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Wanted:Tips on how to work clean and neat

David Paule

Well Known Member
I seem to have a clutter monster that follows me around leaving clutter in its wake.

With the RV-3B kit on order, I've been thinking that it would sure be nice to work in a clean shop. But I know that there will be shavings to be cleaned up and plenty of tools that are all needed to be at hand.

Help! Suggestions wanted.

Thanks!

Dave
 
I think a larger building space allows for the placement of more items (obviously):rolleyes: But, more importantly, lots of large horizontal storage areas.
 
Cleaning Up

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.
 
Have a dedicated place for all of your tools and if its not a drill, rivet gun, measure device or squeezer always put it back in its place at the end of the day. Also, shop vac and wipe down before the lights go out. :)
 
I seem to have a clutter monster that follows me around leaving clutter in its wake.

With the RV-3B kit on order, I've been thinking that it would sure be nice to work in a clean shop. But I know that there will be shavings to be cleaned up and plenty of tools that are all needed to be at hand.

Help! Suggestions wanted.

Thanks!

Dave

Maybe this will be worthy of consideration:

Working Smart
 
Good read Sam!

I've adopted a "Clean as You Go" philosophy which results in a shop which remains tidy and organized. It is great to go out for a work session and have everything at hand. It takes discipline but I find it well worth it.

Thanks for sharing.

Gerry Peterson
Merritt Island, FL.
 
Shop vac trick

Building in a typical 2-car garage space, I have a wall-mounted shop vac (Sears) so it doesn't take up scarce floor space. I got a remote-controlled on/off switch; it plugs into the wall outlet, then the vac plugs into that.

During a work session I turn ON the vac's switch so the on/off remote will control it. Then doing some messy task (drilling, sanding, cutting, whatever), I can easily vacuum up the mess by leaving the vac hose near that work area and turn it on and off with the remote.

By making it easier to use the vac, I use it more, so there's less mess.

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.

Sometimes you'll start multiple, simultaneous tasks, each with its own collection of small parts. I got several cheap plastic sorting trays from Harbor Freight and find them invaluable not for sorting, but for keeping each tasks bits and pieces in one place, at the task site (work table, wings, fuse...).
 
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I am one of the most unorganized people I know. It's makes it tough to build an aircraft. I of course had the philosophy, clean up the last few minutes every work session. Well, what happens with me personally, I will keep building until the very very last minute. Then of course, no time to clean. Then the next time I start up, I'm so excited to get started, i don't clean. Well, you can see how the cycle continues.

For me it takes a lot of discipline to remain organized. I find for myself, if I can do a heavy clean between each subkit, things will stay relatively tidy. That way I do not lose my place or mindset between each time I'm in the shop.
 
I'm really a particular person, but you couldn't tell it by looking at my hangar (or my house, for that matter).

I think what would help my situation tremendously would be another nose-high toolbox and about a dozen wall cabinets so I'd have a place to put everything. When I go to "put everything away" I usually find that there's not enough storage space to do so.

The ONE thing I did to help stay organized many moons ago is that I wall-mounted 5 of those plastic parts containers with 30 small boxes per container. I took the time to make labels on my computer saying what's in each drawer. Now if I need an AN3A-4 bolt, I just go to the drawer and pull it out. Unfortunately, even this bastion of neatness floundered as the years went by and I purchased a bunch of stuff that didn't originally have boxes assigned. It's amazing how many different flavors of washers are available!

One of these days...
 
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
 
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
 
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.

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.
 
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:D

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
 
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.

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.
 
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".
 
What Works for You....

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.

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! ;)
 
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.
 
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..!
 
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.
DSC00398.jpg
 
Every few sessions, I reach a saturation point at which I just can't stand the mess, so I go medieval on it. Sort of like a reboot when the PC gets too slow. However, I try to vacuum up all the chips and scraps off the floor as immediately as possible because I don't want my dog walking around on them, and I like having him in the shop. Because my space is small and weird, I often reconfigure arrangement of tables, tools, and the plane itself before significant construction phases, which is another opportunity for a good cleaning. I figure cleaning/rearranging is part of the process, so there's no shame in spending a whole session cleaning and organizing.

