Shop reference card

when we attended a wood show last year the lady at the bandsaw blade booth asked us what size we wanted… ah.. ah… ah… so then she asked us what brand of saw we had .. we paused (we did know the name! woo hoo).. she then grabbed a mini notebook (which had their label stuck on the front) and said “record every piece of equipment you have and all the information you might need about each… then take it wherever you go.”
And so we have the little notebook with the tools, the size of blades & replacement parts for each, model number etc…, and it stays in the glove compartment of Rick’s truck. When we buy a new piece of equipment we record in the book as soon as we get back in the truck.

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

Dang, that’s a good idea…

-- Dekker - http://www.WoodworkDetails.com/

Thank you for the idea, I knew that others have run into this and had viable solutions, thanks

-- Hope Never fails

And here I thought it was just encroaching senility when I last went to the BORG for a sanding belt.
Brilliant!

-- "Bordnerizing" perfectly good lumber for over a decade.

This is a great idea. Ms Debbie’s method of keeping info about equipment (in addition to supplies) has a secondary benefit – if you ever have to make an insurance claim, having a list of all the tools in the shop is a lot better than having to dig through the ashes – or harder, dig through your memory.

-- http://www.peteroxley.com -- http://north40studios.etsy.com --

Unfortunately, for an insurance claim you’d probably have to produce receipts and photos… and you’d only be covered for a small amount unless you got extra coverage for your pricey tools… Usually like a dollar per grand of value, but might be worth it if you have a Festool in your shop…

-- Dekker - http://www.WoodworkDetails.com/

I can’t speak to a home shop, but when our business burned this spring we didn’t have photos and our receipts were in the shop. Insurance wanted a list of tools, materials, supplies, etc. and their replacement value. They accepted the list of items we generated but checked most of the prices we submitted. Large tools – over $1000 for our policy – have to be itemized and insured individually. Before you clean up the damage, an adjuster comes to see, and takes photos. If you tried to claim you had a $30k machine and they couldn’t see anything bigger than a router in the adjuster’s photos, I’m sure they’d require more proof. But who has photos and receipts for all of their possesions stored off site? If that was required for a claim, insurance would never have to pay out! That being said, having photos of everything is a good idea too, but even a photo isn’t proof of ownership.

On the homeowner side – I do know that my homeowner’s insurance policy states that my garage and contents are insured. They know that most people have more than a car and a lawnmower in their garage.

-- http://www.peteroxley.com -- http://north40studios.etsy.com --

Never seen a lawnmower with orange tires.

Videos help too. Some of the guys here have posted video shop tours. That and the melted blob are really all the insurance guys need.

-- Bob Vila would be so proud of you!

No, really – it was parked right next to the table saw when the shop burned.

-- http://www.peteroxley.com -- http://north40studios.etsy.com --

I believe you – I believe you!!! really I do

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

I know it is a shop tool! That is home despot orange!

LOL – home despot! that’s better than the borg!

Poor Mario, we’ve hijacked his thread.

-- http://www.peteroxley.com -- http://north40studios.etsy.com --

I’ll let you hijack the thread if I can hijack the car.

-- Hope Never fails

Sorry, Mario, it burned up in the fire and insurance doesn’t believe that it was in there!

To your original question – I think the supplies card would be different for everyone. If I were trying to put one together (I really should, it’s a great idea), I think I would just start with what you can think of off hand. Then carry the card around with you in the shop and when you’re at the store. When you are in the shop, you say to your self, “Hey I’m almost out of #2 widgets, I’d better put them on my shopping list. You know, I go through a lot of #2 widgets – I’m going to put them on my stock card, too.” When you are at the store you say, “Wow, that’s a great price on whatsit! Darn, what size whatsit goes on my thingummy? I’m going to write ‘whatsits’ on my card and write down the size when I get back to the shop.”

Your profile says you are a network admin – I’m guessing you have a PDA? Put your list on the PDA because I’m betting it will outgrow a card in a big hurry! Good luck, and great idea!

-- http://www.peteroxley.com -- http://north40studios.etsy.com --

Yes I do have a PDA but I am fighting the urge to do that as I see my woodworking as my escape from the digital world as much as I can. ( my table saw has never paged me in the middle of the night to notify me that it needs something) I guess resistance is futile… I was thinking that I would never find that my index card would not open, or that it crashed.

-- Hope Never fails