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3 videos in 3 days idk why but hell yeah
It’s a good week!
@rockstarfan886 big purchase coming soon👀😂
Sponsorship obligations for the month of Sept.
@creehanah yes I remember he said that on the podcast. We need more of those 😂
What a mess! My organization is piling like stuff on the floor of my shop, so don’t take any pointers from me!
Enjoying the rapid fire video posting. I know it can’t last for sake of your sanity but enjoying just the same. Best free content around!
Make your videos whatever task you need to be doing, whatever that may be, you got your audience already, we’re here with you for the ride, love the content, keep safe and having fun, thanks, keep it up
I can’t speak for your other viewers, but I enjoy your videos, even if they are not directly relevant to my interests. Shop organization is important to me, so I actually would enjoy mixing some of that in with your more artistic content. As for storage suggestions, it seems to me you pretty much know what you need to do – make organizers for your drawers, for example, perhaps not the French fitting you did for that one, but at least some boxes in various size to wrangle some of the loose items. Maybe build a storage shed on your property for your materials, to clear all all but those you need for the immediate projects. You can probably come up with a cool design for that little building, just like the mower garage.
The biggest way you could improve is to use more of your Z axis in your shop. You have a lot of wall space dedicated to design elements, and this may be the way you want to keep them, but putting some cabinets up – again, with cool design – and that will make your life easier. Oh, and I would make custom shelves for your storage in front of the garage doors, as those wire racks have a lot of dead space. For inspiration, Adam Savage did a lot of shop infrastructure improvements, and Alexandre Chappel has an incredible amount of storage projects – he uses the heck out of his 3D printers!
Best of luck!
Pure comedy at 23:14. 😭
“These are favorite clamps.”
“And these are my least favorite clamps.”
I was having a major anxiety attack everyday just trying to get my shop organized and kept clean. Now thanks to you and this video, I’m thinking of seeking professional help!!!! We can get thru this David!!!!
I loved how different this video was – I love thinking about how to better organize, purge and optimize.
I don’t have a lot of specific suggestions for these issues. But I do have an over arching idea or thought, and that is… Creativity and artistry are not mutually exclusive from shop furniture and pure information. There can be creativity IN the information or the shop. Maybe that is something you can search for. It would be fun to watch you find the Art in a piece of shop furniture. You want to be inspired by the space you work in? Why not make midcentury shop furniture? Why not make a table for your scroll saw out of walnut or a set of drawers/shelves for your laser materials that takes inspiration from a storage rack for vinyl records? At this point I am rambling and probably loosing the plot but I’ll wrap up with this. Over the years you have only gotten better at what you make and I love what you do. I’m going to keep watching no matter what.
Few minutes in and heard you say it was temporary a few times. Reminds me of my favorite saying when we have temporary fixes: “nothing is more permanent than a temporary solution”
I’m shocked, shocked I tell you! Your on-camera space is so clean & clutter-free, I thought all the storage must be immaculate too. I love this stuff so can’t wait to see next steps.
Dave… you are all of us. Thank you for being open to this tour
you said you want the channel to be about creativity — so I want to see all the creative solutions to these shop challenges you come up with!
“Im known for my hand tool work” pure gold.
Free flopping is certainly the main storage technique in my shop
Without a doubt, I think we can all agree that the major reason for the disorganization in your shop is due to Jefferson. He really needs to step his game up.
I spent some time driving through Ohio in years past. Can’t believe I missed the Alps of Ohio!! Great view out your window!
This feels a little like a forest for the trees moment, and man, we’ve all been there! I completely get that you’re a guy who values the aesthetics and the vibes of your shop as a driver of your creativity as much as a look, so I’m going to throw suggestions out there trying to keep that in mind.
Idk if you’re familiar with Cas over at Clutterbug, but in her system you’re a Ladybug to a T: you don’t want to look at your stuff until you need it because it stresses you out, and you prefer macro-level organization, which basically means that you’re absolutely right: for you there’s absolutely such a thing as too much organization!
Her usual solution for Ladybugs is bins with labels, and honestly I already see you doing some of that: you said yourself you want to do more of those classy, color/coded lidded bins. That sounds like an easy solution for things that need to be accessible, just not necessarily on an immediate, daily level. Things like the extra camera gear, those hand tools you’re known for, the finish ingredients, etc.
