Staying organized

[Scooley01]

Alright, so I've tried a handful of things to organize my workspace, and nothing really seems to work well.

I bought a plastic storage case that has 15 or so compartments, and I opened all of one type of kit and separated the parts out, but between that and a few precut blanks, that filled up quickly.

I'd like to find a way to keep all of my stuff organized...keep the right drill bits with their kit and bushings, and keep kits separate. Any thoughts?

 

[manatee]

15 is not enough! I have over a hundred for my bushings, kits and miscellaneous items and I still need more.

 

[steeler fan1]

Good luck on the organizing. If you're just a general mess, like I am:wink:, all the storage organizers in the world wont help. From time to time I'll take a day (or 2, or 3), and put everything in its place. Then I get in a hurry, start several projects and next thing I know POW. Same old mess again. Guess I'm just a born slob:frown:.

Good luck.

Carl

 

[Drstrangefart]

Dude, my shop looks like total chaos. The organization is there, but it's exclusively mine. Everything goes where it's a natural place to reach when I need it. Makes it easier for me to get the work done while enjoying my time as much as possible. Turn the stereo on and let shavings fly. At some point I'll have to get in there and turn it into a respectable looking area. Even then, organization will be focused on where I can naturally reach for whatever I need without a bunch of B.S.

 

[darcisowers]

What I've found works for the drillbits is that I don't keep them with the rest of the stuff. I have a few kits that use the same bits, and instead of keeping the bits together with the bushings, I just keep a cheatsheet of which size goes with which bushing and then rely on that for the drilling part.

I have these:
http://www.woodcraft.com/Product/2021135/24736/Shop-Organizer-4-Drawer-Large.aspx

I keep one "drawer" per pen style, and keep everything in there (kits, bushings, instructions, etc). My drill bits are all in another plastic bin on top of the unit. I keep the bits in ziplock bags that are labeled with the size and/or style of pen

but even the best organization plans won't help if you don't put things away. I have to take time to "regroup" every so often, cause sometimes it's "easier" to be lazy! :wink:

 

[ThomJ]

My drills are next to the drill press with a sizing gizmo, if the tube fits then I use the drill for that size, bushings are in a organizer with small plastic drawers, all instructions are laminated & in a 3 ring binder. LOL, my kits & blanks are on an 8ft table in the kitchen.

 

[Padre]

I think I have my shop fairly well organized.

I use little bins for all of my bushings. I now have 6 of them. They all hook together, and each is labeled with what is in them.

Next, I put all my kits into bins, and then laminate the instructions and put those into notebooks with tabs.

I have all of my tools and most of my sandpaper on a rolling cart I built next to my lathe.

Next to this cart I have a cart for the polishes and other stuff I am 'currently' using. Inside this cart, accessible from the other side, I keep all of my mold making supplies.

On the other side I have two rolling carts, one I have more tools and then tailstock items, the other I have my grinder so I don't have far to walk (two steps) to sharpen my tools.

In front of my lathe I put a peg board wall and keep all of my bulk polishes there. I also too a little piece of plywood, pounded some finish nails into it and that is where I put all my blanks ready for turning.

Over by my drill press I took another small piece of plywood and put all the drill bits I use the most in that. As you can see from the picture, I need to expand it a bit. On the outside I put a metal magnetic strip and that is what holds all of my drill bits and pen mills that I haven't taken the time to organize yet.

I also made another rolling cart for my 'casting station.' This is where I keep all of the stuff I use for casting resin blanks. I covered the cart with free corian and white (crap, can't think of the name right now, thin white stuff you get at Home Depot/Lowes.)

I put my bench sander, by Grizzly wet slow speed grinder and my little HF buzz saw (great for cutting tubes) just to the left of my 'pen finishing station.'

And I turned my router table into a dual purpose table by outfitting an MDF top for it, and it now holds my little Rikon I just got on sale at Woodcraft, and I use it to buff and turn other stuff as well.

Next to that are my two tool chests (one I inherited from my Dad) for the other tools in my life. (and next to that are my son's tires for his car. Ugh.)

I made my last remaining wall into my "wood wall." Using shelves and open boxes to hold all my blanks and other stuff.

And lastly, since I do other stuff as well, I got these from HF when they were on sale for $59 and put all my screws, nails, and various other odds and ends in them.You can also see my small fridge for the CA glue, the shelves I built for the batteries for my cordless tools, etc.

As you can see from the pics, it's still a garage with garage type 'stuf' all over, like an odd air conditioner, bucket of sale, brooms, shovesl, tree timmer, etc.

But these are just some of the things I've done, and most of them are homemade non-expensive stuff. HTH.

 

[AlanZ]

Can someone please add linefeeds after each of Chip's photos to the screen wraps properly? Thanks

 

[jttheclockman]

Not bad Chip. You doing anything next weekend??? Want to stop by and sort my shop out. I will buy the beer.

 

[ThomJ]

Chip,you can stop by here on your way back from Johns

 

[Displaced Canadian]

It breaks my heart to see a shop so organized. I thought half the fun of making a pen was the treasure hunt for the bushings. :biggrin:
My shop isn't that organized but I use those plastic drawers to keep my bushings and kits, the tools and blanks are in a rollaway toolbox, the rest of the wood is everywhere and the glue and paint is on the shelf.

