Workshop Upgrade: Electronics Workstation in a Box

Mystery Box

     After doing a bunch of Electronics work on a recent project and having to chase my tools for such work though four or five toolboxes, I thought it was time to build something dedicated for such projects. After doing some research, I found inspiration in this 'Portable Electronics Workstaion' over on Instructibles, in particular the fold-down lid/worktop, so that got integrated with the design.

Initial tool layout inside the box

    Constructing the actual box was fairly straightforward, it's just some leftover birch plywood that was in the woodrack, cut to size and screwed together with some 2 inch 'deck screws', nothing fancy but it's very sturdy and I can dismantle it with a screwdriver if I ever want to change something. The hinges are thing:2401035, and the latches are thing:2425378, both fairly nice designs that work quite well with the handle being custom work of my own. I'm using one of the leftover steel plates from the Mega Kossel's old form as a working surface, flipped over the back is plain steel, plenty sturdy enough to handle a stray iron or other hot tool, I've just used some spare screws in pairs at the corners to clamp it to the inside of the lid for easy storage.

Second iteration of interior layout

    As for what's in the box, I've got my larger multimeter in the right-hand corner, then some hooks for electrical tape (thing:2900008), my soldering iron in a custom stand on the left, power-bar to control the iron along the bottom, and some needle-nose pliers and a multi-tool on the back wall. Just below the shelf is my de-soldering pump and an LED 'work-light' type flashlight, then some custom drawers on half of the shelf above. The drawers are filled with small consumables like heat-shrink tubing and solder, stuff that gets used all the time in small amounts during projects.

Fume extractor parts

    On the safety side, I've got a cheap filter mask just above the iron, along with a custom built fume extractor on the upper shelf. Parts wise, the fume extractor is a 6025 12V fan that was leftover from the airfiltered enclosure build, along with a section of a commercial fume extractor filter cut down to fit. I created a custom enclosure in Fusion360 to fit the fan, then printed the parts out and bolted things together.

Fume extractor with fan installed, filter waiting for installation

    Power is fairly simple, I've got an adapter for the batteries for my power drill that takes a 2.5mm barrel jack, so I just fitted a spare plug to the fan's power leads, simple and easy to maintain. The actual filter is activated carbon with a custom holder, it's secured with some M3 bolts for ease of replacement whenever needed. 

Completed Fume extractor ready for use

     Overall, I'm happy with how this workstation/toolbox turned out, it should make any future soldering and electronics projects much easier and safer going forward.

Completed toolbox ready to use.