Projects Doing some maintenance on the old beater & the Ranch Wagon.

I had a few things that needed attention on the wagon and my old sedan and I have wrapped up most of the things on the Deuce I started picking up my tools and realized I had more tools on the work bench & in the floor than were in all 3 of my roll around tool chest.

I came to the realization when I couldn't find any 1/2" sockets and I'm sure I have a dozen of them.

I use to keep my garage neat & clean, man I have gotten lazy during the last year, how about you guys? HRP

 

With more time (for a while at least), I've done just the opposite and organized things that I had put off for years.

 

"I must be done, the tool box is about empty".

I spend most of my time looking for the ______ (pick one - screwdriver, socket, wrench, etc.) that I just had in my hand 5 minutes ago.

Lynn

 

When we were doing the engine swap in my Country Squire mu friend Dave was under the car and kept asking for 1/2” wrenches and sockets, eventually I ran out. He had 4 1/2” wrenches and 8 1/2” sockets under there!


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@76yo I learned to keep tools & garage organized early in life. In my early years I spent a lot of time in my neighbor's garage (Eddleman's garage, Kannapolis NC) who was a very organized person. He was also the first mechanic I knew to wear gloves while building an engine. Burlin Eddleman was his name, everybody called him Doc. The best flathead mechanic in his day. Great memories there........

 

In the Air Force we had tool kits that you signed out at the beginning of each shift. Every tool was in a foam cutout liner, right down to allen wrenches and Torx bits; and every item better be in it when you turned it in at the end of the shift. You didn't want to be that guy haha!

 

I used to clean up the garage only when i ran out of tools. Then a few years ago I started to clean up daily. Now with more time on my hands and ocd kicking in I seem putting away tools quicker, if I need a hammer or breaker bar to take it apart and not to put it back together I put them away right away

 

Ha!!! I have 3 places I can do work in. I have 4 different sized roll boxes, I have so many multiples of tools.

I also have 4 darn near empty boxes

 

Like socks my 1/2 and 9/16 disappear. I pick up stuff and magically it winds up all over the place. Ever go put stuff away and realize you bought two tap and die sets? I have two wagon jacks and I'll be damned if I know why.

 

Thanks brother, now I don't feel like like I'm the only one. HRP

 

When I walk into my local parts store they always ask what I lost today.

 

Right now, I’m just the opposite, I have more tools than storage space. Drawers piled full, have to hunt to find anything. Got to buy a new lower box and do some sorting, but damn! New boxes are outrageous! I’m limited in size, I want to put my two 26” boxes on a new bottom, but most are too short or way too long for the space I have. Height limited, too, it all has to fit under my wall cabinet that is also full. Been looking for a used box, but I’m not gonna pay what a good used car would cost for a freaking toolbox!

 

I always put away my tools when i'm done for the day. But I do a crappy job of cleaning off my workbenches. They are piled with crap.

 

I and my mechanic friend are the only ones in my garage using my tools and I can leave my tools anywhere.
Saying that, I sometimes am not able to find tools we have used for any given job until days/weeks later!
How can that be!

 

It happens when doing any work. As soon as I have free time I do a cleanup. I know when I'm done , because I can see the top of my workbench again.

 

Right now I am getting 3 sets of everything. One set for work, one set for home at St Paul MN, and one set for my shop at my farm in Wisconsin.

 

I go in spurts. Work like hell on something until everything is a mess and I get a fair amount accomplished and then stop and go what the hell happened out here! Rhetorical question of course as I know what happened. Then I spend a day putting tools back, throwing shit out, and generally cleaning up the mess I made.

 

So I could not find my breaker bar, can't remember when I last used it. Ran down to HF store and bought another just like it. Got home glanced down at my old tool bag and hmmm my old breaker bar lying right there. So I returned the new one told the clerk what happened, he laughed says it happens all the time.

 

Nope. Chaos...total chaos. I saw the top of my work bench...once. Organization by gravity...if I need something, it's probably on the floor...where gravity put it.
Everything EXCEPT 9/16 wrenches! Somewhere in the universe are probably 25 of them that defied gravity and just vanished

 

I've got so much stuff in my little one car garage there is no way to get a car even part way in there. When I was working in shops I had my tool box organized to the point that I didn't even have to look very close to grab the right tool but now I have to stop and figure out where I used the tool last and go hunt. I could probably fill a tool box with the wrenches and sockets that are probably under and behind the box though.
A while back I found out that the local pawn shop has a bucket under a counter that has a bunch of orphan wrenches in it that they will sell cheap. If I can't find a wrench I'll go down there and dig though the bucket and find one for pocket change rather than go buy a new one.

 

My big problem is finding my garage floor. About every six months I have to try and locate it under all the stuff that gets brought in without finding it a permanent home. All that stuff that's too good to through away and might come in handy some day.

Lee

 

Make a path, a man isn’t anything if he doesn’t have a path

 

My tools are cleaned and returned to my tool chest daily , I guess it came from working in a dealership , you leave it out overnight , the cleanup crew owned it the next day . My tools were an expensive investment , kinda like the wife's jewelry , don’t loose it or screw it up and you’ll have a happy life .

 

First thing I do when entering the shop in the morning is make sure all tools are put away, work bench tops are clean ( except maybe today's project) and no tools, electric cords or air lines laying on the floor. Things get messy during a project but then there is clean up time. Also open the drain port briefly on the compressor tank. But I have 2400 sq. ft. working area so it is easier to keep clean; lot of wall space for tool storage. I too suffer from OCD. But I don't have to spend time looking for stuff. Referring to a post from a few days back, I try to keep my shop as clean as my kitchen.

 

I put everything back when I am done for the evening. When I need something I want it where it is supposed to be. Being lazy and leaving stuff out just means you spend your time looking for it instead of using it.

 

Cleaned out lots of wrench multiples. Loaded them in a tool box and gave them to a non profit that is trying to teach young people to work on cars. The box was so heavy that it was a strain to get in the truck. The man who runs this nonprofit was delighted.

 

My workbench is a mess, but my tools are all put away at the end of the day.
I grew up at a one stall service station that was two doors from my home. I was there at least ninety percent of the days from age 8 to 18.
One of the things I learned from Paul, the owner/mechanic was to wipe down each tool and put it away as each job was completed. This lesson has served me well for over 60 years.

 

Doesn't matter how small or simple the job is it always seemed like it turns to crap and I end up having to use damn near every tool in the box to finish the job.

 

I got teased about how neat my tool box is. "Does your Mom come and put your tools away?" As I said earlier, I just don't want to waste time digging through a pile of wrenches in a drawer. Mine are all lined up by size.

 

When you go to the store and buy a set of wrenches, the set goes from small to large. What they need to do is sell sets of wrenches that are all 1/2" or all 9/16" or the metric equivalent that gets lost.