 

[darcisowers]

Chip's a showoff! :tongue: I wish my stuff was that organized! If you ever get to San Jose, you can spend some time out in my garage! :biggrin:

Darci

 

[Padre]

Not bad Chip. You doing anything next weekend??? Want to stop by and sort my shop out. I will buy the beer.

After the holidays!

 

[aggromere]

Chip, that's amazing. I'm particularly intrigued by what looks like your dust collection system. How is that hooked up?

I thought I was organized, but not even in the same league, lol.

 

[Padre]

Thank you Peter.

I have a Clearview 1800LH cyclone for my dust collector. It sits in one corner of my garage "shop."

All over the shop I have run 6" pvc piping I purchased at a local plumbing wholesaler. I then put a "T" in where each piece of equipment is, along with a blast gate, and then ran it to each piece of equipment. I the use a 6" to 4" converter, then run as short a length of 4" flexible hose to the actual tool.

I try to only have one or two gates open at a time. With 2 open it'll still suck the chrome off of a bumper! :biggrin:

When I turn I usually only have that gate open, so I rarely get anything on the floor. If I do, just a quick clean up with the shop vac, and I'm off.

 

[ctubbs]

Oh my, my shop wasn't that neat before I put the first tool inside. I must never let my bride see Chip's shop. never,NEVER, NEVER!!!!!
Charles

 

[aggromere]

Thanks for the info Chip, I'm in the process of figuring out how to set up a dust collection system.

 

[Padre]

Just a note: if you use the PVC pipe, you will want to ground it with some thin stranded copper wire. It puts off a pretty good static charge. If you use the galvanized, this doesn't happen.

 

[Dudley Young]

I like a neat shop also.

 

[Drstrangefart]

Dudley-That's in the spirit of the shop I plan on building when we get to our next house and property. I'm a little green-eyed!

 

[ldb2000]

A clean shop is the surest sign of a sick mind :biggrin:

 

[Drstrangefart]

A clean shop is the surest sign of a sick mind :biggrin:

I feel SO much better about myself now....:biggrin:

 

[Dudley Young]

A clean shop is the surest sign of a sick mind :biggrin:

Well i'm from the south, what da ya speck. :biggrin:

 

[jttheclockman]

What the h---l is going on here??? Is that a carpet on the floor Dudley??/ There is no carpets on the floor in a shop. You mamzy pamzy

Man this is disgusting. There is no way I am showing photos of what my shop looks like now. I will be glad to show before photos but not now.

You guys got to get a life and start making some saw dust.

 

[SGM Retired]

I must say that I'm glad I have seen the standard for shop organization for me to go by. With just starting out with this hobby I can see that it can get out of control quick. I'm planning on dumping out some of my fishing tackel today and use the box for bushings for which have a grand total of 4 to store. Thanks so much for the idea, now I got to figure out how to get the wood chips to go down my shop-vac tube instead of on the floor. Thanks again for the ides!!!

 

[Tony Pridmore]

Chip,

What kind of PVC pipe are you using? Also, it looks like the black T and blast gate may be standard 4" dust collection fittings. How are they connected to the PVC?

Thanks.
-Tony

 

[Padre]

Chip,

What kind of PVC pipe are you using? Also, it looks like the black T and blast gate may be standard 4" dust collection fittings. How are they connected to the PVC?

Thanks.
-Tony

Tony,

I use 6" green sewer pipe with the bell end (no gasket!, that is the expensive stuff, I use the cheap stuff), but I cut off the bell. Found a picture here.

I get my pipe and pvc fittings from my local EJ Prescott in Vernon, CT.

A tip for those of you considering this: never use a 90 degree elbow or "T," always use 45 degree elbows to make these up. A 90 degree elbow will severely restrict airflow. I have attached a picture of what I mean, and also the type of "T" I use. If you need a 90 degree bend, use two 45 degree elbows. It takes more room, but your airflow will really appreciate it.:tongue: Sometimes you get lazy though and/or your supplier only has 90 degree (like near my lathe) so that is the way you have to go. If you get a good cyclone it won't make that much of a difference if you only run one machine at a time.

Most, if not all, tools have a 4" port or smaller. So I run the 6" as close to the tool as I can. Then I use a 6" to 4" pvc reducer, then put a small piece of 4" green pvc (same type as the 6"), so I can easily connect to the 4" flexible hose. I get that hose locally at my Woodcraft. Then at the tool I put the 4" blast gate, and a little more hose if I need it to attach it to the tool. And you are absolutely right, I use the standard black 4" fittings you can get anywhere like Woodcraft or Rockler (and many other sources.)

I currently have my cyclone hooked up to:
lathe
drill press
band saw
jointer/planer
planer
router table
and I have a dust right system from Rockler
And I have a floor sweep which I put some high power magnets on to trap screws and some metal shavings.

My cyclone is an 1800LH from Clearview.
It may seem pricey, but for what you get, and the customer service, I think it is a bargain. It will easily run any 2 tools at a time, and I have even run 3 at a time. It comes with a bunch of 6" blast gates too which was really helpful.

Using PVC in my case was a matter of convenience and cost. You can easily run metal ducting as well. It is a lot more expensive and you avoid the static build-up problem you get with PVC. I eliminated that by simply running a very, very thin copper wire along the length of the pvc and grounded that to my house ground.

Let me know if I can help in any other way.

 

[Tony Pridmore]

Chip,

Thanks for the details. I'll take a 4" dust collection fitting and piece of flex hose to my local plumbing supply company to make sure I order the correct pipe.

-Tony