# Question Of The Week... ( 2016 Week 51 )



## ripjack13 (Dec 18, 2016)

*What is everyone using for organization/storage of all your supplies? *
*For example: Pen makers,bushings/kits/blanks...*
*Flatworkers, sandpaper, glue...etc?


*

**Rules**
There is no minimum post requirement,
primates, woodticks anyone named Tony and leprechauns are welcome to post an answer.
And of course the  and the doc too...


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## woodman6415 (Dec 18, 2016)

What is that word "organization " ?

Reactions: Agree 4 | Great Post 1 | Funny 4


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## Mike1950 (Dec 18, 2016)

woodman6415 said:


> What is that word "organization " ?



I agree with Wendell Organization-Hah-

Reactions: Like 1 | Agree 1


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## Blueglass (Dec 18, 2016)

Ha ha ha ha, ha! What is that? I'll have to get a picture later.

Reactions: Like 1 | Agree 1 | Funny 1


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## JohnF (Dec 18, 2016)

I think I have "haphazard organization". My wife claims I have NO organization. But on cleaning days I usually put the sandpaper in a drawer and all the chemicals and glues on a set of shelves. (if they happen to fit)

Reactions: Like 1


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## woodman6415 (Dec 18, 2016)

"Organization" is when the boss comes to shop and hides all my stuff ... I'm usually not happy about it

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## Nature Man (Dec 18, 2016)

Boxes, jars, cabinets, drawers, cubbies, countertops, corners, walls, shelves, toolchests, etc. I'd like to think I stay organized, and I do for the most part, but it's a constant challenge. There's never enough time & space to become OCD about organization. I do have plans to build some dedicated mobile carts to store tool/supplies that relate to specific equipment/functions, like sanding. Chuck

Reactions: Like 1


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## Mike1950 (Dec 18, 2016)

woodman6415 said:


> "Organization" is when the boss comes to shop and hides all my stuff ... I'm usually not happy about it



About 10 yrs ago- Daughter needed some extra money so she cleaned shop- I still cannot find stuff....

Reactions: Agree 2 | Funny 4


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## Mike1950 (Dec 18, 2016)

Nature Man said:


> Boxes, jars, cabinets, drawers, cubbies, countertops, corners, walls, shelves, toolchests, etc. I'd like to think I stay organized, and I do for the most part, but it's a constant challenge. There's never enough time & space to become OCD about organization. I do have plans to build some dedicated mobile carts to store tool/supplies that relate to specific equipment/functions, like sanding. Chuck



Oh i did the mobile cart think- Old desks with wheels on them. This means I can move stacks of stuff easier....

Reactions: Like 1 | Agree 1


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## Tony (Dec 18, 2016)

I think I've shown enough of my Shop for y'all to know I have precious little organization. I do however have a large bank of drawers that I store screws nails, hardware etc. that keeps all those small things from getting lost in the Back Hole of my Shop. Tony

Reactions: Like 1


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## Tony (Dec 18, 2016)

Mike1950 said:


> About 10 yrs ago- Daughter needed some extra money so she cleaned shop- I still cannot find stuff....



When we first were married Nikki would come out and clean the Shop for me when I wasn't home. I couldn't find a dam thing for weeks, and finally had to say while it was very kind of her to do that, she needed to stop.

Reactions: Funny 2


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## CWS (Dec 18, 2016)

I'm working on that.


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## David Hill (Dec 18, 2016)

Ummm... ask me where something is and I'll tell ya which area to look in.
Except the lathe tools, they stay _on _or _near _the cart.

Reactions: Like 1


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## Sprung (Dec 18, 2016)

Depends on which shop you're asking about. My 10' x 6' turning area in the basement is fairly well organized. Totes/bins for pen blanks and other small blanks. Those plastic parts drawers for pen kits and blanks that are tubed, squared, and ready to turn. Another plastic drawer set for sandpaper. I use round screw top beads containers for bushings (and they have a tray they came with that they sit in.) Just outside of the 10 x 6 area I have a wire shelf rack with other turning stock, a few pieces that are drying, and a few other things - that area is fairly well organized, but could use a little going through. A couple tool racks are mounted on the wall - one for turning tools, the other for various tools. Have a small rolling toolbox for other tooling.