And hey, you know where all of those bins could live? In that new shelving unit along your almost-proscenium-stage wall that you’ve got going on there!
From a build perspective, this makes sense to me because it’s the most straightforward “blank space” are in your shop at the moment, versus your other various workspaces, and because it doesn’t have much of an established identity yet where the others largely do. This means you can essentially start from zero to accommodate what you’ve discovered you need from what isn’t working your space now. Moreover: from what you’ve said here, you’ve already identified both the area AND the type of solution you think you need.
Along those same lines, strongly, strongly recommend that you consider taking advantage of the vertical space on this wall. It doesn’t have to be a wall of cabinet doors (could be panel doors on pressure latches or something else altogether), but you need some dedicated organized storage space and this is the prime candidate. There’s room for more drawers, more of your fancy bins, maybe even lidless boxes built specifically for things like your miscellaneous Festool accessories. Resist the inclination to another waist-high bank of drawers with a flat surface on top, though. You have a lot of that going on already and adding another collection point without a designated, dedicated purpose from the outset seems like a recipe for continuing existing patterns.
You’re obviously a drawer guy, but I’m going to suggest NOT pursuing gridfinity or kaizen-style tracing out the home for every single tool in foam and making drawer inserts thing. For one, you end up needing triple the space for storage because of all the dead space between each individual tool, and all that faffing about loses its shine FAST, so most of the time the whole project ends up half done and abandoned (often resentfully). I’d save that approach for the drawers where it makes the absolute most sense: places other people access that need a short of visual shorthand, or places for your favorite daily drivers and the special objects with particular personal value, and even then, limit it to just a few so you don’t lose momentum.
With everything else, though, try to resist the urge to go detailed. The levels of organization you have now seem to work (this is the drawer for X, this is the drawer for Y) well for you (though I think you mentioned like two or three sanding drawers, and if that’s working, cool, but otherwise I’d say consolidate), so keep it at that level.
For interior-drawer organization, I’d suggest what my grandfather did in his shop for decades and that I’ve adopted since: scavenge small boxes (if you’re anything like me, you’ve got some good boxes squirreled away, admit it!), separate the bottom from the lid, and boom! Organizational tools. Cigar boxes and old fruit boxes are exceptionally handy here. If those don’t work for you aesthetically, Target has a line of clear acrylic desk and drawer organizer inserts that run like 1/3 the cost of the same thing at the container store or similar, or you can find some real gems in the thrift stores or at home goods. Be sure to check out bathroom and desk organization as well as kitchen—they hide the little trays and boxes all over. Or hey, you could use your laser or CNC to fabricate something custom if that’s sparking joy in the moment.
Regardless, try to keep the categories broad enough that you’re not wondering where to put things (that how you end up using tools as storage receptacles), but narrow enough that it’s clear when something SHOULDN’T be there. And set clear limits on how much space you’re going to allow a category to have and stick to it: one drawer for colors, two for consumables, etc. for example.
I’d make the overarching point to be to get anything that isn’t used on a daily or every project basis out of the spots you have the easiest access to. That’s prime real estate and should be for stuff you reach for constantly. Everything else should be triaged to secondary and even tertiary accessibility elsewhere in the shop.
The other thing I’d suggest, honestly, is being sure to declutter as you’re doing this. We all somehow end up with three of things because we couldn’t find one, bought another, and got gifted a third. Pass the love along, and make your stress levels lower by having less stuff to manage. It leaves a lot more room to create.
This video basically has a laundry list of things you’ve identified either as needs, problems, or intentions. Watch it back a couple times and make notes of everything you specifically called out. Usually I find that’s a good way to start making my laundry list of needs, wants, and bonuses, and it gets the juices flowing to design from there.
I don’t think you’ll have a problem once you’re able to step out of it a little. You’ve always got incredible ideas and a strong idea of how things do and do not work for your creative flow. I’ve got faith that once you can separate yourself from it a little bit, you’ll start finding your way through. Cheers!
“None of this makes any sense to you or me.”. Man, it made too much sense. Organizing the space is so cathartic.
18:13 Nice little present rolled in there for future Dave
Honestly, thank you for showing us that talented woodworkers are just like the rest of us. There is real value in that.