Productivity!

[solarbird]

I have been very productive

Friday I rearranged my little basement bench area, Saturday I built a bench extension

I knew getting the ladder onto the wall would help clear up some space but it's SO MUCH MORE than I expected, holy shit

For once, thanks to past me taking a mostly-after shot, I have a "before" shot:


The more I used this space the more I knew it was not big enough as in, "this is too small to be properly functional" vs. "this works but it'd be better if bigger" and so:


The old workbench - it's a big wood box I got free from a neighbour who was dumping it - is 18" deep by 42" wide. The addition adds 32" more inches width and is 25" deep, which means "deep enough to use the precision mitre saw properly" which I kinda had but really didn't have before. Which is pretty frustrating given it's literally the tool I am most likely to be using at any time.

I mean, I had one (1) spot where I could use it, and it was cramped and function-limiting. So I could, but.

And aside from that, it's been one of those spaces you can use but is just that bit too small, where you can use exactly one (1) tool at a time, which means if you're swapping between tools on a build it's a constant shuffle of put-away/take-out-again.

Now it's not. ^_^

Comments

[dewline]

I know that feeling of having too many tools, not enough room to use them.

[solarbird]

It's not so much "I have too many tools," because I definitely do not. I've been hesitating for a long time on the drill press, for example, when honestly I've needed that for ages.

It's just that if you want to use a mitre saw, then do something else, and alternate as you're working, having to set up and take down each tool alternately in order to have any bench space... that gets kinda crazymaking really fast.

That's where I've been with this space, basically.

[vatine]

Nice shop! I suspect getting the shelves from an II configuration to an L configuration helped for perceived space, as well.

[solarbird]

Both perceived and actually useful!

The idea with the shelf corridor was that I could put tall things that can't fit on shelves at the end of the little corridor, up against the wall, and that did work!

But it turned out that if I rotated the one shelf as I have now, there's still enough gap to fit the few tall things which actually have to be there up against the wall, meaning the the rest of the "hallway" space becomes actually usable space in front of an extended bench, vs. only useful for getting to the end of the little hallway.

So that's all space which got nice and reclaimed. Quite pleased, really. ^_^

[vatine]

Oooh, actual space! Even better. We're still in the process of getting everything in order after our international move, but getting the bookshelves from "a labyrinthine setup" to "just along the walls" both gladdened me (it is now MUCH easier to spot any specific thing" and saddened me ("it is so standard, the previous setup was much cooler"). But, I'd say that practicality wins over aesthetics, there.

Still waiting for the next delivery of things to get more shelf space in the office/lab room. Which includes a (foldable) desk for me that isn't taken up with monitors and keyboards, where I may hopefully have space to engage in some soldering. And enough storage so I don't have tools on top of tools, on top of tools in the shelves.

[solarbird]

Fuck yeah good storage! That's kind of the next stage of this plan in fact, those shelves have a bit of tools-on-tools going on and I need to get that sorted out because it's bollocks. I'm thinking some sort of vertical-compartments solution that I can put on existing shelving, store all the hand tools upright.

I also rediscovered an old foldable work table I'd got and never used. It was in storage at the old shop, which I've now decided is the "Large Work" shop. So I've brought it up here to the basement shop (which is now the "Small Work" shop) in hopes I'll use it here.

(This last weekend really let me figure some things out. The southern shop at the old place is going to be the "large work" shop, where things like a table saw and a router are appropriate. The basement shop here is going to be the "small work" shop, where I need to do things that create dust and loudness and possibly chemicals, but which aren't big enough to merit a trip south. And the upstairs sewing/electronics/printing desk is the tiny-works shop, for things small enough to be 3D printed and soldered and things like that. So now it's less "redundant" and more "specialised purpose" which plays a lot - and I mean a lot - more nicely in my head. Of course there'll be overlap and sometimes tools will be ported from one place to another. But it gets the idea across.)

(Hm, maybe this is a post rather than just a parenthetical comment. But I'll leave it in case I don't. ^_^ )