The garage, well, I'm working on that. There is virtually no storage space out there so I'm trying to figure out how I want to best approach that while I'm working on getting the shop put back together out there. Am planning on a french cleat setup in one corner. Have the cleats on the wall, just need to build fixtures to hand on the cleats to store stuff.

I don't keep a stockpile of unpacked flat rate boxes sitting around - Katy would get suspicious real quick. I generally unpack them all right away and put stuff away somewhere. I do, however, use some boxes to help organize some of the wood on the shelves.

Reactions: Like 2


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## Tony (Dec 18, 2016)

Sprung said:


> Depends on which shop you're asking about. My 10' x 6' turning area in the basement is fairly well organized. Totes/bins for pen blanks and other small blanks. Those plastic parts drawers for pen kits and blanks that are tubed, squared, and ready to turn. Another plastic drawer set for sandpaper. I use round screw top beads containers for bushings (and they have a tray they came with that they sit in.) Just outside of the 10 x 6 area I have a wire shelf rack with other turning stock, a few pieces that are drying, and a few other things - that area is fairly well organized, but could use a little going through. A couple tool racks are mounted on the wall - one for turning tools, the other for various tools. Have a small rolling toolbox for other tooling.
> 
> The garage, well, I'm working on that. There is virtually no storage space out there so I'm trying to figure out how I want to best approach that while I'm working on getting the shop put back together out there. Am planning on a french cleat setup in one corner. Have the cleats on the wall, just need to build fixtures to hand on the cleats to store stuff.
> 
> I don't keep a stockpile of unpacked flat rate boxes sitting around - Katy would get suspicious real quick. I generally unpack them all right away and put stuff away somewhere. I do, however, use some boxes to help organize some of the wood on the shelves.



You disgust me Matt, with your bins and organizational skills!!!!!

Reactions: Funny 3


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## Sprung (Dec 18, 2016)

Tony said:


> You disgust me Matt, with your bins and organizational skills!!!!!



*6' x 10'!!!!!! *I don't have the space in the basement shop to be overly disorganized down there!!!!!! There's barely enough room to move around in there when it's clean!!!!

Reactions: Agree 1 | Funny 1


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## Don Ratcliff (Dec 18, 2016)

I like to keep things in buckets, old snake wood old cool door wood from when I was a kid and know exactly where it is when I'm making play knives for calendars....

Oh wait, that's not me... I use a precision piling system...

Reactions: Agree 1 | Great Post 1 | Funny 1


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## woodtickgreg (Dec 18, 2016)

Organization? Really? lol. I don't think that is ever really attained unless your name is @Kenbo But here are some pics of what I have and some of what I would like to do. it's taking forever it seems because working 2 jobs just sucks!!! I'm still trying to get the shop set up and complete after moving what 3 years ago? so here is where I am at with trying to get the shop organized.

An assortment of turning tools and stuff that still needs a home because it needs to get cleared off the saw.



Lots of space on the wall above the lathe yet, turning tools will probably go up there.



Hand plane collection? where to put it? Can't stay on the saw out feed table, I really need to get it cleared off so I can finish leveling it and setting it up. I need to use the saw.



I'm thinking this small closet that was in the shop when I moved in will work. it was built to hide a gas pipe. Now it houses a small compressor and helps to quiet it down. The space above could be used for shelving for the hand planes?



Miscellaneous hand tools that need to find homes still.



Some stuff went on the wall above the miter saw station, more hand tools need to go there and in the drawers of the cabinets below.



This is a closet that is under the stairs. I use it for power tool and miscellaneous storage. anything that's in a case goes in there.



The inside of the closet. I added a light with a switch for the power tool storage area. I can get a lot of stuff in there.



Found a place for a bunch of hand files and rasp.

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## woodtickgreg (Dec 18, 2016)

I made this out of scrap wood. it's removable bins for storage of hardware and stuff, nails, screws, etc.


 
Some lumber storage on one end of the shop.


 
And turning stock storage on the other end.


 
I'm still working on the metal shop side at the same time, and the garage/kiln/wood storage/mechanical stuff thingy is a whole nother story.

Reactions: Like 3 | Funny 1 | Way Cool 1


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## Don Ratcliff (Dec 18, 2016)

@woodtickgreg I see you use the same Precision piling system that I use. Very nicely done sir! When you finally realize you have no room for all the stuff there i will be happy to store the extra items in my shop for you...

