Shop re-organization live blog

My shop has needed re-organization since I revamped it about a year ago.  I kinda just threw the random tools and extra parts where ever they would fit and deal with it later.  Well it is now later. Read on for more.

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If you have not seen my initial shop tour video showing some of what I did you might want to view it first (video at the bottom). This video was just shortly after I got the layout the way I wanted.  I had the painting done but not the flooring.  That video can be seen by CLICKING HERE.

To be honest what got me into the kick of re-organization was watching a podcast (on Youtube) from TESTED called Still Untitled: The Adam Savage Project The topics at hand can get a little wild and off topic but they always come full circle with Adam Savage (of Mythbusters) giving a bunch of helpful hints and tips he uses around his shop.

Nearly all of my metrics were in this box, not very convenient for retrieval

Adam Savage is somewhat of a jack of all trades but specializes in prop and model making.  His shop however contains a lot of tools that most typical hobbyist might have.  And it is smaller than you might think. His insights on organization and methodology in how he positions things in his work space are universal to anyone who does little projects in an enclosed space.  One of the tips I picked up on is something he calls, first order of retrievability, the idea that everything you use the most is within easy reach and you don't have to move anything to get to it.

What I have found out after listening and watching these videos is, I have kinda been doing it wrong all along.  Now everyone has different workflows and habits, but Adam inspired me to take an introspective look at how I organized and use my tools.  What I found out is I practically hid my most used tools and some of my least used items are in plain view.  Now there is a reason for this I assure you.

See I grew up on a farm, the type of farm that rarely (if ever) took any piece of equipment into a professional shop.  All repairs and maintenance was done on the premise by me and my family.  Thus, we have/had a lot of tools stored in many places and in most cases doubles or triples of lots of things.  Seconds and thirds were stored in portable tool boxes for easy transport to do remote repairs in the field with the main tools stored in the large shop building.  

When I grew up and got out on my own I bought my own sets of tools (metric and SAE) and because at the time I had no permanent shop or storage area my tools stayed in the portable boxes, they came with me on offroad rides, races, basically they needed to stay portable.  When I finally bought a house with a garage that would eventually serve as a shop, I still stored my tools in portable boxes even though I had all the space I needed to make their storage more permanent.  I guess old habits are hard to break.

After listening to the podcasts it really made me think about how my tools I use the most were stored, still in boxes that I would have to dig out just for one socket or open end wrench.  So onward with my organization, this will be a ongoing process that I will update here with pictures and video.  I also plan on making a short series about tools you should have in your shop, no matter how large or small, if you are going to work on motorcycles.  Keep checking back for more, and let me know if there are any questions you would like me to answer in a future video.  Leave them in the comments.

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On my way to better organization, it seems so easy but we are creatures of habit.

Take a tour of Adam Savages Cave!  He doesn't have a lot of room but he sure gets a lot done in there.  His comments gave me the inspiration to re-think how I work in my space.