Dean Yoder made me think of this thread. His shop is soooo neat and mine soooo messy. So to Dean I say: Can I borrow Ben for a day or two (to get my shop in shape)? The pallet rack on the right is my T parts department and up there, next to the door, a work bench and a tool box; on the left is where most of the big tools are....band saw, grinder, 2 wood lathes, drill press, 2 hand cranked coil testers, another tool box, Saw Stop, radial arm saw, planner, jointer, heavy sewing machine, belt sander, central vac and metal lathe. The line from the ceiling is air. The bead blaster cabinet, valve grinder, fork lift, battery charger are behind us. Right now I'm nursing a bum knee so I can't use any of it. The T is a 25 Fordor that I bought from a gent named Johnson, Naperville, Ill., about 20 years ago.

Hal! you shop is so clean i would never get anything done.charley

Hal, Ill have to get pics tomorrow, but if you call that shop messy, Just wait till you get a look at mine .

Here's my shop, it's gotten real crowded lately. Many projects! PK

Most days I can't even find my lathe. This is my garage on a good day!

The above picture of Val's, especially to the right of the T is about how my whole garage looks right now. On a neat day it may look about what Pat's second picture with the tractor and modern pickup in it. I work on so much for other people, and try to keep time with the wife, that it is hard to keep it clean. Then there are the road jobs that I do too and not put things back right away.

A friend of mine could never understand how I couldn't keep it clean. Then he came to the realization that if your working on something, you can simply stop at anytime then go back inside. Then come out and start something else. That is about how it goes here.

val! what is the car in your shop?????????i get so tired of looking at fords. charley

The tools in Pat Kelly's shop make me drool. My problem with them though is knowing how to use them. I enjoy these pictures! Steve, you'er next.

charley
I think it might be a franklin

Seeing those lathes, mills, and other equipment makes me jealous. I think I have all of you beat for clutter, though.

My shop is always a mess.

the center bay of our families shop taken up by our 1906 Holsman which is getting the rebuilt put back in. Left side right side

In our other building is my favorite room, our machine shop with our Martin lathe and Pratt and Whitney horizontal mill

Should be putting the rebuilt engine in the 1906 Holsman. Stupid iPhone!

Not my shed, but it's where I work on the T's. My Dad was definitely not a cleaner!

Before


After

Minus the cluttered tool box (I keep mine on the neat side) the rest of my garage looks like Steve's 80% of the time

I'll have to take pics later today but at the moment I work on my T in my old man's garage. Which looks like a jungle right now because all of my mom's plants are in there for the winter, hiding from the cold.

Seth that sounds like a plan "Honey, If you let me heat the garage you would be able to keep your plants in there in the winter" Hummm I like it!

Dave! you messed it all up !!! charley

The car to the left in my garage is a 1908 Autocar and the car to the left of that is my 1910 Chalmers-Detroit. My '12 T is to the left of them. Here is a picture of them out in the sun during one of many futile attempts to organize my garage.

I figure a messy shop is like a cluttered desk -- it's where real work gets done.



My Coupelet chassis is drivable with the temporary seat. Waiting on the body. The modern engine in the foreground is a '71 Triumph Spitfire on which I'm doing a frame-up restoration. (I didn't have any Model T work at the time he asked. )



The heart of the matter:

I didn't upload this one earlier.

Here is my shop. It gets a little cold in the winter.

Note that in Mike Walker's shop even the flag is period correct.

Here is some of my junk.

The corn sheller was done for my oldest son,just last week.

My man cave

It's 30 x 40 and it houses my 1913 Touring which can be seen in the back, my 1915 Touring, a 1970 Chevy C-10 half-ton truck, and a 2011 Masters-Bilt Late model Dirt car. I had a 67 camaro RS in there but it has since been sold. Also in there (inside the small green room build of Lowes Insulation) is a small Optics Polishing lab complete with two grinder/polishers and an Interferometer. Most days it's pretty tight in my shop but it serves me well!

dave's dad's is the only one that compares to mine.all the other ones are to pretty .charley

Good eye, Steve -- I was wondering who would notice the 48-star flag.

BTW, I've been in Uncle Jack's shop, and he definitely has me beat for clutter. Also for the sheer amount of STUFF.

Here is my shop when I was having fun....

Here is my shop when I'm not having so much fun...this 34ft motorhome is like sanding and painting two billboards.

Mike,one man's clutter is an other's Gold.It is a different organizational style..

I know, Uncle Jack; I was complimenting you.

Look at my profile picture....

My shop is a 20 X 30 foot building with a 10 foot side shed/machine shop. Then there is another small shed close that houses the 29 Model A PK daily driver old style Hot Rod. The 33 Plymouth coupe and the 1908 Reliable Dayton High Wheeler (buggy looking body and frame in photos)are the other projects after the speedster project..

A few years back I re[wired, insulated and added heat to my one car garage. It is the hobby shop that carries me through a Michigan winter. I keep it warm all winter, as it is small, I consider it a "Life Saver".

Man I see all these big sweet lathes and drill presses and all kinds of stuff and not a sliver of metal shaving to be found ANYwhere.

I have more metal shavings that you guys and I've got a hacksaw and a grinder. I need to step up my clean up game.

My garage in 2011

I need to get to work on cleaning out our barn. Because Grandpa has a nice shop at his house, we don't really have a dedicated workspace at Dad's house. Since I'm not living in a place with my own shed or garage, I'm claiming the barn. It would be handy to have at least one car's space to work on things.

