Shop Basics - The Over Looked Items

[DJF3]

Bright overhead lights!

I repurposed an old rickety homemade 2x3 ft table. Braced it so it was sturdy, screwed a piece of 4x4 plywood to the top, and added locking casters to the feet. I now have a rolling table that I can bring close to my project. I also made sure it was the exact same height as my radial arm saw and chop saw, so it also doubles as an extension for when I'm cutting long or awkward pieces of wood.

 

[bwringer]

.... I also made sure it was the exact same height as my radial arm saw and chop saw, so it also doubles as an extension for when I'm cutting long or awkward pieces of wood.

That bit right there is a philosophy that always pays off; make stuff compatible with your other stuff, and it will pay off. And put stuff on wheels when you can so you can reconfigure and work on awkward things in the future. Even if the future benefits aren't all that clear, you'll probably be glad you did at some point.

If you've ever worked with or customized furniture or furniture parts from Ikea, they design most things with a lot of common dimensions so most stuff tends to fit and work together, sometimes in unexpected ways.

On a related note, if you're taller or shorter than "average", it's often worth setting up work surfaces to be at a more comfortable height.

 

[ArkTinkerer]

Another one: a box of disposable "puppy pads" or "incontinence pads". I bought a box of 100 of these at Costco a few months ago, and they're incredibly flippin' handy for any little project that might get messy, or for stuff like storing chainsaws that always drool chain oil.

I purchased boot trays for use on the bench when dealing with messy items that are filled with oil. Probably should put pads in them as well. (Yes, I'm the type to wear both a belt and suspenders!)

 

[PoorUB]

As for floor dry, buy a plastic pet food dispenser that mounts to the wall. Like this, Floor dry hopper

As for a clock, who doesn't have a cell phone? On that line i have an old stereo and I bought a Bluetooth reciever that I connected to it. I had an old cell phone that connects to my WiFi and stream music from YouTube or Sirius through the phone to the stereo.

 

[i4ni]

Oil-Dry doesn't work very good for antifreeze spills. Newspaper laid flat works much better at sucking it up you just need to let it do it's thing for awhile. Over night is great and the floor won't be slick after. Speaking of oil-dry, plain old dry dirt works just as good. I know the fancy boys would have a prissy fit but in the farm shop it's an ever present reality. As a matter of fact we'll broom it up and keep it in buckets instead of floor dry. Ewwwwwww, I can hear them now Lmao

 

[jbfsr]

I use kitty liter for all my spills. Cheap and works good.

 

[PoorUB]

You guys know floor dry is less money that kitty liter, don't ya?

Last time I bought floor dry it was about $10 for a 50 pound bag. Cheap kitty liter is three times the price.

 

[WindyHill]

Knives, meat hooks, stainless steel tables and counters, gambrels and cutting boards for processing deer!

 

[Bad Mojo]

Bringing this thread up because it saved me a headache today.

I had just gotten a transmission unloaded when it decided to puke its guts. No worries, I had all the stuff on hand to clean it up and was no big deal and now I don't have an oil slick in the garage. Worth having the supplies on hand because I don't think anyone is planning on having oil leak all of a sudden.

 

[MushCreek]

If the world ever runs out of oil, automatic transmissions will save the day. Every auto I've ever had seemed to leak 5 times it's capacity, sometimes for years.

 

[nadogail]

Surprised no one has mentioned a pencil sharpener..

I use a utility knife for scoring, cutting and pencil sharpening.

 

[nadogail]

I should probably put my rotary phase converter on a light-connected relay, too. So far, the sound of it reminds me, but once I get used to it, I could easily forget.

Add a remote start/stop at each place you have a 3 Phase load.

 

[nadogail]

I really enjoy having a sink with hot water in both my garage and workshop.

For music I have an AM/FM Radio and a CD Player.

Both the garage and workshop have a working Landline telephone, they are not affected by power outages.

