New shop done

[john lucas]

OK it's not actually done as no shop ever is. There are still alot of little things to do. Gotta run my compressor lines, put in a return air duct to go from the dust collector room back into the main room. Gotta drop 2 lines from the ceiling for power to tools out in the middle of the room. Gonna build a carving work station with a dust collector area. Several more cabinets for the wall and one to hold my spindle sander and it's supplies. Anyway here are the photos so far.

 

[Ricc Havens]

Jealous!! it looks great!!

 

[John Torchick]

Hmmm, that place looks familiar. However, it's too clean. Need some shavings and chips on the floor and sawdust on everything else. If I had thought of it, I could have sent some photos of my shop yesterday when my grandson finished his ratcheting screwdriver. Still have sawdust but the floor is clean...for now.
John, that is a nice shop with lots of thought in the layout.

 

[Mike Johnson]

Anyone that has an accumulation of decades of equipment, tools and materials it is worth the time to apply the "6S" Lean Manufacturing principles when organizing and setting up a work shop. It is no fun working in a shop where you spend half of your time looking for the tool that you need to accomplish each task at hand. After decades of accumulating equipment, tools and materials it becomes a challenge to remember where all of it is hiding if you don't use a methodical and logical means of storing the material and tool collection. A well thought out work shop will also minimize the foot steps taken each day to perform daily tasks in your profession or hobby and streamline the work flow.

 

[john lucas]

I try my best to keep the shop looking this way. I clean up after every major project and take the shop vac and go from floor to ceiling to clean up the saw dust about every other month. Can't help it, just love a clean workspace.

 

[John Torchick]

""6S" Lean Manufacturing principles"
Been doing that for years. Didn't know it had a name. Everything has its place. Anytime we moved, first thing is to put out the tools for assembling beds and the other little jobs needed to get settled in the new place. Wife couldn't figure out why I did this...less stressful on me and her.

 

[Brandon Sloan]

""6S" Lean Manufacturing principles"
Been doing that for years. Didn't know it had a name. Everything has its place. Anytime we moved, first thing is to put out the tools for assembling beds and the other little jobs needed to get settled in the new place. Wife couldn't figure out why I did this...less stressful on me and her.

The Six Sigma (6S) or Lean Six Sigma is incredibly helpful. It was a training program that was started in the early 80’s by Motorola. It has grown into one of the best programs in business and manufacturing.

One of the examples given in class talks about an oil and gas company that services compressors. The mechanics spent 3 to 5 minutes looking for a particular bolt that was commonly needed for repairs. That time spent was costing the company 2 million dollars a year in down time.

Organized shop =‘s more time turning and less time looking for the tool to tighten your chuck.

 

[John Torchick]

That's interesting. Organization to me is just plain common sense. Coming from a business and manufacturing background since 1964, I have wondered how much time is taken by restroom breaks, smoke breaks, and just plain goofing off. I recall the story of a fellow who got out of a cab and dropped a $5 bill. It was said that he cost the company more by picking it up than if he left it. I retired in 2009 so time isn't an issue with me anymore.

 

[john lucas]

Can't tell you how often I have put something in the most logical place for that item, only to spend days looking for it a week later. Oh well I try. everything has a place and there is a place for everything. I just can't find it.

 

[Bob Sheppard]

I think we should all chip in and send John a bag of shavings so his shop has that "used" look.

 

[Mike Johnson]

Part of the process is taking an inventory of all the tools you have and listing the location you store it in.
When you forget where the tool is you can look it up on your inventory list.
Your spouse will appreciate the list when she has to sell everything off to put you in the home.

 

[Gerald Lawrence]

John that looks a lot better than the last pictures. Did you get rid of some more stuff cause that doesn't look even half the stuff. Guess you are finding stuff you forgot you had, I know I did when I reorganized my shop. I labeled my new drawers and that really helped.


When I was at Eckerd they had a 15 minute rule (for techs) . Anything that is not used for 15 minutes should be cleared from the counter.

