# Organization



## Metal (Mar 28, 2016)

So, my shop is eternally a huge mess, and am in the market to really get organized here as I'm moving stuff around.

I was curious how other folks are doing it so ideas could be pilfered!  I don't mean the google image searches of impossibly organized workshops all built around buying 10,000 uline bins or whatever they are trying to sell, I mean real workshops.


----------



## dlane (Mar 28, 2016)

I had a small stock problem so I made this to hold 6gal milk crates works good for me.


Steel and heavy stuff in bottom crates ,Welded some loops on one side to keep long stock in.
But I'm still not very organized . 6gal milk crates are getting harder to find


----------



## TommyD (Mar 28, 2016)

No matter my best intents there is something at work against me keeping my shop clean and organized for too very long.


----------



## Bob Korves (Mar 28, 2016)

My problem (and sometimes asset) is that I have a hard time getting rid of anything that has any chance whatsoever of being of future value.  Hoarding...  Learned it from my parents, who learned it in the 1930s great depression.  They taught me well, perhaps too well...  It is all pretty well organized, and I can usually find what I am looking for, but it is a lot of "stuff."  It is a common American disease.

Edit:  As for organizing, it is pretty simple.  Use something, and when you are finished with it put it away where it belongs.  The job is not finished until everything is put away.  For "roundtuit" jobs, put them out of the way, organized, but where they will nag you to finish them.

2nd edit:  You do not "need" Lista cabinets all around your shop.  Open shelving, wooden shelves,  shelves and racks made of scrap lumber, plywood, and/or metal, dressers and cabinets saved from the landfill, whatever.  In my world it is a shop, not a candy store.  It can be done on the cheap with a bit of scrounging from garage/yard/estate/auction sales, thrift stores, businesses that are closing, etc.  A tool box does not need to say Kennedy or Snap On on the label, a scratched and gouged Thomasville or other furniture brand will also work, for a lot less money, for a lot of storage...


----------



## Ed ke6bnl (Mar 28, 2016)

for me stuff comes in faster then I can arrange it, I have decided that the ability to make things from  all possible discards can be a negative, I can not get rid of anything because it can be use for some future project.  It has slowed a bit since I retired but people bring things to me at times, just unloaded a gifted forklift, metal I beams 10-12 ft long 10-12in dozen or so(do you see a larger press in the making) . I am getting better but it is a sad medical condition that I need to be treated for.


----------



## francist (Mar 28, 2016)

I think adhesion to a few basic strategies is really the key to effective organization. I can't say I have it completely beat, but a few rules do help me:

-Keep work space and storage space separate. I do not tolerate scrap bins or off-cut storage underneath, beside, or on top of any machine or working bench.
-Stand things up. Unless I get really creative it's impossible for me to put non-stock storage (bags of rags, tins of paint, etc) on top of vertically racked materials.
-Keep things accessible. If I can't retrieve a piece of stock easily, or put it away easily, I'll be tempted to lean it somewhere other than where it belongs.
-Avoid cross contamination. The lawnmower does not have a place in my working shop. Period.
-My bench surface is sacred. Half-done projects do not live there, nothing gets stored on it, drinks don't get placed on it. Period. 
-Be ruthless. If I haven't figured out yet that every length of stock generates ten or more off-cuts something is wrong. I don't need to keep them all.
-Be vigilant. I happen to like being in my shop, and I'm always looking around for better ways to hang something, store something, win back some floor space.
-And most of all, have faith. In the last five years I've quite drinking and quit smoking, both cold turkey, so surely I can do this! You just gotta want it bad enough.

-frank


----------



## John Hasler (Mar 28, 2016)

Ed ke6bnl said:


> am getting better but it is a sad medical condition that I need to be treated for.


The treatment consists of acquisition of a farm with several outbuildings (in addition to a shop, of course).


----------



## T Bredehoft (Mar 28, 2016)

While my shop isn't well organized, there's one area that I've not yet come to terms with.  I have, as material for projects, about 8 tubes (about 1"  diameter, 36 in long) with various sizes of music wire, from 1/32 to 3/32, also a few pieces of drill rod, 1/4" brass, etc., leaning in a corner of the counter top. I'm constantly moving them to get at what's behind them, of stumbling over them  or what not.  They are in a less conspicuous corner than they were, but still in the way. When I get them organized, my shop will be good enough.  "Till then I'll struggle.


----------



## kd4gij (Mar 28, 2016)

Organization? I have no clue what that means.


----------



## Steve Shannon (Mar 28, 2016)

I guess I feel better knowing I'm not alone.  


