Working In vs On Your Shop

[Mikeske]

I have found that since I retired that the shop was the first thing I tackled and it was a dump when I started. I have made 4 runs to the dump and got rid of a bunch of stuff not needed. I saved boxes for no apparent reason, and two of the dump runs with my pickup was nothing but boxes, cost me just the gas to get rid of them as they had a recycling center at the dump. I flattened all the boxes and my 8 foot bed of my pickup was cab height, I got rid of 390 pounds of scrap steel and 120 pounds of aluminum at the scrap steel place.

After I got cleaned up I went bought a new tool chest to reward myself and I have been steadily but finding and and putting all my tools away in the new tool chest.

The other day I was mowing my yard when my lawn tractor had a issue, the idler pulley self destructed, I pull the deck and take the pulley off and run to the dealer and get a new idler pulley, get back home and 45 minutes after the pulley self destructed I was back mowing.

Before I went back to mowing I pulled the lawn tractor out of the shop and cleaned and put everything away I used to work on the lawn tractor. I had all the tools and it was fast and easy. I sure like the fact I spent all the time in doing a shop wide clean up. I still have a ways to go until I am finished but it is sure sweet that I could work on something and not have a issue find what I needed to work on it.

 

[Crazyjake8493]

Best advice I could offer is to just be in the moment and enjoy whatever you are working on. Don't let it make you anxious, otherwise you will start to resent it.

This is very true!

I've had a good 50/50 balance lately. I've been working on projects earlier in the day/night, so that I don't feel in a rush to get them done. If I have free time later, I save that for the organizing and outfitting of the garage.

I've also come to realize that some things must be done to facilitate others. For instance, I'm building a new adjustable-height work table that also serves as my table saw outfeed table. It was difficult breaking down plywood for a cabinet project without the outfeed table, so I decided to finish that first. I also tend to do more important projects first, and then use the scrap pieces and offcuts for little shelves or organizers around the shop.

 

[Strouty]

For some people, the shop is the project. I think I enjoy making the shop more than doing other projects. I still do projects, but they take a back seat to the shop a lot of the time. When I need to get something done, I can usually change direction pretty quickly and make it happen, sometimes doing one project requires finishing a shop project and that keeps me motivated most of the time. My shop is more of a hobby shop right now, but my goals are to have it pay for itself. I personally have issues with my back and neck so I am making the shop work for me, I don't need to be breaking my back all the time, so I concentrate on making things that help do the lifting. The other thing that I really like is collecting things (read as hoarding), so I have a large stockroom, that is an almost never ending project in itself.

Everyone is different, if your shop is how you make your living, well priority one is to make money, if it is a hobby shop, maybe the hobby really is the shop?

 

[gtcs]

i think the best shop would just be a vacant metal bldg, no benches, no wall hanging, no nothing. just a place out of the weather, the more stuff i get, the more the shop becomes a warehouse

As a guy that has a giant empty shell, its not all its cracked up to be

I built my first shop out of junk and necessity. I rebuilt it 5 years later with a tiny budget and a plan. Now I have a 1200 sq Ft warehouse that I can't work in because I haven't worked ON it enough... maybe this summer

 

[Tscott]

Thanks for all the information. I think most of you have nailed it, I just need to concentrate on whatever project I feel best working on and to hell with what gets done as long as some sort of progress is being made. My shop is by no means a show room, it's a steel building with pallet racking benches and oil stains on the floor. Most of my desired changes involve tools like a 2 post lift or better storage like a bigger tool chest. I try to buy tools for projects as I need them so things like tool boxes tend to be put off until later because they really don't apply to a specific project.

I've resisted making lists in the past just because I don't want to feel the obligation to do something. However I think in the interest of organization and progress I need to get some stuff written down so I don't have to constantly rehash the details of a project in my head.

I've also tried working on only 1 project at a time and as long as the project is short term, I can generally stick to this rule. For long term projects, the best I can do is to get them to a good stopping point before shelving them for a while. I've actually made a conscious decision to stop bringing home more projects until I get a few out of the shop. I don't have the time or money to realize my grand plans so I might as well stick to what's in the stable now and try to come to some sort of completion with each of them. This is easier said then done though. It seems I keep getting wild hairs and bringing home something or the other but generally these are smaller short term projects.

Tom

 

[OccupantRJ]

Also take pictures along the way of your shop and projects. When those dead moments come along when you are not around your shop, look through the pictures. I get a lot of ideas and can engineer a lot of things with the pictures I have stored on my phone. Helps me tremendously.

 

[bczygan]

I've been making great strides in the organization and ergonomics of my shop but I am struggling to balance working in my shop vs on my shop. I've got a list of shop improvements that I'd like to perform that could keep me busy for months but I've also got about 5 large projects I need to work on as well. At this point I seem to enjoy outfitting and organizing my shop more than actually working on projects in my shop. What sense is a shop that allows me the ability to fix or build almost anything if I don't use it for that purpose? I've actually got so many good ideas for my shop that I literally get anxious at the thought of not being able to get it all done. Simultaneously, I get the same overwhelming feeling when contemplating the projects I need to get done.

How do you all weigh the desire to improve your shop against the need to get things done?

Tom

Nothing takes the joy out of a task, more than needing to do it.

One thing you can do is get rid of a "need to do it" task. Delegate it, hire it out or just dispose of it.

Do a required thing, and then treat yourself to a "want to do it" task.

Bill

 

[bczygan]

As far as balance goes, almost every time I go down to the shop, I do something to organize or improve it.

Always on the lookout for tools to improve my work.

And most times I do something on one small project or another.

Keeping things in balance keeps all aspects of my life interesting and makes me excited and happy to do things.

See that smile over there to the left? It's not just the meds.

Bill

 

[RCPro87]

I am exactly like you. I have spent so many nights working on improving my shop rather than actually working on a project that otherwise needs done. I have a constantly working to do list about 3 pages long at this point. I do let that list make me anxious from time to time but have my wife to remind me that these are all self made projects. I prioritize the stuff that shouldn't wait and then just work on whatever I feel like doing. Living in the moment!

 

[taumac]

I've been working on my garage for over 11 years. Its a hobby for me but over the years I kept my original idea and that it was to fit 2 vehicles inside and be able to pull car in to work on if needed. Sometimes I have to work on the shop verses in the shop to accomplish that original goal. Best advice is to get a good plan, be flexible with your layout and be realistic with everything. As you work you might find out that it doesn't function as you originally thought. Get your garage to work first and make it look good later.

 

[sberry]

I don't always get turnkey ready for my season. I have had some distraction the last couple years but when I am pensive pick up stuff and restore my place to near pit stop ready. When I want for have to do something the place doesn't stop me, I don't have to stop and clean, don't have to move or make room, it's ready to go for the most part.

 

[mjchamp]

Here is what I do:

Work IN shop during Spring, Summer, Fall

Work ON shop during Winter

 

[Fastfish]

All excellent posts and ideas. Since I put my shop together I have been spending more and more time out there. I have wondered if I am spending too much time on the shop instead of the cars I should be fixing, but there has been no conflicts. Basically I don't give a **** what I am working on out there as long as I am out of the house and not watching tv, other destructive/wastefully stuff, or fighting with the old lady........Next project-make a shelf for a coffemaker.........

 

[OccupantRJ]

No coffee maker, but I do have surround sound and satellite TV.