Putting Stuff Away
#21
Who can argue with the idea of putting things away asap? While it sounds like an easy proposition, we often hider ourselves with shop layout and other sort of ergonomic issues. I worked horribly inefficient for a few years before I got into hand tools and built a bench that became the anchor of my shop. The key is to have a place for everything to go. Well thought-out shop design and layout is a must before putting everything away becomes a viable option.
How do you know you're learning anything if you don't screw up once in awhile?

My blog: http://birdsandboards.blogspot.com/
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#22
My dad taught me to clean my tools first, then put them back where I got them from. So help me, he drilled that into my head every time I helped him work on something.
It does no good whatsoever when my wife goes & takes a tool, uses it, then forgets where she left it.
I spent 3 months tearing this house apart looking for a tool I knew I had.
I couldn't find it anywhere. Then one day, I was moving something in my wife's room, and there was not only that one tool, but a bunch of my tools sitting on a chest in her room.

I took them all back, cleaned them, put them back in my tool chest, and locked the drawers. Now she can't use my tools without me knowing about it.
Upset
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#23
I stole an idea from a guy a few years ago.

Every time you leave the shop, put 10 items away.  

It doesn't matter if you went in there for a screwdriver or a nail.  Put 10 items away every time.
You'd be surprised you can always find the ten.  Maybe it's just a loose screw or a small cutoff to be tossed in the bin, it still counts.
After a while, the place looks pretty good.

Silly and minor, but it worked for me.  Now my shop is .... well.... less messy.  
Rolleyes
“Poor quality lingers long after the sweetness of cheap price is forgotten”
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#24
Thumbs Down 
reminds me of the Estwing hatchet i had (well, still have, but...)... I knew where it WAS, but someone who shall not be named (or one of her offspring) moved it. It was lost for probably 2 years (long after i had purchased a cheap replacement...grrr) and one day i was moving and cleaning up some stuff and VOILA! I was more perturbed at the denials than the lack of utility for that time period. They shoulda be politicians and at least i would know when they were lying.
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#25
Yep, a place for everything, and everything in its place, no wasted time search for something. Now with that said, if I am going to be using a tool through out the day I leave it on the bench, end of the day, back in its place. I also have a chisel and small hand tools/ measuring squares on it too, rack on the back side of my main wood working bench at my finger tips.
KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE EQUALS WISDOM. RMB
The SO asked me today, "what are you going to do to day"? I said "nothing".  She said, "that's what you did yesterday"! Me, "Yes love, but I was not finished yet"!!!!!!!!
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#26
When I had my picture framing shop locating the right tools at the right time was essential to efficiency (and profit).

I had several stations in the shop.  One for mitering, one for glue ups, one for fitting the art, one for glass, etc.

I found that having duplicate tools at each station eliminated most of the wandering tools issue.  So the awl, screw driver, tape measure etc, were duplicated at each station.  There was never a reason to move any from station to station.  

I also had a rack at each station with a designated position for each tool. 

If you are into production efficiency I highly recommend this.  Duplicates of these hand tools amounts to very little money and the efficiency gained is substantial.

I also went through many utility knife blades a day and it was essential that I had sharp blades available.  So I bought a dozen utility knives and I made sure that all of them had a fresh blade first thing in the morning.  I had a bin for sharp knives and another for dull ones.  I usually used 4 to 6 blades a day, but sometimes more.
No animals were injured or killed in the production of this post.
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#27
(10-30-2016, 05:34 PM)tag Wrote: Having been an aircraft mechanic for 25 years in a past life everything had its place and you had to know where every tool was at all times or someone could die. Doesn't carry over to that extreme in my current life but life is much easier organized.

+1.  A place for everything and everything in its place.  I remember at a conference one time, one magazine editor was telling me he liked to keep this tools on his workbench during a project, then return them to storage after the project was finished.  He noted it drove a fellow editor nuts, because that editor would religiously return each tool back to storage after he used it.  The key is having a dedicated place to store your tools, so you always know where they are.  I have a lot of portable power tools in those plastic cases.  After awhile, a lot of those cases look the same.  I labeled each case so now I know which tool is in which case.  Saves me a lot of time.
Still Learning,

Allan Hill
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#28
I love to have everything put in its place-my dad was the opposite. Everything got left right where it was last used and he could always tell you where anything was- if it got moved- it would mess him up. We didn't work well together in the shop !
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#29
I am a fan of big toolboxes so I can have drawers dedicated to types and functions of hand tools. I am trying to do the same now with the bin racks from Sam's Club for hardware and consumables. I split the difference between put everything away between every task and every job. I add in an occasional clean everything up in the shop for a couple hour sessions.

I do love when everything gets picked up. Really makes me want to work more. The mess/clutter makes me annoyed and tired trying to process it all.


Glad its my shop I am responsible for - I only have to make me happy.

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#30
Grew up as a farmer, standard crops, along with livestock, then my first real profession was auto mechanics. Did a two year course in auto mechanics, air conditioning and electrical at a vocational technical college, it was essentially self paced so if one could pass the tests, then graduation could be done in a year (some mandatory courses required). Every tool was shared so every thing had to be returned to its place....

So at 17 3/4 years of age my auto mechanics career began on commission, worked 3 years and decided to go to college, but had a wife and child at that time so had to keep working as a mechanic while in college. To make money on commission, "tool control" is a skill in itself, everything has to be highly organized.

College set my path into the military, always new that's was first career choice, but my wife had talked me out of joining....so organized life took on a new meaning with focus on training and discipline.

Fast forward, just built my new workbench and in reading about bench building most say build without a tool tray because junk gets acquired there, and to me if that happens, it's just a lack of training and discipline. So my bench is a split top design, with the little tool holder/planing stop in the middle. My experience is that the back section of the workbench is a great place for tools and project parts whilst working and the ability to store chisels and saws in the little center section is fantastic. However it all gets put away at the end of a task and the work area is cleaned up.

My current disabilities have at times hampered this, sometimes my work focus takes me to exhaustion, and when that happens things get left as is, but my focus upon returning is to clean up, reorganize....so having tool storage close and well organized is a big plus.

Regards,
Andy
Mos Maiorum
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