Mine gets untidy as I work but I always tidy between projects.
The shame of a tidy workshop
- Thread starter Sporky McGuffin
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MARK.B.
Established Member
I like to think that my workshop could be described as" organized chaos " to a casual observer , the floor is kept as clean and clear of trip hazards as possible and hazardous stuff is put away or out of reach. Every now and then I blitz the place and clean the window's, but I could and probably should be a bit tidier .
Is there not a similar quote about the wife who keeps a spotless house.
I can fully see where you are coming from and can readily relate to this situation, but you will always be chasing the dream. I have done something similar and have a tidy racking unit with pots and tubs on it but now spend more time searching for what I am convinced I have somewhere. So next stage I produced a nice spreadsheet with everything listed and it's location but now I have to maintain the sodddding spreadsheet.
We all have a good excuse, wood is just messy and produces far more dust than metalworking ever could and so you need to strike a balance, reasonably clean most of the time and then a really good clean less frequently.
Jameshow
Established Member
Yeap my wife keeps a spotless house.....
To cope with it, I go and plane wood.....
Needs a clean and a decent dust extraction system setting up!
Sporky McGuffin
Light entertainer
Yup - I'm not claiming mine is spotless, but I have good dust control and a broom!
TheTiddles
Established Member
Just done the first proper clean in 10-years, some things were where I left them from that time.
I aspire to tidy, hopefully might be closer to that from now on.
Wood doesn’t make a lot of dust if you have decent extraction, I remember someone once saying they don’t understand why people bother with it, same person who finds sawblades blunt fast too… I wonder if there’s a connection in there somewhere?
I aspire to tidy, hopefully might be closer to that from now on.
Wood doesn’t make a lot of dust if you have decent extraction, I remember someone once saying they don’t understand why people bother with it, same person who finds sawblades blunt fast too… I wonder if there’s a connection in there somewhere?
user 29368
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As a weekend Woodworker I always tidy on a Sunday afternoon, all tools away and vac out to pick up the dust.
Nice to come back into a clear and tidy space.
Wouldn't want it any other way.
Nice to come back into a clear and tidy space.
Wouldn't want it any other way.
Wish I could say mine was always tidy but I do keep the dust and shavings down, partly because of the fire risk my shop is under my house SOMBO would have an opinion if I burn us out - see how highly trained I am to know these things.
Mine is usually a mess but i am working to sort that... wall storage, a couple more base units and shelves and sell some stuff i dont need in there!
This year i need to do my extraction system properly to reduce clean up time.
I love it when its all clear, but im always busy when im there and rarely tidy up before i shoot off
This year i need to do my extraction system properly to reduce clean up time.
I love it when its all clear, but im always busy when im there and rarely tidy up before i shoot off
Dynamite
Established Member
I could write paragraphs on this but it boils down to one thing. Whatever makes YOU happy. That’s what it’s all about - happiness and having good mental health. What makes one person happy is different to the next so I encourage you not to listen to the doubters, just do what make you happy, thats the number one most important thing. Take constructive criticism and advice of course but what anyone else thinks is totally and utterly irrelevant.
Your workshop, your rules…. END OF.
Rob.
Your workshop, your rules…. END OF.
Rob.
My workshop turns into a horrendous mess for each job, and seemingly every tool,power or otherwise needs to come into play, then requires a surface to sit on for the remainder of the work.
It gets a rough brush out between projects, and an annual brush down the walls, empty shelves and pull stuff out from walls type of clean.
It gets a rough brush out between projects, and an annual brush down the walls, empty shelves and pull stuff out from walls type of clean.
Since mid October I’ve been trying to change, if there is a brain type perhaps my efforts are doomed.
Previously I’d do project after project with offcuts and tools building up around the shop on every surface, until it was almost unworkable, then it’d take me half a day to reset the place. Rinse and repeat.
It worked ok until I had an emergency, or quick little job, to do. Then I’d be looking for that one tool for as long and the job should have taken.
No I tidy tools always at the end of each day and sweep up shavings/dust as required. I’m much more enjoying the space to be honest. Perhaps and old dog can learn new tricks.
Previously I’d do project after project with offcuts and tools building up around the shop on every surface, until it was almost unworkable, then it’d take me half a day to reset the place. Rinse and repeat.
It worked ok until I had an emergency, or quick little job, to do. Then I’d be looking for that one tool for as long and the job should have taken.
No I tidy tools always at the end of each day and sweep up shavings/dust as required. I’m much more enjoying the space to be honest. Perhaps and old dog can learn new tricks.
TheTiddles
Established Member
Same here, despite knowing full well what would happen, the mess increased, interestingly I’d never let that happen at work
Trainee neophyte
Established Member
Untidy equates to inefficient or insufficient storage space. I suffer from both, and work in chaos. I hate it, and plan on making a bigger, dedicated workshop as opposed to working outside and in a lean-to, leftover space between two sheds.
The dream would be every tool stored within reach, so take it, use it, and put it back. Even if you get a buildup of detritus, cleaning up takes moments. The reality is ten minutes of hunting for the tool, another twenty setting up a bench and electricity etc, then half an hour looking for bits, blades or other annoyances that have been put "somewhere safe". Then you put down the tool for a moment, and spend another hour wondering how it could have vanished without your stepping away from the bench. My workbench is under a shady olive tree, which sounds romantic until you drop drop a vital screw into the bare earth. Magnet on a stick has saved my bacon more times than I care to mention. My Mk3 version is a broom with a Lidl magnetic tool strip attached. Very posh.
