BigSky
dlbristol wroteI was raised by a mom who was very neat and a dad who, well, was not!:p
I took after dad, until I got to 9th grade Algebra and Mrs. Shank! I turned in some work, a test probably, and it was a mess. She politely, returned it with the statement, " When I can read this , I will grade it". I decided to challenge this and returned a equally messy retest. She wrote "F" and then wrote the same message about the next test. I was in trouble at that point, and when dad saw it my battle with Mrs. Shank was over. I got a lot neater! One thing I have learned, I think, is that it is important to know when clutter gets in the way of the task at hand. I once worked with a guy who surveyed for the USGS. He had the biggest mess in the truck and office you ever saw, but he could put his hands on what ever he needed at any time! I still don't know how he did it! I tend to clean up between projects, and I follow an ' evolutionary" system for putting things up. They seem to have a spot where they want to be and eventually I figure out where that is and leave them there. Another thing I have learned is not to post pictures of the SHOP!!!!
Would you please expound upon that statement. Why is it not wise to post pictures of the SHOP?
charlese
I must say it was a relief to read this thread. I'm like everyone else! Wishing it was neater, trying to get it organized, small successes and many losses. Maybe Jim (jimsjinx) will also find he is in the same boat.
Over time I have made more drawers that hang on peg board that hold specific tools/tool parts. These have helped a lot!, especially since I put name tags on the drawers. Although all things have a special place, these places change from time to time as needed.
There is a designated "open" working area on my main bench. This is where the most clutter builds up. It is easy to feel when the clean-up is needed.
The Floor - - There is an open floor space that holds the Mark V, the SPT tables, and some household stuff/junk that is almost ready to be thrown out. This open space has enough room to rotate the Mark V 360º. That way I can work from the rubber 6'X6' fatigue mat that borders on my main bench. The Mark V is parallel to the mat for sawing, rotated 90º to use an SPT. The dust collector sits on the far side of the open floor next to the sink. I often have to use two lengths of hose to connect to the Mark V and/or to vacuum the floor.
Lumber is stored on shelves on the long wall. There is a plywood/sheet good storage container below the lumber shelves. Cuttoff/scrap storage always presents a problem.
robinson46176
I wish I was neater but know going that direction will be limited by a lifetime of habit. :rolleyes:
I suppose that some of my problem is that I have always been extremely busy in life and I am busier in retirement than an awfully lot of people that are supposedly working full time.
I also think that farming is by nature less tidy than a lot of occupations. I have always kept tools in tractors and a big well stocked tool box in the combine cab during harvest. Between that and the big truck box I usually had enough tools for about any repairs needed. I had to do it that way because I was sometimes as far as 10 miles from home and the shop. My tool boxes were seldom very tidy for very long. :)
I always feel a little sorry for folks that can not work well under less than ideal circumstances. You have not lived until you have crawled under a self propelled combine on your belly in a 6" deep mix of mud, snow and freezing rain then laid on your back using your feet on big wrenches to get enough torque on a big nut and bolt seized with rust in some weird location... :eek:
For some reason I have absolutely no desire to ever go back to that. :rolleyes:
I'm really enjoying the light work involved with the horses. Sometimes I enjoy it so much it makes me feel guilty almost like I am loafing...
Rambling here... I still recall when I got my first full time off farm job in a local factory. I felt funny getting paid for doing so little... My father had been a hard task-master and the factory work seemed so easy most of the time. The hard part was adapting to working on concrete floors. My feet and legs hurt for the first month. I still much prefer walking on sod.
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2bits
My wife calls the garage/shop the "disaster containment zone":eek: . I seem to have several projects going at a time and when I finish one there will be a clean area (spot) for an hour or two. I am working on getting things organized. It is just not as high on the priority list as it should be. I am taking notes from the forum when I am not suffering information overload syndrome.
jimsjinx
Well, I did try hanging all the tools on the walls for bout a year.....no workie for me. I found myself running to the walls all the time to remove something I needed. So, I bought a cheap mechanics tool chest on casters, and this seems to be the answer for me. I can roll the whole kit and kabootle to wherever I'm working, and everything is right there. The ultimate would be one or two of those super nice tool chests from Sears or Lowes. Big ones! Then I would have everything off the walls, and right next to me. Presently, I have alot of stuff still hanging on the walls, but I think this may be the answer fo me. Just gotta come up with the $$ to invest in nice roll around chests. This cheapie I have now would suffice to roll all the layout tools and measuring tools. They are light and don't take up alot of space. I pondered building something outa wood, but time and $$ are at a premium right now. A buddy of mine who is a proffessional mechanic, told me he'd keep an eye out for used or repossessed tool boxes on the Matco and Snap On trucks that come to his shop. I could get a better deal that way, and the boxes he has were used, but looked like brand new. The coolest thing about roll awway boxes, is I could roll em all up to the front of the shop out of the way when I wanted, and get rid of the cluttered look I have now, with stuff hanging out in the dust on pegboard and shelves! This thread got better every day for me! Keep the ideas coming! I now want to finally install my dust collector permanently with 4" PVC pipe overhead. Thinking about building a little shed on the side of the shop outside, to house the collector, and maybe even the upright compressor.(?) That would free up some floorspace. Thanks everyone for not being judgmental, and instead giving good input! I love neat! I just have a hard time with it! Jim
Ed in Tampa
I guess the real question I have to the guys with messy shops is how do you find your tools? or How much time do you waste hunting for a tool?
