555
Well-known member
Both my wife and I have flat surface disease!
Horizontal surfaces ie junk collectors
- Thread starter uscarry45
- Start date
gunguy
Well-known member
Ha! My Dad always threatened my brother & sisters and me with sloping all the table tops in the foyer so our school books would slide to the floor. We had the habit of plopping our books on the table as soon as we walked in the door. Dad eventually broke us of that.
My wife's mother had a variation of this; she would just throw her books in the yard. Once was enough for her.
Jim
rayra
Well-known member
Three large work surfaces in my garage and the other day I was kneeling on the slab to work on something. Time for a cleanup.
My biggest problem is that I've been working multiple home renovation projects simultaneously, for going on two years. And across three different houses. Just the amount of materials being bought, moved around, tool bags etc coming and going. 'nobody got time for dat'.
So when I start having to look around for tools because they aren't where they should be, it's time to clean up / de-clutter. Again.
One of the projects in the on-deck circle is a tool wall. I've been building out a full stall in our attached 3-car as a workshop, with a bunch of furniture building to come later this year. Getting a bunch of tools up an adjacent wall will help that, along with a battery-powered tool organizer, and racks for clamps.
I finally got a wall full of upper cabinets put up on french cleats and it has helped greatly.
Next will be a mobile cutting station combined with offcut storage. I made such a cart at our last house, but gave that and its contents away to some other optimist when we moved. It really helped to keep that mess tightly gathered and mobile. And it was easy to pick thru while making other things. Right now I've got offcuts parked in small packing boxes and building supplies piled on the floors. It's a giant slider puzzle every time I want to do something major and that HAS to change and soon.
My biggest problem is that I've been working multiple home renovation projects simultaneously, for going on two years. And across three different houses. Just the amount of materials being bought, moved around, tool bags etc coming and going. 'nobody got time for dat'.
So when I start having to look around for tools because they aren't where they should be, it's time to clean up / de-clutter. Again.
One of the projects in the on-deck circle is a tool wall. I've been building out a full stall in our attached 3-car as a workshop, with a bunch of furniture building to come later this year. Getting a bunch of tools up an adjacent wall will help that, along with a battery-powered tool organizer, and racks for clamps.
I finally got a wall full of upper cabinets put up on french cleats and it has helped greatly.
Next will be a mobile cutting station combined with offcut storage. I made such a cart at our last house, but gave that and its contents away to some other optimist when we moved. It really helped to keep that mess tightly gathered and mobile. And it was easy to pick thru while making other things. Right now I've got offcuts parked in small packing boxes and building supplies piled on the floors. It's a giant slider puzzle every time I want to do something major and that HAS to change and soon.
Attachments
After having several different shops I found that different types of space have different values to me.
I rank them as follows from most valuable to least valuable.
1. Work Bench space-The one that really needs to stay clean and organized or else I can't get any work done. It's also the smallest space I have on purpose.
2. The floor-I try to limit how much stuff is stacked and only keep one of everything. So many guys have multiple welders and tool chests. So do I as I have 5 tool boxes BUT I try to put EVERYTHING on wheels! This was a great improvement. My blast box, metal storage cabinet, belt/disc sander, horizontal/vertical band saw, MIG welder/Plasma cutter and my oxy acetylene torch are all on casters/wheels and can be moved at a moments notice. Another great thing is if things are movable you can clean the floor much better/easier. I have NOT put casters on my drill press yet and not sure if I will? It's a bit top heavy.
3. The walls - I have all walls covered in pegboard. I have used cabinets but never again. They hide everything and you spend a lot of time opening the doors and rummaging around. With pegboard it's all 100% visible at a glance.
4. The ceiling. Anything I can hang from the ceiling is a big win. Example; Bicycles-terrible floor space wasters but no problem if they are hanging. Harbor Freight has a pretty nice bike hoist that works fine for me and is cheap.
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I rank them as follows from most valuable to least valuable.
1. Work Bench space-The one that really needs to stay clean and organized or else I can't get any work done. It's also the smallest space I have on purpose.
2. The floor-I try to limit how much stuff is stacked and only keep one of everything. So many guys have multiple welders and tool chests. So do I as I have 5 tool boxes BUT I try to put EVERYTHING on wheels! This was a great improvement. My blast box, metal storage cabinet, belt/disc sander, horizontal/vertical band saw, MIG welder/Plasma cutter and my oxy acetylene torch are all on casters/wheels and can be moved at a moments notice. Another great thing is if things are movable you can clean the floor much better/easier. I have NOT put casters on my drill press yet and not sure if I will? It's a bit top heavy.
3. The walls - I have all walls covered in pegboard. I have used cabinets but never again. They hide everything and you spend a lot of time opening the doors and rummaging around. With pegboard it's all 100% visible at a glance.
4. The ceiling. Anything I can hang from the ceiling is a big win. Example; Bicycles-terrible floor space wasters but no problem if they are hanging. Harbor Freight has a pretty nice bike hoist that works fine for me and is cheap.
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RivennHewn
Well-known member
Seattle_Speed_Shop
Well-known member
- Joined
- Dec 6, 2021
- Messages
- 122
I have 5 work benches in my shop. 4 of them are clean and ready to use after every project...
The 5th one is sacrificed and piled with ****.
The 5th one is sacrificed and piled with ****.
RonnieC
Well-known member
The best method I’ve found is to say “I’ll clean up for ten minutes/twenty minutes.” Psychologically it seems easier than committing to cleaning up an entire workplace. And once I get started I usually end up staying longer than I allocated and get more done. As progress is being made it gets easier and more satisfying.
That being said, my garage is a mess right now!
That being said, my garage is a mess right now!
nadogail
Well-known member
I find that I have more projects than time, money or energy so clean up sufferers from the money, time and energy that I lack.
Recently I have been reducing my number of new projects I take on.
Recently I have been reducing my number of new projects I take on.
niget2002
Well-known member
I've just embraced the issue. I dedicated one bench top to placing stuff. This has helped keep all the others clean.
housewolf
Well-known member
This could be a sister thread to my “Junk Drawer” thread. I’m pretty good about keeping the table tops clearso I’ve intentionally kept those horizontal surfaces to a minimum. I have a 55” cab that I can use the top of, a few things stay there (a couple of battery chargers). Then a small (3’x6’) steel fab table that stays cleared. I’ll make sure and put stuff on those tables because I know I’ll keep them clear. No more shoving **** into drawers for me!
In reality, there’s very little “work” I do that actually takes place on a bench, some, but not a lot. I do have a larger work table in my garage I can work on and few pretty stout folding tables I can set up when wood working
In reality, there’s very little “work” I do that actually takes place on a bench, some, but not a lot. I do have a larger work table in my garage I can work on and few pretty stout folding tables I can set up when wood working