An organized shop is a happy shop! The less time you spend looking for materials and tools, the more time you have for building. It's also easier to stay focused if you don't spend 10 minutes looking for "that tool I used 3 days ago that is no longer where I tossed it at the end of the day".
Aside from having a generally uniform and consistent system for organizing tools and stock (bins, tool chests, cabinets, carts, etc), which will vary from shop to shop based on space and preference, some tips I have:
- Clean up as you go. Put away tools and hardware when you no longer need them. On weekends or when working for an extended period, before or after lunch/dinner is a great time to take 15 minutes to pause work and tidy up, so you start the second half of your day fresh.
- Painter's tape is good for temporary-ish labels when you don't want to leave adhesive residue on parts. Gaff tape is nice too (and looks better), but expensive.
- Label. Everything. Especially opaque bins, cabinets, and boxes where you can't see what's inside before opening it. If possible, label both the sides and tops of boxes.
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These things. Good for nuts, bolts, bearings, electrical components, pneumatic components, etc.
- Label or throw away broken parts as soon as they break or as soon as you suspect there's a problem. Include the date on the label, i.e. "Broken 7/30/16" or "Inconsistent signal 7/30/16".
- One thing we did this year with great success was using old totes to store materials for specific prototypes/subsystems. Everything for our shooter went in one tote, everything for the intake went in another, etc. Makes it easy to keep work and parts together when you have to pack everything up every night.
Quote:
Originally Posted by marshall
I recommend these two books:
Metalworking Sink or Swim: Tips and Tricks for Machinists, Welders and Fabricators by Tom Lipton
Link: https://amzn.com/0831133627
Metalworking: Doing It Better by Tom Lipton
Link: https://amzn.com/0831134763
Both offer more metalworking and shop tips than you could ever possibly want to know and they are both easy reading. Good stuff. |
Well, my wallet is feeling a little lighter. Looking forward to these reads!