Tooling (Re)Organization

[Mecha]

Got a lot done this weekend but not much to show except this - got the drawer pulls installed on the main cabinet. It’s so nice having access to all drawers and the feeling of seeing it done. I’ve been worried that I would like how some of the pulls don’t lone up because the drawer sizes made them staggered but I actually don’t mind it.





Have a great week.

Pretty awesome.

 

[zmotorsports]

Pretty awesome.

^^X2

 

[mr_magicfingers]

Very nice indeed.

 

[XJSuperman]

The breakup of the lines just makes it easier to see which drawer you want. I like it. Looks good.

 

[lilscorpion]

The breakup of the lines just makes it easier to see which drawer you want. I like it. Looks good.

Yeah, agreed. The more I use the pulls, the more I like them. I'd even go as far as to say the bench is "enjoyable" to use. Time will tell I the clear anodization can handle shop life. I suspect not.

 

[iowa4x4dieselman]

Cabinet is looking great! The full length drawer pulls are a nice touch. How does the lamination process go? It looks awesome, and "cleaner" than painting them.

 

[lilscorpion]

Cabinet is looking great! The full length drawer pulls are a nice touch. How does the lamination process go? It looks awesome, and "cleaner" than painting them.

Thanks! I‘m experimenting with laminate because it’s so much easier and faster to make, much more durable than any finish I’ve used in the past, and much easier to clean. Hell, you can use some really sting cleaning chemicals on laminate that will eat most finishes. Paints and clear coat finishes can sometimes be extremely difficult to duplicate but laminates will be the same always.

Lamination is extremely easy. I use the counter top stuff (wilsonart or Formica) from the local big box store. You roll on some contact cement (made for laminate and also from the big box) to both the drawer face and the back of the laminate. Join the two and roll out bubbles. There’s tons YouTube vids that do a walkthrough to help visualize.

To make the drawer faces I laminate larger pieces of ply (up to full sheet size) and then cut them to exact dimensions on the table saw. Handling and laminating Pre-Cut drawer fronts just takes too damn long and I’ve found that cutting them from a larger pre-laminate sheet results in perfect edges too.

 

[lilscorpion]

For this of you following along, I’ve recently kicked off a project building a 2006 Jeep LJ with my son so were too busy at the moment using the shop (it’s a mess) to have time to continue the operates. All future projects that are not shop organizational in nature, like the Jeep build, will be shown in a new thread I started called #FabSpace in the Fabrication forum. If you’re interested, it’s here - https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=425872

Thanks all, more to come here soon.

 

[lilscorpion]

I recently stumbled across this way to manage sharps in the garage. For me sharps are things like razor blades, screws, broken drill bits, end mills, etc.
why manage sharps? For things like razor blades it’s obvious - if you dispose of them in the shop trash, you can inadvertently cut yourself or someone else while taking out the trash, digging into it to find something you failed to get out of that amazon box, etc. Another concern I have is for the tires on our vehicles which we park in the garage (almost) every night. Though I clean up before we pull them in, I have found a missed screw a time or two that I’ve missed during clean up days later.

Using a used laundry detergent bottle, the opening is just big enough for all sharps I have.



The shape of the container is perfect for such a task, I’ve inadvertently dropped it on the ground and the sharps stay inside. And the container fits nicely on the shelf.

 

[littlebean]

sharps container is great idea (that I'm going to shamelessly steal!) simple yet really effective

 

[Zippercat]

I just use an empty Coke can. Works about the same .....standard utility knife blades fit fine....and takes up less shelf/bench space.

 

[zmotorsports]

I like that idea Matt. I do something similar but not on a bulk basis. Whenever I have a "sharp" to dispose of I will put it into a plastic pop bottle or empty quart of oil, something that has a lid to prevent not only myself but also anyone else who may come into contact with it from getting cut.

I may use a gallon oil container and just use it as a bulk basis vs. scrambling to find something at the time I need it. Great idea.

 

[lilscorpion]

I just use an empty Coke can. Works about the same .....standard utility knife blades fit fine....and takes up less shelf/bench space.

Agreed...I haven’t had a beverage that comes in a can for quite some time. Did use a Gatorade bottle for a while..

I do something similar but not on a bulk basis. Whenever I have a "sharp" to dispose of I will put it into a plastic pop bottle or empty quart of oil, something that has a lid to prevent not only myself but also anyone else who may come into contact with it from getting cut.



