The Merits Of An Orderly Shop

[wardprobst]

Having a regular place for tools and supplies is more efficient. It's counter intuitive but if you clean up at the end of every session, you actually save time in the long run- if you have a place for everything. I learned this building furniture in a custom shop 30 years ago.
It also cuts down on end of the day accidents.
DP

[bmuir]

10 things

I don't know if it was here or not, but the bet tip on keeping the shop clear of clutter is this:

Every time you enter the shop, put ten things away and then you can start doing whatever it was you came into the shop to do. That is if you can remember what that was! LOL.

Bill

[dbhost]

Oh, I am probably annoying all of you guys with my mental anguishing and rethinking my garage shop layout. But it is for just this very reason that I do this... If I wasn't concerned about it, I would simply shove everything into the garage, and find a way to make it work... And to be blunt, I am kind of organizationally challenged... It is very tough for me to keep things tidy...

[jonmulzer]

Well... My problem is most stuff I don't have a place for. So things change places a lot and I lose them for a while. That is why I have 3 rubber mallets. Well, 2 rubber and a deadblow. For example, my CMS is in the shed because I got tired of moving it around the shop. It could sit on the shelf under my bench if I didn't store cutoffs there. They are there by default since I never bothered to build a cutoff bin. That's just one example, of many. Friday I have comp time coming so one of the things on my list is.... a cutoff bin.

I am under no illusions that I will keep it neat all the time, but once it is a bit more organized and I have places for things, it will be more fun to work in.

I now subscribe to the Tom Clark way of thinking. If you see a bit of dead space, put drawers there if it is below waist level or doors and shelves if it is above. That is what I am in the process of doing. Next on the agenda, after my fingers heal and I finish the drawers for my workbench, is to build a roll-about cabinet for my bandsaw. Dead space is really starting to bother me. You can never have too many drawers. Now that I have more space to put things away, they do get put away more. I certainly agree with that.

Having a ton of tools and 500lbs of drawers makes for lots of misplaced stuff.

[crokett]

In my defence, as an OCD sufferer , I do have an advantage - the cleanup thing for me is HABIT

LOML (really), is a slob - everything is left where she finishes with it Perhaps, knowing I will cleanup after her, she will NEVER get into the habit

I'm having "The Odd Couple" deja vu

I'm thinking that to somebody with OCD everybody is a slob. His wife is probably just as normal as the rest of us.

[gary]

LOML (really), is a slob - everything is left where she finishes with it Perhaps, knowing I will cleanup after her, she will NEVER get into the habit

I'm having "The Odd Couple" deja vu

[crokett]

That is the easy part! The difficulty lies in keeping it that way! You can put everything away easy enough.

Well... My problem is most stuff I don't have a place for. So things change places a lot and I lose them for a while. That is why I have 3 rubber mallets. Well, 2 rubber and a deadblow. For example, my CMS is in the shed because I got tired of moving it around the shop. It could sit on the shelf under my bench if I didn't store cutoffs there. They are there by default since I never bothered to build a cutoff bin. That's just one example, of many. Friday I have comp time coming so one of the things on my list is.... a cutoff bin.

I am under no illusions that I will keep it neat all the time, but once it is a bit more organized and I have places for things, it will be more fun to work in.

[cabinetman]

Along with being able to find things, there is a definite safety factor in keeping a clean unobstructed floor, keeping the general debris out of the way, and maintaining cords. Tripping over something on the floor or getting a cord wrapped around your foot, is a great way to take a fall, or yank a tool off the bench.
.

[RodKirby]

In my defence, as an OCD sufferer , I do have an advantage - the cleanup thing for me is HABIT

LOML (really), is a slob - everything is left where she finishes with it Perhaps, knowing I will cleanup after her, she will NEVER get into the habit

[jonmulzer]

So... my next project is to find a place for everything and put everything in it's place.

That is the easy part! The difficulty lies in keeping it that way! You can put everything away easy enough. It is those times where we are working in our shop and we realize it is midnight and time to shower and hit the bed where you think, "eh, I will clean up tomorrow" and leave it in disarray. Then the next day you work until your SO reminds you that it is time to get ready to go to whatever social event is planned for that weekend. Then it is the week and work kicks your butt so you never make it back out there so nothing gets put away. Then life repeats.

At least in my experience.

[crokett]

We poke gentle fun at Rod and a few others who keep an orderly shop. (well ok so you could perform surgery in Rod's shop) Anyhoo...

I was at another blacksmith meeting yesterday. This one was at the home/shop of a guy who makes money at it. His shop was not that big, about 14x20, not counting the attached lean-too that houses the blasting cabinet and compressor. He had it crammed about as full as it could be, but it was all well-organized, enough so that 7 guys were working in there on 3 different projects without any trouble. I commented on it and he said that it took him 20 years to figure out it is a lot easier to work in an orderly shop than one where you are looking for stuff all the time.

So I started thinking about how much time and $ I waste looking for stuff when I am working on a project and/or because I don't have tools set up properly. I realized it is a lot. So... my next project is to find a place for everything and put everything in it's place.