Invitation to a pictorial tour of my New Shop!

Wonderful shop tour. Thank you! (Looks more like a hospital for just how clean and white it is!)

Thanks Wayne. Yep, white would not have been my first color choice for a machine shop. But, this is the color they chose before I moved in. Who am I to disagree (especially if it will cost me a bunch of time and money!). I really wanted to get pictures taken before it turned to grunge grey.

Ed Bennett snipped-for-privacy@ts-aligner.com

Hey Ed,

Yep!! What Wayne said. Only trouble with showing stuff like that to me is that there now is no way I'd ever show my shops to you guys!!

Take care.

Brian Lawson, Bothwell, Ontario

Took the words right out of my mouth.

Ed,

The shop I work in is probably the dirtiest shop I've ever seen. We do a ton of grinding, stoning and sanding (metal) and the place is covered with dust.

It used to be a darker green, but last year it was repainted (at huge expense) white. The difference is exceptional. It's a place that looks like you want to come to work every day. Working in a dark shop is a real downer and it's been my experience that a bright shop is a happy shop.

Nice tour, also. It's neat to see how plants operate, where the magic happens.

Regards,

Robin

OK, now that you have made me drool all over the keyboard, who do you use for a janitorial service? :-) I can accept no oil stains on anything but no black stain on the wall behind an unshielded grinder/buffing stand?

He did mention that it's the NEW shop. I suspect they just haven't buffed much yet. Me, I'd get some more white paint on the floor, but that's me. Made a huge difference (lighter, brighter, and a better mood) in my shop .vs. the unpainted concrete. I don't strive to keep it spotless and white, but it's at least starting from there, and I picked paint that's easy to recoat, rather than super-expensive super-paint, so I can easily fix any spots/stains that somehow manage to offend my sensibilities. Whenever I finally get the rest of the interior finished, it will be white all around except for some minor bits of wood and color to relieve the monotony.

If I ever actually get to repainting my machines (which seems to be "right after I win the lottery, and I don't buy tickets") they'll probably end up white with red pinstripes.

Thanks Robin. The barn was pretty dark too and it gradually became a pit. Nobody cleaned up their messes. Nobody put away tools. Even I dreaded to spend long hours working in there. Too much time was wasted trying to find something, or clearing a space so that another space could be cleared so that work could be done. There was stuff piled on top of stuff on top of stuff! When we moved, I found tools which hadn't been seen since the last millennium! I think "battleship gray" is OK but white really reflects the light and makes it harder to be messy and disorganized. We'll see how it goes. So far I'm doing my best to keep it nice (in spite of the complaints!).

Ed

Hi Glenn, there are oil stains on the floor! Basically, I've only been in here for a month. I'm sure by this time next year there will be plenty of stuff clinging to the walls! Like I said, I wanted to get pictures taken before it all turned to grunge gray.

Thanks, Ed.

Brian Lawson wrote: ... Only trouble with showing stuff like that to

Remember, Ed's shop is a *business*. Different rules apply, one is not allowed to compare a business shop with a hobby one. In fact, a business shop should not even be called a "shop". Just a "business". Calling it a shop just promotes feelings of inadequacy and guilt when seen by true shop owners: HSM'ers.

Ed: in your description of your climate-controlled Metrology Lab, you say that you measure to millionths. But you're making a *woodworking* tool! Surely, this is overkill (?). Of course, woodworkers *are* nuts and I'm sure that there is great appeal in a tool that is so precise.

Bob