 

[Michael Nathal]

One of the examples given in class talks about an oil and gas company that services compressors. The mechanics spent 3 to 5 minutes looking for a particular bolt that was commonly needed for repairs. That time spent was costing the company 2 million dollars a year in down time.

I find this example to be far-fetched, unless the repair shop is huge. I figure if the shop had 10 mechanics earning $50 per hour, each mechanic would spend 15 minutes looking for 3 bolts every hour of every day

 

[Brandon Sloan]

I find this example to be far-fetched, unless the repair shop is huge. I figure if the shop had 10 mechanics earning $50 per hour, each mechanic would spend 15 minutes looking for 3 bolts every hour of every day

It’s not the mechanics salary, it’s the compressor downtime. In that industry, one compressor can earn you 200 to 300 thousand a month.

 

[John Torchick]

$50 an hour? Why did I go to college?

 

[Bill Boehme]

$50 an hour? Why did I go to college?

Was that a rhetorical question?

If not, then:

• You can count to twenty without removing your shoes ... assuming that you're wearing shoes
• You don't have to ask, "Would you like fries with that?"
  
• Spotting a dangling participle from 50 yards away
• You laugh at the following bar joke:
  • Three intransitive verbs walk into a bar. They sit. They converse. They depart.
• You know that "their", "there", and "they're" shouldn't be used interchangeably
• You can count change the right way without needing a cash register
• You ask introspective questions like, "Why did I go to college?", not expecting nor receiving a serious reply.

 

[John Torchick]

Figuring at 50 bucks x 40 hours = 2,000 a week or 100,000 a year plus vacation pay of 4,000, totaling 104,000 per year. Never made near that much., That's not counting overtime at 75 per hour minimum, unless it is a holiday which could be double or triple time. Know whut I mean, Vern?
Edit- I do know the difference between vise and vice.

 

[Russell Nugent]

$50 an hour? Why did I go to college?

I don't know about the states but up here in Alberta you do need to go to college to be a mechanic.

 

[John Torchick]

Looking back, most of the courses I took were no more than busy work and related to my major. My daughter is working toward her Nurse Practitioner certification. She has the same- busy work that had nothing to do with medical knowledge. BTW, a college buddy said he learned more behind the schoolhouse than inside!
Back on topic- I visited John about two weeks ago. He gave the ten cent tour of his shop. Loads of room and lots of ways to work with wood. I would love to half his floor space.

 

[john lucas]

most of the people I know, myself included, never worked in the field they graduated in. College for me was a great experience but totally wasted as far as making a living. I would have been far better off if I had gone to a trade school. Seems that I need to do something with my hands or be creative. The University was only interested in getting me out of there, they didn't care if your degree was useless as far as finding a job. So I am definitely not in the bandwagon of everyone needs a college degree. So I'm headed out to the shop to make something using the skills I learned through hard knocks.

 

[Mark Jundanian]

I would love to half his floor space.

But Lucas seems like such a nice guy, and his new shop is already smaller than his old one.

 

[John Torchick]

It is smaller but John will take advantage of what space he has. This is from years of experience. I did sort of the same- I built a wall over the garage door for shelves and to cut down on cold/hot air coming into the shop. Now I have more space for more turning and woodworking stuff! All I have to do is convince my wife.

 

[Bill Boehme]

But, why would you want to "half" his shop?

 

[john lucas]

Cause I'm a half A$$ed turner.

 

[John Torchick]

Half his shop is three times the size of mine. My shop is so small...I have to go into the basement to change my mind!
John, my wife is still amazed at your micro-turnings!

 

[john lucas]

getting a bigger shop was kind of like upgrading tools. You sell one and put that money towards a little better one. My first shop was in an open garage. I had a fold up work bench that locked in the up position and all of my tools were stored behind it. I had a router, jig saw, circular saw,some chisels, a smoothing a block plane, and a hand saw. I did a lot of work with just that. When I bought the Shopsmith after graduating college I had it in the back bedroom of an apartment. Can't believe the neighbors never complained about the noise. Most of the rest of my shops were larger but in some cases almost caves with water running through them when it rained. the last 2 have been really nice and I get a lot more work done in a nice clean shop.