Shop Is your shop messy or spotless?

[Susquatch]

I think we should be rating each other's shop....... No wives allowed.

My organized chaos would instantly become a junk yard.

 

[phaxtris]

My wife cant even get in the garage/shop without my help, she can only make it to the door, muhahahahaha

...and if i dont want her getting that far i can just strategically place a small stick on one of the paths.......

she often tells people she has no idea what kind of things i have in there

 

[toglhot]

Mine gets messy when I'm working on something, particulary the lathe or mill. But when I'm finished I clean up, replacing tools and so on. The wife comes out and clears the lathe, but wont touch or clean it. She puts away my tools and sweeps the floor, seperating nuts, bolts and tools from the rubbish and asks where to put them. She knows I have trouble with my hands and geting on the floor and up again, using brooms, picking things up off the floor and so on. She's very handy finding things I drop and can't find, eyes like an eagle. I quite often ask her to get on the floor and do up a nut or bolt my hands can't.

 

[Former Member]

If you have a messy shop, call me I'll come over and help and take all of all the good stuff, that way you can identify the junk you need to throw out.

You garage will be empty afterwards.

My fee, I keep the good stuff .

 

[Dan Dubeau]

Honestly, that's actual competence. I'll take clearly labeled over clever any day.

I'm honestly out of my element when it comes to the electrical stuff, but I'm a quick learner, and always up for a challenge . We used to get a lot of work like that, where a customer would call, and ask my boss if we could build them something, or figure out a problem they were having. He'd say Yes, and then come ask me "can you do this?" I'd say "Sure I think so, I've never done it, but I'll figure it out". I got to design and build some pretty cool things because of our mutual sense of adventure. It wasn't always profitable, and I'm pretty sure I made more money than he did on a few of those, but we expanded our capabilities which payed off over the long run. He retired this summer, and I'm a bit more picky at what I say yes to now lol. We're trying to rein in our adventures, and focus on the profitable work that's in our wheelhouse now, but I miss the craziness sometimes. It was fun while it lasted.

 

[historicalarms]

My wife pokes her head in the shop door once in a blue moon if she has something important to tell me what need doing....It has to be something needing urgent attention for her to actually step a foot in the doors
I am glad of that because it avoids clash's over the state of "clean-up"....she's not as bashful concerning the downstairs loading/gun room...she never interferes with the benches or whats on them but once in a while ventures in uninvited with a vacuum cleaner ...just did that last week and caused a monumental confusion for me. I had a civil war pistol broke down on the bench , doing some work on it to hopefully be able to use it this summer again ( probably the first time it has been fired for maybe 150 yrs. So, parts are almost unobtainable for such an item that the factory quit making in 1864 and unbeknownst to me one of those pieces got "sprung" from the gun and landed on the floor. The next day I look for 5 hrs for that piece with "no joy". that evening I'm telling her how that damn piece just evaporated into thin air in a small room...Ohh she says...I vacuumed after you came up the other night . Spent the next day sorting through that vacuum bag by hand but again no joy so now I'm pissed and off to the shop... for the propane torch and burnt every smidge of fuzz in that bag (&and the bag) then gently blew the dust left over away and wouldnt you know it, that piece showed up...Whew...That gun is all back together & funchiones like it did when it came out of the factory in 1862 or 3.

 

[PaulL]

ventures in uninvited with a vacuum cleaner

Nobody cleans my shop or my office but me. We set that ground rule 25 years ago. I don't clean or tidy her craft room. The rest of the house gets split reasonably fairly, or at least fairly enough that the 25 year old rules are still relevant ;-)

 

[Susquatch]

We have 50 plus years of the same rules here. I am the boss. But she gives the orders and I do what I'm told. The house and garage are her domain except for my locked basement gun-room. The shop is mine except when she decides to have family re-unions, family parties, weddings, and showers. Then we fight like cats N dogs. Eventually she wins and girlifies the place. YUKK!! My daughter told me to just do as I'm told but kill something and then let it hang to bleed from the ceiling the day of. I might do that whenever they get around to giving me just a few weeks or months to live. I much prefer a fast death even if it is painful.

I want to build a Pavillion in the forest or beside the pond someday for her parties. Might use timbers from my forest and rock from my fields. Imagine a field stone fireplace on one end of a Walnut Pavillion. Have to make a sawmill first. Project 42y.

 

[PaulL]

I want to build a Pavillion in the forest or beside the pond someday for her parties.

That's the most viable solution at the cabin. In the city it's harder.

 

[Dan Dubeau]

I want to build a Pavillion in the forest or beside the pond someday for her parties. Might use timbers from my forest and rock from my fields. Imagine a field stone fireplace on one end of a Walnut Pavillion. Have to make a sawmill first. Project 42y.

lol, you sound like me, or I sound like you. Started building my sawmill 2 years ago . and dug out (I have no flat ground here) the patio about the same time. One of the first projects to mill is timber for a timber framed gazebo/pavilion for the patio, and outdoor kitchen. I also want to make an ancient "ruins" wall for the kitchen area with integral pizza oven, from all the piles of field stone around here. Figured I can at least put it to use, after the early settlers of this land cleared it all in the late 1800's before discovering the soil is crap for crops, and the subsequent owners re forested it. I have quite a few piles and just shake my head at all the man hours that went into making those piles for nothing.