 Steve Shannon


----------



## stupoty (Mar 28, 2016)

T Bredehoft said:


> While my shop isn't well organized, there's one area that I've not yet come to terms with.  I have, as material for projects, about 8 tubes (about 1"  diameter, 36 in long) with various sizes of music wire, from 1/32 to 3/32, also a few pieces of drill rod, 1/4" brass, etc., leaning in a corner of the counter top. I'm constantly moving them to get at what's behind them, of stumbling over them  or what not.  They are in a less conspicuous corner than they were, but still in the way. When I get them organized, my shop will be good enough.  "Till then I'll struggle.



Ahhhh material storage , every rack or storage area becomes wrong very quickly, at one moment I will have lots of long bit's of stock then I will have one or two long bit and lots of mid sized bits then this will become some of all sizes.  It just does a constant dance around my available space   I spent a bit of time today re-locating some long 3/4 inch bar from an inappropriate hiding hole it was in to some ware more accessible 

Stuart


----------



## uncle harry (Mar 29, 2016)

John Hasler said:


> The treatment consists of acquisition of a farm with several outbuildings (in addition to a shop, of course).



I did just that back in '73.  There are 5 out buildings that have been gathering stuff since then.  The major difficulty has been having two separate shops and moving tools between them when doing projects.
With the "help" of a friend, I've been 'organizing' both areas. So far we've probably spent 10% of our time finding where things have gone off to.


----------



## kvt (Mar 29, 2016)

Boxes, bins, shelves, shop, yard, (house) wherever can I can find a place to put it.  Small shop and to many project gets disorganized organization.   I know where things are but other have a hard time finding and knowing where they are.   Which at time is a good thing as I do not have to worry about them taking things if they cannot find them,  But it hinders when you ask them to get you something and have to explain in detail how and where to get it.


----------



## astroracer (Mar 29, 2016)

Things get pretty messy and cluttered when I am working on a project but I try to put stuff away and clean at stopping points. The best thing I did for my tooling organization was to get one of those Harbor Freight 44" roller cabinets to set the Smithy on.


 Everything has a place now and nothing is sitting out in the open. Having everything put away just makes it "look" more organized.


Mark


----------



## rock_breaker (Mar 30, 2016)

My father had a small shop and a storage shed that impressed me with his storage ability, not 100% tidy but a lot of same category things adjacent and where you could see them. The most impressive shop storage I've seen was on MSTS ships while going to and from the Philippines.  Granted this is an industrial situation but they had more stuff stored and organized than I thought possible.
 I quit garage sales because stuff kept coming in and nothing going out. Got to learn to do better.
Have a good day!
Ray


----------



## BGHansen (Mar 30, 2016)

As much as we hate to admit it, organization can be a wonderful thing.  Look under the Our Shops and the Spaces We Work In forum and search for "Bruce Hansen".  There are some pictures of my shop; compare the somewhat organized metal shop side to the totally unorganized wood shop.  I can locate a 4-40 tap and corresponding fasteners in 2 seconds on the metal side.  Would have to look around a while to find the wood fasteners.

My metal shop fasteners are organized in HF wall hanger tubs and/or drawer organizers.  Pictures of the organizers are below, pretty good deal with the 30% off discount.  Organization of the wood shop side of my shop is on the short list of things to tackle this summer.

Bruce


----------



## Fabrickator (Mar 30, 2016)

I can appreciate a well organized shop.  I too have many bin for screws, nuts bolts and the like. Everything in it's place.  I worked for an ol' boy from Tennessee once who used to say " I keep that sh*t around in case I want to do any work" (tools, supplies, etc.) and I still live by that motto today.  I HATE having to stop what I'm working on to run to HDepot or place an order for something like common hardware or a tap or something stupid.


----------



## planeflyer21 (Mar 30, 2016)

rock_breaker said:


> The most impressive shop storage I've seen was on MSTS ships while going to and from the Philippines.
> Ray



I was impressed with how many 50# boxes of MIX, BROWNIE, CHOCOLATE we could stuff into store room on the USS Kennedy.


----------



## timekeeper01 (Mar 31, 2016)

Metal said:


> So, my shop is eternally a huge mess, and am in the market to really get organized here as I'm moving stuff around.
> 
> 
> Metal said:
> ...


----------



## timekeeper01 (Mar 31, 2016)

I bought this roller around storage rack and mounted pegboard to one side for frequent used tools, saves some space.


----------



## TOOLMASTER (Mar 31, 2016)

.........


----------



## Bill Gruby (Mar 31, 2016)

Bottom line here, you can spend gobs of money organizing the shop or scrounge to make do by re-purposing. Yet a new machine or upgrade will turn the best organized shop into turmoil. You never stop making things easier when you start the organization ritual. Guess what, it's better not to start. Fact is, the more you put away, the less you find. Happy thoughts gents.

