The most prominent lab furniture, in any laboratory, is the lab workbench. Indeed, it forms the very foundation of all lab work. Test tubes and microscopes may be iconic about labs because of their application ‒ but without a lab bench, where will you operate them?

Acting as the primary lab furniture in most school, college and research laboratories, lab workbenches or lab tables are the biggest, heaviest, and most important objects in the room. They give support to all the experiments you do (except those that have to be done in a fume hood or don’t need a table). They provide a surface to do all your work, have sinks to wash apparatus and dispose of liquids, have utility connections that enable you to perform various experiments, have storage units to store the equipment ‒ and more. 

Uses of a Lab Workbench

A lab work desk is a versatile furniture enabling lab users to utilize it in a plethora of ways. Let’s look at them below:

1. Lab benches create the surfaces to perform various experiments on. This is where almost all the work in a lab is done. Unless the experiment is such that it cannot be done on a standard horizontal surface (like determining Young’s modulus), or have their own big machines, or must be done in safe workspaces like fume hood.
2. Lab benches are much more than just a glorified table. They have various attachments on top of them configured to the laboratory’s needs. For wet labs, a lab workbench will have reagent racks on top of the desk, and sinks to wash lab apparatus and dispose of liquids. For a dry lab, there will be electrical racers on top of the table. For electronics labs, the whole workbench doubles as a powerhouse of testing and diagnostic systems.
3. Lab tables will have various utility connections ‒ like gas, water, and electricity lines in-built. This enables you to draw on those utility systems as required for your experiment.
4. Laboratory desks often have lots of storage space underneath the table. You can use them to store the equipment and glassware, paperwork, and various doodads needed for work (from paper clips to duct tapes ‒ you never know!). Indeed, if it wasn’t for the under-storages in the lab workbenches, the lab would almost double in size just to store the various lab equipment, apparatus, and glassware it requires to function.

Types of Lab Workbenches

Depending upon the need, lab tables can be customized to suit many different needs. However, in general at the school level there’s only the following types of lab workbenches:

• Dry lab workbench
• Wet lab workbench
• Demo table
• Assistant’s table

Let’s look into the details, one by one.

Dry Lab Table

In the physics laboratory, you need lots of open surface area and electrical connections, that’s it. For this reason, the dry lab workbenches are basically flat tables with some storage underneath and an electrical raceway running through the midsection of the table top. Commonly, in an island-type table, the electrical raceway has four points, two facing each side.

Wet Lab Table

The chemistry and biology laboratories need a lot of support spaces but not that much table surface area. For this reason, a typical ‘wet lab’ table ‒ that is, a laboratory table on which you can expect working with lots of liquids ‒ will have at least one reagent rack to hold various bottles of reagents and other glassware. 

The chemistry lab sometimes has need of electric connection, so these reagent racks double up as electrical raceway connections as well. And the gas connection is given as two- or four-way valves on top of the table, with pipes extending each way.

Furthermore, since you will need to dispose of various chemicals and wash your glassware and plasticware, the wet lab bench will have at least one sink. Generally, the sink is of polypropylene material, so that chemicals don’t hurt it. 

As you may expect, sinks on wet lab tables have water faucets as well. Generally labkafe provides special three-prong taps with snouts to attach pipes ‒ but you may choose to take a more common faucet.

Demo Table

Also called the Teacher’s Table or Instructor’s Table, this small single-user table is handy for the lab instructor to demonstrate some experiment before the class. It can also double as a standard table for the teacher provided if the height is not an issue. Depending upon the lab type (wet or dry), it will have a sink or a single electrical raceway. It won’t have a reagent rack ‒ but it will have an under-storage module.

Assistant’s table

The lab assistant, if there is one, is given a rather simple table for his or her various menial work. This table is rather more like a normal table without any storage or tabletop fixtures ‒ however, that is totally optional and you can configure it anyway you wish. That’s the good thing about Labkafe’s lab workbenches ‒ they are completely customizable as per your needs.

Table Types Based on Placement

Lab tables have to be configured according to where they are going to be placed. While Labkafe lab furniture are very flexible and can be designed to fit almost any room, there are two configurations that most institutions prefer. They are:

Island Tables

These are rather large lab workbenches accommodating many users on both sides. They are generally meant to stand alone nearer to the center of the room. They can also be placed on the wall, side-wise, which is greatly suitable for long narrow rooms.

Island-type workbenches are generally 8 feet by 4 feet in size and 3 feet tall, enabling 3-4 students to work on each side on foot or on lab stools . They can be both for dry labs and wet labs. Whichever configuration they may have up top, they will have it on both sides. The under-storages of these tables also face both ways, enabling access to users at both sides of the table. 

