[Sominus]

My shop is a disaster. I suffer from a rare condition called "flatsurfaceitis" -- a debilitating condition that has sometimes disastrous effects on those around me. It has, on occasion, caused injury. Many times it has cost significant amounts of money in the re-purchase of items thought to have been previously purchased. Mostly it has just given rise to the situation pictured below.

Realize, this is the "before".... Hopefully in the coming months it will become a distant memory....

 

[Stick486]

rare you say.. eh...

 

[DaninVan]

That's a 'before' picture?! Meh; in the ranking of mess making you're an amateur, Michael...
I'd be happy to have my mess looking that good!

 

[Stick486]

Looking at the exterior wall from the inside...
I hope you put barrier before you insulate...

 

[Sominus]

Barrier? Eh? Do I need to put plastic sheeting in over the studs before I put up fiberglass?

 

[Stick486]

That's a 'before' picture?! Meh; in the ranking of mess making you're an amateur, Michael...
I'd be happy to have my mess looking that good!

....

 

[Old_Tom]

I hear ya Michael........I hear ya! Many time bought something only to find it hiding on the cluttered bench........sometimes in plain sight!!!!!!
I think we are all affected by this affliction mate.

 

[DesertRatTom]

That's a nice size space. I have a place for everything--almost. But the problem is putting it back. I tend to stack things up after using them, then have to reclaim the two flat spots by putting everything away all at once. One thing that really helped is I put a set of shallow shelves behind my assembly table that hold things I use there. Same with my table saw and other tool areas. Shelves and drawers. All tools now sit on stands with doors and shelves or drawers inside, which keeps the sawdust out.

 

[jj777746]

The weird thing is,when my shop is a mess,I can mostly locate what I need,yet after it's tidied up,I can't find anything.

 

[Sominus]

Phase 1 of "The Project From Hell" officially begins today. Phase 1 is the "left wall" of the garage (first posted picture).

Phase 1A: The "tear down" of everything against the wall. This tear down is likely to take more than a couple days as I have to create space in the garage to receive all the shi.. er, um... "stuff" that is piled against, leaned up against, nailed to or simply lost in that wall. There will likely also be a purge that happens where some of the shi.. "STUFF" gets rehomed.

Once the tear down is complete, the walls will be insulated with R15 bats and OSB will be put up. I will also likely also put foam insulation sheets in the garage door. If I get all of this done by the end of next week, I'll be pretty happy. It will likely take even longer since I have a life that seems to be filled with numerous types of interruptions.

Phase 1b can then begin: A chase containing wiring, 8" dust collection main line and compressed air line will be created on the floor. 3 or 4 4" dust collection outlets will be tapped into the main line.

Phase 1c will be the building of cabinetry and shelving against the newly insulated and covered wall.

If I make it to phase 2, I'll tell y'all what it is..

-M

 

[sreilly]

I have made myself dedicate the last 15-30 minutes in the shop to cleaning up. It wasn't always that way but as we age the fall factor becomes greater and the chance of injury is escalated as well. Until the past few months my Golden would join me in the shop for a while and I didn't want her tracking sawdust and such through the house so there was that as well. Most of my shop projects have been storage and organizational to keep things well place and get the most from my area in the basement. Still doesn't mean I can find everything in a timely manner........but it's clean.

 

[Bushwhacker]

I had planed to go out and clean out my shop, but after seeing Michael's shop, mine can wait a while.

 

[RainMan 2.0]

Looks a hundred times better than mine. I’ll sure be happy when mine gets organized

 

[Sominus]

So yesterday afternoon didn't go quite as well as I'd have hoped... I got about 6' taken care of. *sigh*

As it turns out, there's a lot that goes into tidying things up so you can move them.

This is going to take a while...

 

[DaninVan]

Amen!!!

 

[bfblack]

I suffer from a rare condition called "flatsurfaceitis" -- a debilitating condition that has sometimes disastrous effects on those around me.

I am glad you have given a name to my condition. It is not as rare as you think. Is there a support group for this problem?

 

[Stick486]

Is there a support group for this problem?

yup...
any group of tables, chairs, floors, benches and anything flat enough that won't let things slide/roll off it's surface...
chapters located everywhere...

 

[DesertRatTom]

...As it turns out, there's a lot that goes into tidying things up so you can move them.

This is going to take a while...

One thing that really works for me is putting in metal shelving something like what's shown below. There are light and heavy weight versions. You can get the vertical mounting bars in lengths up to 8 feet, although 6 feet is sufficient for my use. The shelves are easily installed, preferably over studs. You can buy shelves up to 8 feet wide, again light or heavy duty. You can set any width you want, and rearrange quickly and easily so you can fill them full.

You can also use plywood or OSB for the shelving, using the brackets to hold them up.

On the end of one of my wire shelves, I hanged my excess small and medium Bessy f clamps. I found some standard sized plastic tubs with tops that stack very neatly and hold several related items per box. I write the content category on the ends so it's easy to find stuff I don't use all that often. If I lived in a humid area, I'd consider either drilling vent holes or ordering bulk silica gel beaded dessicant.

Home Depot has the shelving system https://www.homedepot.com/s/Rubbermaid%20wire%20storage%20shelves?NCNI-5

I found the plastic boxes at Target. There's a 3 inch and 6 inch model and both stack equally well.

Final suggestion. In my shop, the lowest shelf is no lower than 16 inches. This is so I can put big, bulky items there, which are easier to move than 20 small items and the clearance to vacuum out wandering sawdust.

 

[TenGees]

I also admit to having that condition. Slowly trying to put cabinets where the piles are. Looks much tidier with drawers and doors to hide the piles. I recently made a simple box with a drawer, to fit under the right wing of my table saw. Now I have a place for my insert plates, blade wrenches, push sticks, taper jig, feather-boards and other saw jigs etc.

 

[Biagio]

There is an interesting neuropsychiatric phenomenon called deja vu- the distinct impression of total familiarity in a location never previously visited.
There is a related phenomenon called presque vu - the feeling of knowing one knows something, but not being quite able to recall it. Very applicable to not being able to locate a previous purchase, in the certainty that it is here somewhere.

Repeating an action because of not remembering having already performed it, is called perseveration.

I experienced deja vu looking at the photos of Michael’s shop, I experience presque vu at least weekly in my own, and I try (mostly without success) to suppress the perseverative activity of going and repurchasing something I have already bought, but don’t remember.

All fairly common in normal brains, but greater tendency with age or other causes of deterioration. I classify politicians among those causes.