Organizing shop, need advice, suggestions

Tap_or_Die · Oct 10, 2014

Hi guys,

Im looking at organizing our shop. Maybe a lot. All tools are spread threw out the shop, every machine station has hundreds of loose tools, drills, endmills, taps, etc. So Im thinking a couple tool cabinets would be great so all the tools are in one place. Has anybody tried those cabinets in the unline catalog, Has 168 bins, ranging in size of course. Or any other suggestions would be good.

Garwood · Oct 10, 2014

Wall to wall Vidmars would do it.

IronReb · Oct 10, 2014

The time saved from looking for tooling plus money saved from buying shit you already have will pay for cabinets.
Keep your eyes open for places that sell used office furniture because filing cabinets work well to keep light weight stuff stored away.

But the biggest issue you are gonna have is getting everyone there in the habit of putting things back were they belong.
$$$$ worth of cabinets mean jack shit if there are more tools on the headstocks and work benches than in the cabinet.

PeteM · Oct 10, 2014

Carts? Loaded from (and returned to) a central place, but with everything you need for a job right at the machine. Depending upon the size of your shop, you can also spend a lot of time running back to get what's needed.

Part of the trick is good enough documentation to know what you need for each job.

JS · Oct 10, 2014

Maybe and maybe not.....

Document everything required for a job or jobs and encourage clean as you go.

or do a point of use cabinet / storage system.

scadvice · Oct 11, 2014

At the end of the shift or day... a fifteen minute clean up of your machine and area is a job requirement no matter how busy the shop is. The supervisor or boss also is required to oversee and enforce. They also need to setup up a 'requirements for end of shift cleanup' document on each machine area as to what is required.

If you want a certain standard you have to first let them know what that standard is in writing. Otherwise they will have their own ...or lack thereof.

It needs to be enforced so that they understand it not just one of those 'passing things bosses do' and they can go on their merry little way later.

It's called developing a shop culture.

Ox · Oct 11, 2014

I love the Durham drawers!

Small Parts Cabinets | MSCDirect.com

You can git the drawers in many different configurations that best fit the app intended.
A real nice thing is that the bottom of the drawers (each pocket) is radiused. You CAN get small stuff to roll up off the floor of the pocket!

I have them full of collets, inserts, dedicated tools, you name it.
I have one, two, four etc 4 drawer cabinets all over the shop.

Now you hafta be carefull when ordering - they have a small and large choice.
My cabinets are prox 20" wide and the drawers are 18" wide.

-------------------

Think Snow Eh!
Ox

Big B · Oct 11, 2014

+1 on Vidmars. Lista's are pretty good too. They can save a lot of time looking through a pile of tooling looking for the right stuff.

Big B

Metalcutter · Oct 11, 2014

Prato's principle = 80% of the time you only need 20% of the tools. So get the tools you use most near you.

Look up "Prato's Principle" it should be a good read for you.

I've always thought Allen Wrenches were a time sponge. I got mad one day and painted them a one color stripe to Identify the "set", and individual colors for the sizes. It helped a bunch.
Regards,
Stan-

Freehand · Oct 11, 2014

Red-Flat-File-Storage-Cabinet-from-Metro-Retro-Furniture.jpg

I use architect flat files in my shop for tooling, micrometers, etc. Works great for the little stuff and can be found at salvage prices if one is patient.

Ox · Oct 11, 2014

Heck - I try to keep Bondhus sets glued ratt fast to the machine somewhere.
Both inch and metric most of the time too!

Kinda tough to get those rubber packets to stick, and sometimes I need to doo it a few times to git it right, but start with the packets that are worn the most so that going in and out doesn't put any more stress on the glue job than need be, and then rough the back up on a course belt sander too.

Glue fast and hold in place with a C-cramp or ratchet strap overnight.

Been dooing this for over 20 yrs.

------------------

Think Snow Eh!
Ox

Limy Sami · Oct 11, 2014

A lateral thought housework

3t3d · Oct 11, 2014

Another source for Ox's drawer cabinet..

The MSC listing doe NOT include the drawers.

Here is the same empty cabinet for 1/2 price ( ? )

Amazon.com: durham 303-95

extropic · Oct 11, 2014

3t3d said:
Another source for Ox's drawer cabinet..

The MSC listing doe NOT include the drawers.

Here is the same empty cabinet for 1/2 price ( ? )

Amazon.com: durham 303-95

Each drawer cradle in those Durham racks is rated at 40 pounds. Each full extension Lista drawer is rated at 440 pounds. Lista is much higher capacity per $$$.

Ox · Oct 11, 2014

extropic said:
Each drawer cradle in those Durham racks is rated at 40 pounds. Each full extension Lista drawer is rated at 440 pounds. Lista is much higher capacity per $$$.

Then by all means - buy the Vidmars to store your bar ends, 2" Acme main slide cams, and gears in.

I use Mac and Snap-On toolboxes at specific machines for local stuff.

---------------

Think Snow Eh!
Ox

HuFlungDung · Oct 11, 2014

While plenty of toolboxes/drawers are a good thing, I'm not sure how useful they are for tools in use. I like tool racks, with sized holes to stand tools up on end. However, I typically use a degradation system where slightly used tools are kept for rougher work or for possible shortening for reuse as a new tool. So rack areas should be designed with a system in mind for keeping pristine tools, slightly used, and badly damaged, all three separate.

3/4" UHMW sheet makes a nice tool rack material. If you have the time, you can even make up end sheets with dadoes in a cabinet frame of sorts, and the UHMW is heavy enough to serve as it's own combination drawer, and drawer slide.

Garwood · Oct 11, 2014

I like to hang box wrenches and crescent wrenches from nails/screws. Much less time than digging through a drawer.

I have a few Vidmars I've picked up, the biggest is a 60x60x30 and it holds an insane amount of shit. My 2500 Hyster can't pick it up with the drawers in it.

Probably the best thing I figured out is getting rid of shit I don't need. It's amazing how much shit you can accumulate.

IronReb · Oct 12, 2014

Garwood said:
Probably the best thing I figured out is getting rid of shit I don't need. It's amazing how much shit you can accumulate.

I made tooling to do a job once and have held onto it for about 8 years now.
We were having a house cleaning a few months ago and I decided to chunk all of it because it has been over 8 years since we did this job and
last heard there was a machine shop running these parts at 300 pieces a year so no way I will ever need that tooling I made again.

WRONG!!
The customer we did this for 8 years ago now wants us to do 150 pieces a year and the other shop do the balance....SOB!!!

amdinc · Oct 12, 2014

The neatest shops I have been in use a combination of shadow peg boards and lista type draws. You can see instantly that a tool has not been put back on the board. The most used tools go on the board. Clamps, heavier tooling goes in the draws. A neat way to keep boring bars and long stuff is a piece of wood drilled and mounted so the tools hang vertically sitting on a bottom stop. Allen wrenches work well on a magnetic strip mounted on or adjacent to the machine. Color coding the wrenches makes it easy to pick the right one out as someone else mentioned.

John

ManicMetalBasher · Oct 12, 2014

Metalcutter said:
Prato's principle = 80% of the time you only need 20% of the tools. So get the tools you use most near you.

#9 It's Pareto, no charge, my pleasure.
Rich

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