I may use a gallon oil container and just use it as a bulk basis vs. scrambling to find something at the time I need it. Great idea.

I have a volume problem with screws and nails. Not sure why but I always end up with piles of screws at the end of the weekend. New products and kits come with cheapie screws and fasteners, something I took down or demo’d, or some cup I uncover in a drawer or box from projects past. I did try the oil container for a bit but I’d discard them when convenient and end up without and a hand full of screws (to your point).

The thing is bulky on the shelf but I figured I’d try it for a while an see how it goes. May also be neat to write the date on it when I first used it. I’ll do that.

 

[zmotorsports]

I have a volume problem with screws and nails. Not sure why but I always end up with piles of screws at the end of the weekend. New products and kits come with cheapie screws and fasteners, something I took down or demo’d, or some cup I uncover in a drawer or box from projects past. I did try the oil container for a bit but I’d discard them when convenient and end up without and a hand full of screws (to your point).

The thing is bulky on the shelf but I figured I’d try it for a while an see how it goes. May also be neat to write the date on it when I first used it. I’ll do that.

I don't have the screw problem that you do Matt, but then again you work with that weird substance called "wood" that I try to keep out of my shop.

 

[lilscorpion]

I don't have the screw problem that you do Matt, but then again you work with that weird substance called "wood" that I try to keep out of my shop.

I hear ya. Most do one or the other. Problem with metal is doesn’t have many practical applications inside the house and happy wife, happy life. [emoji6]

 

[slodat]

Matt.. thought you’d enjoy these. Your Jeep build inspired me to get some abrasives on hand..

Fun with the laser tonight. I’ve wanted to sort out making these tabbed boxes for a while. A little over the top. And quite relaxing project.

Sorting out tolerances.


Added ID tab.


Family photo.


Done... for now.

 

[lilscorpion]

Matt.. thought you’d enjoy these. Your Jeep build inspired me to get some abrasives on hand..

Steven, those are awesome. If I had that capability I’d probably spend the next month redoing all of my drawers...socket trays would be amazing, wrench racks, and on and on. A laser doesn’t have the same constraints as a router or mill given it can actually cut square corners. Totally awesome.

 

[slodat]

Steven, those are awesome. If I had that capability I’d probably spend the next month redoing all of my drawers...socket trays would be amazing, wrench racks, and on and on. A laser doesn’t have the same constraints as a router or mill given it can actually cut square corners. Totally awesome.

Matt, square corners are what I love about the laser. And, no work holding. And stupid simple setup. And. And. Deep down I long for a cnc milling machine. One day..

I’m going to try really hard to not spend the next week (month?) making little boxes out of mdf!

 

[lilscorpion]

Matt, square corners are what I love about the laser. And, no work holding. And stupid simple setup. And. And. Deep down I long for a cnc milling machine. One day..

I’m going to try really hard to not spend the next week (month?) making little boxes out of mdf!

Tried to trace back through your thread to remind myself what laser you have but can’t find it. Remind me? I realize every time I ask about a laser it’s always bigger than I have room for..

 

[slodat]

I have a Boss LS3655 with 150 watt tube. It’s a big machine.

 

[lilscorpion]

I have a Boss LS3655 with 150 watt tube. It’s a big machine.

Oh yeah, those are sweet and big

 

[slodat]

Last one.. for now..

 

[DividedAttention]

I use one of those laundry detergent bottles to dispense chainsaw bar oil. The next one is going to be for machine way oil. The spout works great for no mess dispensing.

I recently stumbled across this way to manage sharps in the garage. For me sharps are things like razor blades, screws, broken drill bits, end mills, etc.
why manage sharps? For things like razor blades it’s obvious - if you dispose of them in the shop trash, you can inadvertently cut yourself or someone else while taking out the trash, digging into it to find something you failed to get out of that amazon box, etc. Another concern I have is for the tires on our vehicles which we park in the garage (almost) every night. Though I clean up before we pull them in, I have found a missed screw a time or two that I’ve missed during clean up days later.

Using a used laundry detergent bottle, the opening is just big enough for all sharps I have.

 

[lilscorpion]

Last one.. for now..

Oh wow!

 

[lilscorpion]

I use one of those laundry detergent bottles to dispense chainsaw bar oil. The next one is going to be for machine way oil. The spout works great for no mess dispensing.

