A few months ago I bought a 3D printer. Fully assembled, it's about 12x12x12. I think I have a belt sander bigger than that! But amazingly enough, this small addition has led me to completely reorganize/ clean up my shop, in two ways.
First, I needed a place to put it, as far from the dust/ large boards swinging around as possible. Not easy. Second, I printed new blast gates for my dust collection system. Which led me to moving the lumber rack that was too close to the dust collection pipe. Which meant moving my workbench. Which required moving a shelving unit to another part of the shop. Which led to me discovering a bunch of stuff I never used/ hadn't used in years and deciding to sell it. Which freed up a bunch of space so I could finally organize some stuff. Which....you get the idea.
Anyway, it's taken a few weeks, but everything is back together and everything has its place again. The last time I made such a mess was when I ran some piping for the air compressor. It's not the change itself, it's moving everything to and from the places you need them moved to and from from to get to the right spot. It never reached the "Steve Coles shop explosion" stage, but it was close....
Anyone else experience this, where one small change led to wholesale shop changes?
(BTW, I think I've discovered the secret to keeping the shop organized/ clean: Don't put anything on the floor other than cabinets or tools. Everything else needs to go on a shelf, in a cabinet, or be hung from the wall. The moment you put a plywood cut-off somewhere against the wall, or have a box with accessories next to the bench, or stack some clamps against the door, you've created a magnet for clutter and sawdust.)
First, I needed a place to put it, as far from the dust/ large boards swinging around as possible. Not easy. Second, I printed new blast gates for my dust collection system. Which led me to moving the lumber rack that was too close to the dust collection pipe. Which meant moving my workbench. Which required moving a shelving unit to another part of the shop. Which led to me discovering a bunch of stuff I never used/ hadn't used in years and deciding to sell it. Which freed up a bunch of space so I could finally organize some stuff. Which....you get the idea.
Anyway, it's taken a few weeks, but everything is back together and everything has its place again. The last time I made such a mess was when I ran some piping for the air compressor. It's not the change itself, it's moving everything to and from the places you need them moved to and from from to get to the right spot. It never reached the "Steve Coles shop explosion" stage, but it was close....
Anyone else experience this, where one small change led to wholesale shop changes?
(BTW, I think I've discovered the secret to keeping the shop organized/ clean: Don't put anything on the floor other than cabinets or tools. Everything else needs to go on a shelf, in a cabinet, or be hung from the wall. The moment you put a plywood cut-off somewhere against the wall, or have a box with accessories next to the bench, or stack some clamps against the door, you've created a magnet for clutter and sawdust.)