Oganizing

[dweir]

Just another question... How do you organize your bushings/Kits/blanks?
I have purchased a Plano fishing tackle box and used a label maker to mark the trays for bushings for Slims, Euro, Sierra, etc. I store the blanks on a shelf. I keep my kits in another tackle box along with extra refills.

I am always looking for new ideas? What do you seasoned/professional pen makers use to organize your "Stuff"?

Thanks,
Dave

 

[les-smith]

I did exactly what you did. I use this:

I put my buffing wax in the top along with scissors, rags, instructions, and other stuff.

 

[jhs494]

Les it looks like you have fishing tackle mixed in with your pen turning supplies..

 

[R2]

I recycled my old pantry carcase and built a set of 20 drawers for it. Again all the dividers, runners and drawers were made from 2nd hand material I had collected over the years. I use some of the drawers for kits, bushes, drill bits, bushes, blanks - anything to do with pens. Works OK.

 

[ed4copies]

12 - 8foot high shelving units, with pull-out part storage bins - that covers only the kits and resin blanks.

Off site - wood storage for turning blocks (basement flooded last year, all "potentially damageable by water" was moved).

Shower curtain hooks for bushings (thank-you someone here!!) right above the lathe on wood dowel "rod" - 3 feet long.

Copious quantities of stuff on floor, that doesn't seem to stay in it's home.

 

[IPD_Mrs]

Originally posted by ed4copies

Copious quantities of stuff on floor, that doesn't seem to stay in it's home.

Ed this is scary. We seem to be very much alike in this![:0]
I just spent the last hour cleaning up the scrap wood pile.

For those that use a mini lathe, have any of you ever put your lathe on a roll around tool chest? If so what, do you have any problems with vibrations transfering to the tool chest? Our lathe and pen making tools have out grown all of the various storage ideas we have implimented over the last year. It gets old moving storage units around all of the time just to work different projects or machines.

Mike

 

[Rudy Vey]

I am also using the large Plano boxes. Every kit has its own box, bushings go in here as well. Blanks are stored in sturdy cardboard boxes of very good shoes and plastic storage shoe containers from the $-Store.
They are all together stored in two large storage shelves (48" wide, 15" deep and 6 feet high) and on a table saw (with a 1/2 sheet of MDF on it). Table saw is also assembly area, glue-up area, etc. The more kits I get, the more boxes are on the shelves and the TS. Getting more, and more, and more......

 

[TellicoTurning]

I have my kits still in their original bags, handing on pegs on the peg board above the work bench.. blanks are in labeled boxes on a shelf.

 

[DCBluesman]

I don't organize anything. I'm required to be organized for my day job. For my pen making I just put stuff where it lands and pick it up where I find it. [8D]

 

[cdcarter]

I put each set in a plastic sandwich bag and label it using a labeling machine. I keep them all lined up in a drawer. I can always find the set I'm after in 10 seconds or less.

 

[Fred]

I have each pen kit in their own Plano plastic storage try. I also have a mandrel in each kit's storage tray with the proper bushings mounted on the mandrel in the proper order.

So far I have yet been unable to find everything instantly when changing from one pen kit to another.

Ah, life is made so easy by pre-planning. Actually I developed my method after watching a Woodcraft demo years ago. The demo dude dropped his bushings box and we all watched hundreds of different sized bushings go every which way imaginable. Right then and there I decided that was not to my advantage to have the same thing happen to me. Hence the idea to have everything in it's own little home was born, er, hatched, er, what-ever!

 

[wudnhed]

Originally posted by MLKWoodWorking

Originally posted by ed4copies

.

For those that use a mini lathe, have any of you ever put your lathe on a roll around tool chest? If so what, do you have any problems with vibrations transfering to the tool chest? Our lathe and pen making tools have out grown all of the various storage ideas we have implimented over the last year. It gets old moving storage units around all of the time just to work different projects or machines.

Mike

I have my mini on a small set of shelves with wheels, it's heavy but I love being able to move it around.

 

[OKLAHOMAN]

Kits hang on peg board,wood blanks in baskets,acrylic blanks in drawers,bushings hung with care on shower curtian hooks and all tools in place,I guess I should have entered this in the biggest liars contest as I have no idea where anything in my shop is,the fun is in the hunt.

 

[papaturner]

The seeking is not something I handle very graciful,So with that said Blanks are in plastic shoe boxes each labeled,pen kits are in plano boxes each labeled and bushings are on the curtain hooks and of course each has a tag for identifing.
Cuts down on the seeking and allows more turning time.

Perry

 

[jwoodwright]

Oh My! What suggestions! Mine is constanly evolving. The worst was to open all the little envelopes and put them into sectioned plastic boxes. Too many scratched pieces. Finally figured that's why they used so many envelopes. Back to peg Board, get quick overview of kits...

 

[airrat]

I use the origional bags on shower curtain hangers. I don't do the tackle box due to fear of it spilling and then having to figure out the puzzle. Plus I have wall space for the dowel rod to hold the hangers, I dont have anymore shelf space.

 

[TellicoTurning]

Originally posted by wudnhed

Originally posted by MLKWoodWorking

Originally posted by ed4copies

.

For those that use a mini lathe, have any of you ever put your lathe on a roll around tool chest? If so what, do you have any problems with vibrations transfering to the tool chest? Our lathe and pen making tools have out grown all of the various storage ideas we have implimented over the last year. It gets old moving storage units around all of the time just to work different projects or machines.

Mike

I have my mini on a small set of shelves with wheels, it's heavy but I love being able to move it around.

I have my Jet Mini sitting on a homemade wooden stand, lots of 2x4's, with a box of rocks at the bottom and sitting on wheels so I can move it around the shop. The wheels will lock so I don't get much movement and the rocks makes the whole unit heavy enough to handle some pretty weird and out of balance pieces.

 

[karlkuehn]

Originally posted by DCBluesman

I don't organize anything. I'm required to be organized for my day job. For my pen making I just put stuff where it lands and pick it up where I find it. [8D]

I do that same thing, that way when you tidy up a bit, it's like Christmas! New tools, new kits, new miter saw (I was wondering where that went!).[]

 

[Daniel]

Bushings go into drawer for a small parts cabinet. The ones for screws nails etc. that can hang on the wall. each drawer is labeled but I need to get a larger one as I ran out of drawers a while back. pen kits, I found two boxes full of small plastic containers. they mesure about 4X3X2.5 inches. they hold about 3 kits at one time. I have each kit type in a box labeled. Blanks are sort of scattered right now. my best ones are either on a shelf or in a drawer. the rest are in boxes. other stuff like waxes etc. are on a shelf near my lathe.

 

[JimBobTucson]

I was always getting my bushing mixed up. I finally got feed up with it and "dog-tagged" all of my bushing sets. They can then be placed in a cheapo plastic organizer, or hung up on a pegboard or (??). My blanks are sorted in about 80 diferent sizes plastic of storage bins. My kits are sorted and label in old shoe boxes. Nothing very high tech but it works well for me.