Cleaning the shop is killin me

[Chris Hachet]

Everything that is not woodworking related needs to go. I see a big storage shed in your future. The leaf blower can wait.

Charley

Quoted for truth. The cleaner I keep my shop the more I want to go out there and work. I am not spotless, but I cannot work in a clutter mess of a shop. Besides, I can clean when I am too tired or distracted to work.

[Chris Hachet]

Martin, I agree with your philosophy. Keeping things relatively clean and tidy is good in many ways. I suspect that for a commercial shop, you have to make it part of the culture so that cleanup is part of the normal day, every day. The same goes for us hobbyists, of course...

I am mostly a hand tool guy and a low end hobbyist, but I cannot stand for any of my tools to be dusty. I live Ohio and hate rust. I also find being fairly minimalist helps me take better care of things.

[Chris Hachet]

I'm with Martin. When I'm doing a project, I can make quite a mess. Very quickly it bothers me and hurts productivity/quality. So, I stop and clean up before moving on. A clean shop is so much more enjoyable to work in. It doesn't have to be totally spotless, but clutter on work surfaces and tool stations has to be kept cleaned up.

I also share my workshop with another woodworker, keeping things picked up keeps us both productive.

[Andrew J. Coholic]

I like a clean shop. I've worked in sorry filth holes where we weren't allowed to touch a broom, and I've worked in places that were spotless. Spotless is more productive and worth the time spent keeping things clean and organized. I think it gives a boost in moral and pride you're not stuffed into a dusty dungeon. It also portrays your business better keeping things tidy. Not to mention it's safer for your health and I think it lowers chances for injury from stupid things like tripping.

I agree with Martin 100%. I have worked in a messy shop(s) and today, my shop is spotless. WOrking for several years like this, I could never go back. My employees know what I expect and have also learned to keep things clean and all tools in their place, etc. Its an integral part of every work day - we never have to "clean up" since every day, you are working clean and putting away materials as jobs are done, etc.

Its safer, healthier, less of a fire hazard as well, less likely to slip on the smooth concrete, etc.

With brooms, shovels and pans, garbage cans, floor sweeps, etc all over the shop - its not difficult.

[William Shelley]

My big issue is storage of lumber and sheet goods. It's like a small hole in a dyke.... if it starts leaking, pretty soon erosion takes over and the whole thing falls apart. In my case, it's when I start stacking materials on top of something or leaning against a tool or whatnot. After that point I stop being motivated to *maintain* things and it all goes to hell in a handbasket.

Also I'd like to point out:

Drawers are where tools go to die.

Adam Savage has popularized a philosophy he calls "First-Order Retrievability". In a nutshell, any tool you need to use for a project should be accessible with one action. If you have to open a container, and lift a tray out of the way to get at a tool, for example, then you're not only losing time but you're often breaking your concentration on the task at hand in order to remember how to get something. Emphasis on first-order retrievability means that reaching for tools while making something is natural and thoughtless and allows you to continue your task virtually uninterrupted.

[Martin Wasner]

I agree with Martin 100%. I have worked in a messy shop(s) and today, my shop is spotless. WOrking for several years like this, I could never go back. My employees know what I expect and have also learned to keep things clean and all tools in their place, etc. Its an integral part of every work day - we never have to "clean up" since every day, you are working clean and putting away materials as jobs are done, etc.

Its safer, healthier, less of a fire hazard as well, less likely to slip on the smooth concrete, etc.

With brooms, shovels and pans, garbage cans, floor sweeps, etc all over the shop - its not difficult.

I'm asking guys constantly, "are you done with __________". They're done with the work, but not picking up their crap. I have a very small shop currently, and it's packed to the gills with equipment. It doesn't take much of place, and it's a hassle.

[Andrew J. Coholic]

I'm asking guys constantly, "are you done with __________". They're done with the work, but not picking up their crap. I have a very small shop currently, and it's packed to the gills with equipment. It doesn't take much of place, and it's a hassle.

I know I am lucky. Both my guys do what I expect without asking, every day. One has been with me going on 5 years, the other 3. I dont often have to remind them to put something away, or clean up a machine after using it.

We have air drops all over the shop as well, and every machine gets cleaned off after use. Like I said, it develops into a regular part of the routine and you never get a mess to begin with.

It all starts with excellent dust collector and ducting, hand tools (sanders, routers, lamello machines, etc) that all get hooked up to the 4 Festool vacs around the shop - each time they are used, brooms and pans and garbage cans around the shop, etc and of course the desire to work clean.

I fail to see how anyone would want to work otherwise. Its such a pleasant working environment.

[William Fretwell]

Thanks for posting that! Now I just need to vacuum a little. That's why you need a high ceiling in a workshop, when you need some relief just look up!
Purging is good! Purging is good! Just keep saying it Jack.
Lee Valley had a poster a while back of a deplorable work shop, BUT on the workbench was an exquisite small table just finished.
Start with the workbench, then create a clean zone around it. Make the zone bigger as you purge. Tape off a corner on the floor. If it won't fit in 'crap corner' then it's garbage.
The Japanese have a method, they remove all the good stuff then the rest is garbage and they re-install the good stuff and start again.
We call it moving!

[Kieran Kammerer]

Patrick Walsh, You must be related to my wife (except I am the Irish half) ! I say that as a compliment.

[Tony Pisano]

I'm the guy who wants to be neat but has to constantly work at it. I would swear everytime I went to do a project. Move stuff off the radial arm onto the table saw. Make some cuts. Move stuff back to radial saw, use table saw. My girlfriend is extreme opposite. If we are working on something together she puts my tools away Before I finish using them. When I ask why did you put that away, she says I thought you were done using it. I do have to say she has gotten me on track. I have one room of the shop pretty well organized and I do put tools away as soon as I am finished with them. The "put it here for now" method doesn't work well, and it's such a pleasure to go into the shop with room to move around and work. I spent many days going through stuff, getting rid of a lot, adding some shelves, re arranging for more efficient storage and better movement. I used to think it was overwhelming. How come it's never just whelming? Funny, but the thing that really motivated was finding a wood lathe and wondering where to put it. That gave me the incentive to better organize and get cleaned up. Maybe you just need to find a new piece of equipment, Jack! Now to tackle that second room.