Setting Up Your Workbench

Good assembly follows good design. Building these projects in a frustration-free environment will help keep your procedures and your sanity in check.

Work in a well-lit, well-ventilated area. This is especially important when soldering. Open a window and use a small fan to push the fumes outside. Use a soldering exhaust fan if an open window isn’t an option.

If your work space can afford it, have a large table to spread out your electronic parts. Keep it close to power outlets and have a power strip on the table for easy access.

Organize your components with small craft containers, baby food jars, pill boxes, Altoids tins—anything that helps keep the variety of capacitors, resistors, LEDs, wires, shields, motors, ...

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