 "Billy G"


----------



## uncle harry (Mar 31, 2016)

Bill Gruby said:


> Bottom line here, you can spend gobs of money organizing the shop or scrounge to make do by re-purposing. Yet a new machine or upgrade will turn the best organized shop into turmoil. You never stop making things easier when you start the organization ritual. Guess what, it's better not to start. Fact is, the more you put away, the less you find. Happy thoughts gents.
> 
> "Billy G"



I've been actively aware of that dilemma of late !


----------



## Bill Gruby (Mar 31, 2016)

Me to. It only gets later, not better. ROTFLMAO

 "Billy G"


----------



## dlane (Mar 31, 2016)

I have to keep things in drawers / cabinets due to a dust problem, now I spend more time looking for somthing I know I have somewhere


----------



## John Hasler (Mar 31, 2016)

dlane said:


> I have to keep things in drawers / cabinets due to a dust problem, now I spend more time looking for somthing I know I have somewhere


My shop is lined with shelves.  This is not a good design.


----------



## RandyM (Mar 31, 2016)

dlane said:


> I have to keep things in drawers / cabinets due to a dust problem, now I spend more time looking for somthing I know I have somewhere



Do what I do, label the drawers and cabinets.

Check this thread out. Cabinets


----------



## dlane (Mar 31, 2016)

Yup, need a label machine next


----------



## TOOLMASTER (Mar 31, 2016)

i probably have about 100 rubbermaid buckets and 300 plastic shoebox containers for stuff


----------



## lpeedin (Apr 3, 2016)

I bought some old card file cabinets for $50 each & restored one for my shop, making a excellent tool storage cabinet. The wife saw it & claimed the other 2 that I restored for her Diva Den. 


. 
	

		
			
		

		
	





Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


----------



## jamiesaun (Apr 7, 2016)

I basically just work in the shop and let stuff pile up. Then once I have a hard time finding things or just when it gets too overwhelming, I stop and clean up a bit. 

It's almost impossible to keep a 2 car garage organized with all the different wood and machine tools I have managed to cram in there. That's the price we hobbiests pay. We don't have the real-estate of a real machine shop.


----------



## dlane (Apr 7, 2016)

Ipeedin: the guy next door has a few of those card file cabinets, do the drawers have dividers in them?
Any roller bearings in the drawers ?.
I have a couple Kennedy roll arounds w top boxs I don't like them. Things bang around in the drawers when opening / closing , files , drills , tooling . I'm thinking those card cabinets would be better, more useable storage , smaller footprint , deeper drawers. Then sell a Kennedy box
Just wondering 
Thanks


----------



## lpeedin (Apr 7, 2016)

dlane said:


> Ipeedin: the guy next door has a few of those card file cabinets, do the drawers have dividers in them?
> Any roller bearings in the drawers ?.
> I have a couple Kennedy roll arounds w top boxs I don't like them. Things bang around in the drawers when opening / closing , files , drills , tooling . I'm thinking those card cabinets would be better, more useable storage , smaller footprint , deeper drawers. Then sell a Kennedy box
> Just wondering
> Thanks



The drawers had dividers, but I removed them. My thinking was that a little lost space on each side of the divider could be a usable space without the divider. Not hard to remove at all. 

And yes, all the drawers have roller bearing slides. 

The wife & I are both very pleased with the available storage they provide.


----------



## bfd (Nov 4, 2016)

I cant believe I'm not alone I make the best messes, I can make a mess out of 1 item. I start cleaning and come across a project I need to finish then make another mess. I also have a problem called fafs maybe you've heard of it first available flat surface. on top of no memory.  bill


----------



## ezduzit (Nov 7, 2016)

Bob Korves said:


> ...I have a hard time getting rid of anything that has any chance whatsoever of being of future value.  Hoarding...



This is why my shop is so overcrowded and hard to clean.


----------



## Christian Poulsen (Nov 7, 2016)

LOL I do keep my areas ship shape and I was "volunteered" to train and then teach little seminars to every dept. in a building at my employer in the Five S's...Let's see, it was: Sort, scrap, set in order....?...and the last was sustain....Anyway, every time I think of it now I think of Dodgeball the movie and Patches Ohoulihan's tutorial (Dodge, duck, dip, dive and....dodge.


----------



## bfd (Nov 7, 2016)

my wife puts her foot down when I need to go buy another tool thatI already have but cant find. then I clean up some bill


----------



## astroracer (Nov 7, 2016)

Yea, I have been cleaning for the past three days. If it's covered with dust, it goes in the can. The first few items were tuff but it gets easier as you go. Right now I have three BIG trash bags and most of a fourth ready to go to the road tomorrow. 
Mark


----------



## Ozwelder (Nov 8, 2016)

bfd said:


> my wife puts her foot down when I need to go buy another tool thatI already have but cant find. then I clean up some bill


Ahh! Good,Its not just me then! I have multiples of certain tools as well.


----------

