Potpourri for January 2012

[fiatben]

OK, so I'm jumping the gun a few hours, but I have no intention of being awake 3 hours from now and I got stuff on my mind, and I really like the idea of a monthly thread for random thoughts, discussions, rants and raves. Well, actually, I've had this on my mind since this morning, but thought I'd wait until late in the day.

Like many of you (I'm sure) I find myself unable to resist a magazine artice, forum thread or tv show about getting organized as a woodworker, or touring someone's shop, etc. I'm especially enamored by those plans for simple cabinets to store everything. So, what's the rant about, you ask? Simply this.

In every mug shot of a shop, whether an online tour, a magazine spread or a tv show, I see these incredibly spacious and clean shops with all this room. Even the pictures of the "solution" projects shows a well-crafted project with just the right amount of tools/parts/etc. to look oh-so-pretty.

Come on!!! This isn't the real world. I guess it's like they tell you when you're trying to sell your house, take away everything you need and leave just enough to make it look almost like someone lives there so that it looks like you have all this space that no one really has.

This is the real world:
[ATTACH]15552[/ATTACH] and that's on a GOOD day.

I know the problem is that I have too much stuff, even duplicates of somethings (not that having two SSs is a bad thing) and I know I can't throw anything away because the very next day I will need it for something I didn't anticipate, but still ....

Anyway, it's becoming one of my pet peeves. And I in no way by any stretch of the imagination have anything against you guys here that have incredibly well organized and clean shops. Just be glad I don't come visit because I'm sure I would just stand there and drool all over the place!!:eek:

So ... what's on your mind as we enter the near year?

[fjimp]

Great start for the new year in the shop. I just came in from the shop. I am making two saw handle canes from a lovely piece of Cherry. As I was checking to be certain everything is in order and secured for the night. I was pondering some recent changes and how I can improve my layout. At the moment my primary focus has been on creating a dedicated sharpening area. I am making slow progress on that goal and finding I also need to focus on clamp storage. A few years ago I purchased a clamp rack from Rockler that is similar to the rack Dusty carried home over Christmas. My wife and I both feel it takes way to much space and doesn't hold clamps as securely as we would like. I have two double doors in my shop and would love to mount clamp racks on them. My fear being many of those clamps are really heavy and I feel the doors/hinges may not support the weight. Thoughts from others would be appreciated here. Wall space is at a premium and really doesn't seem an option. Clutter on work benches is always an issue. Every time I put everything away I seem to begin a new project or three and find the clutter is once again occupying its normal space. The one area I have finally trained myself to keep "essentially" clutter free is my primary assemble bench. Oh yes I was going to brag that secondary forms of transportation are not allowed in my shop, that would have been a lie as I keep one of those little tractor seat wheeled devices for when I need to work close to the floor. If I am not using it my Granddaughter is. I wish a Happy New Year for one and all. I also have no desire to stay up and welcome the stroke of newness. Jim

[fiatben]

Jim,
You should of seen the place before I moved the car out!!!!

[JPG]

Jim,
You should of seen the place before I moved the car out!!!!

I would like to be that organized and have all that space. Believe me, that ain't 'cluttered' .............................................very much.

No! No pix. It would frighten young children and cause mis-carriages elsewhere!:eek:

The ball dropped an hour and a half ago! Doesn't feel much different!



Happy New Year!:)

[robinson46176]

Admit it... You spent 3 days cleaning and organizing before you took the picture.

I agree that the best thing you can do is remove everything that does not belong but all of that stuff doesn't have a place where it does belong.
I moved my woodshop from the barn that houses the farm shop and the space I moved it from is still full... Now as I am moving it from the former store to the house basement the former store is still going to be half full plus I still have a herd of "stuff" that I am moving from the basement to the former store.

On the upside the 24' x 40' basement woodshop will be all woodshop stuff "except" for a 42" deep sort of closet all of the way across one 24' end wall at the least used end of the shop (farthest from the outside door and the inside door) that will be the home to most of our many Christmas decorations. My wife decorates the interior of the house heavily every year and this is a very large house. Even with everything packed tightly and carefully into plastic totes and large cardboard boxes stacked floor to ceiling it requires that much space and then some to store it.
I don't have 2010 or 2011 on-line but here is 2009. We have added a lot of stuff in the last 2 years. We buy most of it at yard/garage sales/thrift stores.
https://picasaweb.google.com/robinson46176/Christmas200902


.