Wall-Facing Tables

When you need to place your lab workbench flush against the wall so that the users all will face the wall, then what you need are wall-facing type lab benches. These are basically half of island types, having access and storage to only one side. The above-table configurations like reagent racks and electrical raceways will similarly be catering to one side only. 

The wall-facing type lab benches can be configured lengthwise as you wish and in around the corners as well. In general, each unit of such benches are as long and tall as the other type, but only 2.4 feet wide. These are great when you need to line your lab walls with lab tables, most efficiently using wall space. However, for wet labs, there will be a sink in the table taking up the workspace of one student.

Table Types Based on Construction

Although hard to spot from the outsides, lab workbenches can be built upon two types of frames. Each has their own advantages and disadvantages. They are:

C-type Frames

This is the sturdier among the two frames. It is basically an arrangement of tubes square or rectangular in cross-section. Looking from the side, the tube is arranged in a square-ish ‘C’ arrangement, thus the name. This frame extends the length, width and height of the table and is the sole load bearing member. It sits directly on the floor.

Everything else in the table gets support from the frame. The heavy table top sits directly on top of the frame (which forms a rectangle on the top). The storage modules hang from the C-frame. This is great since this allows space underneath the workbench, which can be easily cleaned or used to store flat material. What’s more, the modules themselves are easily alterable ‒ you can dismantle and place them in other locations, or add new modules etc.

The tubes are made by folding 2mm thick steel sheets and then powder coating it. The folds increase the tensile and compressive strength of the material tremendously, capable of upholding great amounts of weight and withstanding immense impact. In an island-type table, two C-frames come back-to-back to create an ‘I’ formation which is even stronger.

H-type Tables

These are lightweight and cheaper options if you need so. In this type of configuration, there is no central load-bearing member. Instead, the storage modules themselves (at least two needed) bear the full weight of the table. Since they are made from 1 mm thick CRCA sheet, they are not as strong as the C-frame solution. But they can be manufactured faster and cheaper.

Although we have to say, the H-frame tables do look better from the outside. Where the C-type tables have a more skeletal look, these look more well-covered and more solid. Additionally, they may have a skirting at the bottom, adding a bit of color to an otherwise bland-looking workspace.

The H-type tables do not have clearing space at the bottom, so that cannot be utilized or cleaned. They stand directly on the floor, or they have small pods to stand upon.

Lab Workbench Materials

The Body

There are two kinds of materials used in making the body of a lab workbench ‒ MDF and CRCA steel. MDF is basically engineered wood and it is not recommended for lab usage. It can get easily damaged, is destructible by fire, and gets weathered fast.

The other option, Labkafe choice, is CRCA (Cold-Rolled Close Annealed) steel ‒ the best choice for any heavy furniture manufacturing. It is stronger than standard furniture steel, is very resistant to general weathering, and is quite affordable. The surfaces are coated with anti-chemical powder coating, making them impervious to most chemical reactions.

The Table Top

Labkafe provides two kinds of table tops for lab workbenches, one more popular than the other. The common option is 18mm thick natural granite perfected with machine polish and a chemical-resistant coating. This is very heavy but it’s the most popular option.

The other option is the epoxy board top, which is much lighter in comparison and has a greater tensile strength ‒ but costs a motherlode more. They do look absolutely fine, though, with the ability to take various colors.

Note: When choosing a lab table, do note the nature of the table top. Most second-rate manufacturers use artificial granite and/or thin slabs (~10-12mm) ‒ both of which are actually a danger to the users. They are weak and prone to breaking unexpectedly.

Other Lab Tables

While the above are the descriptions of the most common lab workbenches, there exists other types of them as well. For example, there is the geography lab display table where various rock and mineral samples can be displayed. Or, there is the hexagonal math lab table with many drawers. Labkafe can satisfy the lab furniture needs of any school, college, company, or institutes ‒ however large or small or intricate they are.

Contact Us today for a Free Lab Design Consultation

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In the notice, dated 04/07/2019, the Board has asked all the affiliated schools to provided necessary details so as to judge the infrastructure facility available in the particular school. Based on these details, any affiliated school can be made as the examination centers for Class 10/12.

According to reports, CBSE may even introduce changes in marking system of practical examinations as well. Separate admit cards for theory and practical examinations will be issued for students.

This CBSE Board Exams 2020 update calls for schools to update their laboratories and meet CBSE affiliation requirements. According to CBSE affiliation bylaws (Oct 2018), a lab be it composite for secondary and/or separate Physics, Chemistry and Biology for higher secondary has to be a minimum 600 square feet. Also, it should be fully equipped with lab equipment, glassware, chemicals, etc for conducting all the experiment mandated in the syllabus.

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If you are a school looking to update your school laboratories do contact us. We at Labkafe, have prepared customizable lab equipment packages for both secondary and higher secondary labs. Apart from this we also provide lab furniture and take projects on turnkey basis. 