That’s a fantastic idea. Both way and spindle oil...awesome!

 

[Dick in Wisconsin]

Last one.. for now..

Very nice. Did you make that on a laser machine?

 

[beelsr]

+1 on using a laundry bottle for chainsaw oil.

the push-button dispenser is everything those POS re-engineered gas can spouts the EPA foisted on us should have been.

I use a big-*** carabiner (husky, home-depot, on clearance for a buck a while ago) to keep the oil and gas cans tied together and as a handle.

 

[Charlie51]

Excellent, work. Great organizational ideas and execution. But I can't help being reminded of an old poem:

Ozymandius --Percy Bysshe Shelly

I met a traveller from an antique land,
Who said—“Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. . . . Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed;
And on the pedestal, these words appear:
My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings;
Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal Wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.”

 

[fartymarty]

lilscorpion,

I've thoroughly enjoyed the binge reading of this thread and the fallback trips to check stuff out in the old thread for reference. I can't thank you enough for sharing with us. I'm sure the documenting of it was sometimes worrisome time wise as you probably just wanted to finish it already, and yet our silent (mostly) demands for photos kept you delayed from your internal timetable.

So thanks again!!

 

[lilscorpion]

Excellent, work. Great organizational ideas and execution. But I can't help being reminded of an old poem:

Ozymandius --Percy Bysshe Shelly

I met a traveller from an antique land,
Who said—“Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. . . . Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed;
And on the pedestal, these words appear:
My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings;
Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal Wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.”

I’m not much for literature, is it telling me that I have enough tools or that I need to buy way more to be truly happy? Seems like that latter but “round the decay of that colossal wreck” is creating visuals of a drawer that I never bothered to organize because infrequently favored my children’s precious moments.

I’m close right? [emoji857]

 

[lilscorpion]

lilscorpion,



I've thoroughly enjoyed the binge reading of this thread and the fallback trips to check stuff out in the old thread for reference. I can't thank you enough for sharing with us. I'm sure the documenting of it was sometimes worrisome time wise as you probably just wanted to finish it already, and yet our silent (mostly) demands for photos kept you delayed from your internal timetable.



So thanks again!!

Thank you for the compliments. Actually, documenting my shop nonsense helps me move forward. I struggle with a hyper active brain which usually causes me to be bored wish just the project itself which can result in me failing to complete that last 10 - 15%. For whatever irrational reason, when I work projects and document them, it requires me to organize my thoughts and work through things for you, not in-front if you. It also creates a drive to provide the next update which creates a need to move each project along...which results in more finished projects.

Though it seems crazy, many of these projects happen because you’re watching along and the feedback encourages me to go the extra distance and document them.

Matt

 

[slodat]

Thank you for the compliments. Actually, documenting my shop nonsense helps me move forward. I struggle with a hyper active brain which usually causes me to be bored wish just the project itself which can result in me failing to complete that last 10 - 15%. For whatever irrational reason, when I work projects and document them, it requires me to organize my thoughts and work through things for you, not in-front if you. It also creates a drive to provide the next update which creates a need to move each project along...which results in more finished projects.

Though it seems crazy, many of these projects happen because you’re watching along and the feedback encourages me to go the extra distance and document them.

Matt

Exactly this for me, too!

 

[Charlie51]

Poetry is how you interpret it. I take it as "It's all for the moment."

 

[Ryan]

How have I managed to miss this thread? Great ideas here.

 

[Strouty]

How have I managed to miss this thread? Great ideas here.

Slacker, this is one of the top ten GJ threads, did you look up his first one? This is part two.

 

[rayra]

Boy those disc organizers are a whole lot nicer than the wire coat hanger loop I hang mine on.

 

[BoilermakerFan]

So glad I checked back in on this thread Matt, or i would have missed your new FabSpace thread!

 

[lilscorpion]

So glad I checked back in on this thread Matt, or i would have missed your new FabSpace thread!

Needed to split the two so those who follow along can pick and choose. For me it’s easier too..

 

[Pressingonward]

Just finished reading your original thread as well as this one. Thanks for sharing, it's been a great inspiration and I've picked up a few ideas to try out in my shop. Glad to see your heater is finally mounted up; hopefully you can get the vent run soon and have a nice warm workspace this winter.

 

[lilscorpion]

Gotta keep the torches straight...kaizen foam helps a bit..