[reible]

I do believe that JPG40504 and I might have a lot more in common then it first might appear, that is, if he has anywhere near the clutter I do. Now when I say clutter I'm not talking trash, I mean really good stuff but much to much of it, due to lack of space. If I had more space then it wouldn't be called clutter anymore. And yes, it is my own fault.

Looking at most peoples "cluttered" shop it is no where near as bad as what mine looks like, I mean I see a lot of space that could be filled with things in my shop.

You do get to see some glimpse of my shop when I shoot project pictures but I never plan to show you the whole picture, it it just not something to share... and could easily cause nightmares.

I would have to say if I doubled my space and removed half of my stuff then it would start looking like your typical "cluttered" shop.

Ed

[reible]

I too like to look at these magazines with some guy who cleans up his shop in a weekend by making this simple shelf and pegboard and a small cabinet. You see his hammer, 3 chisels, 2 screw drivers, pliers, and 3 cans of spray paint... WHAT is that! I have a single drawer with more tools then they have pictured in this guys shop! OH wait look in the cabinet he has a small box of nails and some 3-in-1 oil and a drill, palm sander and jigsaw... nope still nothing there tools wise.

I look at the 3 pages of plans and drawings and two more pages of pictures and think why did I waste my time reading this and why did they even publish this???????? Is this really useful for their readers?

Now what I'd really like to see is someone take a shop like mine and repackage it so it all fits in a nice perimeter arrangement and add space for a car. Now that is something I'd buy the magazine for, and you bet I'd enjoy reading it. However they would more then likely purchased nice tool chests and benches, cabinets, slot wall and who knows what else and I could never afford to start on buy that stuff.

I once looked at one of these wonder storage walls, benches, roll outs, cabinets, the works. One of these walls for just one side of my garage was over $8000! If I sold both of my cars I'm not sure I could come up with $8000. Yes this is so going to happen...

I do have a plan, my shopsmith, some plywood, circular saw, straight edge, screws, glue, nail gun, a few days of nice weather and well maybe get rid of about 30 boxes of clutter... better make that 80 boxes of clutter.

Ed

[fiatben]

I too like to look at these magazines with some guy who cleans up his shop in a weekend by making this simple shelf and pegboard and a small cabinet. You see his hammer, 3 chisels, 2 screw drivers, pliers, and 3 cans of spray paint... WHAT is that! I have a single drawer with more tools then they have pictured in this guys shop! OH wait look in the cabinet he has a small box of nails and some 3-in-1 oil and a drill, palm sander and jigsaw... nope still nothing there tools wise.

I look at the 3 pages of plans and drawings and two more pages of pictures and think why did I waste my time reading this and why did they even publish this???????? Is this really useful for their readers?
Ed

EXACTLY!!!

And Farmer's right, that is a "clean" shot. Most days I have to be very careful moving around in order to not knock something over or trip myself up. Admittedly, it's very unsafe like that, but I don't move around when something is running. You're also right in that if I removed everything that wasn't wood related, it would more than double the space, but I can't very well store all my car parts, personal papers, family pictures and other memorabilia outside in the weather.

We all make do with the space we've got, which (even in farmer's case) is never enough.

Happy New Year guys!!

[JPG]

I do believe that JPG40504 and I might have a lot more in common then it first might appear, that is, if he has anywhere near the clutter I do. Now when I say clutter I'm not talking trash, I mean really good stuff but much to much of it, due to lack of space. If I had more space then it wouldn't be called clutter anymore. And yes, it is my own fault.

Looking at most peoples "cluttered" shop it is no where near as bad as what mine looks like, I mean I see a lot of space that could be filled with things in my shop.

You do get to see some glimpse of my shop when I shoot project pictures but I never plan to show you the whole picture, it it just not something to share... and could easily cause nightmares.

I would have to say if I doubled my space and removed half of my stuff then it would start looking like your typical "cluttered" shop.

Ed

I do have some of that as well!]do[/B] have vertical surfaces that have exceeded their capacity.

What I do not have is horizontal surfaces that are 'uncluttered'!:D

[STB]

After retiring and doing the travel trailer thing we found that if we wanted to stay married we had to something different. So we started to look for a house where it don't snow in the winter. That is when fantasy's about a new shop started.
This is what I ended up with in the real world.
[ATTACH]15554[/ATTACH]
Sharing space with SWMBO's vehicle (she won't even let me drive it). I think no space is worse than a cluttered (no a working:D ) space.