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01-27-2012, 06:37 AM
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Moderator/Tech Counselor
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Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: East Troy, WI
Posts: 1,983
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__________________
Roberta Hegy
Built/Flew an RV-7A
Air Troy Estates, East Troy, WI
Ford Expedition and TRICE "Q"
Built Glen L "ZIP" Classic Outboard Runabout and Super Spartan Hydroplane
Glen L Torpedo
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01-27-2012, 06:48 AM
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Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Waco, Texas
Posts: 1,658
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At the end of the day, everything goes back where it belongs in my shop. Even if I know it's the first tool or document I will pick up in the morning.
When I get lay and quit following the routine for one reason or another, clutter is right behind and I have to do a full scale cleanup.
Getting it done at the end of the day works. And I think I do a better job of building when the environment around me is clean and organized too.
Phl
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01-27-2012, 07:01 AM
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Join Date: May 2008
Location: KANE, Hugo, Minnesota
Posts: 765
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Quote:
Originally Posted by terrye
My high school shop teacher taught us we had to clean up the shop in the last 5 minutes of the class. Clean up the lathe, clean up the drill press, clean up the bench, because there was another class starting right after ours.
I don't clean up my shop every time I use it, but fairly often. Good housekeeping is a habit.
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It doesn't get any more complicated than this. Don't overthink the problem or you will never correct it. Just pick up when you are done working. Vac up the shavings and put away your parts.
__________________
Aaron Arvig
RV-9A
Empennage Done
Wings-In Progress
N568AK Reserved
SOLD?but I'll be back
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01-27-2012, 07:12 AM
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Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: La Feria Texas
Posts: 3,822
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I can verify he is telling the truth, I have been there to see it! However I would be quite distracted in building by all those antique tractors sitting there staring at me
Quote:
Originally Posted by RV10Man
I AM organized. I can't stand anything sitting on the floor, I want to be able to sweep under it. My hangar and work space is kept clean, neat, and organized, it's just part of the building process/sequence. Clean as you go.
I do some model airplane building. When I get finished sanding on a part, I clean up the dust with a shop vac immediately.
I have a "nose high" roll around tool box in my work shop, when I'm finished with any tool, it goes back to its place in the tool box, I don't have to hunt for it later. It bugs the fool out of me when I have some well meaning help, later, I find a tool laying on the floor, or somewhere, that I know they've used. I try to do a visual, quick inventory of the tool box, but occasionally, I miss something. If you stay neat and organized, you'll actually get to do more building by not having to waste time hunting for parts or tools.
My plumbing & electric service truck is the same, neat and organized. How many of you have followed a plumber down the road and wondered how in the world do they find anything in there? That's not me.
Anyway, practice self-discipline. Keep things neat and orderly and I think you'll actually be more enthused about building, instead of being sort of bummed out as soon as you enter the shop 'cause you just don't know where to start.
Marshall Alexander
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01-27-2012, 07:58 AM
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Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: Battleground
Posts: 4,348
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Buggsy2
Clutter: I don't put many tools away in the middle of a task that spans several days. But at the end of a big task, I'll take half an hour and put all the tools away, leaving my single work table mostly clear.
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Everyone has their own shop habits. I follow Buggsy2 here. I find cleaning the shop and re-organizing my tools at the end of a major step to be very motivating. So, I start each major task with a clean shop and mind.
However, if I am making lots of metal, I will clean that up at the end of the task or day.
Bottom line, each person has their own habits. I have seen some award winning projects come out of shops that where so dirty you could barely walk around them. One guy used the corner of his hangar as a toilet, but you could eat off his airplane. I have also seen people spend as much time organizing themselves as they did building.
__________________
Smart People do Stupid things all the time. I know, I've seen me do'em.
RV6 - Builder/Flying
Bucker Jungmann
Fiat G.46 -(restoration in progress, if I have enough life left in me)
RV1 - Proud Pilot.
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01-27-2012, 08:11 AM
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Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Dallas area
Posts: 10,769
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One other thing that I haven't seen mentioned. I have a roll around cart, approximately 2.5' X 3.5'. I place all the tools that I'm using for that particular job on the cart. When I'm through, I simply roll the cart back to the tool boxes and empty it.
