(A) Pristine/Aligned-Perfectly vs (B) Used/Organized

[87D100]

scbird94, How'd the Taurus turn out?
I'm currently worse than B, trying very hard to make a move toward A. I am a professional auto technician, unfortunately my lack of organization is costing me a lot of time and money. I just this week spent almost $300 dollars replacing lost tools between my Snap On, Mac, and Matco dealers My problem is that I work in a four bay shop with three other techs and we have to shuffle bays around a lot of the time so my tools go from toolbox to crash cart but only make it back to the toolbox once a week or so. I also have a bad habit of setting tools down under the hood or on a leaf spring etc. leading to lots of tools leaving with vehicles.
For the last week or so I have been **** about putting everything away after every job, and so far it's working out well.

Kevin

 

[luvmyhondas]

What he said^^^

My 30 plus year old tools although well worn are not/never put away greasy and/or just tossed in a/any drawer. I can tell with a quick glance if any tool is missing/misplaced/awol.

However I've had perfectionist tendencies since childhood.

Me too.. I don't always put everything back in the toolbox between jobs, but I will clean up the workspace into my tool cart. Then once I get a free few minutes or hit a slow spot I'll take the time time wipe it all down (with a rag sprayed with WD40), check for wear/imminent breakage, and put them away. The WD40 does a great job of cutting the grime off 'soft touch' style handles plus leaves a little protection for the 'natural finish' metal items (1/4" bits, impact sockets, etc..) I also periodically wipe down the tool boxes, use a blow gun to 'dust', and sometimes hit the outside with a quick spray wax. My nearly 12 year old toolbox looks virtually new.

 

[lestat]

I'm glad to see quite a few 'A's. So I'm not alone in this after all

To me, a project is not complete until all tools are pristine and back in the drawer they came from. Yes it does take a bit of time to clean them but for me tools are a hobby so all bets are off.

Plus, it's nice to know when you're starting something everything is exactly where you look for it.

 

[Appleyard]

I'm more of an A. But I have a bad habit of leaving my tools out on my two benches and impact gun on the floor while I'm working and don't usually clean up until the last job of the day. At the same time though, I loose time if I need a tool I used on an earlier job and now I need it and the all-too-common phrase "I JUST had it, where the &$@^ did I put it?" comes to mind.

 

[bacpacker]

I have some tendencies of A, B, & C. I always wipe down (not polish) my tools after a project (during if need be) and try to keep my tools organised by drawer. I keep metrics in one drawer, standards in another, sockets and wrenches.
The only thing I'm super picky about is my sockets. I try to keep them lined up by size (I really need to get some socket organisers), it just makes finding the right one so much quicker. But pliers, rachets, screwdrivers, hammer, and such are just organised by drawer.
I have work in clean rooms and things there have to be type all the time. Polished and put in a location. I just can't spend the time at home for that. I did work as a Manufacturing Engineer for about three years and our shop went thru an extensive Lean Manufacturing training session. We went thru every tool box in there and set them up with foam cutout's, drawer labels, and such. The boxes were nice and you could find anything you needed in 30 seconds or less. But the down side to that level of organization is you waste a lot of space. IMO tool trays and organizerers are a much better way to go.
The C part comes in my storage of "stuff", I just have too much stuff for the space I have.

 

[BigRed390]

I guess I'm somewhere in the middle. I keep my tools fairly well maintained, but they're definitely used. Living in the South with our 100% humidity for half the year, the surfaces of my table saw, band saw, drill press, etc. all tend to accumulate a bit of rust every now and then, but I try to keep them cleaned up. They see quite a bit of use, though, so I'm not one to get the Q-tips out to clean the crevices. I generally can find most things after less than a minute of searching, but I'm not "organized" like the guys on TV. Everything generally gets cleaned as needed after use, and I generally don't let things sit around for long if they're not SHARP. Nothing ***** quite like picking up a dull tool and having to stop and sharpen it when you've got your mind on doing something else productive.

 

[Steevo]

'nuff said.

Of course, when I move into my new toolbench:

I will be able to divide my tools up more by type, but I doubt I'll have space to lay them all neatly and arrange by size, etc. There are just too many of them.

 

[bhclark]

its hard to tell but every vertical surface is covered in tools and parts.

How do you get tools and parts to stay put on vertical surfaces?

 

[bobemmerich]

I am definately a "B" type guy. I DO organize in the box, but my bench and floor is stained/dirty and I don't care if I get taping compound on my knives or hammer, or stain my hammer handles with grease. case in point, I have a HF 1/2" hammer drill and it was orange when new, but now it's grease stained from handling it. I do wipe down wrenches and sockets, but I don't care if grease is embedded in the engraving or in the knurls of the ratchet handles. It's just the way it is, that's what tools are for.

 

[thk2c]

Very clearly type "A"

The rest of the garage would look like my toolbox if it was mine. Unfortunately, my tools have to stay at my parents house until I finish the rest of my training, and can afford a garage of my own.

 

[crewchief888]

i'm in the middle.
by looking at my service truck, nobody else would be able to find anything, and my most used tools are covered in grease and oil.
shop boxes are pretty well organized, and clean
working in the field, in all weather conditions, tools tend to start rusting, the layer of oil keeps some of it to a minimum.
at home, nothing gets put away until it gets wiped down, i dont put tools away every time they are used if i'm working on a project.
i'll leave tools laying around, when that part of the project is complete, i put things away where they belong before the next part of the project starts.
my garage is unheated, and uninsulated, most of my long term project work happens over the winter, days or weeks may pass depending on working hours, weather conditions, budget concerns, and if i feel like doing anything, before i return to what i was doing.

 

[Drisco Z71]

where is option C-used, abused, and disorganized?