What are some of your shop tips and tricks?

[ctt956]

Holding a vacuum cleaner nozzle near a drill(or anything) is a great way to make cleanup easy and keep dust out of your robot, but what if you need both hands to drill and don't have someone to hold the vacuum? Just clamp the vacuum nozzle near your work area with a quick clamp. This works well on bench vises, as you can clamp the vacuum hose to the vise and direct it to the workpiece. Just don't put too much force on the clamp, it doesn't take a lot for this.

For cleaning dust off of machines/equipment/anywhere you can't get a vacuum cleaner or that won't come off with just suction, using a paintbrush in coordination with a vacuum is effective. For things you clean with air, an air compressor can also be used in coordination with a vacuum. Having a larger brush as a broom for the workbench isn't a bad idea, as you can just push the dust into piles. It gets the dust out of the way quickly, and you can pick it up later.

Have several different drill bits of the same size. Not only does this allow more people to use them and make it easier if one is misplaced, but if you're drilling something that could overheat a bit, it minimizes break times for cooling, as you can take the hot bit out, swap a cool one in, etc. This could apply to other tools as well.

Label everything clearly. Keep everything in one place.

Power strips can be good, as they provide an additional switch that can turn off equipment quickly if necessary. In a way, they prevent too many power tools in one area as they'll probably trip. If you use them, make the switch easily accessible should it be needed in an emergency.

Need to unplug something to plug something else in? Moving something somewhere else? Easy, just unplug the black power cord...wait. They're all black. Label them! It will save time and frustration.

If you have access to the breaker box for your shop and are allowed to, label all of the breakers clearly. Make sure they're readable, and not just numbers, but what is connected to their corresponding circuit breakers. Also, keep the door closed and latched, especially if you need to work around them. If the door needs to be open, find a way to hold it open all the way. Know where the door is if you're working around a breaker box.

You can do other things while a horizontal bandsaw is cutting, but keep an eye on it and make sure everyone knows that it's running.

Try to plan tasks to minimize down/wait time. If there's a wait between two tasks, such as something needs to cool down or a battery needs to charge, think about what could be done during that time. Like this:

1. Cut part
2. Drill holes
3. While drill battery is recharging and/or drill bit is cooling, deburr
4. Finish drilling...etc. You get the idea.

I think that's all I have for now.