Organizing work in progress question

[J. Clarke]

Here is a set of drawer sides

for the Lee Valley tool chest you look closely you will see that _one_ is missing. It was not missing last night. I am certain that it is sitting in the shop somewhere watching my futile efforts to find it and laughing hysterically.

I can think of several ways to organize pieces such as this but if someone has a method that is working well for them and is willing to share I would be interested in knowing about it.

[mac davis]

I'm pretty anal when it comes to pieces like that, but I usually wrap the shit out of them in the blue tape because it keeps them all in one bundle and I've trained my senior mind to look for blue when I can't remember where I put something...

mac

Please remove splinters before emailing

[Leuf]

Put one of his buddies on the miter saw and fire the trigger a couple times while cackling like a maniac. They'll stop giggling real quick.

Ah, you are in search of the elusive uncluttered horizontal space. Hunted nearly to extinction, it is almost never seen in the wild. The solution is usually to keep trying to add more horizontal space, but then you just have more cluttered up horizontal space which makes it even worse. I just took a 2'x8' workbench out of the shop to make room for a lathe and really all that bench was doing for me was attract junk.

It really depends on your shop. I've taken to stacking parts on the wood rack. If I've taken wood out of it to make the parts then there must be a space there, and it's out of the way enough that I don't end up picking the stuff up again to get it out of the way - so it's still where I put it down the first time.

A while back Norm built a rolling parts rack with a bunch of shelves to hold all the parts for a project. Seems like a good idea, but I suspect in my shop it would turn into a rolling pile of crap that I have to push around the shop to get out the way to do anything.

This afternoon's project is to put in a shelf over the router table to put more crap.

But really, it's probably just time for you to clean the shop.

-Leuf

[B A R R Y]

I really like stretch wrap, aka "flat twine". Not only does it keep the parts together, but I can write on the plastic which a Sharpie.

[Lew Hodgett]

A cardboard box, some paper bags, a Sharpie pen and a cheap roll of masking tape..

One shelf or table surface for the cardboard box and wood pieces too large for the cardboard box.

Put small parts in bags, put bags in box, band wood pieces together in sets with masking tape and store beside cardboard box.

When project is finished, throw bags away and start over.

Have fun.

Lew

[Artemus]

How about taking the sides you can find over to the oil refinery and putting them in the input and see how many come out the other end? Art {Ducking and running for cover}

[Bonehenge (B A R R Y)]

Ya' know...

A town in John's neighborhood just had a major political battle over the siting of a Biofuel refinery.

Maybe they stole his parts!

[J. Clarke]

Went to make a new one and I found the damned thing. Had to cut a new piece of stock and when it went through the planer, what came sliding out the other side but the missing piece. ARRRRGGGGGHHHHHH.