I got the photo of the old man working in the severely cluttered shop in an email this morning and he looked so at peace just working away with all that stuff around that it got me thinking about my own working environment. I am not sure how to classify myself on this question as I’ll normally do a big clean up and get my workshop area spotless and start working in it. Soon it is a disaster and it needs to be cleaned out again…which I eventually do and start the cycle over again. I know other guys who literally can’t do anything if so much as a hair is out of place before work begins. Maybe I fall somewhere in the middle. What about you?
Are you the type of guy that can literally reach into a pile of wrenches and junk and pull out what you need or do you go into full paralysis if the wrench drawer is arranged out of order? Everyone has their own methods, I suppose. I do know that if I was taking my car somewhere to be fixed and it looked like my own work space does half the time, I’d beat feet to the next place down the block. Hypocritical? You bet!
Back in high school when I worked at the gas station, when the lead mechanic knocked off for the night one of the jobs we had was to put all the guy’s tools away. He had the best setup of all. He left the pile and came back to organized perfection in the morning. Good work if you can get it I suppose!
BangShift Question Of The Day: Are You A Messy Or Organized Shop Kind Of Person?
At work I keep my area pretty tidy with some signs of hording arond the edges and a fairly cluttered toolbox. At home, my “work” room is far more representative of my collecting habits, since these days more goes on in my fading memories than in the real world. My larger home toolbox is more organized, lending to it’s larger size and less activity.
In Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, the lead character suggests that a messy shop is a sign of a photographic memory. Whereas a technician who requires order, needs to have tools in the designated location, since the user will be unable to remember where they put them last.
Everything is tidy in the summer. Tools get taken to the right place and put away.
In the winter, fuckit. Right there is close enough, two steps and throw shit at the bench.
The my car moves inside over winter, and with all the bikes and other crap, space is too tight to access the benches well. There’s no heat there (yet!), so garage projects are pretty limited anyhow. Priorities !
I’m with you Brian, I am in order when I start and get more cluttered as the job goes on. I tend to do 2 or more things at once when I start working on the car/motorcycle/hot rod/lawn mower..Why not hang a new shop light while the paint dries on a brake caliper or drain the oil on the Goldwing while I am fixing an axle seal on the Mustang? It isn’t until I cant find a single 3/8ths drive ratchet, (I have at least 5) that I decide to stop, clean everything and start again..
Messy is the sign of a genius. Ever see old man Ed Isky’s office?
I have a pretty good sized shop 40×50. However when you have a big space ,you store stuff in it. So over the last 10 years or so.Things got pretty carried away. Its pretty sad when you have 2000 square feet of space.And you cant even open the door on what you are working on.SOOO ,I bought an over seas container. A 40 footer. put shelves in 25′ of it. Now I have cleaned out the shop.I have all kinds of room now. But I feel for guys that live were they can only have a 2 car garage.And you can not put one of those containers just anyplace. Now my next issue is. Don’t let it get like it was again. On tool boxes,pretty much in order.I have 4. On work bench. There is 2 in the shop. Ya no such thing as too much work bench.There is never enough bench space. I most usually set up a pair of saw horses with a plywood table top. Near what ever I am working on at the moment. Then just put it away when I’m done.
I’m kinda like you, Brian. I’ll do what I call a “purge” and clean the place up then I get into a thrash and everything gets turned upside down. Clean and repeat. I did my early work at a Buick dealership where you could literally eat off the floor and while that WOULD be nice I simply don’t have a crew to do the cleaning so I can do the work.
Having to work in a 1-car garage you don’t have a choice, you had better be super tidy. Cause you trip over all kinds of tools in the way, and the engine hoist goes in before the project!
While working in car dealerships throughout my college years, I observed that successful and accurate mechanics shared two traits-organized and clean. Most notable was the Saab heavy duty mechanic who made me steam clean the engine bay of EVERY car he worked on. He was backed up three months because the local Saab world new he was magic.
I keep my shop picked up, for the most part, and I like to work in a clean, orderly place, but I am not a freak and don’t label my drawers or polish my floor. Funny, being left handed makes it tough for others to work in my world.
Both. During a job my 1918 one car garage gets pretty well cluttered, as I don’t like to stop mid way through one. Once done, however, It has to get cleaned & organized or I’ll take far too long to get started on the next one.
Don’t mind working in a bit of a mess, but I truly hate to start out in one.
I am a naturally disorganized, messy hoarder. But for the sake of my sanity and productivity, I force myself to maintain some level of order. As I’ve gotten older, I get better at it. All of my tools have a place, and about 90% of the time, they can actually be found there. As far as my hoarding, I have gotten to the point where I can barely walk thru my shop several times. Then I do a purge, and haul everything to a swap meet. I even hauled a bunch of junk to an auction house before. Prep for any big event, like Drag Week involves a major thrash, after which the place looks like the aftermath of an F-5 tornado. When I get home from the event, I need to spend a week cleaning.