Do you clean the workshop up every day?

[Peter Simpson 1Participant @petersimpson1]

I'm terrible for not cleaning up at the end of the day. I usually have to give the workshop a good clean up after I have finished a particular phase of a project. Over the last few weeks I have been making the Springs, buckles and hangers for my tender. The workshop looked like a bomb site this afternoon. Job stopped and clean up started.

[Peter Simpson 1Participant @petersimpson1]

[AJWParticipant @ajw]

It's so nice to walk into a clean and tidy workshop – can't remember the last time!

Alan

[Brian HParticipant @brianh50089]

I only clean mine when I can no longer find things or I'm getting a visit from a fellow model engineer!

Brian

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

generally put everything away and vacuum on a Sunday afternoon but may have the odd clean up during the week if I've been able to spend a bit more time in there.

[not done it yetParticipant @notdoneityet]

Check out this thread. May be more, previously.

**LINK**

And no, I don’t. Jobs are often left part-finished. Machines get cleaned down occasionally, but not every day.

[Peter G. ShawParticipant @peterg-shaw75338]

It all depends. If a particular job is to be continued the following day, then maybe not, but on the otherhand, changing a lathe tool will trigger an immediate cleanup to prevent swarf getting in the tool slot. On the milling machine, little though I use it, a cleanup is almost mandatory after any milling operation, if only to see what on earth I've done! And, of course, to clean the table slots in order to remove/replace the T nuts etc.

It helps in my case that the shop cleaner, a Vax Powa 4000 or equivalent, is permanently plugged in adjacent to the lathe with a short nozzle permantly attached to the hose thus it is only a moments work to bend down, switch it on, pick up the nozzle which is usually jammed between the handle and the body, and clean away.

I am actually quite a bit lazier when it comes to leaving tools scattered about. Usually what happens here is that it gets to the state when I have got to tidy up & put away in order to be able to find something!

Also, if we are going to be away for a few days, then I will have a clean up and tidy up before we go.

Peter G. Shaw

[JAParticipant @ja]

I try to clean the workshop every Easter but it is not high on my list of priorities.

I do try to put things back where they belong. At this I am successful since after searching for something for some time I usually find it where it belongs.

JA

[Colin HeseltineParticipant @colinheseltine48622]

As often as can, quite often between bits of jobs. Primarily because of having cats who like to wander round the garage and don’t want them to end up with swarf stuck in their paws.

Colin

[Nick Clarke 3Participant @nickclarke3]

I clean the workshop after finishing a piece of work, but at my rate of working that is three years after last muckspreading, ie not often!

[HopperParticipant @hopper]

End of every session for me. Start fresh next time around that way. I'm the same in the kitchen too. It was drilled into me as a 16 year old apprentice and became a lifelong habit I guess. Even when i went on to work in offices my clear desk top was the subject of mirth among colleagues who subscribed to the geniuses messy desk theory — and generally got less work done.

Edited By Hopper on 21/08/2020 22:31:12

[Dave Smith 14Participant @davesmith14]

Like Peter I have an old Henry permanently plugged in between the mill and lathe. Mill gets hoovered between ops or cuts depending on the swarf thrown up. Lathe gets cleaned as and when required, probably after each job. The workshop when I get fed up with it looking a mess.

Dave

[I.M. OUTAHEREParticipant @i-m-outahere]

I usually split up a project into 1-2 day operations and have a cleanup and reset after each operation, one thing i hate is walking on swarf or welding slag so once it gets to my acceptable limit i will stop and vacuum it up.

I watch a YouTube channel where this guy will be setting something up on his mill , he will go to the tool drawers and get a tool then go to the machine and use it then go and put it back in the tool drawers then go back to the machine and and look at what he is doing and say ok now i need x size end mill so it’s off to the tool drawers again !He spends most of his time walking around the workshop but his workshop is immaculate 🤣

[Grenville HuntParticipant @grenvillehunt47315]

I am with AJW on that one, I wipe my feet on the way out if I can find the mat!

Gren

[Paul LousickParticipant @paullousick59116]

I have a good clean up every now and again but more important to me is to finish what I am making. My man cave is a workshop, not a show room. Also do a clean when I have trouble finding what I'm looking for. (like the floor)

Paul.

[Nigel Graham 2Participant @nigelgraham2]

I do try, especially after completing a particular project or major part thereof – such as today having finished adding a brace of phases to the milling-machine.

I don't like walking on swarf so do sweep the floor fairly often, but the real problem is the talus cones that develop of gash bits of metal the Materials Store, machine parts, pieces of timber, the rotary-shear I could not find last week, cans of paint, things that might come in handy….

The clearer upper slopes tend to collect anything that can be hung up on anything – lifting-slings, bits of rope, hacksaws….

… and spiders.