 

[Bill T]

1-I siezed one air compressor due to failing to shut off the power. The flex line failed at some point while I was out of town. When i came back, the compressor had seized. Expensive mistake. Now I have a light (actually an old traffic light) mounted on the wall. If the air compressor is powered, the light is on. No mistaking it when you are shutting down for the evening. The LEDs in the light do not draw much current, cheap insurance.
2- Best things in the HARBOR FREIGHT store -magnetic holders for paper towels and for gloves. It keep shop towels and nitrile gloves handy. I have both items on my main tool box and my shop cart.

 

[RaisedByWolves]

Tape measures, lots of them.
I have the same type of tape measure, at every logical location in my shop/garage.
One next to the Radial Arm saw, next to the table saw, on my layup table, one on my air tools holding rack, one in my Work belt pouch. I even bought my wife a 1/2" width Stanley 12' tape measure for the junk drawer in the kitchen.

And after a day of working in the shop on a project, all of them seem to congregate at the furthest point from where I am at that moment.

Tape measures, sharpies, ear pro and safety glasses should be in abundance. I keep earplugs and safety glasses stashed in different locations in ziplock bags so I never have an excuse to be without.

If you have machine tools or saws a tourniquet or tourniquet making items are not a bad idea.

 

[duga]

Reading glasses and mounted magnifiers have been mentioned

But I would add 1 more level of help to old eyes. Dental Loupes

I have a $33 pair from Amazon and it's amazing how often they get used. The wife even borrows them sometimes

Add tweezers while your at it

 

[Monza Harry]

Bright overhead lights!

I repurposed an old rickety homemade 2x3 ft table. Braced it so it was sturdy, screwed a piece of 4x4 plywood to the top, and added locking casters to the feet. I now have a rolling table that I can bring close to my project. I also made sure it was the exact same height as my radial arm saw and chop saw, so it also doubles as an extension for when I'm cutting long or awkward pieces of wood.

That bit right there is a philosophy that always pays off; make stuff compatible with your other stuff, and it will pay off. And put stuff on wheels when you can so you can reconfigure and work on awkward things in the future. Even if the future benefits aren't all that clear, you'll probably be glad you did at some point.

If you've ever worked with or customized furniture or furniture parts from Ikea, they design most things with a lot of common dimensions so most stuff tends to fit and work together, sometimes in unexpected ways.

On a related note, if you're taller or shorter than "average", it's often worth setting up work surfaces to be at a more comfortable height.

I think this is closer to the OP's intent! The contributors quoted above hit the nail square on the head.
Create a theme of compatibility, the common height between tooling/benches, etc. This applies to gun/hunting, fab/machine, wood/furniture, electronics/electrical, and combo shops of all sorts. Safety is also universal, safety glasses were like $5 a pair when I started my apprenticeship (1984) that was 1 hrs. pay for a newbie! Now $1.25 @ Dollarama, no excuse to not have pairs everywhere. Kittylitter/absorb-all, kitty litter is available at 4:00 AM from 7-11 absorb-all less so availability, when I was younger industrial supply only, now Canadian Tire, Princess Auto, Peavey, etc. But those are still normal retail business hours. Good thread idea! Harry

 

[bb29510]

a funnel to pee out the wall

 

[duga]

a funnel to pee out the wall

I am tempted to do exactly that, lol

 

[Air and Water]

Many of my neighbors have spoken enviously about the toilet in an enclosed c

I have a very small half bath off of the garage. I used a lever handle for the garage side of the door and the sink fixture is an easy-to-clean lever style as well. It's nothing fancy, it's just easy to wipe down if you have greasy hands. It also goes to the finished part of the basement, so I didn't want two different kinds of door handles and wanted everything else to match, so I used two handles to make one that had a lever to get in from the garage, but everything else is a regular doorknob. I can open it and turn the water on with the back of my hand.

 

[bb29510]

I use a utility knife for scoring, cutting and pencil sharpening.

i got a old school sharpener on a door frame. its amazing how many people dont know what it is