Adam Savage has released a video with a tour of his workshop following a recent reorg. His workshop is the sort of place most makers can only ever dream of. From the variety of tools available, to just the amount of space he has available. But as I watched the video about his recent acquisition of "the hardware store", I had two thoughts. The first was that those drawers are not going to be fun in the event of an earthquake... and
it reminded me of a realisation I had when I moved out of my parents place. Growing up I had used my dad's workshop, as well as my grandfathers, and those at school. I had got used to the (automatically restocking) tins of screws and bolts, the big stack of wood I could grab from when I wanted to make something. But when you strike out on your own, and you have an empty "workshop" (well the patch of paving next to the front door). You get a sudden appreciation for the mature workshop...
Need an M6 bolt? Better put the tools away and hop on the bike to a hardware store. Need some ply wood, off to the timber merchants! Projects are so much easier and so much faster when you have a stock of parts just sat there. But if you try to actually consciously move towards that position, you realised very quickly just how expensive that is. Screws ain't cheap. Plywood ain't cheap. Investing in materials in the off chance they will be useful one day, is not an option for most of us.
For generation rent, it's even more of an issue. Having to move all your stuff from one apartment to the next every 1-3 years is a right faff. I see makers with mature workshops talking about "I made this from scrap wood" or "Just grab something from the scrap pile" without realising just how much of a privilege it is to have access to such resources.
Where possible when I order materials, be it screws, or metal, or wood, etc... I try to order a little bit extra...
so that I have a stock of parts. I'm now incredibly lucky that I have the use of 3 different workshops with various levels of facilities, and amounts of travel required to get to them. I also have a slowly growing "hardware store" of parts available to me. But because it's at least 30 mins of public transport to any workshop. I have to carefully plan what I take with me material wise. I've had to also put thought into how I store all my parts. Because of this.
Adam Savage and Laura Kampf both go for the sortimo system for all their small parts. Alexandre Chappel, has a design for a 3d printable version which he uses to great effect. But for a mobile setup, I found none of these worked for me. You can't take just the bits you need, without having a lot of bulk. I've converged on a solution using tobacco tins. Which is the same system my parents and grandparents used. It works well. I can just grab the tins I need and throw them in a backpack.
But even with several dozen of them, I'm still finding that projects are getting stalled cos I have to wait for parts. I needed some specific size M8 washers for one project. I could either spend €8 shipping on 2 washers, or I could get them for €2 from china. They'll arrive in a few weeks. The project is on hold till then...
Most of us will never have a workshop as good as Adam's, or Laura's, or Quinn's, but there are some aspects of it that really reduce friction on projects. One of those is having a supply of parts. So next time you are ordering parts for a project, get a few extras. Buy a bit more wood than you need. Get that extra length of tool steel.
And also spend some time finding a storage solution that works for you. I have gone for tobacco tins & Really useful boxes. Find what works for you.
@quixoticgeek I'm lucky to own a flat and I chose it partly for the large basement. which needed a new concrete floor to (sort of) fix its damp problem, but now it’s as good as in the old days when I was wrecking my dad's stuff … https://www.twobiscuits.at/bikes/3190/
@quixoticgeek The problem of having a stock of screws and stuff was pretty well solved in the renovation phase of the flat. Tho I ended up chucking a fair bit of wood bc it'd been in the damp cellar for too long. (Cleverly I didn't start the whole renovation process by fixing the cellar first, no, I did a temporary workshop in what is now the living room and then let everything moulder down there for years)
@quixoticgeek while I also often need to find "the right bolt" out of my assorted sets, having a reliable 3D printer makes it possible to create specialty parts like standoffs and washers with an ease that machinists of previous generations would envy.
@quixoticgeek My medium of choice is sewing, and have created a space similar to a professionals shop. The hard part is tracking - knowing what you have and where is exceedingly difficult.
One thing you forget is time. To go from A to a partial B, about 30% folded, it took me 6-8 hours of tedious work. They will get cataloged and placed in labeled storage bags and stacked under the cutting table.
Buying extra only works long term if you can find it again. I didn't know I had 7 yards of canvas, so I ended up buying more for one of my last big projects.
@sewblue oh yes. Especially cos you also need a clean flat space to lay stuff out to cut it. Maintaining a clear flat space they doesn't collect junk is hard in a small apartment.
@quixoticgeek@sewblue
Several square metres of clean flat floor to properly lay out the pattern for a dress or coat. It is an important reason I haven't done much sewing these last few years.
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