Cleaning the shop? How often?

Smallshop

Smallshop

KNIFE MAKER
About a year and a half ago I started to re-organize my shop. I got about halfway and a customer loaded me with about 70 hrs a week for a year. I was wore out...no vacation, not much free time. So the shop stayed half organized. So I'm in a lull and I start redoing my re-organization this time to accommodate some knife making equipment. And....same customer sends me a job. The same job as last time. only about two weeks work but that's how the busy year started out.

I'm determined to finish the shop before setting up the job. If it turns into a busy year I can definitely work on knives while doing this job. But only if I finish organizing.

So I got to wondering. How often do you do a deep clean. You know, make more space....put the things away that have been out of place so long that they have become fixtures, organize all the areas that bug you that like shelves, and benchtops, corners of the shop where long stuff piles up.

do any of you have a set time you clean? I love organization but am inherently messy and don't see how out of control I get till a project is finished. Somehow I need to implement a stricter cleaning schedule. I always tell myself I'll clean after the job is finished then the next one shows up with an even tighter deadline. At some point I think there needs to be a time that is sacred for cleaning only. What's weird is I enjoy cleaning. You'd think I'd do it more often.

Am I the only one that like it clean but never fully gets there? My shop is never unsafe or inefficient, maybe I just need to quit dreaming about the "perfect" shop. The guy that did the Viking blade had a messy shop and still did amazing work. I don't have a lot of room for the amount of equipment I have so clean always makes it feel bigger. It usually feels too small in here.....
 
I try and clean up daily,and do a good cleaning about every two weeks before I head back up to the slope so when I get home my shop is clean and I don't have to walk into a mess,that said it dosent always happen.
 
Right now my shop looks like it threw up on itself! Its time to clean!:biggrin: My biggest problem my shop is not dedicated to knifemaking and M-F it it seems there are Gremlins that throw everything down and nothing gets put back. Now don't get me wrong I seem to know right where the Gremlins thru it, until it gets down to one of those itty bity items. I have cleaned the whole shop looking for one of those! Only to find the Gremlins had picked it up off of the bench and put in on a shelf. Why the %^it would a Gremlin to something stupid like that! Putting things back in there place is not how any self respecting Gremlin should act! :les:

When I am strictly knife making in the shop I don't seem to have that problem, go figure. I figure as long as it ain't dangerous and I ain't chasing my tail it is good to go! :s11779:

Funny part about it I didn't use to be this way. Not sure if its complacency in my old age or have that dreaded just don't care disease anymore!:les::biggrin:

I have been contacted by one of the moderators about this post! There seems to be a question in the first sentence as too something inappropriate so please let me clarify this.

When I typed this (M-F it it) I meant MONDAY thru FRIDAY it seems .................. the second it is a typo.

If it was construed by anyone that it was anything else, you were wrong. I do not and repeat do not talk like that, let alone put it in print!
 
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I clean up very seldom. I really dont care that the shop is a show case or what others think. I figure my shop is there to make money and if it's dirty that must mean something is getting done. If it starts to get to point I figure it's dangerous then I will start to clean.

Erik
 
When I started at the end of each session I would clean. That lasted a week. Then weekly. About a year ago when I needed something I couldn't find. Finishing my move into the new shop, hopefully, end of this week. Planning to pick up at the end of each stage of work and major cleaning twice a month.
 
I try to pick up and clean a little each day , but over night it seems my shop stuff has a drunken party.
 
i started moving my shop last november and i am still trying to find stuff. need to try and organize and clean but still make product. gonna try and do some of that today. i always cant find a widget, search hi and lo, shake my head, drive cross town, get a new one, come home, move things around a little and find original widget.
I keep remembering what I was told when I first started my current job Don't put things back where they belong, put them back where you found them
 
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Funny this is coming up just now. Here's a post I made merely a few days ago elsewhere...


After talking with Don Fogg years ago, I began my day in the shop by cleaning it. His philosophy makes perfect sense. It's too hard to clean after working in the shop all day - if you did it right, you're spent. So, begin by putting everything where it's supposed to be, that way you know where to reach for it, and you don't eat up 20 minutes and create frustration with a search for the calipers. : )

Sweep up and vacuum, make space to work on the benches. There's no question it helped me. I'll admit, I'm wrapped too tight, but having an orderly work environment is almost cathartic.
 
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OK so I dont deep clean often. Maybe once a year But Like Matthew. I tend to clean daily B4 I start working, so I have a clean space to work as well as can almost always find what I am looking for because Its right where I left it.
 
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When you have to climb over and on top of stuff to get to your tools is a good time to clean up.
I am bad about a clean work area.
But when I go to cut and sand I clear out my work area to keep things safe.
 
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