Everyone has a different comfort zone for this kind of thing, but when things are in the way in such a manner as to be actually dangerous, or too much time is spent looking for things instead of building, it's probably time to tidy up.
 
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:D

Thanks Don.
I didn't know Wayne had brought you down.:)

Marshall
 
... '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.
DSC00398.jpg

Ditto. I ran an Aircraft Battle Damage Repair squadron working on F-4s and later on F-16s. All our tool boxes were shadowed and if there was a tool missing, the entire group would stop and look for it. It's a lot easier when you're only working on one airplane at a time. You did NOT want to be the guy in charge if some wandering O-6 found a wrench in the inlet of a jet ready to be tested...
 
Tool near of the job

I have a small shop, and when I setup my shop to build my RV-7, I had to find some way to optimise the few space I have... So, I had the idea to put 2 old door just above the workbench. The upper shelf are storage for long parts. The Lower shelf are for the tool I use often (drill, rivet gun, box of cleco, box of hardware and rivets, #30 et #40 bit, ect. ect).. I really like that.. Just one thing, make sure your tool are secure and don't fall.... (Don't worry it's not happen....for now.. ;) ).

20110109_3.jpg
 
clean

Shop vac is your best friend!

I have a hard time staying organized, but after building at my friends house (he is a organized pro!)I realized that knowing where everything is and having it there always saves you more time than you could ever imagine!
 
I am my father's son; he would roll his Stearman out of his hangar after an annual and you could still see the planform of the airplane on the floor in scattered tools. He did win the Charles Taylor Master Mechanic award (postumously:() though.

I read Sam's essay 14 years ago when I started my Rocket, and I've tried to take it to heart. I am a very slow learner, but I AM getting better. I only put all the tools away at the end of a major assemby, but if I notice a tool on the bench I haven't used in a while, I'll take the time to put it in its place in the tool box. That little bit of time pays back many times over the next time I need that particular tool.

As good as it gets:
DSCN2988.JPG


About normal:
DSCN3130.JPG
 
Organizing is either my gift, or illness (depending on who you ask). Here are a few tips I have learned:

- Have plenty of trash cans in convenient places. If you don't, trash will accumulate in piles on your work areas.

- If you look in a specific storage place for a tool/item 3 times, move the item to that space. Let's say you have screwdrivers in the 3rd drawer of your toolbox, but you keep going to drawer 5 for them. Move the screwdrivers to drawer 5.

- Keep items often used together near each other. Although it makes sense to put rivets, nuts, and bolts together, it makes MORE sense to put rivets and riveting tools together.

- Have a stack of plastic baskets (or similar containers) for temporary storage of in-use items. Maybe it's going to take 3 or 4 (or more) sessions to finish a task, so it would waste time to put the necessary tools away at the end of each session. Place them in a basket and they will be there when you need them tomorrow (and you will be able to find them).

- Make efficient use of your storage space. If the shelves are adjustable, move them so there is no "dead space" above the shelf's items. If they aren't adjustable, you can hang wire baskets, or hooks, or even stretch bungee cords across the underside of the shelf above to utilize the empty space.

- You don't want to have to move something to get to something else, ideally. Boxes that can be accessed from the ends, while stacked, are better than boxes with top access that you have to unstack to open. Drawers work well, too. You can make racks out of C-channel or right angle strips to hold those compartmentalized plastic boxes in a way that they can each be accessed individually.

- Have cleaning supplies handy and easily accessible. Mentioned by several people already is the omnipresent ShopVac? - the wall-mount idea is brilliant! If that isn't an option, you can at least pick up 3 or 4 dustpan & brush sets for dirt (groan) cheap at the discount store. Hang them in convenient locations.

- Have clearly defined areas for stuff. Have the cleaning supplies shelf, and the power tool charging shelf, and the measuring tool drawer, etc. You are much more likely to remember where things are, and where things go if there are classifications. We even have silly names for things in our shop such as The Adhesives Cabinet and the Safety Shelf (for PPE). It's goofy, but I will never forget where the hearing protectors, masking tape, or epoxy are again!

Hope this helps, and happy building! :)

--Lylah
 
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