Jan 302016
If I don’t know what to do with it, or it doesn’t already have an assigned place, or I’m not sure whether I want to keep it, this is the corner where “it” goes.
Do you have a junk corner like this? My junk corner includes some things that don’t have a specified storage location, things I’m not sure I even want to keep and things that defy categorization. Several things in this pile will be placed in storage drawers that need to have a new label printed and applied before they’re stored.
Right now, my shop is a mess. I’m deep into a round cedar picnic table with three curved benches for our two youngest grandchildren, and there’s certainly no time for straightening, and very little time for cleaning. If you’ve read this post, you know how much the mess is bothering me.
Interim storage.
If it comes out of the wayback of my car and isn’t going upstairs with me, it usually ends up in “Interim Storage.” Of course, if it’s a new tool that was delivered to work, chances are good that I’ll take it over to the shop space and unpack it before going upstairs for the night. I might even fire it up and try it out on a piece of scrap. Recently, when I got a supplemental holddown for the Kapex, I had to go install it and clamp a piece of scrap wood down. It was my woodworking fun for the day.
The corner of my workbench differs from this other spot, which is where I put things right behind my car that I just don’t have time to put away yet. These things are in the way, so they will be addressed before long. Think of it as “interim storage.”
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Jim Randolph is a veterinarian in Long Beach, Mississippi. His earlier careers as lawn mower, dairy farmer, automobile mechanic, microwave communications electronics instructor and journeyman carpenter all influence his approach to woodworking. His favorite projects are furniture built for his wife, Brenda, and for their children and grandchildren. His and Brenda’s home, nicknamed Sticks-In-The-Mud, is built on pilings (sticks) near the wetlands (mud) on a bayou off Jourdan River. His shop is in the lower level of their home. Questions and comments on woodworking may be written below in the comments section. Questions about pet care should be directed to his blog on pet care, www.MyPetsDoctor.com. We regret that, because of high volume, not all inquiries can be answered personally.
Sometimes it seems I have a workshop in the corner of my junk room.
That’s a good one, Bob! My shop looks a little like that right now, in the midst of a very long project. Thanks for reading!
WOW!!! I couldn’t have said it any better ! 🙂
This also describes my tiny shop!
In my shop, I know exactly where I left something when I last used it. However, sometimes during the night a poltergeist moves things around. Then the next time I need it, I spend way too much time looking for it. If only I could spend more time in the shop, I’m sure he wouldn’t hide my stuff.
Poltergeist, eh? NOW I have something to blame my missing stuff on, too! None of us gets enough time in the shop, do we, Lane? Thanks for reading, Jim.
Lately, things like nuts, screws, small tools and stuff would fall off the table or our of my hands, hit the floor (i could hear it) and simply vanish! Worse, when I took off my mask, it hooked and flung my hearing aid and it too vanished into thin air! I mustta spent a couple of hours looking for it – gone! I hope none o U guys have this problem! :} or rather :{
Gee, whiz, Paul! Sounds like you have gremlins (or mice?) in your shop, running off with your stuff! Thanks for reading! Jim
I try not to keep junk. If I decide to keep something, I put it in a storage bin or drawer so that I can find iut later. However I do have a corner where I keep wood cutouts…
NO one would call wood cutouts junk, would they, Daniel? Thanks for reading, Jim.
I had a friend give me lumber from his parent’s estate sale. I brought home FOUR truckloads! I had to build a shed to house it all. That’s my “dedicated” junk space 🙂