The post Update CBSE Board Exams 2020: CBSE is planning to conduct practical exams externally appeared first on Labkafe Blog.

We are proud to announce that we have expanded our product offering from Laboratory Equipment further to two more sectors.

1. Institute Furniture
2. Digital Education 

In India, according to an MHRD report, for the year 2013the estimated studying population is 44,22,50,000 in the age group 6-23 years. Although this figure is huge, we as country lack the basic infrastructure to facilitate this ever-growing attendance. Why is it so?

The market for laboratory equipment, classrooms and other institute furniture’s is very fragmented. There is no single window to cater to all these requirements. This poses serious problems to the educational institutions as they have to individually look for reliable vendors for each and every individual requirement. After all this exercise, even if things fall in place, institutes never truly know what price to pay and whether they will get what they paid for. We at Labkafe wish to solve this problem and relieve some of this burden.

Starting with our core competency i.e. laboratory equipment, we have updated a wide array of individual equipment to choose from including branded ones like Nice, Tarson, Polylab, Borosil, etc. on our website. They have also been catalogued into packages keeping respective subject’s curriculum in mind. As of now we cover the following:

• Composite Package covering Class VIII-X‘s Physics, Chemistry and Biology experiments
• Physics Package coveringClass XI-XII’s experiments for CBSE, ICSE and State boards
• Chemistry Package coveringClass XI-XII’s experiments for CBSE, ICSE and State boards
• Biology Package coveringClass XI-XII’s experiments for CBSE, ICSE and State boards
• Mathematics Package coveringClass XI-XII’s experiments for CBSE, ICSE and State boards
• Pharmacy College Package coveringexperiments for both Bachelor and Master courses

We deliver within 3 weeks with full replacement of broken and faulty products, if any. We are also working on equipment installation as well as individual experiment videos which will be updated soon.

INSTITUTE FURNITURE

Under Institute Furniture, we cover furniture requirement of almost every room in the schools and colleges. We are at present offering the following:  

• Class Room
• Laboratory
• Library
• Executive Room
• Conference Room
• Auditorium
• Hostel
• Cafeteria

We are providing Century/Greenply make modular furniture. These are termite resistant, moisture resistant and are durable. The key feature is that modular furniture is easily customizable and can be made to suit specific room designs. Installation of furniture takes a day or two.  Ergonomic designs are made to keep students and faculty at ease and make the learning environ relaxed.

This is our order flow from order to installation:

Our in-house designing team helps our clients make an informed decision in choosing the best possible furniture layouts to specific rooms be it a lab or a library.

Specific to labs, we cover the following:

• Composite laboratory
• Physics laboratory
• Chemistry laboratory
• Biology laboratory
• Information and Communication laboratory or Computer laboratory
• Language laboratory

We deliver within 3 weeks of order placement and installation takes 1-2 days’ time.

DIGITAL EDUCATION

Gone are those days when classroom training was restricted to textbook learning, teachers using the blackboard to explain things and students writing down notes in copies. The traditional teacher-centred methods of teaching and task-based approaches to learning focused more on making notes and memorization. However, it’s no more chalk and talk in most schools now. Classroom teaching has become more and more interactive nowadays with the advent of digital methods such as PPTs, video presentations, e-learning methods, practical demos, online training and other platforms.

With Digital Education, we offer to bring technology into classroom education. Keeping up with the ever-changing world and advances, Smart Class enables leveraging content in form of video, image etc. through internet and makes the learning experience more engaging. Along with a wide variety of hardware tools to choose from, we also provide digital content for providing a complete solution to the educational institutions. We have catalogued products into packages of various ranges to suit room requirement as well as price constraints.

WHAT WILL ALL THIS MEAN?

With all these verticals (all possible types of rooms present in an institute), we will be providing end to end solutions. For example, for an institute there would be classes which will require seating desk and chairs, whiteboards, smart class equipment, etc.

Similarly, for the various types of rooms that we envision in an educational institute, below is the summary of various services that we provide:

The basic working methodology goes as below:

1. Get details of the rooms to be renovated, i.e, dimensions
2. Get details about the number of students to be occupying that space at a given instance
3. Any specific requirements as per the clients’ need
4. Based on this information, we redesign the room with the respective equipments and furniture to be installed, in consultation with the institute
5. Within a pre-decided lead time, as discussed with the client, we procure the materials and get it delivered to the site
6. We personally supervise the installation of the equipments and make the room ready for handover to the institute

This is the gist of the services that we envision to transform the educational infrastructure in the country. We, at Labkafe, are dedicated to providing the best services in a professional manner, with a touch of personal effect, to make sure that this combined effort of the partnering institutes and us, goes a long way in building an atmosphere of comfortable and easy learning for not only the students, but also encourages their interest in the classes therein.

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