Ben Heck's Workshop Hacks

[azyfloof]

Add a third valve to your dust collection system so you can attach an auxiliary hose for sucking up errant dust and chips manually during CNCing :-) Just have a vacuum cleaner attachment at the end.

[vidm]

0:30 overview
1:35 dust collector pt1
3:11 building the storage kart
4:03 making the power supply
11:26 dust collector pt2 (actually making it)

[frollard]

17:50 The chip sucktion isn't clearing the work area because the shroud is blocking all the air from the edges and it's all coming down from where the router is. If you remove a bit of the skirt and reduce the clearance around the chuck more air will come in laterally and swirl around picking up dust as it goes.

[mtslyh]

As a couple of other posters have pointed out, the majority of switching power supplies will NOT work as a benchtop power supply without some sort of minimum load attached. This is even more important if you are using an older supply. Basically, a switching power supply will not output any voltage if the current is zero. So when you turn it on and it is not attached to anything then the voltage coming out will be zero and you will think the power supply is broken.

How much of a load depends on the power supply itself. In the original IBM PC/AT, you needed a load of at least 7 AMPS in order for the power supply to function properly. That's quite a bit of wasted power. Many of the newer power supplies have minimum loads built in to guarantee that the power supply provides voltage with no additional external load. But if it doesn't have this feature then you need to provide a minimum external load. You also have to worry about whether or not the load goes on the 5V line or the 12V line. So how much load and what line to put it on are important questions to ask when creating a benchtop power supply out of a PC switching power supply.

So just grabbing and old power supply and hooking it up without a minimal external load can leave you scratching your head if your power supply of choice does not implement its own internal minimum load source.

[AngateWier]

Have you considered building an enclosure for your shop vac? You could have it vented either inside or out, using a muffling system, insulated walls and a large enough door to access the vac it'self. It could cut down on on the noise considerably.

[bluefoxtv]

PC power supply's typically go out of date because of poor efficiency not GPU power requirements.
Also the rating's are usually the peek power not constant output. And the amperage is not for a single cable but for all the cables combined.

[kylek]

As a tip, you can also get server power supplies for cheap - I bought a 1200watt HP "platinum" efficiency for $25. Not only are they cheap, they're small in size, very reliable and don't usually have wires. Makes for a really clean bench supply.

[YvanLeTerrible]

Hello Ben, From building also my own PC PSU Workbench generator, i DO recommend installing a Load resistance (like 200 Ohms ceriamic or so) on the 5V line (inside the PSU casing after experiencing stabilities issues (Like PSU not starting without load)

[ChrisEllerby]

Fantastic video.  I really love the subject of shop improvement, and hope this is a series you continue.  

[JustinShaedo]

For my own notes:
4:04 Power supply -
* Blck ground, Yellow 12V, Red 5V, Orange 3.3V. (Blue constant 5V)
1) Master On/Off: Connect Green wire to ground (black) using switch - turns on power supply
2) On light: Put a resistor in for power on indicator (1K suitable) with LED - hook up to any 3.3V (Orange) line
8:53 (end of advert)
3) Cut off and heat shrink ends of excess leads.
4) Connect wanted leads to screws.

[qwikyking]

should have a third valve with a fine nozzle, for part cleanup after part is done, with a few feet of flexy hose

[MagnaRyuuDesigns]

The chip collection for the Router would work better if you weren't using one vacuum to do it and the vacuum table.  Not only are you losing suction because you are doing both with one vacuum but you are also losing suction from the fact that with the chip collection you have the vacuum traveling a great distance through the tubes.

[DarylVanHumbeck]

Hmm. I know this an old episode, but what about having a third vacuum hose for cleaning off the workpiece after it's been cut?

[ogelnac]

Felix is awesome, he should be in more of these videos.

[mcgyver]

Ben you should replace the plastic on your dust collector with the brush from a upholstery cleaner for a vacuum cleaner. It will still be flexible but provides a better seal around the job.

[noahb]

ben have you ever thought to build a portable nintendo 64?

[kalleklp]

Thank you for the video. The ATX used as a workshop power supply is a nice idea. People building such a device should be aware of the 25 A (as this one is rated), ain't nowhere realistic with wires at that dimension. I wouldn't recommend pulling more than 6-7 A through those wires at 9-8 A they would be hot and the insulation would begin to melt.

[ElectronLord]

I have a suggestion. What if you used bristles to seal the chip collector (like that round shop-vac end attachment with whiskers all around the edge)?

[ElectronFunCom]

Ben, how would you implement adjustable current limiting circuit to the computer power supply?

[MicahTheManiac]

"I don't want blue, blue is stupid." New favorite quote