The cleaning regime.......

[WoodAddict]

Not meant as a serious question, I'm just curious as to what you guys do.......

I've been working without a bench and mainly just playing around trying new things for the last few weeks. Having not had a workshop before everything is new to me at the minute. I couldn't believe how quickly the mess built up.

I have now banned myself from working until my bench is finished and made a rule that I must have a tidy-up after every session and a good clear up every saturday.

Lets see how long it lasts.......... I'm not generally a messy person, I think I just get carried away doing things and then just shut the garage door when I'm finished and forget about it. I'm hoping that with a bench and some propper storage it will be easier to keep tidy!

What do you guys do......

 

[Philly]

Paul
I find the closer I get to a project being completed, the messier the workshop gets. I then have a cleaning session to restore the 'shop to its proper state - I'm ready to start again!
Philly

 

[wizer]

When it gets too bad I get my leaf blower out. Put my respirator on, Open the roller door and blast it all out the front.......





..... Runs for cover....

 

[big soft moose]

When it gets too bad I get my leaf blower out. Put my respirator on, Open the roller door and blast it all out the front.......





..... Runs for cover....

you want to be careful you dont bury the smart car :lol:

 

[The Shark]

Hi Paul,
I have a quick brush down of the bench after each session, as well as a general brush of the floor.
As my lathe is on an open stand, the shavings get swept under there until they won't fit any more, then get shovelled into the grey bin and left for the dustmen. :lol:
I can't admit to having a spotless workshop, never have, never will!

Malc

P.S. I failed in my quest to be a fireman

 

[matt]

When it gets too bad I get my leaf blower out. Put my respirator on, Open the roller door and blast it all out the front.......





..... Runs for cover....

you want to be careful you dont bury the smart car :lol:

Smart Car = Leaf Blower. Keep up... :wink:

 

[Chems]

I can't work in mess, and will down tools mid project to clean.

Whats that about been a Fireman shark?

 

[The Shark]

Hi Chems,
Just a poor attempt at a joke, referring to the fact that there are wood shavings all over the floor of the workshop, waiting to ignite.

Malc

 

[big soft moose]

I can't work in mess, and will down tools mid project to clean.

Whats that about been a Fireman shark?

I leave the mess til swimbo makes me clean it up - i'm always pleasantly suprised by how many blanks are hiding in the sawdust pile

btw the closest i came to being a fireman was being paid 25 notes to dress up as welliphant while i was a student.

"welliphant says dont play with matches boys and girls...... and let go of my trunk you little basterd"

 

[OPJ]

I try to do it weekly or, at the very least, as soon as I've completed a project. It takes a lot for me to do it before I've finished something though, as I know the floor will only be covered in shavings again before the end of the day!

It makes me wonder how people who work solely/mostly with hand tools manage... I find long curly shavings are a PITA and they're not easy to bag up, either. At least planer chippings are fairly easy to deal with!

 

[Lee J]

Upon completion of a job I go into the house and yell to Mrs J...
"oi - wench! workshop needs cleaning"

then when I've removed the ice pack off my eye and the swelling around my nut sack goes down, I go back in and have a clean up ready for the next session.

 

[wobblycogs]

What is this cleaning up of which you speak? I would like to learn more.

 

[lurker]

Most evenings find me in my workshop.
At 7pm all electrical tools stop, out of consideration for the neighbours.

Between 7 & whenever I go inside is reserved for cleaning up, glueing up, marking up & sharpen up, ready for the next session.
I find this helps me work more efficiently on a number of levels.

The other time I make myself stop to clean up is after I make two silly errors in quick succession. a 10 minute clear up helps me get the brain back into gear.

 

[frugal]

7pm to stop with power tools! I am lucky if I get out to the workshop until 8pm.

I brush the bench down at the end of each session. Sweep the floor and put away the tools (not because I am tidy, but because I am scared of ruining them with rust if I leave them out).

Rubbish goes into a cardboard box, when it gets full it goes into a black bag for the bin men. Hand plane shavings get put into a sack to be used as fire lighters at reenactment events or for the wood burner in the house. Lathe and planer shavings get bagged up and put onto the compost heap. Small scraps of wood go into a third bag for use as kindling for fires.

 

[woodbloke]

I clean up generally when there's enough shavings and dust to fill a Tesco bag, then I go round with the 'shop vac in all the crooks n'nannies to suck up the last bits of dust. The bench top gets cleaned at the end of each session.
To my mind, if I tend to work surrounded by cr&p, that's what usually happens to my work...it ends up as a pile of cr&p as well. Hence I'm usually fairly anal about having a clean 'shop.
Sad git init? - Rob

 

[ByronBlack]

It makes me wonder how people who work solely/mostly with hand tools manage... I find long curly shavings are a PITA and they're not easy to bag up, either. At least planer chippings are fairly easy to deal with!

I just leave mine on the floor and brush them into a corner, then stand on them for a bit to crush them, and then use a dust-pan and brush - easy. Or, I just leave them for a few weeks, and let the faeires deal with them - although that isn't as predictable.

 

[wobblycogs]

My faeries got emphysema from all the dust and died I think. That's the only reason I can think that they never clean my shop. Actually, it's been such a mess since Christmas I sort of abandoned it, it's meant a lot more works been done in other areas of the house though so there are some plus points to an messy shop.

 

[Benchwayze]

What is this cleaning up of which you speak? I would like to learn more.

Nice to know I am not alone...
At best I adopt Philly's routine.
:lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[jimi43]

Being a short a*se, I wait until the shavings get high enough for me to change the lightbulb that has been on the blink for a while then I change it, dig myself out and climb back down again.

:wink:

I love a clean workshop...unfortunately it tends not to be mine.

Jim

 

[WoodAddict]

haha, some good replies there. good to hear that it's not just me who loses enthusiasm when there's cleaning to be done. I went into the garage tonight to get some tools out, I thought it'd been broken into, it looked empty with all the stuff squashed into one corner and the floor spotless. Then I remembered that I'd move them all until they have a bench to live on!

It does feel nice walking into a clean shop, it's just the initial spirt of energy to start the cleaning that I struggle with!