn't happen.

[@4nk8r]

Love the new bench ! Maybe a dim bulb tester, variac:)

[@rangefreewords]

Wire label maker, Magnifying lamp and a fume hood, hazmat cabinet for acetone, isopropyl, resins, paints, adhesives,sealants, and a hazmat disposal bin. A solid bus bar for heat gun, etc. built into the work bench, a under counter drawer of flush cuts, forceps, precision screwdrivers, T pins, fox and hound, rolls of wire and bins for heat shrink, fuses, a couple bread boards, cheat sheet conversions and charts for wires and hardware sizing as well as resistor ID, etc. cheesecloth, lentfree rags, Megger for bonding, burnishing brushes, alodine, still trying to think of what to add. Could always get a lab coat or apron for the upcoming lab videos.

[@johntang9173]

how nice to see such great interaction between a father and a son.

[@DavidMacchiaW]

Great branch, dad & Spencer. Trifecta!

[@Danielddiniz]

The nerd in me envies each centimeter of fun that your new office became!! Awesome 😎 🏆

[@markcohen5094]

Love the old record needle cleaner

[@terryclair2914]

Boy this brings back memories. Iso-Tip was a big step in tech at the time. I had one of the original ones when they first came out. Being able to go work on an aircraft and doing wiring repairs without stringing extension cords was a major life improvement. OK so where is your Soldapullt hand solder sucker? You got to have one on the bench! I still have two and used one last week. Thanks for the memories!

[@funkbungus137]

man. I wish I could relate to my dad like this. makes me smile :)

[@scoops2016]

Watch out for the LEDs on the bench as a serious source of noise. I think EEBlog Dave had issues with noisy PSUs on some strips. Great to see you and your dad talking about the old days. Love the channel.

[@JeffGeerling]

Yes; that's one thing I think we hope to do over time, monitor spurious noise from different things, and then I'll try to call out any *really* bad devices/chargers. They're allowed to spew out stuff within a certain range and power level, but shouldn't black out AM radio or anything!

[@MrEric377]

This makes me miss my dad....both of you are great and find it really cool. Keep up the good work

[@WilliamHollinger2019]

My father had scsi cards that were internal for PC in the 80's and early 90's too. My dad even used to built power supplies with blueprints.

[@TD-er]

If you're looking for a monitor on that workbench, maybe look for a small one like 20 or 22 inch and more importantly which has a VGA connector. Those can be had for less than 100 euro. Also one with multiple HDMI inputs (or use some HDMI switch on the desk) as you will see your will switch inputs quite often when testing some Raspberry Pi, small PC or maybe even some video switcher/recorder like Black Magic has. You did mention to mount some LED strips, but those still have quite some 'directional light'. I did buy some TL-like LED lights for under my shelves. Those are really cheap and give way less directional light but just flood your bench which is what you want. Also place some Ethernet switch on your desk. I do miss lots and lots of power outlets on your desk. You never can have enough of those, so maybe add some 19" power strips on the side poles of your desk. Especially one which has a power switch per outlet. Only one, as it can be really frustrating when using some power adapters blocking (or pressing) the flip switch, but for other cords it really is practical to be able to turn stuff on/off instead of pulling a cable. I also have some galvanic isolated 1-to-1 transformer. This is much more safe for your own to work on stuff or connect probes to your scope (or PC for programming tools)

[@iiidiy]

Your bench is coming along nicely! And thanks for the trip down memory lane :)

[@Rich77UK]

I remember looking at this goofy looking thing on a lab bench once wondering if Noah used it on his arc. I then used it...its surprisingly good and a LOT better than many newer battery powered soldering irons. It's nice to see some unchanged items (because change for changes sake is not good use of resources) still being made.

[@mememe37]

Lovely concept, thank you!

[@mnoxman]

In the late 80s Radio Shack/Tandy used to make a knock off of the Isotip. Tandy also made one of the first butane powered soldering Irons. Those were really handy but the tips were easily worn through.

