Useful Overhead Workbench Rail

Have you ever been soldering something and had to keep pushing your cord away from your work? Do you struggle with in-the-way cords, wires, etc running through your workspace? Today I'd like to show you a simple little trick I use to keep my soldering iron cord, rotary multi tool flex shaft, etc off my work area yet still right where I need them.

The first thing you need is a steel rail above your workspace. Mine is this beauty in the first picture, made of 1 1/4" square steel tubing and powder coated orange. No need to get fancy though. All you need is a stable surface overhead to stick magnets to.
Next you'll need some rare earth disk magnets(also called neodymium magnets) like those in the second photo. You'll also need eye screws or something similar and bungee cord. It's not necessary to use exactly the same materials I did. If you have something that accomplishes the same purpose, use it! If you have any questions, feel free to comment and I'll try to help.

I'm not going to cover how I made the rail above my work surface since I made it quite a while ago using tools at my former workplace. I'm simply going to show you how I make cord tethers. First thing you do is tie your bungee cord to the eye screw. I used the appropriately named ring hitch (a.k.a cow hitch). Next take a magnet and stick it to one side of the eye screw. I was originally going to glue the magnets into a wood block and thread the screw in the other side, but this method is faster, just not as pretty. Now we're ready for the duct tape. Take as much as you need and securely tape the screw and the magnet together. I used about 2 inches. Now stick the magnet side of your contraption to the rail. At this point, I trim the bungee cord to the length I want. Mine hang about 3/4 of the way to my work surface.

to use, simply tie the end to whatever needs to be held out of the way.

Here is a list of alternative uses for the very versatile bar.
1- Tie a hemostat on the end of the cord. Voilà! instant snacks holder.
2- A magnet makes a great lose change catcher! (depending on your country, your money may be non-magnetic)
3- It's also a great temporary parking spot for your multimeter leads!
4- Great place to attach your work light, if, like me, you're too lazy to install a permanent one.
5- Makes a good screw catcher.
6- And finally, for all you Americans out there, great place to slap your shooting iron in case of attack while working on that project. (not sure if I'm comfortable with a firearm constantly aimed at my head from above though) XD

Thanks for reading, feel free to like and comment below.