Finally getting organized here
 

Since January MrsWD and I have struggled to get projects done on this house, working out of this shop. I never had time to organize it, we just lunged from one fix-up project to another, working as fast as we could. I know the work would have gone better and faster if we had taken a week off and organized a work space.
Well I finally did it - cleaned up and organized our shop! It’s really great to go to the shop and reach for a tool without digging through the pile of tools and crap. I’m a lot better about putting tools away than MrsWD is. She tends to drop tools wherever she finishes with them. So I know the tools are either in the shop or where her last project was, which is an improvement.
This summer I’ll get my automotive shop put together out in the barn. I really miss having a sandblaster. I don’t know how I ever got along without it.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1541697341.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1541697341.jpg

We worked for 9 months out of this shop.

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Cleaned up and organized - it's way better!

Looks like you need more hammers..... :rolleyes:

My workshop is still in the before pictures phase unfortunately.

Very neat and tidy...the way I would like my man cave shop to look like. Unfortunately, we have ongoing projects that demand certain, and different tools on a daily basis, so my shop generally looks like that also.
I also have a 19 year old son, that is constantly borrowing the toolds he doesn't already have, and a wife that leaves tools in the barn near her horses.

Nice! I love pegboard, about half of my garage/shop has pegboard for the walls.

You have no idea. I have counted 14 claw hammers, and every time I think I have them in one place I discover another one lying somewhere. I have no idea where they came from. Is there a hammer fairy? Haven't counted the ball peen and misc hammers.

I keep threatening to clean my garage up. The only thing is, even though it's a mess, I know the location of everything. If I clean it up, I won't be able to find anything.

Note to self, "get more pegboard".

I have some above my work bench but a pile of tools stacking up.

That wouldn't be funny if it wasn't true.

My Winter project is to get understandable order imposed.

Good stuff

I just got a new box. Now I have no idea where anything is. Dont get me started on my office. I'm close to needing an intervention.

Good work getting things in order. Now try to keep it that way! :)

One thing I’ve done that helps a lot is to have a “throw it here” shelf. That big horizontal space on the workbench is jut too tempting a place to throw crap you don’t have time or a place to properly put away. Random stuff used to accumulate on the workbench until I didn’t have any work space left. Now (so far) random stuff goes on the Throw ItHere shelf and always have a clear work bench.

I guess you guys aren't OCD like me. WD's first two photos gave me anxiety. I calmed down a lot when I saw the third picture. Ahhhh...Perfect.

There is a force of nature that is impossible to overcome.

Every flat open surface will acquire things until it ceases to become an open surface.

It's is just a matter of time. Nature always wins. Resistance is futile.

The floor is also not immune to this force....at least at my house.

Me too! My tool chest has labelled drawers!

Looks great, bet it feels good to have it organized.

Labelled drawers?
That is sick. You may need an intervention. :)

I need pegboard now, well done. The real test is whether it stays that way. I have interventions pretty regularly in my messy home office and in my shop and a month later they look like crap again :-(

Chest? Singular? You need more tools.


Where's the rest of your tools? Where do you keep supplies?

Kaisen. Slight improvements every day. Soon you'll be making labels!

In my small shop, I have a nice PERFORMAX metal 2 door cabinet that I got from Menards, that is 48" wide, and 72" tall. it is completely stuffed with oils, coolant, spray cans, filters, cleaning products, and other misc.

Apparently most of the "stuff" in the first two pictures is still piled up out of sight as it certainly isn't in the organized area picture... out of sight, out of mind WD?? :)
Great improvement in your new area though... looks good.

I have this slat wall stuff, around the entire garage and butcher block work benches that are so nice I don't want to work with greasy stuff on them, sort of like a hardware store display, really nice, put in by the previous owner, Joe Cocker, yeah that guy.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1541733340.JPG

It has two columns of drawers and is about 5’ wide, then I have about 10’ of cabinets up above for oil and stuff. Sockets are on a drop on organizer on the workbench top, and the really big stuff hangs on the pegboard. But yes, I could always use more tools.

Geez, tough crowd. OK:

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I bought some stock room shelves from a department store that was going out of business. All the fasteners and the drawer units are on it.

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All my power tools that I keep in cases are on the top shelf. All my chargers in one place
The "throw crap here" shelf is actually two shelves - for now. I might actually resort to labels on the plastic boxes that I keep things like the pop rivet gun, Oetiker clamps, staple gun, etc.

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Next spring I'll start on the shop in the barn, where I'll work on the cars, mower, etc. right now it's just a dream.

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The condition of the inside of my tool box is shameful. When people ask me what keeps me up at night, I think I'll show them this picture,

That looks really good Patrick! It's so nice to get stuff off the bench and the floor.

(Hijack alert! Hijacking the thread now! I should be flamed!)

My advice to everyone who can drink responsibly; don't ever quit.

Social levels of alcohol use isn't in my DNA, so what used to be cocktail hour (after hour) is now filled with old man activities, such as making labels:

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I love my Dymo labeller.

Making more steps on the road to getting organized. Last summer I bought a Drill Doctor to sharpen the dozens and dozens of drills I have. I was in the middle of a couple of projects and didn't have time to sharpen drills so I bought a Milwaukee drill set. Today I finally got started on the drills.

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I had well over a hundred random drills laying around. The first job was to get them all in one place.

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I mostly used a magnifying glass to inspect the condition of the drills.

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Out of curiosity I put some of them under a microscope to see what the edges looked like. This 1/2 drill didn't look bad under the magnifier, but the 'scope revealed bad chipping.

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The Drill Doctor leaves a rough surface behind. This is probably OK for a consumer job, but there must be something better that the pros use. I have a friend who is a machinist ans he sharpens his drills by hand on a belt grinder. They look beautiful.

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This 1/2 inch drill was so bad I had to run it through 4 times.

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Once I got things straightened out I started grindin' drills and filling the indexes. I bought that Milwaukee set in August because I was too busy to sit down and learn how to use the Drill Doctor. It only took a week for the guy working for me to lose most of the drills out of it.

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I filled all these today. I know I've got some more around here.

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I sorted the surplus drills by size and type and put them back in the bins.

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I really like this Bosch drill index. It has holes in it so if you are switching back and forth between multiple drills you can stand the ones you aren't using up in the drill index. No watching them roll off the scaffold or getting lost.

One of my goals in life is to own just one really good set of drill bits. I'll lock them in a safe so no one can use them but I'll be able to tell people I have them!

That is amazing Mike!

Try these. They are very good.
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Norseman-High-Speed-Steel-135-Split-Point-Mechanic-Length-Black-and-Gold-Drill-Bit-Set-29-Piece-SPM-29/304632543?MERCH=REC-_-pipsem-_-304632544-_-304632543-_-N

That is so beautiful to me.

You are doing it wrong.

Not until the slope of the pile of stuff on it becomes to great does the surface become unusable. I've learned avalanches, though worrisome, are a necessary evil.