That is a nice parts bin you have built, I will be stealing that idea from you for sure.


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## woodtickgreg (Dec 18, 2016)

Don Ratcliff said:


> @woodtickgreg I see you use the same Precision piling system that I use. Very nicely done sir! When you finally realize you have no room for all the stuff there i will be happy to store the extra items in my shop for you...


I think most of us use the same systemThen throw in some A.D.D. and I'm allover the place piling stuff up. Isn't that what flat surfaces are for?

Reactions: Agree 3 | Funny 1 | Useful 1


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## Don Ratcliff (Dec 18, 2016)

A.D. SQUIRREL

Reactions: Funny 1


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## justallan (Dec 18, 2016)

I have a work in progress. I generally know where to find everything. My biggest problem is I need to put all of the wood out in the other shop or the barn.
Notice how clean the CNC room is though. Other than boxing stuff up, I spend more time using the CNC machine than anything.

I keep all of my lathe stuff right above it, with all of my sandpaper on the shelf to the right. That little POS portable tablesaw is more suited for exactly what it's doing in this pic.









I keep all of the CNC tooling in the top drawer, clamps and spare parts in the second, the 4th axis attachment parts in the third and have no clue as to what's in the fourth. 




When I need the drill press or bandsaw I push the dust collector to in front of the door. I store a variety of tools in the roll-away, plus some blanks and the acrylic blanks (mostly because Kimmie wants to pilfer them.

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## Mike1950 (Dec 18, 2016)

woodtickgreg said:


> Organization? Really? lol. I don't think that is ever really attained unless your name is @Kenbo But here are some pics of what I have and some of what I would like to do. it's taking forever it seems because working 2 jobs just sucks!!! I'm still trying to get the shop set up and complete after moving what 3 years ago? so here is where I am at with trying to get the shop organized.
> 
> An assortment of turning tools and stuff that still needs a home because it needs to get cleared off the saw.
> View attachment 118779
> ...



at least my lathe is not still in the box ..................

Reactions: Agree 2 | Funny 4


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## rocky1 (Dec 19, 2016)

Little bitty goodies get stashed in Stanley Sortmaster Organizers. They're stackable, interlock so it's easy to carry several, bright yellow handle works great for labeling what's in them. Want to say I have 12 - 15 of the damn things. Usually find them in Wally World in packs of 3. They're really handy for little sh1t!

Pen kits, blanks, press, etc. are now housed in the Mobile Flat Rate Box Organizer/Pen Assembly Table. Buy really good casters if you do this. Has to be a couple hundred pounds of wood and what not, and the cart has to weigh over a hundred.






Pretty much everything for the lathe, tools, center finders, abrasives, Oil and Wax, buffing and polishing compounds, Paper towels, Q-Tips you name it, is on the lathe cart. And, that picture is from the day I first put goodies in there, it's got WAY MORE GOODIES in it now. Holes on both ends accommodate lathe tools nicely, Standard HSS set everything but the spindle gouge and largest skew will fit. Honestly wouldn't take much to open a couple holes up to fit them as well.

Harbor Freight, runs around $130 I believe, was on sale a week or so ago for $104, I paid $150 on sale a year ago. Yes, it's very sturdy; extremely well built!!



 



Beyond that, Cabinets... As pictured, right after they were built, most of them are FULL now!! Need cleaning and organizing!!

Top section down there on the end, was all the shelves on this end of the barn when I inherited it. Refused to scrap them, They're built out of 1 x 16 Straight Grain Pine. I have too much respect for wood to have thrown that away. They were however oil stained, so all the oils, hydraulic fluids, and other greasy goodies did go on that shelf.





Wasn't planning on building the big center storage unit pictured above initially, the old pine shelf was there, I was going to leave it there and the counter top on the shelves below would have carried through with the base unit under the old pine shelf. Came to my senses mid-project and decided to go ahead and build the center unit, and moved the old shelf.

Had intended butting the base unit below up against the other one and leaving the corner open for access to the air compressor. In the course of this project however, I must have walked around that damn generator sitting out in the middle of the room at least 10,000 times, and when I started measuring, it would fit real nicely under the window, and the base unit would fit nicely as pictured below. BUT... I had to be able to access the compressor occasionally, so... Counter over the generator is hinged, it folds up for easier stowing of the generator and clearing the bench to the right here for removal. Said bench is not attached to anything, it slides neatly up under the backsplash, and sits there. If I need to get at the compressor, I simply empty the shelf and slide it out.