I had a Son in law that was slob in the shop and I did a very informal time study watching him work. He spent about 1/4 of his time actually working, about 1/2 to 3/4 of his time hunting tools and if there was some time left he spent it explaining how he justified a messy shop.
I also know he threw out a sizable number of tools with the junk when he finally did get around to cleaning it up.
His most exciting times were when he was standing ankle deep in saw dust grinding cast iron or metal down showering sparks into the dust. I kind of stood near the fire extinguisher just in case. A few wisps of smoke but never a fire. :eek:
wh500special
jimsjinx wrote...The ultimate would be one or two of those super nice tool chests from Sears or Lowes. Big ones!...
Jim,
I'm a roller cabinet kind of guy as well. Problem is, I can invest my entire income in them and not have much to show for it. However, despite the normal quality level of most things at Harbor Freight, their rolling cabinets are amazingly nice, heavy, and durable. Check out item numbers 90320 and 95272. I have one of each in my workshop at work at am amazed at how nice they are...especially when they put them on sale.
Just a suggestion.
Steve
jimsjinx
Just to be clear, I don't stand in sawdust to work. I am retired from the fire dept.,so don't do stupid stunts like grinding sparks into a pile of sawdust! My issue here was organization of 30+ years of tools and equipment I use every week. I have never fell down due to clutter, or anything like that. My workspace isn't THAT bad! I'm getting a little older, and MUCH slower, so I was looking for ideas, like the roll around cabinets. I used to have a warehouse sized shop, and storage was never a problem. Now I'm in a garage. Big difference for sure. I couldn't survive a 1/3 productivity due to confusion. I'm barely holding on with 1/2 the work as last year. The slowdown is, I'm sure, to the economy. jimsjinx
dlbristol
BigSky wroteWould you please expound upon that statement. Why is it not wise to post pictures of the SHOP?
Nothing sinister, I was trying to be funny. If I don't post pictures of my shop, then some how I don't feel as bad about how it looks. :o Ironically, I just finish a couple of small projects and then cleaned up the shop. This thread did cause me to think a bit about some rearranging and I made a chisel holder fit in my shop in a box.
dlbristol
robinson46176 wroteI wish I was neater but know going that direction will be limited by a lifetime of habit. :rolleyes:
I suppose that some of my problem is that I have always been extremely busy in life and I am busier in retirement than an awfully lot of people that are supposedly working full time.
I also think that farming is by nature less tidy than a lot of occupations. I have always kept tools in tractors and a big well stocked tool box in the combine cab during harvest. Between that and the big truck box I usually had enough tools for about any repairs needed. I had to do it that way because I was sometimes as far as 10 miles from home and the shop. My tool boxes were seldom very tidy for very long. :)
I always feel a little sorry for folks that can not work well under less than ideal circumstances. You have not lived until you have crawled under a self propelled combine on your belly in a 6" deep mix of mud, snow and freezing rain then laid on your back using your feet on big wrenches to get enough torque on a big nut and bolt seized with rust in some weird location... :eek:
For some reason I have absolutely no desire to ever go back to that. :rolleyes:
I'm really enjoying the light work involved with the horses. Sometimes I enjoy it so much it makes me feel guilty almost like I am loafing...
Rambling here... I still recall when I got my first full time off farm job in a local factory. I felt funny getting paid for doing so little... My father had been a hard task-master and the factory work seemed so easy most of the time. The hard part was adapting to working on concrete floors. My feet and legs hurt for the first month. I still much prefer walking on sod.
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Francis, you just described my youth and why I chose another way to make a living, to a T! And you hit the nail on the head with the other as well. I would often feel a little guilty as I taught math in a nice warm room, knowing that I could have been out in the cold pulling a calf or feeding. I can't think of a better way to grow up, I still enjoy doing some of that( once in a while) and I have no desire to go back to it either. My family still farms!
jimsjinx
Oh, I didn't mean to sound like I was miffed or anything. You guys are my happy place! I just would hate for me to convey a scene of "Hoarders, Buried Alive" !!LOL I just get so flustered, and a better arrangement would benifit my old bones! It's embarrassing! I could pump out 3-4 full size dining room sets a week, just a couple years ago! Now, I get one done in about the same time! My "production mode" days are numbered. Anyway, I never take offence to the comments here. Everyone is trying to add something so as to help, and get a chuckle now and then! I'm real bad at saying something, then realizing, it makes no sense at all, or is abrasive as heck! I never mean it that way though! I smell like a Ceasar salad right now, from un-caning a chair seat with white vinigar, so I gotta go shower! My wife came in, and asked where's the salad? LOL Thanks, and keep them ideas coming! jimsjinx
robinson46176
Ed in Tampa wroteI guess the real question I have to the guys with messy shops is how do you find your tools? or How much time do you waste hunting for a tool?