[@ernestgalvan9037]

I had two of the Radio Shack IsoTip ‘clones’….. back when they had enough market clout to get ‘branded’ clones made for them. Sadly, they ‘disappeared’ during my divorce…. I still have my Weller ‘Big Iron’ solder guns… including a massive 320W model.

[@WalterDeans]

I love seeing videos of you two geeking out! What an amazing relationship you both have!

[@gerbil7771]

I picked up a Milwaukee 12 volt soldering iron a while back for fixing stuff where my weller station is awkward. It’s got a nice light and it’s pretty comfortable.

[@EFazy]

I stopped buying canned air long time ago. I'just grabbed a small air compressor with a ~5 liter airtank, a pressure regulator, and a rectractable hose with a drum, and some moisuter separator stuff. it's not quiet, when filling up the tank, but i don't need to spend and blow gases out, no frezeeing, and I can also pump up balls/car and bike tires, etc :)

[@JeffGeerling]

Just make sure you drain the tank now and then! I had one old tank get a bit rusted before I realized it was important to maintain it through the seasons :)

[@crosleyfiver8686]

I about a year ago got the Blue version of the iso-tip. I have a couple soldering stations but they are tucked away in plastic storage boxes. Wanted something for when a small job is needed . This fit the bill 100% Tinning 10 gauge wire, no prob!! The heat is par with the soldering staion! Very content ISO-TIP!

[@JeffGeerling]

Yeah I've already used it on two tiny projects where if I didn't have it, the projects would've just been placed on the workbench, to be done at a far later date since they'd be forgotten!

[@crosleyfiver8686]

@@JeffGeerling I was kind of second thinking but so glad I got it!! You take care of your dad!!:) I'm a dds and kids are all over USA

[@aspuzling]

I have the Pinecil too and it's great but I didn't even know there was such a thing as a cordless soldering iron. Thanks for demoing!

[@dfgdfg_]

Is the pinecil worth it? I'd need to save up so it needs to last for me

[@aspuzling]

@@dfgdfg_ I'm not the best person to ask because I haven't done a ton of soldering but it's much better than the basic soldering iron I had before. My basic iron barely got warm enough to melt non-leaded solder so it was very frustrating to use. The Pinecil has a heating element in the tip so it heats more efficiently and more effectively. It also automatically cools down when you leave it on the desk and heats up again when you pick it up. The Pinecil is also pretty cheap at $25.

[@amirpourghoureiyan1637]

I've seen portable butane soldering irons before but seeing an old rechargeable iron (especially from 3 decades ago!) was a surprise lol. That and the light to shine on the work area made me feel like a caveman with my old corded iron 😅

[@SoundToxin]

@@dfgdfg_ It's quite good, I've used a v1 Pinecil as my main iron for some years now and done plenty of projects with it, from building keyboards and arcade controllers to modding GameCubes and Xbox 360s. It's pretty affordable too, I think under $30 from Pine64 directly, not counting shipping or cost of the extra tip sets (a chisel tip is useful). I guess you need a USB-C PD charger as well, but you might already have one around from a phone or laptop.

[@myyardsaleitems]

WOW…Thank you for the super quick reply…fantastic…I Pray you and your family as well as your channels continue to be richly blessed.

[@flyinbryanfpv]

Why did this video hit me in the feels? And cool desk

[@walterbordett2023]

I still have a Craftsman branded iso-tip iron that is 40 years old. On its third set of NiCad cells. I also have two Weller temp controlled irons, Weller guns and several heavy duty 100 Watt 3/8 diameter irons for the big stuff.

[@jasonboles1526]

if you plan to do any high-voltage repairs (power supply, etc), you should add an Isolation Transformer to your list of bench stuff to buy. Just be careful that it offers true isolation - most modern ones for medical (Tripplite for example) tie the input and output grounds together, which can get you killed (other YT videos explain why and how to modify it). Also helpful (but expensive) are high-voltage differential probes for your scope. Some recommend 2 isolation transformers, 1 for DUT, and 1 for scope. Seems (to me) like you could alternatively just use a battery-powered scope, but "the internet" is still arguing about that.

