June 11, 200719 yr How clean is your shop? We received 105 votes as listed below. 37 votes or 35.2% As needed to keep it safe to work. 19 votes or 18.1% When you have trouble walking in the shop. 17 votes or 16.2% When things reach critical mass and you have to. 14 votes or 13.3% After the project is finished. 10 votes or 9.5% Daily. 7 votes or 6.7% Don't remember if the floor is concrete, wood, or dirt. 1 votes or 1% Always ready for the Martha Stewart camrea crew.
June 11, 200719 yr I sweep the visible areas of the floor daily after working; however, methinks it is not legal in this state to have a "clean" blacksmith shop.
June 11, 200719 yr i will take better care of someone elses than my own-thank goodness for my uncle,the cleaner of the family, but when he's done i can't find anything
June 11, 200719 yr Right now, my shop is piled up with all sorts of stuff, including four treated lumber 4X4s for a non-shop related job for my kids. I'll clean it out soon. I'll HAVE to before I work in it.
June 11, 200719 yr As time goes by I think I'm getting better at keeping it respectable. But there's still times you couldn't find a bright orange whosawhatzit in the shop on a bright sunny day;)
June 11, 200719 yr As needed to keep it safe to work.I usually sweep every time I finish banging or the next day.
June 11, 200719 yr When things reach critical mass and you have to. Forge, Anvil, and postvise are outside, don't have a flue yet, so mostly just tool storge right now.
June 12, 200719 yr My shop is usualy reasonably clean, last few weeks however have been a disaster. I lost half my shop space when my brother's '76 TR6 moved into half of my garage. I still need to come up with a new floor plan to fit everything properly.
June 12, 200719 yr I keep walkways clear (mostly), and where I stand is always clean. The problem is shelf surfaces. The work table behind my anvil, the vice table, and my chuck boxes all tend to pile up. I clean them when I have to or, in the case of my vice table, when shaking or vibration could knock stuff to the floor.
June 12, 200719 yr I sweep when I HAVE to, but generally keep it sorta/kinda clean. The best thing I have used for cleaning my shop was to host a small hammer-in last month! Really work good, I recommend it at LEAST once a year! Hey Kevin! Glad you finally made it on board. How about going to the "Introduce Yourself" section and give these folks a bio on you and your shop! Have you found/bought an air hammer yet? We are going to be in Albq. Firday and returning home Sunday 6/24. I have also signed up for the LG rebuild class in Aug. so will be out there again then.
June 12, 200719 yr When I get frustrated because I can't find things is when it gets a good cleaning, otherwise i keep it clean enough to walk in.......mostly
June 12, 200719 yr My blacksmithing shop I clean when needed but I don't really have as much room as I think I need (as in just room to stand and turn from one piece of equipment to the next). One day I want enough room to move then it will be like my wood shop which I try to clean at the end of each days work (I do that pretty well) but sometime it gets skipped. ron
June 12, 200719 yr Think I answered "as needed to keep it safe for work". Safe for me doesn't necessarily mean safe for any visitors but if ol' Martha ever shows up I will even break out the good beer. Beer...it's a good thing :D
June 12, 200719 yr I think I will be in the minority here... I have just taken over a smiddy here in Scotland, and I am in the process of clearing up the accumulation of debris left by the last occupant... by the time I am finished you will be able to eat off of the glimmering surfaces of my welding table... (OK, perhaps not eat off them!) I have even been known to dust the gas bottles here... When Martha comes, we will be able to sit back and drink the local scotch whiskey, as it is absolutely spotless and she won't have a thing to complain about, unless she goes into the house that is.....
June 13, 200719 yr I too had mentioned safety and daily, but I must clarify. my "shop" is in my garage. I have an "everything done here" work bench and a handy smithing cart/bench that I put together when I built my latest gas forge. I can calw between them pretty freely, and I like to keep that area broom swept on a regular basis. I typically bang iron from like 10 p.m. to about one or two in the morning, when I get to (I have asked all my neighbors if I have bothered them and none even knew that I was banging). Now the tricky part; I have eight children (all mine, no twins, same loving wife) from 2.5 months to 14 yrs. I have four boys in a row from 3 to nine and all of them will gladly get into my cart and beat on any mild-steel wire I have laying about. I bolted a piece of 3/16 steel plate to a little 15-lb cast iron aso from harbor freight just for them to bang on. My wife, who's nickname is martha, would have my tookas if I let them come in with scale dust or metal chunks, so I have to keep it reasonably clean. basically, I have to keep it safe for and from the little ones and clean, so I can find whatever tools they have taken out while I was away.
June 13, 200719 yr I subconsciously put all my tools away promptly, often before I need them again. And I usually put them away where I can't find them. Either that or elves perform that task. But seriously, I smith in a two-car garage, with about 1/2 of that being shared with the usual home repair jobs. So to keep my head on straight and have the best chance to find those misplaced tools, I would say I fit in the "After the project is finished" category.
June 13, 200719 yr I subconsciously put all my tools away promptly, often before I need them again. And I usually put them away where I can't find them. Either that or elves perform that task. I'm convinced I have gremlins in my shop. And they have a special love for my soapstone holder.
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