The section pictured here is all full of reloading goodies, and boolits now! Cabinets weren't sposed to turn out that nice, or I'd have put purtier hinges on them. Open shelves under the bench are designed to accommodate Ammo Cans of various sizes. Countertop was built with Press in mind, 3/4" CDX glued and screwed to a piece of 3/4" AC, (_YES... She is SOLID!!_) 2' Fluorescent Light under each wall cabinet, antique fluorescent desk lamp had sentimental value, it was free, and it works great.





Beyond that... Peg Board and Shelves.

Reactions: Like 2 | Way Cool 2


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## justallan (Dec 19, 2016)

rocky1 said:


> Little bitty goodies get stashed in Stanley Sortmaster Organizers. They're stackable, interlock so it's easy to carry several, bright yellow handle works great for labeling what's in them. Want to say I have 12 - 15 of the damn things. Usually find them in Wally World in packs of 3. They're really handy for little sh1t!
> 
> Pen kits, blanks, press, etc. are now housed in the Mobile Flat Rate Box Organizer/Pen Assembly Table. Buy really good casters if you do this. Has to be a couple hundred pounds of wood and what not, and the cart has to weigh over a hundred.
> 
> ...



Rocky, I guess there is absolutely no truth in the saying, "You can tell a lot about a man by his avatar pic".   I gotta say that I didn't see this coming.
Nice shop brother.

Reactions: Funny 3


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## JohnF (Dec 19, 2016)

Rocky, wheres the sawdust?


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## Mike1950 (Dec 19, 2016)

rocky1 said:


> Little bitty goodies get stashed in Stanley Sortmaster Organizers. They're stackable, interlock so it's easy to carry several, bright yellow handle works great for labeling what's in them. Want to say I have 12 - 15 of the damn things. Usually find them in Wally World in packs of 3. They're really handy for little sh1t!
> 
> Pen kits, blanks, press, etc. are now housed in the Mobile Flat Rate Box Organizer/Pen Assembly Table. Buy really good casters if you do this. Has to be a couple hundred pounds of wood and what not, and the cart has to weigh over a hundred.
> 
> ...




That is disgusting....... a place for everything..............

Reactions: Agree 1 | Funny 2


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## rocky1 (Dec 19, 2016)

justallan said:


> Rocky, I guess there is absolutely no truth in the saying, "You can tell a lot about a man by his avatar pic".   I gotta say that I didn't see this coming.
> Nice shop brother.



Oh... While it is big, it isn't always that clean. It kinda looked like yours and Greg's shops up to the point that Tony posted his, and I've about got it cleaned up to the point of taking current pictures.

Clean at that point in the pictures was the result of inheriting 12 - 15 years of someone else's mess. Took a little over 3 weeks to clean everything up in that damn shop. The wife's father's idea of organization consisted of coffee cans, and buckets. If it was in a coffee can or a bucket it was organized. As in 4 - 12 different size bolts, 8 altogether different size nuts, 5 different size nails, 2 different size fence staples, 1 padlock, 14 different keys, none of which fit said padlock, assorted spare car parts, 2 nickels, 12 pennies, a dime and a quarter, 3 shotgun shells, half a dozen rifle bullets of assorted calibers, and a handful of pistol ammo. I spent a couple days just pouring cans and buckets of nuts, bolts, nails, ammunition, keys, padlocks, you name it, out on a big damn cookie sheet and sorting it out. I spent 6 hours sorting ammunition out between the mess in the gun safe and all the ammo I found in the shop. Seriously, I bought a couple guns rather than get rid of ammo.

I wish I could say I was exaggerating, or maybe even just stretching that a little, but unfortunately no... There were coffee cans, to no end, even buckets full of exactly the above assortment of organization. Literally days to sort it all out!!!

The biggest attempt at organization the wife's father made was the peg board. He had random pieces of peg board, (_in assorted sizes to lead one to believe he acquired it for free from somewhere_), tacked on the walls all over the place. Didn't have much of anything hung on it, but he had the pegboard up.

Burn barrel didn't go out for days! I had close to a ton of scrap iron on the car trailer. Sold several hundred dollars worth of car parts. Still have a few of those left.