Time to build a real workshop with a concrete floor. 200 square metres sounds about right. Lots of bench space, and even more storage. Just as soon as I win the lottery
The dream would be every tool stored within reach, so take it, use it, and put it back. Even if you get a buildup of detritus, cleaning up takes moments. The reality is ten minutes of hunting for the tool, another twenty setting up a bench and electricity etc, then half an hour looking for bits, blades or other annoyances that have been put "somewhere safe". Then you put down the tool for a moment, and spend another hour wondering how it could have vanished without your stepping away from the bench. My workbench is under a shady olive tree, which sounds romantic until you drop drop a vital screw into the bare earth. Magnet on a stick has saved my bacon more times than I care to mention. My Mk3 version is a broom with a Lidl magnetic tool strip attached. Very posh.
Time to build a real workshop with a concrete floor. 200 square metres sounds about right. Lots of bench space, and even more storage. Just as soon as I win the lottery
danst96
Established Member
70% of the time my workshop is a bombsite but I spend the whole time disliking the mess but do nothing about it because "I'm too busy" on whatever I'm working on. Then eventually it gets to the point of "sort it out" and there's nothing more satisfying. This is my old workshop at it's worst, could barely move. A day later, sortedish. Could still barely move lol
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The comment above about actual time spent organizing rings with my mrs. I can guarantee that even though the kids are in school, she spends 1-2 hours a day cleaning and organizing. The house is exceptionally organized upstairs and there's definitely friction over my hobbies. What's ideal for the basement and then garage would be constantly redoing of everything and reorganizing for no reason other than to make things look more neat and hide things that we have.
When I was a kid, we'd get the sears catalog. They would display a shop that had all of their shop organization goods in it and no tools showed while they were all employed (it would've been 50 grand in current dollars, but it looked great in the catalog). I didn't think anyone bought that stuff until I met some well-to-do airline pilots who set up shops as a matter of escapism and they looked like those (but probably with stuff more expensive than sears). I don't remember them doing anything in the shop, but the odd occasion where they had an old car or a private airplane that needed a few turns of a wrench, everything was there and ready for use.
My grandfather's shop (he was a farmer) on the other hand had a 1 inch thick steel welding table and then another. They were bigger than anyone could physically move - perhaps 5x10 feet each, and then vertical organizers aplenty with stuff in trays unlabeled. Not bench top stuff, but one fridge size thing after another.
What sticks out in my mind is next to his welder, he had a table with wrenches and hammers and such on it where they were at least a foot thick in the center. He was in his workshop several hours a day and I never recall seeing him searching for something or pondering. There were two considerations - in the area with concrete floor (where all of his tools and supplies were), there literally wasn't enough space to store everything neatly, and 2, he was in there all the time working all the time, so he knew spatially where everything was. I guess things on the bottom of the welding table pile were seldom used and everything used often was on top. As messy as I am, it even boggled my mind. I'm thinking the table and the tools on it were at least several tons.
When I was a kid, we'd get the sears catalog. They would display a shop that had all of their shop organization goods in it and no tools showed while they were all employed (it would've been 50 grand in current dollars, but it looked great in the catalog). I didn't think anyone bought that stuff until I met some well-to-do airline pilots who set up shops as a matter of escapism and they looked like those (but probably with stuff more expensive than sears). I don't remember them doing anything in the shop, but the odd occasion where they had an old car or a private airplane that needed a few turns of a wrench, everything was there and ready for use.
My grandfather's shop (he was a farmer) on the other hand had a 1 inch thick steel welding table and then another. They were bigger than anyone could physically move - perhaps 5x10 feet each, and then vertical organizers aplenty with stuff in trays unlabeled. Not bench top stuff, but one fridge size thing after another.
What sticks out in my mind is next to his welder, he had a table with wrenches and hammers and such on it where they were at least a foot thick in the center. He was in his workshop several hours a day and I never recall seeing him searching for something or pondering. There were two considerations - in the area with concrete floor (where all of his tools and supplies were), there literally wasn't enough space to store everything neatly, and 2, he was in there all the time working all the time, so he knew spatially where everything was. I guess things on the bottom of the welding table pile were seldom used and everything used often was on top. As messy as I am, it even boggled my mind. I'm thinking the table and the tools on it were at least several tons.
Droogs
Not the Sharpest Moderator in the box
I spend the last hour of my time in the wksp to clean up, put stuff away and sharpen anything that's been used. I can't help it, having everything in good to go condition as soon as you walk in the door was drummed into me by too many old soak sgts and cpls.
The best place for anything! I must have a dozen or more things there, all safe and well, but where!
I love a tidy well organised workshop. I hate mess and clutter. I hate spending money on stuff to make it more organised so I have a dilemma. When it gets too bad I force myself to buy more / better storage. I have a good friend who has a keen eye for making things organised and spends money on superb systems to protect and store his tools….but he’s not as good at being tidy, he often complains when he puts a tool down in my workshop and reaches to get it again only to find and I’ve put it back where it belongs.
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