Mess, disorder and sloth. Joy or heartache?

There's no doubt that my truck runs smoother and has more pep after it's washed and waxed, while changing filters and plugs makes little difference. Just the opposite with my lathe. Polished ways, lubed camlocks and smooth tool rests make all the difference while the dried glue, varnish, grease, dirt and chips on the painted parts make no difference, except for being in style with messy chic. Am I just lazy or do I need a slob support group? Are there other slobs out there who claim to prefer a dirty lathe and pretend to work better in a messy shop? Enough of "Slobs Anonymous", I say it's time to come out of the closet. :)

Turn to Safety, Arch Fortiter

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Arch
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Arch there are a lot of things I rather do than clean my shop or other, however I have to keep things in such a upkeep that I'm able to do the other things I rather do. Floors, walls and bench tops will only be free of clutter after someone else moves into this place I'm afraid.

Have fun and take care Leo Van Der Loo

Arch wrote:

Reply to
l.vanderloo

I keep the bed ways clean and lube the moving parts but if it doesn't effect safety or performance I skip it.. Mac

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Reply to
mac davis

I clean my shop once a year weather it needs it or not. I toss bit of odd & ends That I haven't figured out a uses for in the last year, find an occasional lost part or tool. relocate everything to it proper place. Lube everything, touch up paint, check belts and blades, check any adjustments for proper alignment. Then sweep and vacuum the floor then since this is usually being done in the fall I will restock the mouse traps. Good for another year

Reply to
triker3

Hey Arch,

It's definitely too hot around here to clean a shop and I'm pretty sure by winter it'll be too cold for such foolishness! :)

Bertie

Tue, 18 Jul 2006 10:09:39 -0400, snipped-for-privacy@webtv.net (Arch) wrote:

Reply to
Bertie Pittman

Late to this party but

There's a difference between "messy" and "dangerous". If you can't see it under and'/or amidst the chips, curlies and debris - you can't find it and/or you can avoid tripping on it.

If it's on or in the wood alley of a table saw, planer, joiner or shaper and it causes you to lose your concentration and control of the task of moving wood over or into spinning sharp things - it's DANGEROUS.

If its sharp or heavy, and precariously balanced - it will, more often than probability would indicate - fall on or into your foot/ knee/ head - and then roll under something heavy and come to rest in close proximity to something that stings or bites or stinks. That's dangerous.

If you have to move EVERYTHING in order to do anything that's not dangerous but damned inconvenient. And this one's my nemesis. I've got the power tools and hand tools under control - they all have homes I return them to when not needed - right now. But scraps from a project - as well as the previous projects, which MIGHT have some future use - accumulate - on every flat surface above the ground

-as well as on the ground. And roughed to rounds that have split or cracked accumulate - though in all likelyhood there's really nothing that can be salvaged. They're dangerous because, by their very nature, they tend to roll unless constrained.

I'm working on two solutions.

One is a couple of plastic kitchen garbage cans - the tall recatangular ones. Unless it's ebony or rosewood, scraps go in a garbage/debris "can" and out with the weekly garbage.

The other fix involves neighborhood kids. They LOVE the dust collector. Holding a 4" hose that'll suck flies out of the air from a foot away, or spiders and spider webs made to vanish -Look - MAGIC! Combine the 1100 CFM (nominal, it's actually more like 700 cfm if that) with a pair of kid sized brooms and you've created a Kid's Heaven - noise, (the dust collector itself, the sound of large volumes of air rushing into the end of the hose, and the neat sound of stuff rattling in the hose then through the ABS dust collector "ducting" - shear joy.) - AND a sense of accomplishment "I cleaned this WHOLE shop!"

So solution two sometimes means digging through the cyclone lidded separator can with a magnate to find a metal part that is needed elsewhere - but that's worth a) getting the shop cleaned up and b) watching kids have fun.

charlie b

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charlie b

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