But while it was all clean, I decided to build shelves so I had someplace to put everything.




JohnF said:


> Rocky, wheres the sawdust?




It's all out in the front yard someplace. My dust collection system consists of opening the door, turning on the fan, and getting out the air hose. I haven't got all high tech yet.




Mike1950 said:


> That is disgusting....... a place for everything..............




Oh no... I can find more goodies than I got shelves for!!

Reactions: Like 1 | Funny 1


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## kweinert (Dec 19, 2016)

Mine is still mostly organized into the boxes it was put into when we moved.

The drawer under the drill press is for bits. More of them go in there as I find them when I'm doing other stuff. One drawer has measuring stuff in it. One cabinet has some screws in it. I jammed a bunch of bowl blanks under the steps/landing I built when I first started the garage to shop transformation.

Still a ways to go though.

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## Mike1950 (Dec 19, 2016)

My shop was quite organized.... the day after they poured the floor, it has been a steep downhill grade ever since....

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## Nature Man (Dec 19, 2016)

woodtickgreg said:


> I made this out of scrap wood. it's removable bins for storage of hardware and stuff, nails, screws, etc.
> View attachment 118797
> Some lumber storage on one end of the shop.
> View attachment 118798
> ...


Surely you aren't serious about having only 2 jobs going. Chuck


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## DKMD (Dec 19, 2016)

I use those cheap little plastic boxes and/or tackle boxes for organizing pen supplies, peppermill stuff, and a multitude of other things. I got rid of my tablesaw, so I lost a lot of horizontal storage. Commercial kitchen racks line one wall which is where all the blanks and burls get stacked.

My shop would never be considered clean, but it is organized...

Reactions: Like 1


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## Mike1950 (Dec 19, 2016)

DKMD said:


> I use those cheap little plastic boxes and/or tackle boxes for organizing pen supplies, peppermill stuff, and a multitude of other things. I got rid of my tablesaw, so I lost a lot of horizontal storage. Commercial kitchen racks line one wall which is where all the blanks and burls get stacked.
> 
> My shop would never be considered clean, but it is organized...



Oh my shop is organized!! Kathie in the background..... Everybody piks on the

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## rocky1 (Dec 19, 2016)

Women just do not understand men's organizational skills! 

Before I started cleaning the shop, the mother-in-law was suggesting coming out here to help me clean the shop.

The funny part in that is...

-- The medicine cabinets in both bathrooms are full of makeups, and creams, and lotions, and assorted other foo-foo goodies.
-- The medicine having no place to reside in the medicine cabinets, is occupying two cupboards in the kitchen.
-- With exception of Band-Aids and assorted goodies for abrasions, cuts, puncture wounds, and insect bites. That is in the hall closet.
-- Except for the Peroxide and Alcohol; that is in the medicine cabinet for some unexplained reason.
-- Part of the Tupperware is in the cupboard in the hallway next to her bedroom. Part of it is in the water heater closet.
-- The Stainless Steel Mixing Bowls, Paper Plates, Napkins, remainder of the Tupperware, and a few other assorted kitchen type goodies are in the laundry room. An improvement brought on upon the installation of shelving therein; they were in the back of her bedroom closet.
-- And, you gotta pipe light into the friggin refrigerator to see anything. She has it so crammed full of stuff, you can't tell if the light comes on when you open the door. I have consolidated 4 jars of hot peppers in the last week, and there are more open in there. I'm the only one that eats them, and I didn't open them!!!!

The wife did at least clean the freezer out, after I got done cussing the other night when the roast fell out and landed on my toe!

Our refrigerator looks something like Marc and Tony's shop, my shop don't look nothing like any of the three at it's worst, but she's going to come help me clean my shop up!

Reactions: Funny 7


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## NYWoodturner (Dec 25, 2016)

I use the AFHS system. You start with a base layer and build on as need increases. It grows in complexity as you build. At first it is pretty simple. Then it becomes a memory game and somewhat of a challenge. One day you walk in to your shop and your like Rain Man... "The 1.5" x 13/16 piece of spalted sycamore is under the Claro scrap behind the curly maple". The only downside is that it does not work for pencils, markers, squares or tape measures. 

It is otherwise known as the "All Flat Horizontal Surface" method

Reactions: Agree 3 | Funny 4


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