Shop Organization Ideas?

Alan Folts

Alan Folts

Joined
Oct 4, 1998
Messages
427
Okay its the start of a new year, so why not get the shop organized and ready for a year of the fun for the whole familly hobby of knifemaking!

Do you have an idea that keeps your shop organized?

My only idea so far is that I keep every important tool in a pile on the bench so that I know where everything I need is at that moment in time..
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Seriously, I bought myself some drawer type storage cabinets and a label maker, what else do you guys do to keep your shops neet and organized?

Alan...
 
Alan,

Barry and I mounted an 8 ft. pegboard over the work bench. We hang most of our hand tools on it. The only drawback is the tools end up in a big pile on the bench because we are too lazy to put them back sometimes.
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If a man can keep alert and imaginative, an error is a possibility, a chance at something new; to him, wandering and wondering are a part of the same process. He is most mistaken, most in error, whenever he quits exploring.

William Least Heat Moon
 
Alan: I recently got disgusted with my shop being disorganized, and did a few things that have really worked out. First, I bought some Sears workbenches-they are narrow, and I have them positioned so I can walk in between two of them. The best thing is the drawers-each one has 5. I also bought a rollaway-has 3, 1 1/2 " deep drawers and several deeper drawers. Sears sells dividers used to hold wrenches-they are awesome for holding knife blades-when you've finished up a blade, you can keep it from getting scratched or dirty, and you can have row after row of them just waiting for handles. I movel the rollaway around the shop, so, when I sit at the grinder, I can just reach around and pull out a blade. It's the BOMB!
Sears also has other dividers that are handy for storing blanks, etc. I found this a necessity since I now have 6 different blade steels and lots of folder parts to keep organized.
Also, I now write on everything with a Sharpie marker or a white out pen. Cheap insurance against senility.

RJ Martin
 
Those rollaways sound like a very good idea. You can store what you use most and move it from grinder to vise and so forth.

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If a man can keep alert and imaginative, an error is a possibility, a chance at something new; to him, wandering and wondering are a part of the same process. He is most mistaken, most in error, whenever he quits exploring.

William Least Heat Moon
 
I use pegboard everywhere! Their main drawback--- the hooks falling off the board--- has been solved with the small black "m" hooks that snap in and lock the holders in place.

3 foot x 8 foot sections are mounted in dadoed slots 3/4 inch from the back edge of 2x4s above every work surface. This gives almost 3 inches of clearance for the sliding clear plastic doors. The doors open quickly and easily, and stop 90 percent of the dust that collects on everything.

About a dozen smaller pegboards, mounted back-to-back about an inch apart and in various sizes, can be quickly grabbed and carried around the shop. These are organized so that most of the things used together are together in easy reach.

You could find about any tool you choose in my shop without moving your feet or opening a drawer or cabinet. It only took me about two years to get into the habit of putting things BACK instead of DOWN.

Once things are organized like this clean-up is quick and easy because evey tool has one single home.

Give this a little thought next time you are trying to find a tool in your shop.

Cheap, easy and effective, at least for me
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Happy New Year to all!

Dave Evans

[This message has been edited by WinDancer (edited 01 January 2000).]
 
I use three pound coffee cans (with lids) to store my handle materials and anything else I want to protect from moisture. I label masking tape and stack them on cheapie metal shelves. I have the wall above my bench set up with hanging hand tools and I keep drill bits in a drawer next to the drill press in indexed boxes. I use an adapted ironing board cabinet to store my sanding belts, sand paper and buffing supplies. I also use a section in my file cabinet to store spacer material thats in sheets. I put 1x4 shelves between the exposed wall studs and thats where I keep cans, bottles and containers of epoxy, peroxide, oils etc.

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Jake Evans,War Chief of the Terrible Ironic HORDE, Wielder of the Mighty Blade SOUL STEALER
 
I have my daughter clean the shop and put everything away! It costs me a dollar every time which is a bargan. She looks forward to doing it as it keeps her Pokemon card habbit going! I usually have the shop cleaned by her at least three times per week.
I take several safety precausions..... she has been around sharp knives all her life so that's not realy a concern. It's mainly CF and G10 dust. If I have been working with that stuff, I will clean and vaccuum up the grinder area. When she cleans up, she vaccums last and wears a brand new respirator I bought for her. The vaccuum has a HEPA filter in it.
Over the past several months my shop has been looking VERY organized!
smile.gif

Neil

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New Hawkbill Pics!
http://www.geocities.com/Eureka/Meeting/5520/index.html

 
I know in what pile any tool I want is located. It drives my wife crazy, keeps asking how I can find anything. Think about this, if you shop is disorderly and smells because you've been grinding on some horn or bone, your spouse will not want to set foot in it. Are you starting to see a benefit to all this clutter yet? Think about it, no more sissy smelling air freshener that she sprayed all around the shop, she won't come in and borrow your new ratchet to drive a few nails with and you won't have to go in the house to find your handtools. I've been married to the same woman for 38 years, trust me, I know what I'm talking about.
 
