Official Luthiers Forum!

How do you people organize your shops in regards to all the very small and very specific things we accumulate. The things that are small but a little too big to fit in the drawers of organizing cabinets. The little scraps of wood and other material we fashion into the occasional caul. The bits of leather, cotton wool, velcro, etc. we will likely need again. Drill bits. I've got good a clean workspace, but I'm feeling a little surrounded by all the small things that have no other place and so they hang out on the periphery.

Shelving space, lots of boxes, and label all of it. Some of us have boxes sorted by size and species. Some by usage. It has to be your idea, and don't be afraid to re-arrange it. For me, the trick is to review often (open the box so I can remember it just like that at a later time). Be as anal about it as you want. I literally can spend hours sorting out boxes of fasteners and little parts with tweezers. I like it organized. Some people see the forest, but I see the trees. Good luck. Think in 3 dimensions, and not just up - but out.

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"Act your age, not your shoe size" - Prince

Lotsa bins of various sizes, sorted by purpose, and a tonne of AKRS bin...

Fishing tackle box for me.

It’s something I need to do better at myself. The parts of my shop that are well organized are categorized and sub-categorized. I have a drawer for files and related items; I have a different drawer for tape measures, small rulers, etc. the more you can separate and group like with like, or group by special tools for a specific job, the better off you are. Harbor Freight sells small part organizers for very cheap. I own like 8-9 of those, and I need more. Those definitely help with bolts, nuts, magnets, screws, washers, threaded inserts, etc. They help a lot. In a different part of my shop, I separate the tools that go with each power tool into separate lidded plastic bins on shelves, because there is no room for drawers. There are some tools that get used all the time, like chisels, screwdrivers, squares, pencils, etc., that live in tool racks on a wall. If I had more free wall space, I would hang more tools on the wall. That’s the ideal “random access” system; you get to see everything at once to decide what you need, and boom, there it is, right there. Good luck with the tidying up!

Much the same as the others have indicated, shelves, some with lidded boxes, smaller drawer sets (Ikea) magnetic tool racks, hanging from nails, multi tool holder rack. Exception to this is probably my re-fretting and set-up tools box, got everything I might need in one box (except the arbour press) to grab and go if needed. Oh and office organiser files for abrasives.

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The name catgut is confusing. There are two explanations for the mix up.

Catgut is an abbreviation of the word cattle gut. Gut strings are made from sheep or goat intestines, in the past even from horse, mule or donkey intestines.

Otherwise it could be from the word kitgut or kitstring. Kit meant fiddle, not kitten.

Have acquired quite a few plastic drawer bins from target. etc to put away like minded parts. Large tool boxes snap on craftsman , husky contain other necessary tools . Power tools go into mdf or plywood boxes with shelves and doors to keep the dust out. Larger wood parts go into large recycled cardboard boxes that are labelled . Like Chris I can spend time looking for the right part or tool . Organizing your stuff , tools and wood is a biggie. One either wastes a lot of time, or just keeps on going. Jigs are hung off a wall mounted 2 by 4 with recycled wooden dowels, Clutter dust and dirt can easily be overcome with a well organized dust collection system.

I like clear Tupperware type boxes so you can see what's in it without having to open. For things like pencils, needle files, small screwdrivers I just have a few plastic cups.

I keep most of my hand tools in drawers in mechanics tool chests. Each drawer holds a different type of tool-there's a drawer full of pliers/wrenches, a drawer full of screwdrivers, a drawer for specialty Luthier tools etc. It works well for me....

Like some others have already said - organizing by job has been the most efficient change for me. You will end up with some duplicate tools (I have half a dozen dewalt 611's), but it keeps things coordinated well for me. If I need a 3/16" bit for 3 different processes, I have 3 of them, not one set of bits that I pull from (and then have to put back).

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We've been in a reorganization of the shop since the 5th of January, and are just getting back to normal work flow. We store project parts and related items for each repair in small school pencil boxes or larger plastic shoe storage boxes (see far wall by fret buffer in first photo), as well as commonly used items like tapes, batteries, etc. in the same plastic storage boxes (printed labels versus hand-written).



Most specialty tools go into 3 x 26" lower/mid/upper roll-around tool boxes, organized by both task of type of tool.

The rims hanging in the first shot (north wall looking NE) will move to the back storage once the final work is done cleaning and reorganizing, and the added storage will handle the last of the templates and a few tablesaw jigs. There are a few additional lights to go up on this north side of the shop, and about 8 on the south side.

The second shot (north wall looking NW) shows the other end of the north slat wall, sharpening station, and the right side of the new 'T' bench. In the third shot (north end of west wall looking west), the repair island of the 'T' is shown, with finishing and small tools storage. The new bench organization gives us room for 2 full repair benches, a repair/finish/second student bench, a dedicated electronics bench, sharpening bench, and the main woodworking bench.





Shot 4 (west wall looking WSW) shows the left side of the T-bench, which is the new finish bench...still under construction, but will get shallow drawers as well as the continuation of the slat wall behind it. Under the #2 repair bench are 10 standard small parts holders in a plywood frame that hold bridge and end pins, neck hardware, etc.



Shot 5 shows the router storage cabinet near the table...small parts boxes do duty as small bearing holders and spare parts storage. Having this over the router table and where most of the trim routers are stored is handy. Not shown are the router collet wrench/table insert wrench storage on the outside of the cabinet door.



Shot 6 shows the on-tool and near-tool storage for the OSS...the new slat wall section we still need to install will go over the aluminum film/fiberglass batts will take the jigs and fixtures used with the OSS, as well as the wrenches seen hanging.



This is just a small portion of the storage strategies - every time I come over, I either end up wiring (goal is 60K lumens on each 13' x 37' side of the basement and another 20K in the back storage room) or improving storage.

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For the times they are a changin'

- Bob Dylan

For me it's more shelves and jars (with labels) attached to their underside by the lids for small parts. I think the longer you're in one place using the available space eventually sorts itself out.

Woodie,
Marie Kondo would be proud!

She would likely yell at me about the three floor-to-ceiling bookshelves in the back storage room...THROW THEM OUT! I don't think I can bring myself to toss a paperback, much less a hardcover.

Oh joy...just got a text that the last 10 fixtures/20 bulbs are in and ready to wire. At least they are on a 15A circuit.

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For the times they are a changin'

- Bob Dylan

You ever hear of used book stores or even yard sales?

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"Act your age, not your shoe size" - Prince

As long as the books still spark joy in you, maybe Marie Kondo would be cool with you keeping them. When they no longer spark joy, that’s when you thank the books for their service, and then kick their sorry arses to the curb.

And if not, she's maybe - what? - 5' and 95 pounds? Not even a fair fight. Worst case is that I might have to engage in a little distraction by siccing her on the neighborhood hoarders down the street...just their garage would likely make Ms. Kondo's head explode.

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For the times they are a changin'

- Bob Dylan

Here are some of my storage “solutions”.

It may look like chaos, but I have no trouble finding anything - it’s all at my fingertips…




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Personally I am working on utilizing more wall space. I have more of a building “room” than a shop, and have far less tools and doohickeys than a lot of folks probably do. And yes... it’s time to clean up:)



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The top shelf is full of bins that hold things that aren't used often. Everything else has a place.








And a specialty drawer to hold all my soldering equipment. Since I only build electrics, this gets used pretty frequently, so it's nice to have at-the-ready.




Wood storage and machines on opposite wall.

One handy trick learned from my father is to nail the lid of a jar to the ceiling, so you can screw the jar onto it.