Clean Shop Ideas???

admin

Anyone have any obvious or not so obvious ideas how to keep your shop a little cleaner? My biggest problem area is around the drill press. I thought about making a metal pan for the drill to sit in but I think it would have to be too big to catch most of the shavings as they are spinning off 2 or 3 feet around the area. I'm sure theirs a lot of neat tricks/ideas out there, how about posting some of them? grizz
Reply:Hire a person to clean it up Me!
Reply:Well now I had the wife doing it for awhile but that didn't last long, she stopped after a few metal splinters. Hiring someone isn't exactly what I was looking for. Looking for something to maybe make it a little quicker to clean up myself. Now, when I win the lotto then I'll take your advise.
Reply:Use a shop vac while you are drilling. And a welding magnet does wonders for what the shop vac misses.Miller Thunderbolt 225Millermatic 130 XPLincoln HD 100 Forney C-5bt Arc welderPlasma Cutter Gianteach Cut40ACent Machinery Bandsaw Cent Machinery 16Speed Drill PressChicago Electric 130amp tig/90 ArcHobart 190 Mig spoolgun ready
Reply:1) get a wall mounted small shopvac with a hose long enough to reach every corner of your shop.2) Make building yourself really nice workbenches with drawers, organizers, etc... your number 1 priority3) Put up pegboard sections on your walls and buy a bunch of pegboard tool hangers to get things out of clutter in drawers and up on the pegboard in a well organized manner4) Buy a bunch of decent surge protectors and mount them firmly around your shop so that you can easily connect tools in different areas without having to pull out extension cords5) Take pictures of your shop on a regular basis and post them with your projects...if your like me, you won't like looking unorganized6) Let your wife decide when your shop is properly cleaned and if she doesn't think it's clean you don't get to do anything else but clean it7) Always, and I mean always, clean up after each and every project8) if that doesn't work, walk around your shop barefoot everyday (after you get about 200 small shards of metal stuck in your feet, you'll want to clean).9) This is the last option...get someone like me to move in...since I have a moderate level of OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder), I can't bloody help but clean everything all the time.--Wintermute"No man's knowledge here can go beyond his experience." - John Lockewww.improvised-engineering.comManufacturer Agnostic:Blood----------Sweat---------Tears----|------------------|----------------|----Lincoln Red, Miller Blue, Esab Yellow
Reply:i second the shop vac... much cheaper than a cyclone, and probably quite a bit more versitile, smaller, portable, and easier to set-up. my grandpa just drilled a small hole in the end of one of his hoses and rigs it up with mechanic's wire from the drill press's "back-bone" to the hole in the hose. he can position it just about however he needs it. he also has another hose hooked up to his radial arm saw, behind the blade, permanantly attached (via duct-tape) to a funnel screwed to the table top. he has a couple more on a few other tools, etc. etc. etc. . all he has to do is disconnect the shopvac form the hose and move the canister from tool to tool as he needs to. i suppose you could hook up a manifold system with hoses running all over the shop to make a smaller version of a cyclone, but physics states that you will loose suction power with a longer hose.another thing to use the shop-vac for is fume extraction. if you had a shopvac (i use a Ridged) that had an exhuast/blower port on it that you could hook a hose to, you could use one hose to suck your fumes away from the work and direct them out the door via a second hose (if that makes any sense... it does in my little world anyway... lol).the thing that you will want to be careful of tho is using it around grinders and such. the hot sparks are a mojor fire hazard, and with the amount of air and dust that is swiling inside the shop-vac, it is like a mini silo-explosion waiting to go off.another way to help keep things clean is an air-hose... hook up a fan to blow everything outside and open another door or window (preferably on the opposite wall as the fan) to let air in... this creates a nice draft thru the shop. blow it all down with the hose and let the fan suck all the dust out. whatever the fan doesn't blow out, the shopvac or a broom can clean after that.there are hundreds of other ways to keep the shop clean and organized... take a look at WOOD magazine sometime. they have a few ideas in every issue for woodworking shops. nearly all of their projects can be converted to better serve a metal-working shop with little or no modification to the original plan. clamp organizers come to mind fairly easily. another project could be cutting a few lengths of 2" or 3" tube (exhaust, DWV PVC, etc) and make a rod storage bin. lay the tubes horizontal for easy access and throw your rods in as required... put a threaded cap on for better protection if you so require.like i said, there are plenty of ideas out there... let us know what problems you are facing... it can be nearly guaranteed that you are not the only one with the problem and others have ways of helping.Later,Andy
Reply:The only thing I do is when I go to the toolbox to get another tool, I try to bring one back.  Its hard to keep the shop clean and produce a quantity of work.  Its hard to produce quality work in a dirty shop.  I clean up after a job is done, or before I start another one.DavidReal world weldin.  When I grow up I want to be a tig weldor.
Reply:I built my wife a whole house vac using a shop vac and a contactor( for starting the motor remotely). The best thing about it is the long hose and remote location of the vac. Perhaps you could do something similar and install vac ports where they are out of the way, but easy to use. Go to the store that sells the real whole house vac to buy just the ports and hose. That stuff dosn't cost that much. Just watch the hot stuff!
