Just having a tidy up

[The Bowler Hatted Turner]

so I have completed my latest commission, all signed, sealed, delivered and paid for, I really do love customers like that. Now, before I start getting all creative again I need to have a tidy up. Bearing in mind the only person working in my workshop is me how comes it gets in such a mess? 3 bags of firewood to the lady down the road and 5 bags of shavings and sweepings off the floor and bits of abrasive and stuff. I never seem able to get in the habit of putting tools back in their right place and then when I finally have had enough of working like that and have a blitz I always end up with too many tools in the drawers.
    When I finally do get round to tidying up and reorganizing all that seems to happen is stuff is just rotated around the shop to fill up the gaps on shelves until I have a bigger gap left which then gets filled up!!
 It's a good time to have a tidy as the WCT competition has been announced and it gives me an opportuity to find stuff to use.

[Bellringer75]

I get that way

[edbanger]

I couldn't work like that, I have to tidy up every time I finish working, but when my son's in the workshop having a go on his lathe the place look's like a bomb's hit it.

Ed

[burywoodturners]

Well organised people are just too lazy to look for anything,

Ron

[Bryan Milham]

Bearing in mind the only person working in my workshop is me how comes it gets in such a mess?

I resemble that remark!

[Derek]

I also tidy up at the end of every day "BUT I STILL CAN'T FIND A B----Y THING" until 3 month later or in the case of my centre finder never to be seen again

[edbanger]

My tidying up the other day nearly cost a gardener his chipper, I bag up all my shavings he collects them and puts them through his chipper along with his other waste, (he gives me chunks of trees I couldn't find one of my tool rest's when I was packing up one night, so the only place it could have been is in the shavings that I had bagged up, he had just collected the sack's of shaving evening so a frantic phone call at 7.30 in the morning explaining.

He turned up later that day tool rest in hand

 

[TONY MALIN]

I recently lost the fixing screw for a letter press nutcracker. I knew I'd parked it somewhere. It must have fallen into the shavings. To finish the job I took one from another kit. Thinking I couldn't get a replacement it played on my mind. I went through the shavings by the handful. Filled a black bag. No screw. A while later I thought it must be there. So through the shavings again twice. No luck. I was having sleepless nights.

By now I'm sure you've worked out it wasn't there. lost and gone forever.

But no the brightest among you will have realised it must be there somewhere. And sure enough it was. Sitting upright on a ledge and never moved. Made me feel a right old idiot.

So where should I put the screw next time? Same place

[The Bowler Hatted Turner]

I did something similar a while back and "stole" a piece from another kit....only to find said piece in my trouser pocket where I had put it so I wouldn't lose it !!

Update on the shed clearance..............I now have a floor and can see most of the bench. The job concertinaed a little bit as I carried on and tidied up the drawers and put stuff in one of the chests and sorted out a box for my abrasives and..........you know how it works, but I should finish tomorrow in time to start again Monday. Inbetween jobs I will now start thinking about the piece for the WCT competition entry.
     You know if all the regular contributors here entered the WCT would have a really good competition.

[bodrighywood]

Love to enter it John but knowing the work that members can produce scares me off a bit.

Pete

[edbanger]

Nothing Ventured - Nothing Gained Put my first piece in the club comp today and got a commendation!!! not bad for someone who's been turning for just over 3 months

[Eric Harvey]

I tidied up my workshop just after xmas,you wouldn`t know it now,when I did I looked for the locking screw for the headstock of  my Jet 3520B,as said before,looked through shavings by the handful,including going through them with a magnet,not there after two attempts,moved all the wood off the lahte shelf,not there,moved the lathe,so I could move a cupboard and look under it,not there either,I heard it drop when I lost it,but so far it hasn`t turned up,you know how it is,I`ll order a replacement for it,and it`ll be somewhere I didn`t look,I now have 3 bags of shavings waiting to go to a friend and probably another 2 or three on the floor again,ah well,suppose I`d better have another clear up.

[The Bowler Hatted Turner]

It does pay dividends to have a clear up sometimes (said the H&S rep for the AWGB)today I needed one of those pierce and cut drills but in a size larger than the one I already had. After the clear up I sorted all of my drill bits out (why do I need so many? ) and so I just went to the correct drawer for that sized drill bit and there it was. That was one of those moments that would have been better if someone else had been there to witness it.

[Nick Arnull]

I find it interesting to hear how we all have a different approach to keeping our workshops clean and tidy,
Im no neat nik but clear the shavings constantly from my immediate work area,I also hoover my workshops almost daily as I can't abide working in an environment that isn't tidy I am in it for many hours,
Surely a tidy workshop is a more productive workshop than one with shavings and debris hanging from the cobwebs.
A clean workspace is also much more healthy to be in for long periods.
Nick Arnull.RPT.

[John D Smith]

I agree with Nick I always clean up at the end of the day but then again I am not turning every day so it is easy for me.

                                                           Regards John