Operation: Shop Clean

[Rocan]

As many of you recently found out, my dad has a bit of a collection problem. Finally my words sunk into his head and he decided it was time to get rid of some things. And with that, operation shop clean began.

I will upload the pics in a bit, but to fill you all in, it's a mess. We've already disposed of three bags worth of SCRAP wood, not counting the better stuff that has been forgotten for years. The basement is a mess as we do all this, but it's for the better. He's agreed to put the old school bleachers we've been storing for 10 years on Craigslist free, which is what takes up the majority of the space. Really nice wood, but no use for it, and having a 3x2x16 foot pile of wood in a basement is just unreasonable.


For the first time in 6 years I can see from one end of my basement to the other. It is nice, and will only get better.

 

[Rocan]

Some of my things, only occupies one cart. Messy, but more of a storage place for unused old parts I may need to reference quickly. Parts on top are on there because we are moving things around; not their usual place.

Back Half of the shop is my area. Only have that bench of functionality, the area to the right is filled with the shutters for the house that STILL need to be refinished (want to talk long projects? that one has been going on for 10 years!) as well as extra moldings that we did not use.

This pile of wood reached up to the bottom of the top shelf just last week. It had accumalated slowly and had gotten to the point that neither my father nor I knew what was under there. It all started with those bleachers at the bottom. Excellent wood from a school, but it has been sitting unused for years. Only thing we ever used it for is to make the shelves above, which now simply hold more wood. Still a lot more than I think my father really needs, but he threw out 70% of it so I feel he really only kept the most common pieces that he uses to restore a lot of his furniture.

Back area showing shutters and accumulated junk. There is everything from old chairs to an aquarium tucked in there. Soon to be the location of my future lathe, my drill press, buffer, sand blasting booth, and grinder (which will be on the other side of the column to the left of the photo)

The rest of this stuff is just tools to be removed. My original buffer/my fathers planer on one stand, which he thinks he will move to his new workshop in manhattan to use for work. The grinder will stay (albeit with some good wheels instead of the cheap chinese junk on them) even though it's not the best thing in the world. Eventually I'll trade it for something nicer. The mini scrawl saw will go to his work. I have a nice big one to the left of my bench that I've already cleaned up and lubricated that I will move to my dads side of the shop later on. The main idea is to seperate metal and wood as much as possible; we may even just put in a divider between the two sides of the shop to keep things neat.

My dads idea of "organizing".... buckets, buckets galore. Sure, he can find most things, but it's not "organized". We're working on it. Slowly.

I will update as progress is made. It is a good feeling seeing this stuff go. It has been a long time coming. The amount of room it has made is already astounding. Before I used to quite nearly get panic attacks when I would go down there to work, and I am not claustrophobic at all. The dust would accumulate and make it hard to breathe, and the lack of light form half the light fixtures being blocked by junk didn't help at all either. We have gone from a two foot walking path a few months ago to about 4 feet of walking path now. that number should double once we get rid of the bleachers, and be made even greater once we rid of the unused machinery (unused because we have better ones!).

 

[DUEX EX]

those old bleachers would make terrific shelves.

 

[DesmoBro]

My basement looked similar....I took all the stuff i wasn't using and traded in on CL for motorcycle projects....Arranged the rest in a way so i could move around (currently using a Door 4 a work bench)....Right now i have 3 motorcycles in there 2 together (somewhat) and another in pieces and almost enough pieces to build another....

 

[Rocan]

those old bleachers would make terrific shelves.

That's what we've used them for. Don't need any more though. Simply drill a hole in the wall and pound in some rebar.

 

[jerryz]

I used to clean out my garage every weekend, then every month...now every six months. I'd like to think I'm becoming more efficient, hahaha!!!

 

[bradj]

Do you ever get dizzy watching the world revolve around you david

 

[Rocan]

Do you ever get dizzy watching the world revolve around you david

I never noticed; glad you think so highly about me.

 

[Bert Jan]

Since it's your dads space in the end, dont be such a bitch about his mess. Humble is the word son.... Be grateful to even HAVE a workspace. Some of us work outside.