Garage organization madness

[mklotz]

Another oft-overlooked feature is accessibility. Keeping bolts in little, carefully labeled but opaque pill boxes that must be inspected at length to find the type needed is acceptable if one only needs bolts infrequently. OTOH, keeping screwdrivers in neat little fur-lined cutouts in an ankle-height drawer smacks of insanity.

Protection is another concern. Machinists don't hang their micrometers on pegboard hooks over the workbench for very good reasons. Rust, even in the semi-desert Los Angeles area, is a constant threat as is air one can taste. Earthquakes here and floods in places where hurricanes lurk are other elements one must plan for with larger tools.

I've long contended that a soupçon of OCD is essential to safe and productive work in a home shop. Shops with tiny paths through acres of clutter to reach workbenches piled high with tools and parts from the last half dozen jobs are completely unacceptable for me. The amount of time lost in such an environment, not to mention the risk of injury, is just too high.

No you don't have to be a Mr. Monk and arrange your screwdrivers by size with equal sizes arranged alphabetically by handle color but leaving them on the table or floor next to whatever they last touched isn't acceptable either.