Work shop in a mess video

Timbuck

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There are two schools of thought on shops: If you can lay your hands on a tool you want, then who cares if it is a mess or the flip side is that a shop must be tidy so you can lay your hands on the tool you want. I've seen shops that were total messes and yet the person knew exactly where each tool was. If they cleaned it up they couldn't find anything.

I've done some boat building and boat builder's shops are for the most part very clean and orderly. This is for safety reasons and boat builders are very safety conscious because of the all the sharp and potentially lethal tools they work with everyday. Does this apply to luthiers? I don't know, but maybe it is better to have a clean shop if only for safety reasons.
 
I believe there should be a specific place for each item. You start by picking any one little spot and fix that only. Take a few minutes to feel that bit of accomplishment. Pick another little spot and fix that, stop again for a few minutes. Little by little you'll get it done. The point is not to get into the head place of "there's so much to do" just focus on one bit at a time.


This is Michael Kohan in Los Angeles, Beverly Grove near the Beverly Center
9 tenor cutaway ukes, 4 acoustic bass ukes, 12 solid body bass ukes, 14 mini electric bass guitars (Total: 39)

Donate to The Ukulele Kids Club, they provide ukuleles to children in hospital music therapy programs. www.theukc.org
Member The CC Strummers: www.youtube.com/user/CCStrummers/video, www.facebook.com/TheCCStrummers
 
I believe there should be a specific place for each item. You start by picking any one little spot and fix that only. Take a few minutes to feel that bit of accomplishment. Pick another little spot and fix that, stop again for a few minutes. Little by little you'll get it done. The point is not to get into the head place of "there's so much to do" just focus on one bit at a time.
I have a specific place for every tool template and jig in my workshop..but while I am working some tools are not put back where they belong and they get buried under other items on the bench..and after a while the benches becomes cluttered with all sorts of stuff like odd pieces of sand paper, pencils, shavings, drill bits, sanding blocks, glue dispenser bottles, cotton buds, Stanley knife blades, rolls of masking tape, old rags, spring clamps,..that’s just the bench ..there is more stuff that fell on the floor :(
 
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Ya know I think a whole lot of us have this problem and I am not sure it will ever go away....

However...It still drives me nuts and for myself I did eventually realize that I need to make it easy to put stuff back where it belongs, while in a work flow, rather than at the end of the day....So as I have been working, I have started to find ways to center various types of work into an area and the tools used for that work are withing reach of where I am performing said task.

Of course unless you can have benches for each task and some duplicate tools (who can afford that) it can be a pain so then I have to get to secondary placement which splits the difference....

The point is that I still end up with a mess sometimes but it happens far less frequently and I am constantly seeming to find batter places/ways to store my tools to accommodate the work flow and immediate return of tool to its home while I am working....

In the end though a sharp tool that lives in its place and is never used is worthless compared to the one you use all the time and can be hard to find.
 
For me, putting tools away all the time is actually distracting to my work. Especially if I have to get the tool, use it for 15 seconds, and then put it away. So, I created a specific place to pile stuff, not on my bench. I have a cart on wheels that holds a fair amount of items. I try to get most of the things off the cart at the end of the day, but there are a few items that seem to have taken up permanent residence. I'll often leave the projects that I want to start on the next day, on the cart. That way my bench is relatively free, no matter what I actually decide to start on.--Bob
 
I believe there should be a specific place for each item. You start by picking any one little spot and fix that only. Take a few minutes to feel that bit of accomplishment. Pick another little spot and fix that, stop again for a few minutes. Little by little you'll get it done. The point is not to get into the head place of "there's so much to do" just focus on one bit at a time.


This is Michael Kohan in Los Angeles, Beverly Grove near the Beverly Center
9 tenor cutaway ukes, 4 acoustic bass ukes, 12 solid body bass ukes, 14 mini electric bass guitars (Total: 39)

Donate to The Ukulele Kids Club, they provide ukuleles to children in hospital music therapy programs. www.theukc.org
Member The CC Strummers: www.youtube.com/user/CCStrummers/video, www.facebook.com/TheCCStrummers

My problem is finding a place to put everything. Maybe I need another garage - or a trip to the dump. :D
 
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