What do you lose, run out of in the shop and any new "discoveries"?

A couple random shop thoughts for consideration and comment by my fellow Creekers.

What do you lose? The floor my shop is always covered with shavings and sawdust, something I suspect most neanders can relate to (except perhaps Brian H. of the famously clean shop :)) . There are a few things that always "disappear" and I end up spending hours crawling around on the floor looking for:

* Cap Iron screws (If I had any brains I'd paint these red),

* I use "Ketchup- like" squeeze bottles for storing/dispensing finishes, glue etc. I always lose the tiny little caps and these are red!

* Sanding blocks – especially the small little hardwood blocks I use for tough to reach places. These get routinely swept into the scrap pile and I need to replace them. Maybe something else that should be painted red?


What do you always run out of? I frequently find myself running to the local BORG/hardware store to get something specific I need for a current project. I always end up standing in the store with the one thing I went to pick up, and thinking "there must be other things I need -but damned if I can remember what they are". I'm wondering if anyone else has a list of "shop staples" they routinely pick up when your at the hardwood store? FWIW, mine are:

*Denatured alcohol: it sucks to be in the middle of putting on shellac and suddenly realize you're out of alcohol to dissolve/dilute/apply it with!

* WD-40: My go to rust preventative I habitually spray/wipe on chisels, planes, saws after sharpening etc. When I run out, I can almost see the rust forming.

* Titebond: I always seem to underestimate how much I need for gluing up panels. Nothing worse than stalling out in the middle of a glue up because I ran out of glue.

Shop discoveries? One of things I like best about being in the shop is I don't have to think too much (draw the line, cut the line, repeat). Conversely, in most aspects of life I also try to make an effort to seek out new ideas. 3 things I've recent "discovered" that have made my shop time more enjoyable are:

*Sunflower seeds: they help me cut down on/hide from the LOML my Copenhagen habit and I can spit the seeds right on the floor!

* Podcasts: I've always enjoyed listening to music in the shop. Recently our oldest introduced me to "podcasts", which as I'm sure everyone but me knows are audio recordings on a broad range of different topics you can listen to on demand, through your phone – who knew? A couple I really enjoy are Dan Carlin's "Hard-core History" and "Freakonomics". I appreciate any other recommendations?

* Shop vac blower: I'm mostly a hand tool woodworker and my shop is in the garage. My shop floor is littered primarily with shavings and not that much sawdust. Historically I've always enjoyed sweeping up with the broom and dust pan – – for me kind of relaxing conclusion to a session in the shop. My brother-in-law got me a shop vac for Christmas and I'm a total convert! I now LOVE using the output side of the shop vac to blow all the shavings and dust out of my shop. Apparently my previous sweeping method was missing lots of stuff – again who knew!

What about you, any new shop "discoveries" you care to pass along ?

All the best, Mike

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Originally Posted by Mike Allen1010

What do you always run out of?

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Scotch and DermaBond. My wife insists that there's some sort of causal relationship between the two but I just don't see it.

(For the record: I rarely drink, and don't use edge tools under the influence... much. I also don't cut myself that often)

My mechanical pencils. I now have 3 and still find myself looking around for one.

Mike, my shop vac is both my friend and my enemy. I typically clean up with brush and dust pan and dump into a 5 gallon bucket. This morning I decided I needed a more thorough clean up and brought out the shop vac. I didn't notice that I had pulled the vac to where the vac exhaust was directly going into the 5 gallon bucket. It was not until there was floating debris about me that I turned around and it looked like it was snowing. Turned a 10 minute job into an hour clean up.

You also may find yourself searching through the vac for those items which tend to disappear. That 5 gallon bucket I mentioned, gets dumped into the flower beds. I've been know to find a few pencils and erasers in the garden from time to time.

I just lost yet another Pica pencil. I think this one went flying when I used a leaf blower to blow out the sawdust. I also frequently lose my mind.

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Originally Posted by Patrick Chase

Scotch and DermaBond. My wife insists that there's some sort of causal relationship between the two but I just don't see it.

(For the record: I rarely drink, and don't use edge tools under the influence... much. I also don't cut myself that often)

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Patrick, that's classic – "scotch and derma bond, causal relationship?". You're clearly a man after my own heart. I forgive you for making me spit Lagavulin all over my keyboard!


Best, Mike

The tape measure is just about the only thing that I find myself looking for regularly. There are only so many places that it could be, and it has a normal home. But it's one of those things that seems to be used as an early step in a process which carries me directly past the point of setting it down with an awareness and recollection of doing it. I believe my focus is on remembering a specific number... like "27 and 3/8ths and a blonde". At least I hope that is the number. Ah. I better measure that again to be sure. Dang it, where's the tape measure!?