Daddy-Long-Legs Spiders – those gangly things with great long hair-thin legs and anorexic bodies, and which like living in our homes where they spin messy webs that tickle your face when you explore a high shelf. I accidentally killed one by not noticing it had set up camp in the microwave! This introduced species has gone down in my estimation as its prey can include house-spiders, the latter being those big handsome spider-shaped spiders (Tegenaria sp.) that love to hide behind the furniture until they have detected a visiting arachnophobe, then go marching around the living-room floor. Apparently it's Teggi who should be in the workshop or shed – houses cosy to us are a bit uncomfortable for his family.

[Ady1Participant @ady1]

Everything is cleaned and polished to a high standard

…every time I do a youtube video

…last one was about 10 years ago

[Iain DownsParticipant @iaindowns78295]

I clean the mill (and floor) fairly often as it collects a lot of swarf. Similarly the lathe and table if there's a lot of swarf. But this is usually at the start of a session. After a session, I'm either elated that something has gone right (well occasionally) in which case who wants to clear up? Or depressed because I've measure several times and still cut wrong. In which case I just want to go and sulk.

One of the triggers is when it's uncomfortable walking on the floor because of the swarf. This has been a much bigger problem since my mill went from 20 kG of fierceness to 240kG!

Iain

[John MCParticipant @johnmc39344]

Posted by Paul Lousick on 21/08/2020 23:40:01:

I have a good clean up every now and again but more important to me is to finish what I am making. My man cave is a workshop, not a show room. Also do a clean when I have trouble finding what I'm looking for. (like the floor)

Paul.

Same here, life's too short! I like to put equipment away, not so much to be tidy but able to find it for next time! I leave machines set up as they were, next job often requires a similar setup. If, for instance, a vice has been on the mill table for a few weeks and I remove it, there will be a stain on the table where the vice was fitted. So what? Doesn't affect the machine in anyway. Neither does it bit of swarf lying around.

I was recently invited in to a workshop to look at the guys latest project. What stood out was how tidy and clean the workshop was, immaculate wouldn't be an understatement. Each machine stripped of its equipment after every job and cleaned after every operation, even the lathe chucks are removed. Each to his own I suppose. I did notice a couple of sight glasses indicating low oil levels. I pointed this out and he said he didn't fill them up because oil would leak out and make the machine look messy. I will reciprocate his kind invitation soon, he's not going to like the state of my workshop!

Reminds me of the car "enthusiast" who washes, polishes and vacuums the car weekly but rarely, if ever, does the important things, oil level, tyre pressures etc.

As an apprentice we were told to keep the machines clean. But when we moved in to the real world cleaning a machine became very much less frequent. Turning out the work, and keeping the machinery in good order were far more important.

John

[Mick B1Participant @mickb1]

Every so often I look around me, and am overcome by disgust. That's when I do it.

Trouble is, when I come back in to a clean(ish) workspace with tools tidied away properly(ish), there's a definite reluctance to mess it up again by doing stuff…

[clogsParticipant @clogs]

at least once per year or if a really grumpy mood….

off to the workshop then empty it…..totally, except the racking….

floor and hardstanding outside just about level and everthing is on a frame so can be moved with a pallet truck….

even the Bridgeport….

find the stuff u lost and evict a few spiders….only joking….

end up with a box of odds n ends that gets sorted when it overflows….hahaha….

when I worked on my own I used to mop the floors……nuts, but it felt good…..

it'll happen again when I get my new place…..

[larry phelan 1Participant @larryphelan1]

I did clean my workshop once. Ah yes, I remember it well, I were only a lad then !

Now I just about clean myself !

Workshops are not showrooms, clean the kip when you cannot find what you need and just get on with the job.

Life is too short for Housecleaning.

[BazParticipant @baz89810]

Every evening machines get brushed down and benches tidied, floor hoovered at least once a week, depends on amount of mess made, everything returned to it’s correct place. Most probably comes from a lifetime working in aerospace and medical equipment where everything has to be clean and tidy, a tidy bench is a tidy mind is something that was drummed into me at about 18 years old.

[E ClarkParticipant @eclark]

Not the whole workshop but at the end of each session I thoroughly clean any machine that have been used. In addition I put away any hand tools and measuring equipment.

Eric

[Speedy Builder5Participant @speedybuilder5]

Clean the floor?? I'm lucky if I can see the floor between all the jobs lined up for repair, build etc. The spiders have a wow of a time swinging from the rafters, the lathe is abused with swarf and sawdust from wood work projects and the whole workshop has a good clean out once in a while – normally when the gremlins have stolen a small screw or something. I see many of us on this forum treat the workshop like an operating theatre, matching original machine paint etc etc – I just don't have time for that. My workshop, small as it is, is a wonder to behold to all who visit it, I fix electrical, mechanical, wood stuff etc etc and sometimes have time to get on with my own projects.

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