Another rule of Model T life: No matter how much space you have, you need more.

Seth, The key words here are "shop vac" As soon as you are done machining, use the shop vac. No exceptions. Remember to not use compressed air on machine tools. It only blows the fine shavings into the "ways" and causes premature wear on the tools. Always vacuumn a machine tool.

Here's my shop



O.K., that's a lie... I just had to compete with you guys that have really great places to work on your cars. My shop is in the basement of my house. Really hard to get cars down the stairs. (Even harder to get them back up.)

Robert, I sure like your lathe!!! I have several lathes, a Jet 13 x 40 I bought new about 20 years ago, a new Chinese POS from Little Machine Shop which actually isn't bad for the money it cost and a couple little Unimats. I just sold an old Logan that I just didn't have much use or room for but was a very nice old lathe. My Jet has never been that clean since I bought it.

I admire people that can keep a shop clean, mine is always a mess. There are just no more hours in my days, I don't have time to clean up the lathe every time I use it. If I did I'd never get anything done. The little Chinese one is two or three years old probably has easily a thousand hours on it, I think I've cleaned it up three or four times. I only turn brass on it and I've dumped the catch pan in a bucket more than once and probably have easily 50 lbs of scrap brass in the bucket plus what I've thrown away. I was on it for about three hours yesterday making Stromberg fittings and am headed for the shop in about two minutes, will probably spend another three or four hours today. Maybe I'll take a picture of it but I'd be embarrassed to show the rest of my shop. =)

Seth, I think you can tell who's retired! Not me!

For the machine tools crowd, this 1925 Dalton Combination Machine is an amazing machine. It is a knee mill, horizontal mill, drill press and lathe in one machine. The mill table has a power feed. PK

After looking at this thread, with all these delicious shops, I want it to be known that I am up for adoption!!

Here is our shop. It is built behind our garage. It is the right size for working on a T. It was small when I had our 1958 Thunderbird in here. The third and fourth shots are of our garage. Everything is covered up, except the tractor until spring. We always hope for an early and dry spring.

Pat, That combination machine is a beauty. I love the old antique machines. From a make a living with them point of view, there are a lot better choices out there. But from my retired I do not care how long it takes to get it done point of view. The old machines are the most fun. I would love to have a combination machine like yours to play with

i have to agree with Donnie. i have a lathe and a mill, but that thing is cool !!

Thanks Donnie. They are quite rare, the Dalton registry only lists six. They were made for use on ships to save space. In my shop picture up above, the lathe on the right is a 1928 South Bend with a 8' bed and a two speed shift on the fly belt drive. Smooth a silk to operate. PK

O.K., here it is:

Had to show this thread to my bride!! Now she knows I am not the only nut with my shop mess. It keeps the mind sharper.
I have some thirty five file drawers. The old heavy duty ones are great for storing parts and tools to put your hand on with labeled drawers and cheap at sales.

Last fall I finally came around to my friends obsessive compulsive way of thinking and emptied my shop. Then the two of us spent a couple days hanging tools and building shelves. I took my cherry picker engine hoist, 2 1/2 ton air jack, my mig welder, power hacksaw, shop press and engine stand and rolled them into storage. I built a workbench and mounted my heavy vice on it, and added 6 new shop lights. I built shelves and sorted all the odds and ends out into equal size grocery boxes. I took my Dalton lathe over to a friends shop that had room for it. I dedicated one side of the shop to the corvette, skid loader and riding mower. The empty stall is used for my truck unless I have work to do. Then I back my truck out and use the stall for as long as necessary to get the job done. I am so impressed with how nice it is to know where my tools are when I need them instead of having them buried in a tool box or under several layers of crap. I still have a few more things to do and I have a dream of building a 16X20 insulated and temperature controlled addition onto the back of the garage. About the only thing I wish I had that might come with the addition is a 4 post lift on wheels that can be rolled in and out as needed. Oh, I almost forgot, I also need a creeper that won't fold up when I put my fat arse on it. I couldn't believe I even went through one of the fancy dog one creepers as fast as I did.

Paul, Ditto.

I am enjoying all of these pictures. I may have to move this October and I don't have a clue where I will put all the stuff. May have to have a large "sell off". I hope to use a bunch of it on a Speedster.

Great pictures! Many have evidently figured out that if you don't count your wife's shoes she will not count your tools.

Lol Jerry, mine doesn't balk at T parts and tools as long as I don't cough and choke when she wants a $300 purse or a $750 robot that vacuums the floor all by itself.

Just one of half a dozen benches in mine, these are the two small lathes.

This is my room for the old cars, Nino

Currently under construction

so many clean shops!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.charley

You can see neat corners of my shop.
Threat repair, valve grinding machine, engine parts from a 1919 citroen.
Nino

Nino, i like your bmw! i have a 1940 r12, 71 r75, and 77 r100s. well made machines

You guys are lucky! I just have a little single car garage that right now is stacked to the rafters with trash. I'm going to have to do something about that...

Here is my shop foreman. He never complains about the mess.

Just cleaned my shop.
Toon

I gave up trying to keep my shop/barn as neat and organized as I'd like. Keep one in the barn and in the basement. Mike Garrison, once you get yourself a lift, you'll never need the creeper again. I haven't touched mine since I put in my lift, and don't ever plan on it again. Too hard getting back up off the floor!

All the plans for an addition onto the garage went out the window when I found out the clean out for the parks sewer system if about smack dab in the middle of where I want to build. I gotta get out of this trailer park!