Is a Messy Shop Costing You Money?

[bobbin]

Jojo, just a thought for the compressor hose.  Could you run it overhead?  Say, use one of the inexpensive ones for the jump to the ceiling and the run overhead and then get one of the really nice red rubber ones (the kind that remain flexible and coil easily) for the drop to your stapler?  My brother helped me pipe the air from my compressor and it too, runs along the ceiling with 3 or 4 quick connect couplings.  My Juki plugs into one of them and I have options for plugging in my stapler.  Huge help! hoses are pain when they're on the floor.  I know exactly what you mean!

One of the smartest things I did was invest in track for the ceiling (hospital exam room track) and the little cars that roll along inside it (they hold 50 lbs. each).  I have an extension cord strung along it and my gravity feed iron and the water reservoir are suspended over the padded tables.  I can press large drapery panels with relative ease as the water jug and iron can move the entire length of the table (16+').  Neither the electrical cords or the water hose are ever in my way.  If I want to cut acrylics with my hot knife I use the same table (padding removed) and can cut without worrying about the cord. 

[jojo]

Bobbin....brilliant!!! Thank you! I will do this tomorrow.

[bobbin]

Tomorrow I will try to dig up the receipt for the track.  I am pretty sure I still have it and that will give you a lead on obtaining some track. 

[Mojo]

In regards to your air hose reel issues. I think this may do the trick for you Elsie.

I have one in the basement of my coach as well as one in my woodshop. I despise rolling up extension cords, hoses, etc and hate them laying on the floor. They drive me out of my mind. So I use these.

I also bought an extension cord on an automated reel and mounted that in the basement of my bus next to the compressor. If you watch Harbor Freight you will find them running sales on these things quite often.

Here is the air hose reel: http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_47578_47578?cm_ven=natural&cm_cat=netconcepts&cm_pla=Yahoo&cm_ite=retractable%2Bair%2Bhose%2Breel

And here is the extension cord reel: http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200237924_200237924

Chris

[sofadoc]

The hose reel idea didn't really work out that well for me. Since I have a lot of tacks and staples on the floor, I was constantly getting leaks in the hose.
The rewind mechanism on the reel requires a very soft flexible hose.....easier to damage. I replaced it with a tougher (stiffer) hose. Now the rewind mech doesn't work.
I used to have an overhead coil hose at my old location. I was constantly kinking the coils by stretching it around the extremities of furniture. I had to repair the hoses 2-3 times a week.
I'm not sure if my drop ceiling would support any type of sliding track.
So for now, I'm back to the drawing board with the air hose half-assed rolled up on the floor.

[bobbin]

I'm wandering off topic a bit but what the hell?  :)  Are those curly hoses of any convenience when you're tapping into compressed air from above?

I see them in a lot of videos from manufacturing settings but sometimes the practical reality of our own shops makes a lot of real "production" stuff inconvenient. 

[sofadoc]

I think the overhead coil hoses are fine IF you're working on small items confined to a small area. But if you're stretching them from "pillar to post", they can be a nuisance.

[byhammerandhand]

$30 at Harbor Freight   http://www.harborfreight.com/22-inch-magnetic-floor-sweeper-with-release-98399.html

The hose reel idea didn't really work out that well for me. Since I have a lot of tacks and staples on the floor, I was constantly getting leaks in the hose.

[sofadoc]

Hammer: I have one of those. But tacks and staples get stuck in the carpet. I have a heavily padded carpeted work area because of my foot problems. So even though I use the magnet often, there are still a lot of loose tacks and staples to damage hoses.
I know, I'm being obnoxious ;D I find something wrong with all these great solutions.

[scarab29]

Hmmmm , reading this as I am in the shop on a saturday morning with the sole purpose of CLEANING !!!!! :P

[Mojo]

I use the curly hose in my shop. I like it. But I do not expand it much. I plug it into an air hose.
I will say the coil hose does sometimes get to be a pain in the butt as it gets in the way.

I love my automated reel and wouldn't be without it. But I have clean floors that are not littered with tacks and staples. :) Sounds like I need to pay Dennis a visit and clean up his shop for him. :)

Chris

[bobbin]

I was thinking that the Sofadoc needs to get rid of the carpeting and replace it with a floorcloth!  Over a nice pad it would be really plush... easy to clean, great looking, and soft underfoot. 

;)

[JuneC]

I don't like the curly hose I have at all.  I've switched back to the standard hose that I initially bought with the compressor.  I found that I was fighting those curls constantly.  It adds arm fatigue and inhibits getting staples into odd spots that require crazy angles of the stapler.  Maybe it would have been different if the air supply was above the work table rather than to the side.

As for the messy shop, I clean up after every job and many times every day even if the job isn't finished.  It makes going to work in the morning much more enjoyable. 

June

[Mojo]

I was thinking that the Sofadoc needs to get rid of the carpeting and replace it with a floorcloth!  Over a nice pad it would be really plush... easy to clean, great looking, and soft underfoot. 

;)

Speaking of which. I am off and headed to Sam's shortly. I want to buy some rubber mats to put down near the cutting table. I have painted floors and the cement is killing my feet. I also wear my moose skin slippers in the shop so they have no padding at all making it even harder on my feet.

I would love to wear some good ortho shoes but I have lost so much feeling in my feet from 13 years of chemo that I cannot feel the treadle very well. The slippers give my feet a better feel and allows me better control of the machine.

I am hoping these rubber foamed mats will add some comfort to my feet, legs and knees. Dang cement is hard on old feet and joints.

Chris

[sofadoc]

Dang cement is hard on old feet and joints.

You're preachin' to the choir. My old building had a wood floor that creaked beneath your feet when you walked across it. Never had any foot pain.
When I relocated in '97, I moved to a building with an absolutely unforgiving cement floor. Within a month, I was visiting foot doctors. Custom orthotics have helped. But not a cure.
However, the custom orthics did clear up any and all knee, and back problems. If I had a good set of wheels, I'd feel like a 20 year old.

Back to the floor cloth idea, I have to drag couches around the shop by myself. How well would a floor cloth hold up to that?