Q: Bench Cleaning Time vs. Work??

[WBear2GCR]

Not exactly a poll, but I would like to hear from a wide range of folks on this.

Here's the question:

What is the usual condition of your bench, if someone randomly came over or if there was a "webcam" monitoring ?

Here are the choices:

10 - immaculate, professional lab standards
9 - kept clean, lots of open space, nil clutter, no parts about
8 - neat, sufficient open space, little clutter, few parts out
7 - neat, some open space, some clutter, some things out in "boxes/jars" etc...
6 - workable, enough open bench to work, stuff around, stuff under and above
5 - workable, could be neat given several hours of cleaning, has basic organization, but quite a lot of stuff is around... can work without cleaning first.
4 - harder to work, might take more than a few hours to straighten out... must clean before starting a new job,
3 - must clear main work area first, the rest of the space is not open, but there is organization underlying - might take an hour or more to clean space to work.
2 - main work bench hasn't been clean in a month or more, hard to work in the area, maybe hard to walk around too
1 - hard to find stuff, too many things out, benches full, almost impossible to walk, finding stuff can be impossible, working on the floor, a chair or in the kitchen.
0 - can't get into the bloody room.

Ok, please state the level or range of levels that your bench/shop/lab space goes through. Be honest please!!

Also, please - this is very important - of the time you spend in that space what % is spent working and what % is spent cleaning, putting away, and organizing??

Anything else, like how many hours per day/week/month you spend "benching", how may hours or minutes you typically spend at any one time, or other clarifying information would be good...

A good friend and I were chatting about this, and he told me that he spends X% of his time on the cleaning, putting away and organizing. Since that was somewhat different than my %, and I see his results vs. mine, I was curious to see what others were doing and what the results might be...

(i'll tell everyone what my deal is... not to worry...)

Thanks in advance!!

          _-_-WBear2GCR

[Bacon, WA3WDR]

I'd put my bench between 2 and 3.  I don't know how other people keep their workspace clear, mine is always overflowing, and another emergency is probably on its way, even as I type this.   

[Ed/KB1HYS]

my home bench and workshop are a 1 or 2 - less than 5% of the time spent cleaning, except for occasional cleaning binges when I've just had enough.

at work,  more time is spent in trying to keep things neat, like maybe 10-15%, or just under enough to be effective.

[WBear2GCR]

The focus of this isn't just the condition of your bench, but how much time do you spend cleaning the space vs. the time you spend working in the space??

Either a ratio or % is the idea... 

           _-_-

[w8khk]

My bench area is a 6, but my parts storage is more like a 2.  I spend over 80% of the time searching thru the parts and less than 20% building and restoring.  I know I have the part, but where did I put it?  If I spent 100% of the time sorting and organizing all the parts for a year or so, then I could work without delay, but I lack the space to organize efficiently.  Maybe if I move to a bigger house, the basement will be larger?

[N3DRB The Derb]

my ratio of work to cleanup is 75% to 25% and I rate my space a 8 when beginning a task and 7 when ending.

[W1RKW]

I think I fall into the 2 to 3 range as well. Though despite the mess I can find everything needed for the project at hand.  Frank/GFZ, You were over recently. How about a 2nd opinion on my mess...

Bob

[WQ9E]

Like many others I am in the 2 to 3 range on average and about every third project I spend an hour or so doing a complete cleanup.  I probably spend less than 10 percent of the time cleaning as I don't make too large a mess while repairing, just large enough to keep things disorganized.  My greatest difficulty is finishing one project before starting another.  Right now I am chasing down an intermittent in my Grundig Satellit 3400 so I have it apart but I picked up an SX-88 yesterday and I really want to get started on checking it out but I am going to force myself to finish the Grundig first. 

[WBear2GCR]

Fellas, fellas, what I want to know is how much time you spend cleaning up/resorting stuff vs. time working.

That's the baseline...

the rest of the info is good, but only of interest with the above input.

            _-_-bear

[k3zrf]

Alright let me try.

I am a '2'. Most time spent on actual work on the project at hand. Cleanup includes pushing most stuff back and cleaning the front most area of the bench. If I spend 30-40 hours on the bench working about 1 hour is cleanup. Why put most tools away when they will be used for the next session.

