September 22, 20205 yr Popular Post When I was cleaning my shop yesterday, I remembered something that happened MANY years ago with a shop clean up. My wife's widowed father lived in a house trailer, half woodshop, half home. It was an absolute mess with just a path thru. More like a hermit cave than home. My future wife decided she'd surprise him (when he went on a trip) by cleaning up the place. When she finished it was very neat, very clean and was a model home again. She wasn't around when he came home and was excited to see how he liked his clean home. He was FURIOUS! and that don't really describe his anger. Of course it was clean, but when it was dirty and stuff stacked everywhere...........he knew where each and every tool, saw, nail, etc was in that pile and now he couldn't find anything! Thats kind of how I feel now when I clean and reorganize. This tool, ruler, scissors would etc would be much handier if I put it there. Days later, when I need it, I look where it used to be and can't remember where it is..................and so it goes.
September 22, 20205 yr Popular Post I can relate! When I get in my new shop, sometime next month, I've promised myself to get better organized.... Promised myself.... That way when that promise is broken, there's no one to berate me for it. I can just rationalize it by claiming that it's a work in progress. But, I AM going to try.
September 22, 20205 yr Popular Post Talk about things in common! a month or so ago, the night before trash pickup, I heard Mimi in the basement grumbling about something. Went to look and she had all my paper bags of shavings ready to put in the garbage. Glad I caught it- the shavings covered rough turned bowl blanks!
September 22, 20205 yr Popular Post many moons ago, i had an apartment, and one day i come home to find things not where i left them, the AC was turned on high, and it was very clean. odd, not married, no roommate. called the rental office to inquire who had been in my apartment. oh.... ummm... well, it's like this. your next door neighbor had hired a maid to clean up his place, but we gave her the wrong key and apartment number, so she cleaned yours. no charge, sorry, we'll be more careful next time. i had my crap right where I wanted it, now i had to go find all my crap and put it back.....sigh.
September 22, 20205 yr Popular Post What is this "clean" that some mention???? is this something that's supposed to be on my list????
September 22, 20205 yr Author Popular Post I really like the see thru containers that you can organize and see all that you organize. Not more that 10 minutes ago I had one out full of different size nails and tacks. Perfectly organized by size, etc. THEN I dropped the darn things and what a mess. The nails are back in that thing and NOT organized I'll save that for a rainy day when I have more patience. May never happen
September 22, 20205 yr Popular Post Cleaning VS organizing. Organizing is a matter of putting things where they are handy to get to and then putting them back when you get thru for the day. Most of my tools are stored in drawers or are hanging on a wall pegboard. I may have some clutter around the shop but when I need a tool, I know where to find it. My drawers are labeled, so if I need a tool that is seldom used, it is easy to locate. Now, when it comes to pencils, seems they always get lost during the day, but most are found by the end of the day and put back where I'll find them the next time I need one.
September 22, 20205 yr Author Popular Post Pencils? I always have some within reach. I always pick the one that is dull or broken. I still think that somewhere there is a place FULL of lost pencils and socks.
September 23, 20205 yr This is why my drawers are labeled ,. Wellll most Olof them. Makes finding Teheran right drawer much easier, but now I have to spend all that time reading labels
September 23, 20205 yr Popular Post 7 hours ago, Al B said: Organizing is a matter of putting things where they are handy to get to and then putting them back when you get thru for the day. Exactly!! 8 hours ago, Fred W. Hargis Jr said: What is this "clean" that some mention???? Yeah clean is a relative term in my shop. While I do organize and lay out drawers to save time looking for something any horizontal surface is fair game for clutter. Moving something takes time and organizing it burns even more time. REMEMBERING where you put it after you moved it from where it was for years, takes 6 months and even then. My work toolbox has not changed in 20+ years, because I would go NUTS trying to remember where I moved something.
September 23, 20205 yr Popular Post 57 minutes ago, Gunny said: Exactly!! Yeah clean is a relative term in my shop. While I do organize and lay out drawers to save time looking for something any horizontal surface is fair game for clutter. Moving something takes time and organizing it burns even more time. REMEMBERING where you put it after you moved it from where it was for years, takes 6 months and even then. My work toolbox has not changed in 20+ years, because I would go NUTS trying to remember where I moved something. Sorry, they are not in alphabetical order! Have any of you seen the videos by the president of FastCap? He's just a little obsessed. Everyone in the company is supposed to spend the first 30 minutes of every day to make a 2 minute process improvement. I'd love to work there because in about a year I wouldn't have any work left to do, I'd have saved it all. Edited September 23, 20205 yr by kmealy
September 23, 20205 yr Popular Post I moved to a new workbench last winter and a new toolbox this summer. I catch myself now occasionally going to the old place. Particularly the tool box that I used daily for 16+ yrs. now I have to stop and think, "Where's the new place?"
September 23, 20205 yr Popular Post 1 hour ago, kmealy said: Sorry, they are not in alphabetical order!
September 23, 20205 yr Author Popular Post I knew a guy that was teaching his grandson woodworking. At the end of the day, the grandson's duties included cleaning up the shop and returning all tools to their proper location. Great habit, to instill in a woodworker...........I'm still trying. Sometimes I succeed.
September 23, 20205 yr Popular Post Everything in my shop has a place to be. The problem is getting myself to put it there 😎 Paul
September 23, 20205 yr Popular Post 7 minutes ago, Masonsailor said: Everything in my shop has a place to be. The problem is getting myself to put it there 😎 Paul Preach it..
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