Victim of procrastination

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TomW

TomW

Member
Joined
Mar 23, 2009
Messages
1,436
Location
Allen, Texas
I knew it was going to happen...just knew it...

Last night I went out to the shop to turn off the air conditioner :biggrin: and TV :biggrin: and go to bed (in the house)...I've got a nifty little pen in the works in the lathe. I just couldn't walk by....just couldn't...

Turned on the lathe, and reached for the CA....I saw it coming...

The Plano box, containing about 100 bushings, teetering on the edge of the bench...OPEN....

Lunge didn't help... box hit ground, bushings scattered.... I am aware of the sound of bushings rolling under the tables, table saw, router table, across the room....everywhere.

I'll never find them all....but it's my fault, cause I KNEW it was going to happen... I wonder if John will give a discount on a hundred?

I'm going to color code them by pen, a little Testors on the small end, and never, never, ever, never put the box down without closing it...never...yeah right...

Tom
 
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LOL, but not funny. Thats why I use one of the cheap HF boxes with individual small boxes inside. Each is labeled and I TRY to never have more that a couple open at a time... They are a real pain to sort & size when mixed.
 
I use film canisters. They're getting harder to find, but the photo counters at the drug stores are usually willing to give you what they have.
 
I use small medicine containers. I put the bushings in the container and print out a label on the computer. I put the bushing name, company where I got it, and the pen it is for. I put all the small medicine containers in a plastic box then they are all in one place and easy to get to. Paul
 
I bought a large container made for hardware (screws and nails and whatnot) like this one http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=productDetail&productId=124553-941-DSB-39&lpage=none and I have all my bushings, spare tubes, and other various things like pickguards and strips of sheet aluminum in there. I labeled the front so I can get what I need right away, and the whole unit is screwed to my wall so I'll never knock it over!! I have at least 4 of these units I use for other hardware like screws and bolts and I love them b/c you can take just one drawer out and bring it with you somewhere, but yet everything's highly organized.
 
Russianwolf said:
I use ziplock bags and a sharpie. If I loose the bag, I grab another from the last kit I put together.
Click to expand...

Same here
Just put them into a plastic sorting tray or into the plastic sorting tray that has all the parts for the same kit.
7mm has its own tray
Sierra has its own tray
Jr Gents will have its own tray
etc..
 
Being a real rookie here I only have 7mm stuff!!! But Im sure Ill have a story about a mixup soon enough I can just feel it...LOL
 
Tom -- one of the heavy duty magnets on a long stick (they sell such devices too -- either with a long fixed handle of with a telescoping handle) does magic for finding small steel pieces in strange places where you cannot reach. (you need no ask why I am so familiar with the technique).

Calipers and a bushings table are the next requirements --

I use shower rings (steel ones from WalMart or Fred Meyers) to keep sets together so they tumble is sets - small labels on the rings keeps the guessing down to a minimum.

Of course, if you only use one kind of pen, you never have that problem......
 
I have one almost that good. When I first started out I only turned slimelines so I just put my bushings in the cabinet drawer. And now I do the same, but am turning several different pens, and some of my bushings are wore out, so when I make a pen I use calipers to find my bushings ,guess I have the procrastination bug too.
but there is hope I have one container ( snuff can)that has new bushings in it and it is labeled. and If I can get another (round to-it) you see I have one, and it is wore out, maybe I will make the time to go through all my bushings, and put in snuff cans with labels.
 
KenV said:
Tom -- one of the heavy duty magnets on a long stick (they sell such devices too -- either with a long fixed handle of with a telescoping handle) does magic for finding small steel pieces in strange places where you cannot reach. (you need no ask why I am so familiar with the technique).
Click to expand...

Yeah, My wife asked me this morning why I only spilled the delrin ones. I had already picked up the steel ones (that I could see) with rare earth magnet and steel yardstick.

Tom
 
I'm well organized. I just put everything on the table saw..


.. everything.

labels are for wimps. organize, schmorganize. I'll figure it out when I need it..

Please allow 6-8 weeks for delivery..
 
While I've never dumped the contents of the tackle box I started with, I was having trouble keeping bushing sorted out and in a place I can always find them. I was finally getting around to making a rack for all my drill bits and figured it would be just as easy to add bushings to the rack. This is what I came up with and I can tell you that now that I've used it for a while, it was one of the best things I've done for organizing my shop.

I also added my Barrel Trimmer bits to the rack. I've left plenty of room for the barrel trimmer bits as I am in the process of making the correct size bits for all the pens I make.

I put a pull-out "drawer" in the bottom where I store all the pen assembly direction sheets in clear plastic page holders on a three-ring binder.

Jim Smith


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I just throw mine in a drawer and hunt for what I need when I need it. I keep planning to get organized so I don't spend more time hunting what I need than actually working on something. My biggest problem is my habit of never doing today what you can put off until tomorrow.
 
Most people don't learn from others mistakes, but I am proud to say I have.... I keep mine one of those divided boxes sold by CSUSA... after reading several threads along this line, I make certain that I take the bushings out and close the box immediately.... when I put them back, I make certain they go in the same slot and close the box immediately.... I drop enough stuff on the floor and into the pile of saw dust under the lathe that I take extra care with the bushings....
 
Simplest solution for me was to put each set on individual mandrels.

One Plano plastic box for each pen type made.

One mandrel in box with bushings mounted. (Figured this method out after watching dude at Woodcraft demonstrate by accident what can happen whenever a small box with individual compartments full of bushings is dropped from the workbench. :eek: I immediately went and got all the Plano boxes they had on the shelves.)

Maybe costly to have 8 or so mandrels around, but at least I always have a new one just in case one gets bent...
 
Well I'm proud to say, my bushings (the ones that I have found so far) are now color coded.

When I was doing the painting, I looked up and noticed another Plano box with about 200 brass tubes for about 8 different pen types....yep you guessed it, open on the workbench....

Now strongly considering a separate box for each pen type (tubes, bushings, misc loose parts, etc...

Tom
 
I keep my bushings in the pen kit zip lock bags, the pen name is already printed for me. Now I just have to make myself throw away the old cigar pen bushings. I make a lot of cigar pens and have several sets of no-longer-good bushings.
 
Jim Smith said:
While I've never dumped the contents of the tackle box I started with, I was having trouble keeping bushing sorted out and in a place I can always find them. I was finally getting around to making a rack for all my drill bits and figured it would be just as easy to add bushings to the rack. This is what I came up with and I can tell you that now that I've used it for a while, it was one of the best things I've done for organizing my shop.

I also added my Barrel Trimmer bits to the rack. I've left plenty of room for the barrel trimmer bits as I am in the process of making the correct size bits for all the pens I make.

I put a pull-out "drawer" in the bottom where I store all the pen assembly direction sheets in clear plastic page holders on a three-ring binder.

Jim Smith


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Click to expand...
Enough to make me puke!!!!:eek::wink:
 
Pencil boxes

Back before school started back Wal-mark had Pencil Boxes on sale for 62 cents each. I bought 20. They are about 4 by 8 and 2 inches deep. I labeled each one with a different pen name and store every thing associated with that pen in that box. It will holds pen kits, bushings, drill bits extra tubings and everythingI feel needs to be in that box.
 
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