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Originally Posted by Mike Allen1010

What about you, any new shop "discoveries" you care to pass along ?

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Running low/out: I keep a piece of paper stuck to a metal door with a magnet. Write down things as I think of them while working. Otherwise I'll remember as I am halfway home from the store.

Little red caps: I've never lost one since I always put them in a designated place. However, one oiler I have uses a method that could be added to any lid. They have a nub sticking up from the upper flat of the lid to holds the cap. It's always there.

WD-40 suggestion: a gallon is a lot cheaper than aerosol cans. They make a nice little pump sprayer/squirter with "WD-40" on the side.

Sanding blocks: I glue sandpaper to various sized pieces of plywood and blocks and always put them in the same place on a shelf to prevent disappearance. The best little sanding block I've found for small things is a white "Magic Rub" eraser, flexible, easy to hold.

Attachment 354488

The most useful discovery for me in recent years came from a forum member whose name I've unfortunately forgotten: Most of the time I want only a small piece of paper towel so I used to tear off a corner, leaving the sheet ragged and sometimes wasting some. Solution: cut a roll of paper towels into narrow rolls. (He used a bandsaw; I found a sharp fillet knife avoids the fuzzies.) With a narrow roll it is easy to tear off just a 2" x 3" piece.

Attachment 354489

Aluminum tape, 2" wide: I stick 3-4" down somewhere and mix small amounts of epoxy on it. Pull up and discard for cleanup. Easier than with a little cup to scrape up the last tiny bit. I often leave a little on the tape which I can check for hardness to see when the bit I used has set up enough to move.

Speaking of painting things bright red: I use various shop tools (clamps, hammers, pliers, wrenches, etc) a lot outside around the farm. I spray paint these with bright fluorescent orange to help me find them in the grass and dirt. Should work in shop shavings too.

JKJ

Oh, I forgot one:

One day I wrapped a pencil with a few turns of soft iron wire (bailing wire) and stuck it on a magnet. Now I use this to hold pencils, sharpies, etc. with reach where used the most along with a variety of ferromagnetic things. A stronger magnet easily holds a measuring tape.

Attachment 354490

JKJ

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Originally Posted by Phil Mueller

My mechanical pencils. I now have 3 and still find myself looking around for one.

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That's why I buy them by the dozen (those Pilot H-325s are surprisingly good for the price btw). I also tend to lose track of 2 mm lead holders and have a bunch of those, too.

I spend a lot of time carving inserts and patches of timber for antique restorations. Perfect grain orientation and colour.

Then I drop it :mad:

I have spent a long time on my hands and knees searching through piles of plane shavings on the floor.

It also happens when I cut odd shaped veneer patches. I'm guaranteed to drop them on the floor. They are incredibly hard to find.

Band Aids.

Clutch pencils

More glue (as Mike also found)

More time.

Regards from Perth

Derek

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Originally Posted by Mike Allen1010

Patrick, that's classic – "scotch and derma bond, causal relationship?". You're clearly a man after my own heart. I forgive you for making me spit Lagavulin all over my keyboard!


Best, Mike

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Drat. Now I really want a scotch, and I think my yearly bottle of Laphroig is darn near empty. Laphroig, Lagavulin and Ardbeg, the only scotch I enjoy anymore. Probably a good thing, since I'm too cheap to drink the good stuff like I would have 15-20 years ago.

t25 screws in whatever length I need.
BLO.
Turpentine, Mineral Spirits, Lacquer Thinner, Denatured Alcohol
Pipe Tobacco
Coffee. (all I drink all day, No matter what the weather, unless a beer or scotch in the evening.)
Lumber
Room
Energy
Time

Podcasts- I like Hello Internet - a good "two dudes talking" podcast (if you like it, check out Cortex too), Bill Burr's Monday Morning Podcast - if you like his comedy, you'll like his podcast, The Ben Shapiro Show - if you like politics, he's pretty good, fair to both sides but a definite American Conservative bent, Jenna & Julien Podcast - hit or miss. Silly comedy that is sometimes good, Intelligence Squared US Debates - debates on various topics. There are also audiobooks. Librivox.org has free public domain stuff, Audible has everything for sale, Downpour is basically Audible without copy protection (all have free apps), and Overdrive, which lets you borrow books and audiobooks from your local library (you need to sign up at the library).

Screws, nails, nuts, and bolts often escape to the shaving covered floor. They always succeed in making me waste my time looking for them because I only bought exactly what I needed from the Ace(I like to go to Ace). I need to get one of them magnet sticks to pick them up with. I always run out of pencils and coping saw blades. I don't always break coping saw blades, but when I do, there aren't any replacements left in the box. Yeah, I said it!:D