I realized shortly after completing the recent cabinet project that the time has come to do some major work on the shop. It’s time to continue sharpening. I also have to vacuum up a bunch of dust. go through the cabinets and organize my fasteners and other goodies and to take a quick inventory of what is truly out there.
In the middle of the clean up, I got to wondering about how other woodworkers do this. Do you periodically go through everything in your shop cabinets and reorganize the items tucked away in those far away recesses, or do you even care?
[poll id=”141″]
What makes you think that my shop needs cleaning? I know where most everything should be. It may be dusty but, it’s here…..Somewhere.
Rog
I do what you recommended as a tip in one of your old blogs, each time I go to the shop, I try to pick up a couple of tools and put them away.
Soon, it is in good shape and everything is where it belongs.
After completing a project, I do a more thorough clean up and take stock of what needs to be replenished.
My old shop is never as clean as I would like it to be.
Thanks Tom.
Tom,
I clean my shop every day because is the safe thing to do and I don’t like dragging sawdust and shavings from the garage to the house.
Having said that, my shop is very messy but tolerably clean. I find most of the stuff where is supposed to.
Bobby Slack
I give my shop a thorough cleaning for one of two reasons. Either I can’t move because crap is everywhere, or I’ve finished a project and want to tidy up before moving on to the next one.
The “oh god I can’t turn around without breaking something” cleanings are the more frequent but less thorough kind.
How about all those plastic cases – I got rid of a lot of them and opened up my shop space.
I am always looking for more space in my workshop so cleaning becomes part of some new developmment for storage or tool extension project.
I try to put things away as I go, but there are always those things that get stuck where they don’t belong and the sawdust that somehow gets into every nook and cranny. So I have to stop about once a month and clean it all out, find the missing or misplaced items and start all over.. It is so much easier to work after I have done that. I am still trying to keep it as clean as I want as I go along, but not always with great success.
It drives me nuts when I can’t find a tool. That’s when I straighten up.