This minimizes "tool scatter".
__________________
Mel Asberry, DAR since the last century.
EAA Flight Advisor/Tech Counselor, Friend of the RV-1
Recipient of Tony Bingelis Award and Wright Brothers Master Pilot Award
USAF Vet, High School E-LSA Project Mentor.
RV-6 Flying since 1993 (sold)
<rvmel(at)icloud.com>
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01-27-2012, 08:13 AM
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VAF Moderator / Line Boy
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Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Dayton, NV
Posts: 12,256
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What Works for You....
Quote:
Originally Posted by JonJay
Everyone has their own shop habits. I follow Buggsy2 here. I find cleaning the shop and re-organizing my tools at the end of a major step to be very motivating. So, I start each major task with a clean shop and mind.
However, if I am making lots of metal, I will clean that up at the end of the task or day.
Bottom line, each person has their own habits. I have seen some award winning projects come out of shops that where so dirty you could barely walk around them. One guy used the corner of his hangar as a toilet, but you could eat off his airplane. I have also seen people spend as much time organizing themselves as they did building.
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I think that last sentence is a big one to remember!
One of the things I have learned about the shop is that bigger is not always better! We built our RV-3 in our hangar (with two other airplanes in there), and we had three major workbenches and four major tool storage locations. We probably didn't need to do any exercise for the two years of building because we were constantly doing laps picking up what we needed for a particular task. I sorta longed for a dedicated shop just big enough for the fuselage, with benches and tools around the fringes.
Once we had things out for a major project, we left them out until it was done - then did major cleanups and tool "put-aways" periodically. If we had re-stowed everything at the end of every day, we'd have doubled the build time. (Some small tools/drill bits that are easily lost were restowed after ever use - or they'd have disappeared in such a big space, with two builders...)
The truth, however, is that at the age most of us start building an airplane, the chances that you're going to change your overall habits are pretty small. Go with what has worked for you in the past! 
__________________
Paul F. Dye
Editor at Large - KITPLANES Magazine
RV-8 - N188PD - "Valkyrie"
RV-6 (By Marriage) - N164MS - "Mikey"
RV-3B - N13PL - "Tsamsiyu"
A&P, EAA Tech Counselor/Flight Advisor
Dayton Valley Airpark (A34)
http://Ironflight.com
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01-27-2012, 08:55 AM
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Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: In New Braunfels, ist das Leben schön!
Posts: 871
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I try to utilize my time as efficiently as possible. I stop and put all my tools back where they go when I find I'm starting to waste time looking for stuff. Sometimes my workbench looks cluttered but if it doesn't slow me down, I keep working.
__________________
Larry New
RV-7A - Built, flying 900+ hrs
RV-10 - Built, flying 2.9 hrs
??? - RV-12, Subsonex
48 States in 7 Days!
VAF Paid - Annual Autodraft
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01-27-2012, 09:16 AM
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Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: DuBois,Il
Posts: 144
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Yes, I am a neat freak
It has been implied here..the psychological effect of a clean, neat shop is, in my mind, a very strong motivational factor!.. Most airplane guys are detail oriented and a little anal (I'm proud of that!)..I never felt motivated to go to the shop when it was in disarray..Good lights, good heat, good shop-vac and clean as you go...and get a good toolbox or pegboard everything so things are handy...this allows you to make the most of your time, and making progress is the best motivation of all..!
__________________
Brian K. Morrow
DuBois,Il
N433BC RV-7A Flying
RV-12is EMP done, FUSE in progress!..Official Repeat Offender
"Maintain thy airspeed...Lest the earth arise and smite thee..."
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01-27-2012, 09:20 AM
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Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: Omaha, NE
Posts: 5
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Take a tip from commercial aircraft production
... 'shadow' boxes work well, it greatly reduced the number of bucking bars, inspection mirrors, and wrenches that got closed up in the wings. Its scary to think that the "professional" builders let these things slip by.

__________________
________________________
Justin
USAF AD
RV-10 --- N816JS Reserved
Working on tail featers
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