tidy workshops

malbenbut · Aug 19, 2006

Is there some kind of inverse law regards intelligence and tidy workshops. Some of my friends who have very high IQs have the most untidy workshops I have ever seen, the higher the IQ the more untidy the shop. Is there some kind of mental block when it comes to using a sweeping brush and putting things back in their proper place.
MBB

L Vanice · Aug 19, 2006

I have found that the older I get, the more tools, etc. I have. The stuff has piled up to the point that there is no "proper place" for much of it. There is no way to get the shop vacs within hose reach of some of the dirt. Of course, most of the floor is not visible anyway.

Larry

cruzinonline · Aug 19, 2006

I am guilty of the same thing but what I have found is when I take the time to clean up I "feel" better and seem to get more done.

In the field we are "anal" about keeping the work area clean. In most cases we leave the area cleaner than when we found it. Most of our clients have no clue what we are doing or how we do it but by keeping the work area neat and organized, extension chords taped down, tools layed out on blue paper towels, a broom and trashcan handy, the foor swept up of chips, that kind of stuff they are real happy. A safety guy walking by will take a short look and then go harass somebody else. I guess he figures if you got your act tight in the housekeeping area you are probably up to snuff in everything else. A dirty area and you will have the safety guy parking his butt in your work area for the duration.

Randolph · Aug 19, 2006

I cannot help but respond to this. I must be the inevitable exception to the law --- assuming that there is such a law. There are pictures of my shop at my website www.randolphsmachineshop.com and I am a member of Mensa, the high IQ society. I make between $45K and $65K a year in my shop and part of the reason I have good customers is my housekeeping.
I would say that good housekeeping has nothing to do with IQ.

Doug Westlind · Aug 19, 2006

I would say that good housekeeping has nothing to do with IQ.

I have to agree with Randolph, I am a complete dumb- ass and my shop is filthy.

GregSY · Aug 19, 2006

I'm mildly stupid, and my shop is somewhat clean.
I'm hoping someday I will have a shop accident, take a severe blow to the head, and have a spotless shop from then on.

ZipSnipe · Aug 19, 2006

Hats off to Randolphs shop, beautiful, can I come play in your shop? Better yet can I just move in?

Evan · Aug 19, 2006

I must be getting dumber as I get older. I am starting to keep my shops cleaner than I used to. I can actually walk several feet in my garage shop now with out kicking something hard with my toe.

ZipSnipe · Aug 19, 2006

Hats off to Randolphs shop, beautiful, can I come play in your shop? Better yet can I just move in?
I usually dedicate one day to cleaning up the shop spic and span, if business is slow my shop is very clean but if I,m busy plus if I,m on a project it will be a mess until I,m done with whatever I,m working on.

BobWelland · Aug 19, 2006

Randolph - you certainly do have a tidy and interesting shop!

I like to have a place for everything in my shop so that it is easy to clean up after a day of making a mess. I find it much easier to go from project to project when I start from tidy and go to messy. I try to put everything away at the end of the day. It is fast and easy when everything has a place. I think that there is false economy in leaving things out and thinking that this way you will not have to go get a tool - invariably, the tool you want will be in an odd place and you will look and look for it. If it had been in its place then there would be no wandering and none of the associated frustration.

Cheers,
Bob Welland

donie · Aug 19, 2006

I work my ass off and make a mess, then get to it when I can.
Only the higher IQ but less skilled eat off their floors.

ZipSnipe · Aug 19, 2006

Hey Randolph thanx for the link to your shop, I love the baby jar parts shelfs, very nice, in fact that will be one of my next projects. Now I,ll be rescueing baby jars from dumpsters

Rabidfish · Aug 19, 2006

I have a hard time accepting glass jars as proper storage for smaller items...

But other than that, your shop is what most of us strive for. A neat, clean, proper place to be a craftsman. Perhaps because we didn't get a proper place at work, and knew we could do better if left in charge.

Kudos for the shop... If you use the same dedication and caring in your work, I'd like to see some of your projects...

Maverickmachinist · Aug 19, 2006

I am not going to state my position on my intelligence, but sometimes I feel like a spy in the world of the dumb. If I say anymore we will need to start another topic. I am pretty anal about having a clean shop (but I don't have my own yet). I look at work like a second home so I approach cleaning it like that. If you dont want to live in a shi*hole dont work in a shi*hole. It comes down to a good attitude also. I run the night shift and it makes me mad when I come in and see the days guys sleeping and piles of shi* everywhere. They will stand around but are to proud to pick up a broom or clean a machine. I only don't clean up when its too important to make as many parts as possible and I don't have the time to clean up. I am also the only guy at night right now. But I still make it a point to keep the place as tidy as possible.

donie · Aug 19, 2006

No kidding, lets see some ouality work, tools or projects.
It would sure be nice to have an employee to clean my shop, right now its torn to shreds, this is drag race day, first I have to ride my HD in Shriners parade! Later.

Lew Hartswick · Aug 19, 2006

If there is anything to that, the high school kids
I work with must be Geniuses looking at the shop
area around a lathe or mill at the end of a period.
BUT when asked to subtract one dimension from
another they exhibit the opposite end of the
spectrum.

...lew...

Michael Moore · Aug 19, 2006

I'm still trying to figure out where everything's "place" is in my garage.

I've led a cluttered lifestyle since I was a child, and I suspect there isn't a huge likelihood of massive improvement at this stage of the game. I can get everything organized (and I enjoy figuring out the organizing process), but it won't stay that way.

One thing I did this week that I'm hoping will help was move a van load of "dead storage stuff" off to my dead storage space. I realized that if I'm paying for the storage rental, it doesn't make much sense to have that stuff sitting in the shop when I could be using the space for organizing the tools. So now there is only the one current project bike, and that is on the lift. No other bikes in corners, no piles of shocks or new batteries on shelves - it all went to storage.

cheers,
Michael

daryl bane · Aug 19, 2006

Of course, Randolph's shop is bigger than my whole house.

I've found its easier to keep a clean shop when its bigger than a football stadium.

.

tattoomike68 · Aug 19, 2006

I am a total space cadet , If I clean up I will spend a bunch of time looking for my stuff more than if I just left the place a mess and the tools where they sat.

dkmc · Aug 19, 2006

Some people focus in on the task at hand with full disregard for putting things back in place. Sometimes thats what it takes to get work out on time. You don't get paid to clean. It takes extra effort and time to arrange things and find that 'place' that everything needs to be put back in.

I am obsessive compulsive and my shop is a total disaster most times, yet if I spot a picture on the wall or a clock thats crooked, stack of papers heaped on the desk that's not square to the edge, I'll have to straighten it! Go figure.....

Maybe there's a pill we can take to help keep things neat and clean

dan k

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