[@elmestguzman3038]

For the LED strip may I recommend BTF-lighting RGBW strips and zigbee controllers. I did a bunch of "smart" lights in my house and the BTF look the best and the controllers and very responsive.

[@dougf94912]

I remember ordering one of those soldering irons when they first came out in the 80s. I quickly discovered that they weren't much use outdoors when I tried to repair a mic cable while up a tree at a remote broadcast. The heating element was no match for the ambient temperature of an English summer! 😀 I think I pulled the element and just used it as a flashlight. 🤓

[@nrdesign1991]

I have used Ergotron arms in a few projects at work and can confirm they are very durable and reliable.

[@quadmods]

I worked at an audio post house with 4 machine rooms on 3 floors. The engineering director had 1/4” patch points in the patch bays to plug a Weller soldering iron into. His way of solving portability. Like your dad described there used to be a lot more soldering in trouble shooting. Cheers 👍

[@klausstock8020]

Finally someone found it out for me! Finally I know that *old tools are better!* Had no chance for a comparison myself as my seriously battered 1979 Weller soldering station still stubbornly refuses to die. Soldering microscope is an MBS-10, no clue how old that is.

[@aerodesic1]

I built an Imsai 8080 computer, several S100 boards and a Heath oscilloscope using the *original* from 1971 (I think I bought it in 1972 when I got my job at the campus computer center.) I still have it somewhere and it's batteries and tips have been replaced many times. Except for temp control, none of my current irons are as convenient. Oh and mine was black.

[@michvod]

perhaps add a swivel lamp? I used to have it on my bench, about 15W LED so it was quite powerful, and it came always handy. Especially when I was restoring / recapping lots of tube equipment :) About the soldering irons, I have a proper hakko soldering station, that I rarely use now, I only use it when doing SMD rework. I am now daily driving a really cheap Chinese soldering iron for $10, that I got as a backup (and expected to be really bad). But I've been using it for 3 years now and I discovered that it heats really quickly (1.5-2 minutes max to full temp), tips last forever (still have the original tip on), has lots of thermal mass for being that cheap and small. Also it has temperature regulation that is reasonably good. I recapped probably 20 vintage radios with it, and it always worked perfectly, even when soldering to a chassis. Before that I used to own a 35W Weller soldering iron, that had no regulation, took ages to heat up (probably close to 5 minutes), and didn't perform well. Also it ate tips like crazy, despite my best efforts. And it cost like $40 in 2012, when I started with electronics :)

[@melvync]

SCSI… the flashbacks! I remember all the addressing and terminating and wondering why one drive is offline because of a lose connection on HP workstations “back in the day,” and honestly, I don’t miss that one bit. 😊

[@ScottPlude]

Thanks!

[@Rob_65]

My dad and I used to have that same soldering iron ❤. My workbench looks a bit different. I love the Siglent range of equipment and have some python scripts for automated test setups. The only thing I am missing on the power supply is having a keypad to quickly select a different voltage or current limit. Using the encoder knob to change from 8.2V 2A to 3.3V 20 mA takes quite some time.

[@ahbushnell1]

you need a strip of LED's under the shelf to light your work space. I love that.

[@SadSniperSam]

you should get your dad's initials on your set of soldering irons :D

[@WagnerGimenes]

Lovely video with Papa Jeff there. I love the warm relationship you two enjoy.

[@AbdelkaderBoudih]

Iso-tip should add a RiscV architecture in the soldering iron, so we can compile the kernel every month.

[@JeffGeerling]

Haha!

