Shop makeover contest?

synthesist

synthesist

So many knives so little time
Joined
Sep 14, 2004
Messages
933
This weekend, as I tried to get out of "honeydew" projects, my wife (who is a peach to say the least) laughingly said, "If you'd only clean your shops ( I have an basement room/heated and a garage/unheated that she was referring to, you might be able to work on something. I looked at her and continued building her new set of pallet wood compost bins but I was thinking about what she said.

The worst part about it is that she's right. Which is why I kept my mouth shut. When I do get a jump on cleaning things up, it seldom stays that way for more then a week as things migrate back to their comfortable spots. Now that I wanna really buckle down and do a couple of projects of my own I may have to surrender and straighten up once and for all. The good news is that if I need to spend some cash on this I have her blessing (haaaaaaaaaa).

I was also thinking of taking before and after pics (although the basement is already in fairly good shape). Then I got to thinking some more and wondered if others are in the same jam I'm in or god forbid, worse. So I'm thinking that this should be a contest with a prize ( a knife I suppose, lord knows I have a few I could part with ) and a time limit (a month should do it). I want to see what others are contending with and what can change if a motivating force is applied ( in this case the knife. I will come up with a suitable EDC type knife that won't get tossed in a drawer so relax ).



I also think that the winner should be decided by a vote of some sort (one vote to a customer though), maybe someone could help with that part. Since I am a hobbyist (and that is stretching it ) I'm wondering if there should be Amateur and Professional divisions? I'm negotiable and open to suggestions on this part.

Any takers? I will take my own pics tomorrow.

Syn
 
Well, my shop currently looks like a hardware store blew up, so I guess I'm a candidate. :D I'm not planning any big purchases soon, but I do need to get organized.
 
Well, since my "shop" is a two car garage (which my junk takes up 1/2 of ) I have to move (read PILE) up everthing when not in use, and move (let 'r tumble back down) when I want to use it, i suppose I could really use some consolidating (read- tossing the junk). My wife would love it if she could park AND I could use my "shop" without all the associated grumbling. hmmmmm,

jm
 
Awwwwwww. I had a pile of schtuff in a backyard until this weekend when I built my shop. But it hasn't had time to get THAT messy yet. Guess I can't win on that ;)
 
Syn,
A good Idea, but I'm a confirmed, or maybe condemmed, slob/packrat when it comes to my work area. I don't post pics of my shop for that reason. I'm planning to build a new shop next spring so AI guess I'll take out all the good stuff and have a big marshmallow roast to get rid of everything else.
Del
I do clean my shop twice a year, but in this case it refers to me raking the floor and taking out all the pop bottles.
 
ERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!

darn. I just got done with mine a couple months ago. I bought a new drill press and there wasnt a good spot for it so I built a new work bench a did a total workshop makeover! that counts me out but I do think its a good idea and will def. vote
 
This is a good idea. If I move enough stuff around, I might find a machine I didn't know I had, like maybe a Bridgeport or something.
 
does it need to be indoors or can it be outdoors? also is there a minimum size the shop has to be? i could have mine cleaned up in about a day or less. that includes adding my new vise to the bench.
 
As for dusting I planned on opening the garage door and using my leaf blower or maybe one of those 36" shop floor fans...........

But to answer the dusting question, dusting is optional as far as I am concerned. I have a brand new Jet Air Cleaner that I am about to hang from the ceiling which will open up a good sized lower level hole for me. That will help with the dust in the future I hope......

BTW, after looking at my garage and contemplating the phrase " hardware store explosion" I am having second thought on pics.

Del, no problem. I understand that blacksmiths have a MUCH bigger problem then the stock removal/kit builder crowd do. I have no idea what to say about that however.

Syn
 
I had the same problem in my uninsulated garage, moving the snowblower, boat and lawn mower to work. Decided I didn't like working on knives when the best temp I could heat up to was 5 degrees. Am converting a soybean grainery 15x14 to a workshop. Three weeks ago I tore out bin liners and insulated walls, following week I installed 14 electric outlets, last weekend I installed 3 overhead lights and 1 8ft flouresent, and put in two small windows. Waiting on electrican to provide estimate on getting breaker box and maybe 220v. Trying to decide if I should cut another hole in wall to use a box fan as an exhaust (don't want to lose light from window). Running low on cash so it may be a few weeks before I can start putting up plasterboard. Knew this would be a spring and summer job. Can use the break to actually work on a knife.
 
I vacuum all the dust my dust colleector misses each week and try to clean something everytime I'm in there. It's only 12 X 15 so it's no that hard. I could clean the whole thing in 30 to 45 minutes if it were trashed.
-John
 
You guys have no idea how hard my wife is laughin now.

She cracked up and walked off talkin to herself about men and toys..............

As for Pimpin's questions:

1) Does it need to be indoors or can it be outdoors?

2) Is there a minimum size the shop has to be?

I'm trying to NOT overthink this. Sooooooooooooooo to me a shop is a shop is a shop. In or out makes no difference and since some people work on dining room tables and others have pole barns I don't see how shop size enters into my thinkin. I hope that answer suffices............... Less rules make for more creativity in this contest. My wife thought I should move the ENTIRE attached garage to the back 2 1/2 car garage and paint and rewire it with 220. When I loked at her and said that sounded like a great idea she replied, " God you are sooooooooooooo easy to mess with." Suffice it to say that the 220 rewiring idea has some merit.

I also started looking through my safe for a worthy prize............... I found some stuff I'd forgotten all about in there ( 20 80's Gerber straight knives with armorhide handles for example!!!!!!!!!!!! I hit a closing gunshop at one point and bought all the Gerbers as I recall.) So this idea is paying off already for me.

Syn
 
well then count me in. ill have mine finished by the end of the week. its almost always organized. im just doing it for fun. if i win or lose i dont care. its just another excuse to clean my work bench. HEHEHE!!! :D
 
hmm can we get help with this? i have a couple of buddies comming over on tue. to learn the raw basics and im sure they will want to help me clean and organize for me helping them and having a knife they say they made with their own 2 hands.
ill have pics posted in a little while

we need to have pics with dates on them
and we need an offical start date
 
3 2 1 ----------------- Go

I say the end date is

ummmmmmmmmmm

errrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

May 16th at 6PM CST

The post with the pics ( or a link to the pics ) have to be posted on here on or before that time based on Bladeforums clock.

As far as help goes, if you can Tom Sawyer some sucker(s) into cleaning your shop you deserve a special prize (but not necessarily a NICE prize). Pics of them doing the work will be required...........hopefully with beer and pizza close at hand.

I, for one, would never dream of doing such a MUNDANE thing. I save favors from my friends for tough stuff, i.e. moving machine tools/surface grinders out of basements, taking down trees, cleaning boat bilges, hiding bodies etc.

Syn
 
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