All Replies on Do you have a dirty cluttered workbench like mine?

um…does a dirty cluttered workshop count? I usually have to spend the first 20 minutes of project clearing out space to make a project.

-- "Democracy is by far the worst system of government. Except all the others that have been tried." ~ Winston Churchill

It’s a never ending battle.

-- Robert Brou, Atlanta, GA, www.naturalismfurniture.com

All the great masters work from a clutter. Take a look at Harry Pope the barrel maker in his shop or Einstien in his office:-)) I quit worrying about it when I realized whose company I was in:-))

-- "some old things are lovely, warm still with life ... of the forgotten men who made them." - D.H. Lawrence Wake Up America!! Please read; http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/01/26-0

Were’s the clutter Gary ? :-)) I’ve been there a lot and had it get pretty deep too.

-- W James Brokenbourgh Custom furniture maker http://artisticwoodstudio.com/

I definately fall into this trap as well. Everytime I get a different tool, I use it and then set it down where I’m working. I’m like you I clean up after every job and even sometimes in the middle of the job just to get organized again.

-- Canadian Wood Chuck (Bruce)

That looks just like mind every time do any kind of project. As hard as I try to put things back as I work it always ends up like that. Sometimes I straighten out some up in the middle of a project when I start getting aggravated looking for something, but most of the time I do the same thing and clean up at the end.

they posted a note above my desk once that said, “If a cluttered desk is a sign of a cluttered mind then what is an empty desk a sign of?”

The more time I spend in the shop, the cleaner it is. It’s when I’m only popping in quick and back out quickly and do that for a week or two that it gets really cluttered. I take time to mess it up but not to clean it. When I’m in there a lot working on a big project, I clean it every day, well almost. I notice you have some of the carbide sanding blocks too Gary. Mine have already paid for themselves.

-- Dale Manning, Carthage, NY

Yep. Pretty much exactly like you said. As I’m working on something it gets to look like your pictures. Then when I want to start a new project I put everything away so I have room to work, in no time flat it’s lookin’ like that again.

-- -Curt, Milwaukee, WI

i’m always neat, it’s just a matter of degree of neat, including negative degree.

russv

-- yknotwood.com: where to go because you don't want no stinking plastic!

The way I see it, As long as you keep all the stuff out in plain sight you will be able to find it.

-- St. Louis - just a cut away from finishing!

That looks pretty clean to me ! :)

-- John in Belgrave (Website) http://www.extremebirdhouse.com , http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=112698715866

I have the same problem. And all my pencils and tape measure don camouflage suits at that point, and I can’t find one no matter how many I have.

-- Charlie M. "Woodworking - patience = firewood"

Yeah, the work table and sometimes the workbench in my shop get like that. Its often that way when I finish a project then I clean up the tools, put them all away and then clean the shop. Then I start a new project and do it all over again. Sometimes though I can’t stand it anymore and clean everything up in the middle of a project and start pulling tools off of shelves and racks a second time. Now and then my wife comes out and throws a complete clean up on my shop and makes it shiny!

-- Ohh mann...pancakes and boobies...I'll bet that's what Heaven is like! ♣ ♣ ♣ ♣

I agree with John. No clutter there. In my book, clutter has to be at least 6” deep. Anything less is just a little messy

-- Gary, DeKalb Texas only 4 miles from the mill

Cleaned my clutter yesterday…
found 5 pencils, 3 tape measures, 7 drill bits, and 8 stray sanding discs.
I was wondering were everything had gone (I always accuse my husband of borrowing).
I think most of us share your clutter problem. Hehe

Lisa

-- Imagination rules the world. ~ Napoleon Bonaparte ~ http://quiltedwood.com

Yup, yup, yup! Mine is cluttered. Really cluttered.

-- Chip -----------http://www.penmanchip.com-----------------Micah 6:8

Gary, that looks spic and span to me too! You know my shop.

-- (You just have to please the man in the Mirror) Mike from Michigan -

i dont know your bench still looks clean to me. i can atleast start to clean it mine i dont even want to do nothing the only part i keep clean is the part next to the vise thats it. hopefully when i move it i can keep it clean we’ll see. http://i855.photobucket.com/albums/ab120/icomba/bigdaddiesshoppics011.jpg

-- Ike, Big Daddies Woodshop, http://www.icombadaniels@yahoo.com

That doesn’t look bad Gary. I would feel I was blessed if mine was that clean.

-- I've been blessed with a father who liked to tinker in wood, and a wife who lets me tinker in wood. Southern Delaware karson_morrison@bigfoot.com †

Are you kidding? I would kill for that much space.
Dave

-- Dave Leitem,Butler,Pa.,http://dlcarver.etsy.com

Yep, minus the power tools and you have my workbench. I dont believe it has been cleaned off since I built it.

-- Steve-o

Soooo, I’m really not the only messy woodworker.

-- Bill - "Suit yourself and let the rest be pleased." http://www.cajunpen.com/

This happens every time I get into a build. I have a 4×8 assembly table and it gets covered with tools, finishes, etc. And, as your bench shows, there is no room to assemble the project.

I am glad to see I am not alone in this habit.

-- Challenges are what make life interesting; overcoming them is what makes life meaningful- Joshua Marine

YUP

-- Drink twice... and don't bother to cut... @ larrysworkshop.wordpress.com For lovers of all things timber...

yuppers, just visit my work shop. always looks like that, even when clean

-- Randy I have the right to remain silent, just not the ability ; )

This happens to me too.

-- Wayne - Plymouth MN

Been trying to get organized for 30 + years still not there. I think it would be fun to have a place for everything and everything in its place!

-- Dennis in Iowa "You can have 30 years experiance or 1 year 30 times!!!!"