[@amirpourghoureiyan1637]

gonna need a battery recharge/kernel compile time statistic lol

[@xgford94]

Wow Smarter Every Day

[@dDoOyYoOuUtTuUbBeE]

America, the country were typos become the rule. "soddering" for "soldering", "aluminum" for "aluminium", "coupe" for "coupé", etc.

[@ChaseFreedomMusician]

My first soldering iron was a yellow one of that same model!

[@minementalx]

Haha, swear I have the same plastic bag with SCSI-cables in my parents cellar! :D

[@maxbaszkiewicz3199]

in poland we have a ZDZ transformer soldering iron, it orginated in the 70s and it's still popular today!

[@user-xb8sq3xk7x]

Really cool bro

[@Derakkon2]

I tried mounting LED strips under the shelves of my workbench but found that it wasn't enough for me either. For additional lighting, I'm personally using an LED panel that's marketed for photography/videography and have it mounted on a flexible microphone arm with a desk clamp. It can get really bright, has a high CRI, adjustable color temp, and I can focus it right where I need it most. For air filtering, I tried making my own desktop filter with a computer fan and a Joby GorillaPod but couldn't get it exactly where I needed it due to center of gravity issues. I upgraded that to a KOTTO desktop fume extractor. It has a flexible suction hose that you can position wherever you need it.

[@BoredInNW6]

"I got a bag of cables, just in case I need them some day": ah, a man after my own heart! 99% of the time, that bag is just taking up valuable space, but it's so satisfying when you need something, and realise it's in that mass of old cables and dongles. Just the other day, I had a need for an RS232 null modem, and sure enough I had one.

[@crosleyfiver8686]

I'm Glad your video sparked some ISO-TIP Interest and History!! Bryan In El Paso

[@muhammedatasoy7711]

I got a usb soldering iron with a 20000 mah powerbank, i can usr it on the go easely but i can also just plug it in the wall, love it

[@ralphshoop8822]

I've had several Iso-Tip irons over the years but stopped using them because of how fast the tips wear out and how delicate the tips are, as well as the short run-time. I now use a Pinecil with a Ryobi battery and holder I 3D printed. It's almost as portable and has more features than the Iso-Tip. It does lack a LED light but until you brought it up I never thought about it and honestly I don't really miss it.

[@gSt1990]

How to be Smarter Every Day with Jeff

[@stephengansky2694]

Have not had mine for years but might have new tips left. If I can find them I’ll send them to you

[@gamerpaddy]

i recently built my new bench almost like yours just a little wider, with a equipment shelf above and a free worktable. for me it was important that the first shelf was high enough to be able to put a hifi equipment im working on, on its side and still be able to slide below. unfourtainly this rises the shelfheight in most cases 40 to 45cm above the table. this strains my neck quite a bit as i have to look up all the time when measuring stuff. now i tend to rather use a worse portable dmm over my top notch bench dmm because of this, let alone the scope. if i ever rebuild my workbench, i definately make the table surface deeper, from just 60cm to 85..100cm so i can place the equipment infront of me where my eye vision is 99% of the time anyways. less critical equipment like "set and forget" stuff (psu, function generators etc.) can stay on the shelf above. but scope and dmm gotta be on the table. at 100cm i still have 50..60 to work on stuff and 35..40 for equipment which should be deep enough. next is having multiple soldering stations at once, it is most of the time more annoying than convenient. i got a soldering iron, hot tweezers, hot air station and desoldering station on the table. (well the handpieces in their holders anyways, the control units are on shelf above to save space.) and those damn wires are allways are in the way. maybe some dog leash mechanism above that pulls they wire away when not in use would be a good addition. having a wireless soldering iron like yours or more recently a "TS1C" would be a good, until you gotta do a bigger job where you need more power than the battery/supercap can hold. a position for the most commonly used screwdrivers on your dominant hand side without reaching behind something or needing to stand up is also on my priority list. right now i positioned mine on the left side ( Im right handed...) and on the wall all the way back. worst decision ever, built right into the furniture and if working on mains equipment is a thing, a galvanically isolated variac with optionally a dim bulb tester mode is a must, for safety and convenience.

