I achieved a great milestone today as a Newbie

[Bill Huber]

Today while I was doing a little work in the shop I achieved a great milestone in my woodworking.

I got a tool out, used it to do the job and then put it back were it belonged. Not on the bench, not on the TS but back in the drawer were I keep it. WOW....what a day.

Then to top that off when I glued things up I didn't wipe the glue off my fingers on my jeans or shirt, I used a rag......

I guess maybe there is hope for me yet..........:D

[David DeCristoforo]

See... that just goes to show you how different we all are. For me it was just the opposite. When I started out, I always put my tools away. I always used a rag. But as the years went on, I began to realize the folly of putting a tool back in "it's place" only to have to go and get it out again later. I discovered that while my rag might be anywhere in the shop depending on where I was working the last time I used it, my pants were always right there with me when I needed them.

[John Keeton]

Bill, I don't know....hmmm. You may be morphing into some alien creature - I mean, aren't we supposed to have cluttered benches and stiff pantlegs on our blue jeans??????? I thought that was required to be considered a woodworker:rolleyes:

I don't do so well during my shoptime, but I have gotten pretty good at a clean up each day when I leave, sweeping and putting up tools, etc. The glue on the jeans??, not so much - I still have to watch that one!:D

[Michael Poller]

I am sort of in that boat also.

I'm a newb at this.

My fathers shop was always a disorganized mess and I always swore mine would not be that way. I have mostly kept true to that.

During a project, nothing gets put away until it is finished, unless I have to take a long break on the project before finishing it. In that case I will clean up.

Otherwise, no new project is started without cleaning up the shop from the previous project. This includes putting all tools away and vacuuming up the sawdust and cleaning up the scraps and such laying around.

The wife is a bit of a clean/neat freak, so this is good and bad.

:mad: The bad: It can be tough sometimes when in the middle of a project and she has some choice words for the condition of the shop. :eek: She also uses the shop to do stuff on her own (no choice but to share the space right now) so has some right to complain, but has begun to get used to it being a bit of a mess during a project.

:) The good: It forces me to keep the shop clean despite my tendency to keep things less than organized. This results in a cleaner shop in general, and a nicer shop (to me at least :p) to work in. I spend less time hesitating to go down there and work because I know I don't have to constantly spend all my time cleaning up. I can generally go down and get right to whatever I need to do at that moment.

:D The good +: Keeping the shop clean allows me to spend more time with my partner-in-crime (see my avatar) who isn't allowed down in the shop if the floor is littered with saw dust and stray bits. She has a tendency to eat, or at least taste, that stuff and it's not so good for her. Keeping it clean means I don't have to think twice most of the time about bringing her down there with me.

[glenn bradley]

(Fist circling enthusiastically over my head) Whoo-whoo-whoo. Way to go Bill!

[Bill Houghton]

...my pants were always right there with me when I needed them.

so long as you don't become a fan of working nekkid....

[Russ Boyd]

I always use my pants for a rag (within reason) but I do like a clean shop. I know some get really bad. I can't help but think of the danger issue by tripping over something. Maybe it's just me getting paranoid in my "mid-elder" years. Anyway, keep it up. It's a good thing. Russ

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Bill,

Your Momma would be so proud of you!

[Ron Bontz]

Well there have been a few nights when the glue on my pants is what held me up. There is no better tool pouch than my back pocket and no better pencil holder than my ear. At least when I had hair. Now if I could just remember putting them there to begin with. I'm just glad no one has a video in my little shop the document me wandering all over my shop looking for that pencil, screw driver etc. before realizing it was following me.:o:)

[travis howe]

This is awesome, I'm glad to hear I'm not alone in clutter! My dad was the same, stuff everywhere.... I said I wouldn't do it but "I had this project" for my sister that I said "I was going to organize my shop before I started" at some point I realized I would never be as organized as I'd like with this being a hobby and this project has gone from maybe 6 or 7 months to being done in a month or two.

I wish I had the time, space and resources to be totally organized...just not any time soon!:cool:

[Stephen Edwards]

I'm proud of you Bill! I keep an plastic coffee can in the shop with a wet rag for glue clean ups. If it happens to be nearby, I'll even use it! For small glue ups where there's no squeeze out and I've used my finger to spread the glue, more often than not that glue gets wiped underneath a work table top. Maybe that's why that top is getting thicker with time!

[Jeff Willard]

Heretic.;)

[Rich Engelhardt]

Hello, (from another newbie)


I got a tool out, used it to do the job and then put it back were it belonged. Not on the bench, not on the TS but back in the drawer were I keep it.

Good on ya!
Next milestone is when you blow the sawdust out of it before you box it back up. ;)

One thing I found to be 100% true here.

The cost of the tool is in inverse proportion to the learning curve of cleaning the tool then taking the time to store it back where it's supposed to be.
The more expensive the tool - the less time involved...;)

[Tom Leasure]

Bill,
Now your in trouble - by putting all the toys away in their proper spot now you have to LOOK for them - just doubled your time in the shop !!
By leaving everything out & in 1 pile you only have to look in one area - less time looking for tools :):) and your cabients stay clean & straight - less cleaning time :):)
Life is good - shop looks used - wife thinks you are slaving in shop and leaves you alone PLUS you get to purchase new tools when you can't find the one you need because YOU PUT IT IN THE CABIENT & it's not in the pile where it belongs
Bythe way - you posted a picture of a kid's toy you built several months back. I copied that & built one for my grand daughter - she loves that thing & is driving my son & daughter nuts !! I don't the what the toy is called but it should be named REVENGE. Thanks for posting that picture.

Tom