[Jewelry making - Article 00542] - Re: [Orchid] Tools organization ideas

[IMMENO1Ls]

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    people - some tool 'placement' ideas - 'organization' is nirvana &
    not for my lifetime. the wooden box with round cut outs for spice
    bottles on a rotating rack became a bur holder when i adhered pieces
    of 1" styrofoam to each side (think people before cutting: you have
    to account for the overlap at corners - either 2 wider pieces or 4
    same size pieces) & one for the top - again allow for the added
    thickness of the styro. i attached sheets of grid paper (any size
    will do, you're just looking for uniformity in spacing for holes) to
    all sides. holding a pointed wood skewer at a downward angle of
    about 30  degrees (just make a wild guess) i poked holes through
    intersecting lines on the grids - further apart for the burs with
    large heads, etc.etc. on the top i stick special burs for easy
    access. since my domesticity included only one spice rack i had to
    fake the second one (i do a lot of carving, etc. & use a lot of
    different burs, 'hard work' does not mean doing it the hard way)
    every super mart or discount store usually has one of those rotating
    plastic flat thingies that stands about 3/4" high & the diameter of
    a large plate. go through the above styrofoam, adhesive, grid paper
    & poking with a sturdy cardboard box the right size, angle the
    pokies so the closed box end is the top or the open end is up if you
    want to put long scales, tools in it. cut another styro square that
    just snugly fits inside the box, glue it centered onto the rotating
    plastic thing. when dry drizzle some glue either inside the open end
    of the box & stick onto the glued square or leave off that piece of
    styro & glue the closed end to the rotating plastic dooda. 

    the different length & width tan or white plastic drawer organizers
    that can hook onto the next one are invaluable (not flatware
    holders) - if you don't know what they are, go something else: put a
    paper label on the end of each for 'pen-cils', 'calipers/scales'
    [small versions], 'small brushes', 'calculators', 'small scissors',
    'xactos & blades' - you get the idea. into a larger size container
    went all my glues - a drawer can't be carried around your work area
    when needed & the container is handier - guess what the label on it
    says? another medium container is labeled 'wood' & it holds hundreds
    of pointed skewers, chop sticks, toothpicks, short dowels, old paint
    brush handles, etc. for mixing epoxy, firming up tubing for cutting,
    making jump rings, & so on. 

    magnetic strips are worth their weight in gummi bears. keep your saw
    blades in ziplocs & just toss them toward a strip & it is caught.
    the same for metal tools. a rotating utensil boxy thing with a tube
    at each corner holds most of my hammers, ring sticks, etc. 

    foot controls for foredoms: one goes on the floor at right of my
    knee space, one at the left, and the third is attached at right knee
    level inside the knee space; fewer bur changes. the trim saw,
    cabmates, genie, polishing machines, drill press, band saw (so i
    cheat, get over it) are on foot controls - check out your local
    thrift shops for sewing machines with the plug & outlet type foot
    controls, buy the machine for almost nothing, take off the foot
    control, redonate. machines wear out before the foot thingies so
    some sewers don't need to buy one. 

    a tape necessity: 3-m makes an adhesive 'tape' that comes on rolls
    of brown paper from 1/2" to 12" wide; press the brown tape in place,
    pull it off & the almost invisible adhesive is left & can be used
    for everything. no work area should be without some. 

    inventory: since i buy pearls by the kilo they can get out of hand
    in a hurry (no pun intended) & prices forgotten so every hank goes
    into a ziploc bag with # of strands & price of each written onto a
    stickon paper label - plastic bags eat even sharpie ink in no time.
    the bags go into 2 crates, one for white pearls & one for dark
    pearls. the same is done for gemstone & sterling beads. gemstones:
    go into handyman's multidrawer cabinets with guess what on the front
    of each drawer? every parcel has # of pieces & price; since i buy a
    lot of melee i immediately divide the parcel price by the number of
    pieces & write the 'each' cost. the larger drawer ones work best for
    me. 

    rolling mill: lacking the upper body strength to operate one at a
    high center of gravity level i converted a shorter laminated 3 drawer
    cabinet with sturdy wheels on the bottom & bolted the mill to the
    top; i can get some leverage on the handle; it rolls out of the way &
    the extra rollers go into the drawers with a large can of wd-40,
    light machine oil, pieces of old towels, & corrosion prone tools such
    as my antiquey carbon steel tools, daps, stakes, blocks, etc. (you
    will notice i keep a lot of 'etc.' on hand, properly labeled of
    course) will go into the rest at another time people - all this
    enforced organization is giving me a rash. later - 

ive


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