They day I stop having such grand plans, so many projects on the go, things to scrounge for, and work towards is the day you can just roll me in a hole. They all eventually get done......sometimes there are mutli year detours though. Life is a journey

 

[140mower]

We have 50 plus years of the same rules here. I am the boss. But she gives the orders and I do what I'm told. The house and garage are her domain except for my locked basement gun-room. The shop is mine except when she decides to have family re-unions, family parties, weddings, and showers. Then we fight like cats N dogs. Eventually she wins and girlifies the place. YUKK!! My daughter told me to just do as I'm told but kill something and then let it hang to bleed from the ceiling the day of. I might do that whenever they get around to giving me just a few weeks or months to live. I much prefer a fast death even if it is painful.

I want to build a Pavillion in the forest or beside the pond someday for her parties. Might use timbers from my forest and rock from my fields. Imagine a field stone fireplace on one end of a Walnut Pavillion. Have to make a sawmill first. Project 42y.

Sounds like you and I have similar life cycle expectations of 248yrs +/- 6 months.

 

[Former Member]

Listen up all of you, maybe you weren't shared this information.

I was told this just before I was married, by someone that was married 45years, "Give up now, you are not in control, never will be or suffer!"

Took me a while to understand, so now I choose wisely when I want to suffer.

 

[jcdammeyer]

Listen up all of you, maybe you weren't shared this information.

I was told this just before I was married, by someone that was married 45years, "Give up now, you are not in control, never will be or suffer!"

Took me a while to understand, so now I choose wisely when I want to suffer.

My wife and I teach Social Ballroom Dancing. Aside from warding off things like dementia there is one thing about Ballroom Dancing that we tell our students.

Even though we know that we are normally not in control the exception is dance. It's the one place where we get to tell our lady what to do, when to do it and she has to implement that without question. True she may yell at us all the way home in the car afterwards. But since she's going backwards in a room full of other dancers she can't really decide herself what step to do next.

In fact, often at the end of a 10 week course we will have the couples waltz or foxtrot around the room (counter clockwise along the walls) and the ladies are asked to close their eyes. It's mind bending how well that works. The ladies are surprised and the men are impressed.

 

[Mcgyver]

My grandparents taught dance and were quite involved with competing, I think in rounddance. We had a big wedding, live band etc, and not wanting to make (bigger than neccessary) fools our ourselves on the big day, my bride and I took lessens from them. We'd show up with Swiss Chalet and have a nice evening, nice to get that time with your grandparetns. I can't remember the details, but instead of a waltz the band started with something in 4/4 time, or vis versa....the oppposite of what our training was geared to, I guess we somewhat failed in our anti-foolishness mission. For any who haven't tried it, it is a lot harder than it looks!

 

[Susquatch]

In fact, often at the end of a 10 week course we will have the couples waltz or foxtrot around the room (counter clockwise along the walls) and the ladies are asked to close their eyes.

My bride and I love to dance. We did a course like you teach a long time ago. I've never heard of that. I love it! We will be trying that. The car ride home is always humiliating anyway. Apparently I look at cleavage too much......

We got to dance at a huge ballroom in Vienna once with a live orchestra. Everyone who loves to dance should try to do this once in their life. It was an amazing experience. Wish I knew about closing her eyes back then.....

 

[jcdammeyer]

Some more totally off topic. We were walking along the River Spree in Berlin, across from Museum Island and stumbled across this dance floor. Next thing you know Linda and I are waltzing across the floor, her in Berkenstock sandels and me in running shoes, big camera bag around my neck, her a big purse. We kept on waltzing to the other end of the floor when we saw the 4 euros per person sign.

Next night came back and filmed tango.

Came back our last night sans purse, camera and Berks and spent a delightful evening doing Waltz, Foxtrot, Cha Cha, Rumba, Jive. The cafe up the hill served beer so all in all a very fun time.

Here's another more not filmed by me.

 

[StevSmar]

…when I'm finished I clean up, replacing tools and so on…

Your X-ray looks like it makes working in the shop really difficult. That’s great your wife helps you with things when needed. My wife finds a lot of things hurt her hands so I have to do those for her, she’s (hopefully…) seeing a arthritis specialist this year.

 

[a smile]

Everything on wheels except Tooling Cabinets, Milling Machine and Lathe. Small shop 24 X 22 that I work full time as mechanic and machinist.

diyer has similar awkwardness, as always crowded and chaotic, consistent desire for more space

 

[a smile]

Some more totally off topic. We were walking along the River Spree in Berlin, across from Museum Island and stumbled across this dance floor. Next thing you know Linda and I are waltzing across the floor, her in Berkenstock sandels and me in running shoes, big camera bag around my neck, her a big purse. We kept on waltzing to the other end of the floor when we saw the 4 euros per person sign.

Next night came back and filmed tango.

Came back our last night sans purse, camera and Berks and spent a delightful evening doing Waltz, Foxtrot, Cha Cha, Rumba, Jive. The cafe up the hill served beer so all in all a very fun time.

Here's another more not filmed by me.

I can't dance, but this is what I'm looking forward to

 

[slow-poke]

My little shop oscillates between Everything has a place after I clean up the latest project to somewhere between organized chaos and a total junk pile while I'm in the middle of a project.

It seems the most trivial task requires about 25-50 tools. I'm trying to get in the habit of putting the tool of the moment back in it's designated spot if I don't anticipate needing it anymore for the task at hand.

I'm a bit quirky with constantly wanting to eliminate anything that is inconvenient that I do repetitively. When I realize I need to stand on my tippy toes and squint to reach that whatever it's time to move that whatever's location. Which starts the "what if" process and that is fun for me.