Over,

[W1VD]

Projects 90%, cleanup 10%.

[N0WEK]

2 to 3 also on the work area and I spend 75% working vs 25% cleaning and organizing. My storage area is a 2 at best.

I'm working toward a 5 on the shop space when I separate the electronics space/shack from the general shop space; that'll keep the sawdust and metal chips out of the electronics.

[Bacon, WA3WDR]

I'd say I spend about 5% cleaning and 95% working.

EDIT- Ya know, it's got to be more like 99.9% work and 0.1% cleaning.  I'm doing a lot of stuff, but not cleaning up much.

[KB2WIG]

what is this thing called "work"??

[k4kyv]

My shack is usually somewhere between 1 and 2.  Probably <5% cleaning time.  The only way I could achieve a 7 or 8 would be to spend more time sorting, cleaning and organising than working, probably at a 75%-25% ratio.

I don't think I could achieve 9 or 10 no matter what.

The problem I have with cleaning and organising is that every little item has a place where it belongs.  That means picking everything up, one piece at at time,  carrying it to its proper place, putting it away, and then going back to do the same with the next item.  This can become extremely tedious when it gets  down to small components and pieces of hardware.  Just clearing up my workbench alone would probably entail a total walking distance of over a half mile.  To do the entire shack would be more like several miles.

I usually know where things are supposed to be, but my problem is that when I go to get something, often it simply isn't there.  I have that same problem in the house, even though it would rate closer to a 7 or 8.

I can expend mental and physical effort towards organising and track-keeping, OR towards actually working on a project, but I find it extremely difficult to maintain a high level of effort on both fronts at the same time.

I can understand perfectly why surgeons have a team of technicians standing by to hand them the instruments they need, instantly upon demand.

[WD8BIL]

Projects....... 100% !

What is this "cleanup" thing yawl are talkin' about ?
Some kind of new tool or sumpthin???

[ka3zlr]

At this point i don't have a rating..I sold alot of it off for college funds..imagine that.....even the newer network analyzer that i busted my butt to get my hands on..I Really Miss that machine man...

It's alright though...starting in fresh again is very inspiring...really makes ya appreciate the little things..."And the People even more"...even if I'm an Old Crab About Safety... The messier the better...Kaamon...

[w4bfs]

brevity for Bear   2(95:5)

[steve_qix]

You've seen the pictures of the ClipLead 400.  My bench is spotless  Yeah, right

Mine's a 3 or 4  The bench is always completely cluttered, and I only clean a spot when I'm doing a new project.  Been that way for 35 years - worked so far! 

Neat people scare me 

Steve

[WBear2GCR]

... waiting for UJR to show up - I've seen his pix...

             

                        _-_-bear

   

[wa2dtw]

An unequivocal "1".
73
Steve WA2DTW

[WA1GFZ]

Bob,
You are about 7.
I could stop working today and have plenty to do for 50 years.
I've run out of places to put benches. I keep a clear path to the washing machine.
But I take a shower every day and brush my teeth.
FEAR not I have an empty basement at GFZ south

[Bacon, WA3WDR]

I changed my time breakdown to 99.9% work and 0.1% cleanup.  I pretty much never clean up, I just keep going, with parts bags all over the place, etc.  Well, they have to be somewhere, and I'm always using them.  This results in the roughly '2 to 3' condition of the bench.

[w1vtp]

You've seen the pictures of the ClipLead 400.  My bench is spotless  Yeah, right

Mine's a 3 or 4  The bench is always completely cluttered, and I only clean a spot when I'm doing a new project.  Been that way for 35 years - worked so far! 

Neat people scare me 

Steve

AMEN on that (my bolded emphasis).  I usually know where things are.  Sometimes it do take a little time tho'

Al

[k7yoo]

I just build/buy new benches and avoid cleanup. Those old metal typewriter stands work great for holding boatanchors in progress. They are never more than $5 at garage sales. The only problem is the wimpy casters occasionally go away while they are being rolled around with 300 lbs on them. Ya gotta be careful to avoid a "high side" rollover.

I know I have one of those on the bench somewhere........

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