[@kuroshinin1]

OMG When I saw the preview I had to watch because I still have the orange IsoTip Model 7700. I recently rebuilt it with NIMH and a charging circuit with led indicator. I hope the tips are still available

[@larryfishermans]

Jeff Geerling!

[@Roobotics]

This is a great random 'sponsor' I never even knew who made that style! Back around the time those were released I purchased a radioshack 'coldheat' :( it was so baddddd, they used 2 carbon electrodes and the idea of creating a short circuit between them at the tip to generate the heat.. brilliant.. you could easily fry the item you tried working on, using that tool.

[@clintstevenson1214]

I still own/use that iso tip model. Granted it has had several battery replacements

[@grayrabbit2211]

We were still using carts in the mid 1990s.

[@ErugoPurakushiOne]

0:36 lol :D you made my day, thanks

[@jmwintenn]

that coffee mug screams late 90s book store.

[@grayrabbit2211]

Enjoy the sweet smell of solder... Most of the broadcast engineers I've known were crazy long before solder.

[@m_a_s6069]

I have 3 Iso-tip soldering irons. (two grey, one black) Oldest one is ~25 years old. And I never remember seeing an orange one.

[@pcfreak1992]

Some stuff that came to my mind that you might be missing: hand tools like pliers, screw drivers, side cutters, wire strippers, etc. Also maybe some heat shrink tubing and a hot air gun for it. On devices: maybe an LCR meter or a simple component tester, those are very cheap these days and can tell you what size capacitor or inductor you have at hand. For soldering I’d recommend getting good flux and maybe "copper ribbons" for desoldering. A desoldering pump can also be useful. A fume extractor is definitely a good idea.

[@fattomandeibu]

Man, seeing them SCSI cables makes me think of the daisy-chained external CD-ROM(a whole 1x speed) and 56k modem I had hooked up to my old A1200 via PCMCIA-to-SCSI adapter. The software drivers were called Squirrel, no idea why that sticks out in my mind.

[@_454_]

I love your channel.

[@CAIDMASTEROFPYRO]

Imagine a pinecil/ts100 style iron with an 18650 or 21700 in the handle and a little LED, would easily be significant improvement on these older irons the main thing making them good is that the heater is in the tip unlike most modern irons but the same as pinecil and ts100 irons

[@stflaherty63]

Does your old Dazzle video capture box use the iCompression A/V encoder?

[@olivier2553]

I may have a couple of SCSI cables somewhere in my office.

[@firewalldaprotogen]

i love companies that make stuff like they used to! any other examples?

[@paulsander5433]

If you work on computers, a logic analyzer is a must. So much equipment now can be accessed and controlled via USB: Oscilloscope, multi-meter, logic analyzer, waveform generator, even power supplies. Many have Python apps you can hack.

[@JeffGeerling]

Yeah; these bench tools all have USB ports (and two at least I remember seeing Ethernet too!). The scope has a logic analyzer addon for something like 16 channels, but when I glanced at Tektronik's price tag for it, I balked a bit :D

[@sonosus]

​@@JeffGeerling have a look at second hand gear - expensive equipment tends to be thrown out in bulk when manufacturers go bust/move overseas and makes its way to ebay. I have a similar scope with a 10 channel logic analyser that I bought used online for £50.

[@marcellinden7305]

Some old gear never goes away. I still have a number of working devices that use vacuum tubes...

[@mikafoxx2717]

Thankfully the fumes come from the pine rosin flux in the solder - you can't vaporize the lead. Definitely suggest washing hands before eating after handling leaded solder, though.

