Does your shop ever get so crowded at times that it’s just plumb scary? This weekend I had a special project to start on and I wanted to get a good early start. On workdays, Monday through Friday, I usually am in bed by 9 PM because I get up around 4 AM. Every now and then I might stay up until 10 PM the night before. On the weekends I usually am in bed by 10:00 PM at the latest and am up by 5:30 or 6:00 AM. On Saturdays and Sundays I usually hit the shop by 8 AM and work until 4, 5, or 6 PM depending on how things are going. However, occasionally my two daughters and I get together and we have a marathon discussion about most every subject that you can imagine. Well, Friday night was just such a night and they kept this old man up until maybe 3 AM.
Well, I didn’t make it to the shop til 9AM and on top of that I was a little dazed anyways so when I entered the shop I had forgotten just exactly how crowded the shop had gotten. 
The picture above is what met my tired bloodshot eyes. A site like this almost makes one want to just sit down, have a cold one, and forget woodworking for the weekend. 
The picture above is the view from the opposite door. Well it was do or die and I did. I hauled out a couple of sheets of plywood and propped them up against the house, got an 8 ft 1×12 off the floor and stood it up against the shop wall, and cut two 1×6’s 16ft long in half and stood them against the wall, hauled out two bicycles, and went through the shop with the once over just cleaning up a little and putting tools away. By the time I got through it was 11AM.
The picture above is what the shop looked like after the quick cleanup. It wasn’t great but at least I could work in it. Unfortunately, I still had to go get a sheet of plywood and a few other things from Lowe’s and by the time I got back I had to sit down and think just a little bit about what kind of tool box I was going to build for rivergirl. She had been nice enough to make me one of her foot stools to prop my old tired feet on, so I thought that I would build her a tool box in order to reciprocate. By the time I drew something out on paper it must have been 1:30 or 2 PM. So I didn’t get a very early start to say the least. My next blog post will be about building rivergirl’s tool box.
-- helluvawreck aka Charles, http://woodworkingexpo.wordpress.com
24 comments so far
Eric_S
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1565 posts in 4200 days
#1 posted 10-25-2010 05:06 PM
Nice looking shop. I like your screws/nuts/bolts storage. Looks like you cleaned up enough to work in though :)
I’m still dreading the sorting of all thes scraps that have accumulated from the nightstand build process. I have no scrap storage other than what you see in the pic. I was hoping to keep most of these scraps, but since a lot of them are curved bandsaw cutoffs they may require to much work to actually use so I may just burn those and just keep the flat pieces:
-- - Eric Noblesville, IN
a1Jim
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#2 posted 10-25-2010 05:12 PM
A clean shop makes things so much easier
-- https://www.artisticwoodstudio.com/videos
stefang
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#3 posted 10-25-2010 05:17 PM
I know what you mean HW. Although I never get up at 6am I do know all about crowded shops. Yours is actually not as tight as mine. Over the last few years I have leaned to jump, pirouette, dodge and slide to a degree worthy of a ballet star. Even though I don’t usually make anything worth a darn in my shop, I find it exhilarating just to get out of there alive each time!
-- Mike, an American living in Norway.
gul
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400 posts in 3967 days
#4 posted 10-25-2010 05:24 PM
I hear ya.I clean my shop almost everyday as i don’t have dust collection :/ Well I guess all of us have a crowded shop once in a while.You do spend a lot of time in your shop,that’s great :)
dub560
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615 posts in 3918 days
#5 posted 10-25-2010 05:31 PM
i’m in the same boat as you..i can’t seem to keep mind clean at all probably cause i don’t know what to throw away. everything seems to be a keeper even short pieces(you never know they might come in handy later on)
-- Life is enjoyable especially when you borrow from people
lew
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13309 posts in 4760 days
#6 posted 10-25-2010 05:31 PM
Looks good to me! Wish I could get a full sheet of plywood into the basement shop. Everything here has to be broken down outside.
As Eric said- nice storage bins!
Lew
-- Lew- Time traveler. Purveyor of the Universe's finest custom rolling pins.
PaBull
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#7 posted 10-25-2010 06:01 PM
The way your shop looks in the pictures above, is when my shop is clean. So I have no clue what you are talking about, except that I feel like a having a cold one too every time I walk into my shop.
-- rhykenologist and plant grower
BritBoxmaker
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4611 posts in 4041 days
#8 posted 10-25-2010 06:07 PM
Hmm, Jim. A clean shop. I had one of them once or was it twice?
-- Martyn -- Boxologist, Pattern Juggler and Candyman of the visually challenging.
helluvawreck
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32122 posts in 3871 days
#9 posted 10-25-2010 06:19 PM
Well, believe me guys, I do try to keep it fairly straight, but a small shop is a small shop and there’s just so many places where you can put stuff. I appreciate all of the comments.
-- helluvawreck aka Charles, http://woodworkingexpo.wordpress.com
Abbott
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2570 posts in 4308 days
#10 posted 10-25-2010 06:26 PM
My shop sometimes gets a bit more crowded then I would like but I have much more room then you do. I also have to move a truck out of one of my bays first to do much of anything becuase of the dust and debris.
You sure have a nice setup there helluvawreck.
-- Ohh mann...pancakes and boobies...I'll bet that's what Heaven is like! ♣ ♣ ♣ ♣
Maveric777
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#11 posted 10-25-2010 06:29 PM
It drives me crazy to leave stuff out on my work bench and saw dust on the floor over night… I have to be honest… I would most likely loose my mind in there….lol
-- Dan ~ Texarkana, Tx.
helluvawreck
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32122 posts in 3871 days
#12 posted 10-25-2010 06:35 PM
Abbott: Thanks for the comment. It really does help to have a Bud Light every now and then.
Maverick: Maybe that’s one of the reasons that they call me helluvawreck. :)
-- helluvawreck aka Charles, http://woodworkingexpo.wordpress.com
Maveric777
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2694 posts in 4081 days
#13 posted 10-25-2010 06:40 PM
lol… Makes perfect sense…
-- Dan ~ Texarkana, Tx.
mafe
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12925 posts in 4094 days
#14 posted 10-25-2010 06:55 PM
My shop is so small that I simply can’t make a mess, if I do I will be gone…
I have a ‘sickness’ I clean up almost always before I leave the shop, yes it’s manic.
But I love when I work and everything is at hand, then it’s so much easier to work.
When I used to work as an architect my colleagues had a game with me, they took the books rulers or whatever was on my table, and turned it a little sideways, just 5 degree or so. And every time I came back I would automatic put it back in place, without looking at it. This was a game they had for three years, without telling me. So yes I must be a little twisted, but I do love order, but also to make a mess, and then to bring it back in order before next project.
So I also have a problem to see you’re clean up there… Laughs.
Best thoughts, and a big smile my friend,
Mads
-- MAD F, the fanatical rhykenologist and vintage architect.
mafe
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12925 posts in 4094 days
#15 posted 10-25-2010 06:56 PM
Acually my shop is so small I have to go outside to change my mind!
-- MAD F, the fanatical rhykenologist and vintage architect.
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