| Blog series by Myron Wooley | updated 2300 days ago | 6 parts | 5913 reads | 39 comments total |
Part 1: Running My Underwear Up The Flagpole
Folks, I need help. My shop looks like the aftermath of a tornado, and I’m mentally stuck.I look around, and I see piles of roughly sorted items- plumbing stuff here, computer parts there, and woodworking tools scattered about. If I set anything down, even for a second, it gets swallowed up and I spend 15 minutes hunting it down. As soon as the work was completed on the building, I epoxied the floor and started working on the dust collection. Then the two cargo bins that we had in...
Part 2: First Steps Toward a 5S Shop
Well, I got a lot of good advice from the Jock community, and I’m starting to formulate a plan using your great ideas. The first thing I’m going to do is buy about ten clear plastic bins, the kind with the bear-trap tops, and sort everything into rough categories. Those bins that have nothing to do with routine shop activity go into the crawlspace storage area on racks. The crawlspace is the same size as the shop, with a full slab, power, lights, drains, and ventilation. The...
Part 3: Got started
Well, I bought the bins, and got a pretty good start on sorting out the shop. My shop time has been limited to a few hours here and there- the kidlets always seem to need attention. I even had the baby out there while I sorted. She just sat there in her little bouncy seat and talked to the wind and the dog and such. It seems that whenever my DW gets a few hours, she’s gone into town for groceries and other needs. I can’t blame her- she’s got our 6 kids in her hair all ...
Part 4: Tool Storage
I bought the hanging tool cabinet plans from Fine Woodworking Magazine so I can get my hand tools up on the wall. I really like the way that the author organized his, but the plan doesn’t have any details about tool holders. I guess I’ll stare at the photos for guidance. BTW, have you priced Baltic birch plywood lately? Sheesh!
Part 5: Making Progress
Well, Thanksgiving has come and gone, the fridge is still reeling from being stuffed (and so am I!), but I am on vacation! So for the next week, I am attacking my shop, with the goal of getting it organized and workable. Yesterday, I pulled everything out and started to sort through the pile. It really wasn’t as bad as I feared, but it has become apparent that I really have to have pegboard, cabinets, and shelves. I also am struggling with the machine layout. I think I’m pr...
Part 6: Continuing the Process
I took a few pictures to show you how I’m doing on this. This is a shot of the rear of the shop. The County made me put in a levee in case it ever rains again. At least now I can sing “American Pie” with feeling! ”Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry…” I got everything out so I could sweep the floor. I need to run the dust collector down to the table saw. 4” to the dust port and 4” to the Shark Guard (you can see it on ...
