Finally Getting Organized Correctly

[L31MaxExpress]

I feel a bit accomplished. Spent Friday evening and yesterday working on re-organizing. Cleaned off my tool cart, put all my most used sockets on organizer trays on top and added my most commonly used tools to it. I then put my less used tools neatly organized in my much larger box, easy to find if needed. Then I cleaned off a 2nd work cart with a nice flat table on top and 2 shelves under it. Threw an empty box on the lower shelf and a short flat plastic tote on the middle shelf. It will only get stuff on it for the project I am working on and get cleaned off after each. I also organized multiple shelves of parts. I moved a couple of shelves close to my work area and organized them with parts for my projects I am about to be working on. It should no longer take me 20 minutes to find basic stuff. My main tool box is now equally organized with specialty tools and the like. Now that I am working on organization, I plan to keep it that way. I have been working on car stuff for more than 20 years now and the amount of stuff I have found that I forgot I even had is mind boggling. I cannot imagine what some of you that have been working with this stuff for 30+ years have accumulated. I need to setup a white posterboard on work counter, put some black or blue poster board under it, take good pictures of stuff and put it up on like Ebay or the like to sell stuff off. Let me know what you guys think.

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[454cid]

I spent all summer and the first part of fall trying to get my garage cleaned up. I'm still not there yet. One of the things I did was move my tools into a newer/bigger box. Since it was only a small piece of what I was doing, I didn't organize it when moving tools. I need to go back though it drawer by drawer and set each of them up. I should get some of those socket trays that you have.... I have room for them now.

 

[L31MaxExpress]

I spent all summer and the first part of fall trying to get my garage cleaned up. I'm still not there yet. One of the things I did was move my tools into a newer/bigger box. Since it was only a small piece of what I was doing, I didn't organize it when moving tools. I need to go back though it drawer by drawer and set each of them up. I should get some of those socket trays that you have.... I have room for them now.

I feel your pain. I think I bought those at Harbor Freight. They seem sturdy enough as long as they are sitting on a flat hard surface. I have a rail for 1/4", 3/8" and 1/2" drive in both Metric and SAE. They hold two sockets of each size per rail. I mostly put 6 points but shallow and deep.

 

[RichLo]

It will only get stuff on it for the project I am working on and get cleaned off after each.

Good luck with this, lol. I try to do this with my main bench but in reality you get the project done then something else needs work immediately after. Then projects start blending on the bench.

I've come to the conclusion that you do your best in the summer to just not lose stuff... then winter is the time to get everything back to 100% how you like it organized.

I'm like you and like my toolbox and garage layed out like a perfect 5-S factory. But it cant stay like that when there's 23 projects all going on at the same time. lol

 

[L31MaxExpress]

Good luck with this, lol. I try to do this with my main bench but in reality you get the project done then something else needs work immediately after. Then projects start blending on the bench.

I've come to the conclusion that you do your best in the summer to just not lose stuff... then winter is the time to get everything back to 100% how you like it organized.

I'm like you and like my toolbox and garage layed out like a perfect 5-S factory. But it cant stay like that when there's 23 projects all going on at the same time. lol

Problem I had too until recently, is I shared this shop space with my younger brother. He and our buddies worked on stuff here too. He had many of his own tools, but often got into mine. Hindsight, I should have always locked my box up but if you cannot trust your brother, who can you? When he got married and moved out of area he took his large tool box and left everything else. The shear amount of just trash/junk tucked away everywhere has been insane. It is amazing just how much stuff can accumulate in 1,500 sq/ft. It has been a task sorting it all out and I am not even close to being done yet.

 

[RichLo]

It is amazing just how much stuff can accumulate in 1,500 sq/ft. It has been a task sorting it all out and I am not even close to being done yet.

I bought my house just over 10 years ago now and I thought there's no way I'll ever fill up 3 outbuildings! Now I have all my 'good stuff' in the two cold storage buildings, then my winter projects in my shop for the winter. And all the 'other stuff' tucked next to the buildings outside. 1500 sq/ft is my smallest storage building.