I like to keep wrenches,allen wrenches etc.at each machine saves running back to the toolchest, another is to keep oil can and tapfree next to the drillpress by means of a large magnet.
 
I can't believe everyone else has so many problems with their spouse invading their shops! My wife has been very helpful, especially in organizing. She suggested that I use some of those tins that family give us those god-awful fruitcakes in for assorted materials. I keep buffs, handle materials, and sometimes my glasses in them. The fruitcake worked for a little while as an anvil, but now it's just a doorstop.

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Oz

"Never try to teach a pig to sing.
It's a waste of time and it annoys the pig."
-Lazarus Long
Check out my egostistical homepage!
http://www.freespeech.org/oz/
 
I have a 4 drawer craftsmen tool box . It also has a deep compartment in the top. Its great for holding all my knives, gouges, sharpening stuff,knifemaking parts,and finishing supplies. Each has its own spot. Unfortunately I'm guilty of the put it away when the project is done method of keeping things clean. I put things away every time I finish something, while I'm working I just create a pile of things that are being used. The stuff that gets used most stays on top.

For those of you who have family borrowing things,here is the solution my Dad got for his shop. He uses the same method for cleaning I do and we're the only 2 people who can find things in his shop. That leads to anyone who wants to borrow something moving a lot of things to find it or not putting it back. He has a toolbox in the garage right next to the door on a shelf that is stocked with about 4 different sizes of phillips and flat blade screwdrivers, a small tack hamer, a claw hammer, a pushdrill,electrical tape, and a utility knife.Those are for use at the house when people need to borrow tools.That way my mom can find things easily at the house without going to the barn and digging through the shop.It works great.Since the tools don't get used much,they can be the older tools you don't use much anymore, but keep around because they aren't worn enough to throw out.That might work better for you than purposely keeping the shop so dirty no one wants to set foot in it, although my Dad and I tend to do both
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Fix it right the first time, use Baling Wire !
 
well, me and my dad are both cleaning up our shops. i like that clean shop look. plus i do more work, becuase i know where everything is and don't stop to move stuff around. i just finished cleaning my shop, ahhh, it's great to walk in there and not choke from exotic hardwood dust, mixed with stailess steel dust. i lock my shop so everyone stays out of there. as for small tools, i have a machinist chest that i keep drill bits, and various other lose-ables in, and some hand tools. bigger hand tools,electricl hand tools, shop aprons, respirators, and other assorted goodies are in my work bench. i keep all my abrasives and buffing supplies in my buffer's machine cabinet. protective gear and liquid finishes go in a wall cabinet. but generally anything that is associated with a machine stays near it. so i don't go on a shop-wide search when i need a belt cleaner for my grinder, or tapping fluid while i'm drilling. as for handle materials, i have boards of exotic hardwoods. they cost alot of money so i like to keep them inside so that they don't get warped, as rare as that is, and so the moistior content stays the same. you can make racks for steel and wood for almost nothing, if you can find spare materials lying around. racks are space savers, trust me. if anyone has a radio taking up bench space, make a shelf for it! if any of you guys have machines with empty machine cabinets, put stuff in them and clear up space. if you guys have steel cabinets that can be used for machine cabinets( not the drawer type cabinets) use em! they can say alot of shop/bench space. alan, your blades on the bladeforums front page lok awsome, keep up the good work.
 
I'm working on a rolling metal removal & polishing station.
It's a table built out of 2" thick wall square tubing, with adjustable legs & casters (2 swivel/locking. 24"X36", it is currently home to a 2X72 5 hp grinder, and a horizontal 1 hp DC variable speed 9" disk grinder.
Soon I will be mounting a vertical disk with an identical motor, a couple of buffers, and a drill press. Once done, I can roll the thing out of the shop in nice weather. I'll post pic's when it's done!
 
hows it gonna work for knifemaker, are you putting a table that can move to differnt angles on there? sounds like great idea to me, you'll get a nice even finish.
 
Keep your eye's open for when someone is remodeling there kitchen. They'll probably be thankful that you want the cabinets that they are throwing away. (they won't have to dump them) Take them home, clean them out, maybe a little spray paint and voila! Like someone mentioned put them up near the machine that needs those parts and pieces.

also I've put a continous shelf a foot from the ceiling all the way around the room. It gives you good longer term storage space.

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~ JerryO ~

Cogito Cogito Ergo Cogito Sum


 
i mentioned that about near the machines, it really is helpful. my dad's business gave me an old cabinet. i put finishing supplies in there. i like picking up stuff for nothing, plus cabinets cost alot if your buying them.
 
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