Reply:Put the magnet in a sandwich bag to collect the swarf, lay it on the drill table. Makes it a lot easier to clean the magnet afterwards.If you don't want to stand behind our Troops, feel free to stand in front of them.
Reply:SWells that's some good advice. I will have to try that one out.CLEAN SHOP IDEAS:1. Clean shop after your project is finnished.2. See step 1.Clarke 130EN C25Lincoln 225 AC Stick(1968)Smith O/A RigHF 4X6 Red BandsawBlack & Decker Pro Chopsaw16 Speed Drill PressSpeedglas XL HelmetHarbor Freight Stuff
Reply:SWells, thats exactly the type of idea I was looking for, thats great, that will most likely eliminate the entire mess. Thanks.grizz_____________________________________________Miller DVITD-39HF 4x6 BandsawHF Bender & Ring RollerCraftsman 12 inch Drill Press4.5 inch Grinders10 inch Metal shearAnd numerous other little goodies!!!
Reply:I use a magnet 'broom' It is like a pushbroom, with wheels on it. I just sweep up the area. I got mine when I was working for a roofing shop. We would clean all the nails up around the job, and I bought one , and use it at home sometimes.And then, after so much work...... you have it in your hand, and you look over to your side...... and the runner has run off. Leaving you holding the prize, wondering when the runner will return.
Reply:I find getting the big fire hose out and hosing the factory down very effective . Gets all that linishing and grinding dust that a broom or vac just doesn't.A good guess is better than a bad measurement
Reply:I used to carefully pick up all the bolts/nuts/cotter keys etc before I used the shop vac-that took more time then the rest of the cleanup.Now I just vac the area first-then get a magnet and go thru the dust inside the vac cleaner and get out all the iron stuff.i HAVE A $3 magnet from HarborFreight with a handle that releases the magnet from the housing and drops the metal into a jar for future sorting.
Reply:Originally Posted by SWellsPut the magnet in a sandwich bag to collect the swarf, lay it on the drill table. Makes it a lot easier to clean the magnet afterwards.
Reply:Yup, that was what I meant, I wouldn't reccomend it for a grinder or chop saw. For the drill press or clean up afterwards I works for me.If you don't want to stand behind our Troops, feel free to stand in front of them.
Reply:HmmmmAll my drilling chips are usually blue hot when they "come out"..I really lean on the drill..But if it works for you then do what you do.. I use a air hose and just blow them somewhere else..I work in a real grungy place with little hope of actually being "clean".....zap!I am not completely insane..Some parts are missing Professional Driver on a closed course....Do not attempt.Just because I'm a  dumbass don't mean that you can be too.So DON'T try any of this **** l do at home.
Reply:I've heard to be cautious cleaning metal cuttings with air, you don't want to blow them into the motor. I'd be lying if I said I never did it.If you don't want to stand behind our Troops, feel free to stand in front of them.
Reply:Originally Posted by SWellsPut the magnet in a sandwich bag to collect the swarf, lay it on the drill table. Makes it a lot easier to clean the magnet afterwards.
Reply:lol, good one Sober_Pollock, they are only available in Canada.If you don't want to stand behind our Troops, feel free to stand in front of them.
Reply:When I was a shop forman I instituted Friday afternoon as shop cleanup day.EVERYONE had to clean.I always insisted on using our industrial shop vacuum and not brooms for the little stuff, that way the employees would not breathe the dust raised by brooms.I also explained to the employees that most of their lives are spent at workor a great portion of it and a clean shop is safer feels better when they come in on Monday morning etc.,.After 11 years I came back to visit and the shop, it was still having clean up on Friday afternoon.
Reply:A ceiling mounted dust filter like this one http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/AS...toolsdeals1-20 also does a great job of keeping general dust in the shop down.--Wintermute"No man's knowledge here can go beyond his experience." - John Lockewww.improvised-engineering.comManufacturer Agnostic:Blood----------Sweat---------Tears----|------------------|----------------|----Lincoln Red, Miller Blue, Esab Yellow
Reply:Baby food jars and coffee cans for fastners.reber
Reply:When someone is remodling a kitchen ask for the old cabnets. Mount those in the shop.
Reply:Mount everything a foot or two off of the ground so you can sweep under it.Put big stuff on casters or wheels to move it to clean.Make it easier to keep clean, I have garbage containers handy at my work stations.If you don't want to stand behind our Troops, feel free to stand in front of them.
Reply:As a machinist more than a welder, I'll say it like I learned it. It's part of the job to clean up.  Part of being accurate and working well is cleaning and maintaining the machines.  I use a hand broom & a dustpan and clock out on the job ticket when the equipment is ready to begin another job.Shop vac is ok too when the chips are willing.  But a bad habit is blowing off machines (Lathes, mills, etc ) with compressed air.The best things in life all come on a stick!
Reply:most of my drill media wont go through the vac. hose as they clogit up fast. We use a small hand brush and dust pan then the vac.or the magnet.  compressed air, metal shrads, eyes, not good even with the safety glasses on.Life is tuff,so be sharp  lincoln sp 100  cutmaster101  miller bobcat  miller 250 mig  $thousands in snapon