Shop Is your shop messy or spotless?

[jcdammeyer]

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

Check your local community centers. That's where we went 13 years ago for an activity that SWMBO and I could do together. Took Social Ballroom Dancing. Wonder of wonders it's the only activity in my life where SWMBO has to immediately do what I tell her to do without question.

 

[PaulL]

One of my favorite recent additions to my shop is "project bins". Each project gets a plastic tote containing all the pieces in process, from raw stock through to finished. This has done wonders for keeping my benches clear(er) and my project parts together, and the little bins stack and accept sharpie really well. Amazing what spending $30 at Industrial Plastics did for me.

 

[TorontoBuilder]

One of my favorite recent additions to my shop is "project bins". Each project gets a plastic tote containing all the pieces in process, from raw stock through to finished. This has done wonders for keeping my benches clear(er) and my project parts together, and the little bins stack and accept sharpie really well. Amazing what spending $30 at Industrial Plastics did for me.

princess auto is your friend in this regard. They have the perfect sized totes for most projects. Strong enough, just the right size to be easy enough to lift without getting hernia and yet large enough to hold everything.

 

[jcdammeyer]

One of my favorite recent additions to my shop is "project bins". Each project gets a plastic tote containing all the pieces in process, from raw stock through to finished. This has done wonders for keeping my benches clear(er) and my project parts together, and the little bins stack and accept sharpie really well. Amazing what spending $30 at Industrial Plastics did for me.

That's what I do. There is one problem though. After a while you have 42 different plastic project boxes.
And now the AR3 Robot Arm is already too small and I need to upsize it. Can't even see the bearings under the connectors and switches. The 3D printed parts don't even fit in this one.

 

[Cryoine]

both my lab and my shop are organized chaos, I know where everything is in this chaos and should it be cleaned I wont be able to find anything lol

 

[Dabbler]

I'm trying to work up from 'overcrowded" "disorganized" chaos to just chaos.

 

[David]

Mine seems to lurch from an organized, no active project state to chaotic, parts-strewn active project state.

 

[Tom O]

I say mines fine but my son says the opposite telling me he will clean it in the summer so it looks like I’ll be sleeping in the garage.

 

[Chris Cramer]

I'm proud of the layout I have put in place to fit everything I have in a way that still gives some room to move. However, I always have projects on the go, and I realy don't understand the benefit of putting everything you're still using away when you stop working, unless you have come to completion of every active project.

In that case, the only time my work bench doesn't have common tools sitting on it is right after I decide to clean the shop.

 

[Dan Dubeau]

I saw the top of my welding table the other day. Even wiped it down with brake cleaner and a rag. It'd been months since the last time that happened.......

It's full again already with something new....

 

[gjestico]

Didnt read whole thread but is "Flat surface disease" mentioned anywhere ?
Bcuz I have it

 

[Bandit]

My shop is messy and spot less, there’s hardly a spot to put anything.

 

[David]

Didnt read whole thread but is "Flat surface disease" mentioned anywhere ?
Bcuz I have it

HSS - horizontal surface syndrome

 

[SomeGuy]

I saw the top of my welding table the other day. Even wiped it down with brake cleaner and a rag. It'd been months since the last time that happened.......

It's full again already with something new....

I wipe mine down with WD40...would rather it not rust, so removing all the oily/dirty goodness with brake clean isn't ideal.

 

[Chris Cramer]

Though I don't mind working in a messy environment I've come to think that I should pay more attention to the hazards that build up over time. I've started working a bit with fiberglass as a cheaper handle material for my knives, and the dust that comes from shaping that with a belt grinder is extremely fine, which I don't often realize without a respirator on.
Next to frequent lack of ventilation, the saw dust from combustible materials begin to smolder quickly from welding slag or sometimes just larger sparks.

 

[Mcgyver]

I saw the top of my welding table the other day. Even wiped it down with brake cleaner and a rag. It'd been months since the last time that happened.......

It's full again already with something new....

sorry to play to play the net nanny, I generally dislike them meself and I know you know what you are doing ..... but for posterity, break cleaner and welding don't go together. The residue with heat produces phosgene gas - deadly even in small doses. Yeah, I know, use non chlorinated, great until someone grabs the wrong can or someone isn't aware and grabs the brake cleaner to clean....

 

[Martin w]

sorry to play to play the net nanny, I generally dislike them meself and I know you know what you are doing ..... but for posterity, break cleaner and welding don't go together. The residue with heat produces phosgene gas - deadly even in small doses. Yeah, I know, use non chlorinated, great until someone grabs the wrong can or someone isn't aware and grabs the brake cleaner to clean....

Great advice!

Tetrachloroethylene, a deadly danger in brake cleaner

Tetrachloroethylene may be a chemical you’ve never heard of, but chances are pretty good that it’s a substance you’ve been in contact with. This is especially true if you use brake cleaner.

www.envirofluid.com

 

[Maker Mike]

My shop gets pretty messy when I'm in the middle of something, but there is a regulator for it. Once I can't find something I start putting things away until it shows up, usually works.

 

[Susquatch]

I wipe mine down with WD40...would rather it not rust, so removing all the oily/dirty goodness with brake clean isn't ideal.

I've almost completely stopped using WD40 for anything but cutting aluminium. It is so totally useless for rust prevention & lubrication compared to alternatives. It dries off too fast.

I frequently use spray oil. The problem is that spray oil is actually hard to find. No idea why - I would have thought it would be everywhere! Remington gun oil is available online but big $ for the purpose. So I fill a spray bottle with a thin multipurpose oil and use that.

I also like to keep an oil rag handy.

 

[SomeGuy]

I've almost completely stopped using WD40 for anything but cutting aluminium. It is so totally useless for rust prevention & lubrication compared to alternatives. It dries off too fast.

I frequently use spray oil. The problem is that spray oil is actually hard to find. No idea why - I would have thought it would be everywhere! Remington gun oil is available online but big $ for the purpose. So I fill a spray bottle with a thin multipurpose oil and use that.

I also like to keep an oil rag handy.

WD40 is better than brake clean and relatively speaking it's fairly cheap. I definitely never use it for lubrication either, but rust prevention it's better than nothing and definitely better than something that strips everything off. For a welding table I prefer it not to be too oily either. If I'm really going for rust prevention (longer term storage) I typically go with fluid film. On the machine tools, they've got enough cutting fluids and way oil and whatnot to never be an issue