I mucked mine off this morning to make a jig. I have , as usual ,4 projects on the go that each need about 10 items.
What a hobby!

Bob

-- A mind, like a home, is furnished by its owner

This is what my mess looked like a few months ago . I could barely find my beer :)
I have cleaned it up some since i took these pics .

-- John in Belgrave (Website) http://www.extremebirdhouse.com , http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=112698715866

John,

I looked at your pics.

I can’t find your beer either.

But there’s some other really neat stuff that I’d like to play with. ;)

Q

Wait, Edit…I see it on the Jointer…

That’s probably another story waiting to happen…

-- I don't make sawdust...I produce vast quantities of "Micro Mulch."

Gary, you are OCD too! I am OCD, but not too OCD, so during a project…...YUP…....it looks just like that. But I put away the tools at the end also. That proves I am OCD….....I will not relinquish the title…....(-:

-- Jim, Anchorage Alaska

John – Damn!

-- Gary - Never pass up the opportunity to make a mistake look like you planned it that way - Tyler, TX

john
If you can’t find your beer, then that is the end of the mess! That is over the top, not tolerable…....
Check out my blog, the first picture….....Workshop Pictures

I can always find my beer….........

-- Jim, Anchorage Alaska

My RAS is permanently a table these days, I have to unearth my tablesaw whenever I want to use it, my workbench is full of stuff, and my lathe is buried in shavings.

None of these is a bad thing! Sign of a used shop. =)

-- Dylan Vanderhoof - General hobbiest and reluctant penmaker. http://llarian.etsy.com

well, you are able to still SEE your workbench….that’s a plus.

-- If you don't have time to do it right, do you have time to do it twice?

Hi John that is what my shop looks like. I can always find my beer though, to darn cold to drink beer the last few days though. Have a nice day Lee

-- wchips

Mine gets cluttered, but John has me beat hands down !!!
(Jimmy Hoffa might be in there!!!)

-- Eric

I’m a bit confused here. Are all of you saying that I’m suppose to clean up my work bench everyday? I lose my work benches and when I can’t find it anymore I build another one I have three and ran out of space in the basement so now I’m using the dinning room table. I NEVER LOSE MY BEER,, tools yea. material yea, benches of course, my wife well I didn’t lose her I know where she is at she just don’t live with me any more, I swear I can’t understand why she left. You can still find the front and back doors the toilet tub, sink stove fridge freezer T.V. and bed, what more do you need?

I really breathed a sigh of relief when I read all these posts. Seems I am in good company. I have been avoiding posting pictures of my shop. Now I can post them in good consciience.

A sigh I had on my shop door: “GENIUS IS SELDOM TIDY”

-- Acts: 2:38

Hope this makes you feel better…. mine after this weekend.

-- I GIVE UP!!!! I've cut this @!&*!% board 3 times.... its still too short!

Gary, you sure are messy!

I’m sure happy that I’m not THAT messy…

My work area is cleaned up after every session NO MATTER how tired I feel or how soon the dinner bell is about to ring… I ALWAYS clean it up!

I NEVER let it go like YOU do!

I’m sure glad you are learning how to keep your work area CLEAN… It’s about time! :) :)

Thank you for the update… and

Merry Christmas!!

-- Have Fun! Joe Lyddon - Alta Loma, CA USA - Home: http://www.WoodworkStuff.net ... My Small Gallery: http://www.ncwoodworker.net/pp/showgallery.php?ppuser=1389&cat=500"

I think ( don’t tell my wife) I have too many power tools for my space. My bench is against a wall in the garage, built in when I bought the house.I use it for storage of bench tools, is very cluttered. I have a table that I use for sanding and for assembly, but it gets cluttered with project specific stuff ( squares, pencils, sandpaper. As far as dirty goes, I love turning so there is no getting neat with chips being broadcast to the far corners of the earth. I dream of a day when I have a real workshop not in my garage, I will have 2 sides separated by a garage door, oneside for power tools, and oneside for handtools, and a bench, there should also be a finishing room on this side. When I get it, sometime in the next 20 years, I will do a video tour, keep an eye out.

-- Even a broken clock is right twice a day, unless, it moves at half speed like ....-As the Saw Turns

I wondered how my workbench got so small… now I know!
Thanks, Gary!
Ellen

-- Don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good.

Rick said the other day, “Our shop space was huge until we put stuff in it”
We fit in the “non-organized chaos” category. Some days I walk in, look around, and walk back out again.

-- ~ Debbie, Canada (http://www.execulink.com/~yohan)

I thought for sure, that you took a photo of my bench !!!

-- "Good artists borrow, great artists steal”…..Picasso

somewhere in the forums is a a big discussion about how to keep your pencils handy.. .lots of ideas

-- ~ Debbie, Canada (http://www.execulink.com/~yohan)

Hey Gary that the reason why I built two benches so I would have one to work on, the problem is now I have twice the mess…LOL

You, sir, are not alone. When my first work table got full I built another one. Then another. A few of them are now on wheels so I can get them out of my way when I want to do something. My shop is a puzzle to find the work space. Move a table, do some work, move some wood, do some work, put the table back, do some work … you get the idea. Not to worry, you’re among friends.

-- Working at Woodworking http://www.VillageLaneFurniture.com

My shop is almost as bad as John’s. But what is a woodworker to do when the woodworking shop is also a garden shop, recycling shop, and similar shops. I hate it when I have to spend 2 hours getting to my wood supply. By then I’ve usually forgotten what I was looking for or was distracted by something else. Oh well I suppose it is better than not being able to get a vehicle into or out of a garage. We can only blame ourselves.

-- Mark