My old woodshop was an "L" shaped corner of the farm shop consisting of about 650 sq. ft. It was actually fairly organized except the lumber storage area. It had some serious flaws though. Most of it was under a low loft and almost half of it was still a dirt floor. It was fairly comfortable in the summer but totally un-heatable in the winter. It was also "VERY" bad about tool sweating and rusting.
Now comes the new shop which is a little over 1400 sq. ft. and can be expanded (and probably will). It is easy to heat and cool and has a good floor. It suffers only from not being fully sat up yet. There is still a lot of unrelated "stuff" that has not been removed yet. Most tools do not have a final home yet. All it really needs is time and that has been hard to come by.
Much of the time shortage comes from us spending so much time with the horses which does not need defending. We get a LOT of pleasure from it and a fair amount of income as well. Then there are medical issues, family stuff and all manner of other time demands.
A couple of weeks in there would work wonders but it is a real pain the way it is. The trouble is that there are all kinds of things demanding a couple of weeks of time already in line...
donald1
rlkeeney wroteI think they just clean it up for the photo. ]
yeah it may be...;)
jsburger
FWIW, I did my new 30' X 40' shop floor my self in 2009. The two part epoxy paint was bought at a Sherwin-Williams paint store. Today 13 years later it looks the same as the day I put it down.
RFGuy
jenniferwarms wrote
I want to install an epoxy garage floor in the house we're moving into but keep getting conflicting info regarding durability, etc. I know each of the box stores has its own DIY kits but I'd like to hear from anyone who's got personal experience with this. Is there any difference between the professionally installed floors and stuff you paint on yourself?? Thanks
I have researched this quite a bit, but haven't done my garage floors yet. Based on feedback from friends that have done this and my own research, I would say the biggest difference between the DIY kits and the pro install is surface preparation. A good pro installer will mechanically abrade the concrete to both clean it, level it and give the best surface adhesion for the epoxy paint. They will also fill in the expansion cracks. For both the DIY kit and less inclined contractors they will only acid wash the concrete beforehand. I have had friends that did the DIY kit from Home Depot and they had peeling a few years later but those that I know who did a pro install have no complaints. Some pros use a more professional grade of epoxy, I believe, but I can't remember the details on it, so it might be worth investigating. I don't think the DIY kits sold at hardware stores are very good quality based on feedback from my friends. However, if you want to do it yourself I would go to a pro paint store as John mentioned. I am sure there are different quality grades you can get for this. IMHO this is one area where spending more money is worth it in the long run, i.e. put down the best product you can afford whether it is a DIY or pro install.
dusty
I had mine done professionally four years ago amd it looks like new today. Yes, the floor was first abraded first, then cleaned with a solvent and then vacuumed right before application. Wasn't cheap but it appears as though it will outlast me.
Mine is flaked with black, white and gray chips. I would change that if I could. It does a great job of providing camouflage for small, parts.
jsburger
One thing I should add about my installation is that my floor was brand new. When I had the shop built the contractor only built the shell and poured the floor. I did all of the interior (wiring, insulation, walls, lights, etc.) myself. However, the floor was done first on the new concrete. It was the first thing done after the concrete cured. I did do an acid wash but no grinding/abrading was required.
If I was doing an old dirty floor I would hire a contractor.
[deleted]
I’ve done a total of four garages three of them were done with DIY kits from the big box stores and one was done professionally. two of the DIY kits failed within a year because there was no vapor barrier under the concrete one was on new construction and one was on 40 year old construction
The DIY kit that I used that actually worked was done on new construction with a vapor barrier installed and I had the contractor do a broom finish on the concrete so the epoxy had something good to bite into. It took me four of the DIY kits to do a two car garage that was 26 x 28. It still looked great when I sold the house after 10 years
Our current house we had it done professionally and it cost about $3000. The finish took them two days of grinding the surface a day to put down the epoxy and another day to put down a clearcoat. I think it looks a lot better than the DIY kits but I don’t think it holds up necessarily any better assuming you have a vapor barrier and proper surface prep of the floor.
[deleted]
I looked at both epoxy flooring and vinyl tiles for my garage floor. In the end I chose to go with the vinyl tile option.
As has been mentioned, when done “properly”, installation of epoxy flooring can take several days. I wasn’t to thrilled at the thought of leaving all of my tools outside while waiting for the cement to prepped and epoxy to cure. Additionally my garage floor has wide expansion joints with rounded edges that even the three inch castors didn’t like. This lead me to looking at vinyl tiles.
The cost for the tiles was less then the epoxy. Additionally installation could be completed in one day with minimal concrete prep work. The vinyl tiles are “ softer” to stand on all day then concrete and if you accidentally drop something the tile is much more forgiving. The tiles bridge the concrete expansion joints fine and I haven’t had any problems moving things around.
I have had these installed for 5 years now. For the most part I have been happy with their performance. The tiles have picked up some stains but for the most part are holding up well. That being said, a well done epoxy floor looks really nice!
[deleted]
I work on small crafts, most of the projects can easily be carried from bench to bench.
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