How Do I Organize?

[Dwight]

I have a relatively small space in which I work.

The table in the picture is 3 feet wide, 5 feet long, . . . the covering is 1 inch squares, and is a "cut proof" bench top piece from Joann Fabrics.

As you can see, . . . my sewing machine is at this end, . . . everything sewn flows up and onto the table.

To the left of the table but unseen is a belt sander and a tube sander, all I do is turn around, . . . they are there, . . . turn them on, . . . go at it.

To the right of the table is all the punches, and other tools that would be used to shape or decorate or stamp the leather. Additionally all my snaps, grommets, rivets, and their associated punches and tooling are all there.

Farther back in the shop on the same side as the tools is the sink, . . . above which is all the finishing products and stains.

The "wall" you see behind the table is indeed not a wall, . . . but my leather vault, . . . 12 inches deep, . . . 4 feet wide, . . . 7 feet tall, . . . with swinging arms inside that hold my leather in a vertical position, . . . open the vault, . . . thumb through till you find the piece you want, . . . take it down, . . . cut it, . . . hang it back up.

Everything is designed to be within arms length of the table.

Works for me.

May God bless,

Dwight

[tardis86]

I have a relatively small space in which I work.

The table in the picture is 3 feet wide, 5 feet long, . . . the covering is 1 inch squares, and is a "cut proof" bench top piece from Joann Fabrics.

As you can see, . . . my sewing machine is at this end, . . . everything sewn flows up and onto the table.

To the left of the table but unseen is a belt sander and a tube sander, all I do is turn around, . . . they are there, . . . turn them on, . . . go at it.

To the right of the table is all the punches, and other tools that would be used to shape or decorate or stamp the leather. Additionally all my snaps, grommets, rivets, and their associated punches and tooling are all there.

Farther back in the shop on the same side as the tools is the sink, . . . above which is all the finishing products and stains.

The "wall" you see behind the table is indeed not a wall, . . . but my leather vault, . . . 12 inches deep, . . . 4 feet wide, . . . 7 feet tall, . . . with swinging arms inside that hold my leather in a vertical position, . . . open the vault, . . . thumb through till you find the piece you want, . . . take it down, . . . cut it, . . . hang it back up.

Everything is designed to be within arms length of the table.

Works for me.

May God bless,

Dwight

nice setup, is that attached to your house or is it its own building?

[Dwight]

nice setup, is that attached to your house or is it its own building?

We added a car port to the house, . . . and on the other end of the car port, . . . I built the hobby / leather shop, . . . needed to get it out of my family room, . . . made my wife VERY happy.

It would never do for anything above a 2 or 3 man operation, . . . and that would be crowded, . . . but it works really great for me.

May God bless,

Dwight

[gmace99]

This is something I cant teach. I pile stuff all over the place. My school has 5 boards 8 foot by 4 foot. if I am in the school on my own working on an idea or a design I use all 5 boards. One day I will have to go on a course to learn how not to make a mess.

[Nuttish]

Concrete forms and a loft hanging from the rafters on chains.

[DocReaper]

it took time to build up me catastrophe of a work bench, I now have a 6 foot tall x 5 ft long x 2ft deep shelving unit to hold my hardware. I also us a larger rack shelf to hold the leather, but it still a mess due to the tools. it was easier to make a mess than to clean up due to recent lower back surgery; the VA sucks for any medical help one might need, go private and get it done faster and better! I have a large mechanics tool box that will be housing most of my tools, you might want to design a wall unit to hang magnetic tool holders on, keeps em in sight and up out of the way. My work table is in the middle of the shop. I get use of all four sides plus i can trim a side of leather to what ever size I might need. My dyes are stored on an old bookshelf away from the unused leather, its a must to keep these two away from each other, shhtuff happens! all this is in a 16x20 shed that is heated by a wood stove in the winter and air conditioned in the summer. With the back half healed, I have a newish 6ft table to use as a work table, right noe its a 2ftx4ft table that where I do my magic. its hard to get things the way you would like them, but you adapt to your surroundings. you will have to work at keeping it orderly or it will just become a mess over and over again. keep it tidy as you go along and it wont be a place you shun!

[impulse]

Check out this topic- Coping with a small workshop

http://leatherworker.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=66403

[tardis86]

it took time to build up me catastrophe of a work bench, I now have a 6 foot tall x 5 ft long x 2ft deep shelving unit to hold my hardware. I also us a larger rack shelf to hold the leather, but it still a mess due to the tools. it was easier to make a mess than to clean up due to recent lower back surgery; the VA sucks for any medical help one might need, go private and get it done faster and better! I have a large mechanics tool box that will be housing most of my tools, you might want to design a wall unit to hang magnetic tool holders on, keeps em in sight and up out of the way. My work table is in the middle of the shop. I get use of all four sides plus i can trim a side of leather to what ever size I might need. My dyes are stored on an old bookshelf away from the unused leather, its a must to keep these two away from each other, shhtuff happens! all this is in a 16x20 shed that is heated by a wood stove in the winter and air conditioned in the summer. With the back half healed, I have a newish 6ft table to use as a work table, right noe its a 2ftx4ft table that where I do my magic. its hard to get things the way you would like them, but you adapt to your surroundings. you will have to work at keeping it orderly or it will just become a mess over and over again. keep it tidy as you go along and it wont be a place you shun!

Please post a pic of that