[@bzuidgeest]

Look into the Weller magnastat soldering irons, I believe they have been available from the 70's. I can still get all the parts for mine or even buy a new one. It's not wireless, but it's a design that stuck around for many years, maybe there's something about soldering irons that enabled this, you rarely see such long product lifetimes in any other market

[@gorak9000]

One thing that's noticeably missing is a microscope. Everything these days is so small that a microscope is useful for nearly everything. I prefer an optical (tri-nocular so a camera could be added), but some people use a digital-only. After I got one, I use it for way more than I thought I would. It's also very handy (along with the sharp tweezers I use for smd parts) for sliver extraction too - I've pulled countless slivers and thorns out of my hand under the "soldering" microscope!

[@JeffGeerling]

Yeah; I'm now trying to figure out if I should go for something in the $100-300 range, or wait a little and splurge for something $500+... I can maybe justify it if I get a could camera adapter and have some videos where I record through the scope!

[@gorak9000]

@@JeffGeerling I got the AmScope one Louis Rossman uses - I like it, a lot. I originally ordered it from amazon, but a day after I ordered it, AmScope had a sale on, and amazon wouldn't match the price (it was a significant savings - like over 100 less), so I returned the Amazon one and ordered it again directly from AmScope. With labor day right around the corner, they might have a sale on now too. They'll probably have one around Jul 4 as well

[@user-gr5lh6cs8o]

The SCSI cable has a Centronics connector on one end.

[@nickdibart]

It's worth getting rechargeable li-ion AA batteries for that Hakko iron. The extra voltage provides a much better experience than N-MH batteries.

[@the_beefy1986]

@jeff where did you get those plastic shelf brackets which slot into those wood boards?

[@JeffGeerling]

They're called ShelfLinks, and the Geerling Engineering video shows how we set them up!

[@petergibson2318]

LiFePO4 means Lithium Iron Phospate. Fe is the chemical symbol for iron. Chemicals with iron in them are "Ferric" or "Ferrous". The latin noun for iron is "Ferrum".

[@FujiLivz]

I set up my workbench (used loosely, stuff is everywhere) about a year ago. I had purchased a vented hobby paint-booth system with PWM fans (standard fans in case they were loud, I wanted the ability to replace with some extra noctua or bequiet fans I have lying around). It's case is just a metal box enclosure with fans in it, so if the plastic front parts break it's no big deal, but I did find that the extra LED lights on there were suprisingly useful, and I've done a little electronics work using that to pull ventalation up and out a window (work area is in a basement but this came with flexible ducting that did well enough to get me started). Not sure if that's helpful or not, but it was an affordable starting point for me and I could "see" the fumes move well enough that I didn't have too much concern. Luis Rossman also had some great older videos of his repair shop which helped me visualize what I'd need to get started, I believe he uses something similar to what you showed, because the vacuum could be easily repositioned to wherever the sodder point was going to be (rather than needing bigger fan/fans that can pull air from a large area). Noise wise, I wonder how bad those are though? Hopefully they sponsor-drop you one so we can find out together ^^. Great vid on the soddering iron btw, glad they sent it - fun and well fitting content!

[@JeffGeerling]

A lot of those units are 70+ dB (even if they say in the marketing "55 dB or whatever). EEVBlog has a couple good videos on fume extractors - he just reviewed a Weller one yesterday!

[@FujiLivz]

@@JeffGeerling Awesome, will give it a view - every video it feels like he has a new thing from the dumpster I've never-before-seen-in-my-life. Love it.

[@utp216]

I had a feeling the tool set with the mirror was for inspecting turntable stylus/needle. Very cool to see one that was used for real at a radio station. Thank you guys! 🙏

[@churblefurbles]

Its good they never rubberized, so many of those coatings broke down into a sticky mess.

[@B0M0A0K]

Couldn't agree more about older tools. I just keep going back to my older soldering iron because it just does a better job than most of these new fangled versions.

[@km_photo]

I have a new soldering iron AND it has light: T85 - little led light, nice to have but not enough light.

[@AB-Prince]

I have a parkside rechargable wireless soldering iron. which has LED lights, and a charge indicator.