Helpful Tips to Make Your Workshop Cleaner and More Productive (2024)

I've seen it in my own shop, and I’ve seen it in countless other shops: the shop vacuum so packed with debris that it’s a wonder the thing works at all. That’s no surprise, since it’s the last tool to be used in the course of a project. You clean up, turn out the light, and then get a cold beer. And the vacuum just continues to fill up.

Vacuum checklist

• Floor

• Tablesaw

• Miter saw

• Under bench

• Around standing machines, such as a bench grinder, lathe, drill press

• Dust bags on miter saws, track saws, and sanders.

Just as every job, no matter how small, creates trash, so trash will accumulate in a workshop. Decide what scraps of metal you will put out for recycling and what wood scraps you will either burn or throw out. If you don’t have a shop trash can, make use of the remodeler’s trick: clip a contractor’s trash bag to a piece of plywood and lean it against the wall.

As much as we like the leaning trash bag hack, nothing beats a heavy-duty trash can, particularly on wheels. Roll it up to the workbench and sweep stuff right into it.

If you don’t have a heavy-duty dust pan and a couple of shop brushes, this essential gear is worth every penny. They’re not just useful in the shop, but outdoors, too, because sometimes using a leaf blower to clean an area just kicks up too much dust and makes too much noise.

Dust Collection

There’s a simple principle to dust collection. Anything is better than nothing. Hook up a shop vacuum to a sander or saw and see what a difference forced air dust collection makes to a cleaner shop. We admit, there’s no substitute for a central dust collector, but you have to start somewhere. The smallest machine we’ve ever pressed into service for dust collection is Ryobi’s cordless vacuum atop a 5-gallon bucket. We were amazed at its effectiveness. Its small size helps to make it unobtrusive, and its short hose is particularly efficient and doesn’t create a lot of friction in the air stream that would otherwise limit the effectiveness of the machine–thus a surprising amount of dust finds its way out of a machine and into the bucket, where it can be dumped out.

Another far more powerful alternative is to invest in a Dust Deputy by Oneida Air Systems. The device works on the same cyclonic dust-removal principles that an industrial dust collector uses, except it hooks up to a full size shop vacuum.

Shelving

A floor is good for many things, but storage isn't one of them. Store equipment on the floor and you’ll stub your foot on it. By moving equipment up to a shelf, you can see it and handle it more easily.

Like dust collection, don’t hold off on improving your storage until you can build or buy the perfect system.

Start with what you have. In the case of the shelves you see here, I had some high quality birch plywood that was 17-1/2 inches wide by 8-feet long. Some of that material became shelves, but the rest was divided into 17-1/2-inch squares, and each square was divided across its diagonal so that a cut along the diagonal formed two triangular shelf brackets. The only lumber I had to buy was the wall cleat, which is 5/4 x 4 stock. For those of you who are baffled by the lumber nomenclature system, 5/4 stock is five quarters of an inch thick. The stock starts out as 1-1/4-inch thick and is planed down to slightly thicker than an inch. The nomenclature is 4/4 (four quarters, starts out as one inch thick), 5/4 (five quarters, starts out as 1-1/4 inch thick), 6/4, and 8/4.

Cut a notch into the triangular shelf supports to accept the 5/4 x 4 wall cleat, and use two Number 8 screws to attach the cleat to each triangular shelf bracket. Screw this subassembly to the wall. Screw a shelf to the shelf brackets and there you are: a cantilevered storage shelf that gets what you need off the floor.

Sharpen Everything

Set aside some time when no one will bother you. Devote that time to sharpening everything you have: bench planes, block planes, drill bits, auger bits, spade bits, wood chisels, cold chisels. When it comes to sharpening as part of your overhaul regimen, neglect nothing. Putty knives, pocket knives, spade bits, and drill bits all need to be sharpened.

If you've never sharpened your twist drill bits, there's not much to it frankly. A device called the Drill Doctor makes it easy. Insert a twist drill in the Drill Doctor’s chuck and turn the chuck so that the bit rotates against the machine's grinding wheel. The result is a neatly-ground bit that's almost as well sharpened as if a machine shop handled the job for you.

Use a blade cleaner to remove pitch and gummed up matter from table saw blades. If the blades are dull or at least look like they need a little attention, send them out to a sharpening service.

Show Your Bench Some Love

I wish I had the luxury of owning one bench just for woodworking and another to help with grimy stuff, like chainsaw maintenance. But I don’t; instead, my bench is a do-all structure, helping me sharpen chainsaws, care for yard equipment, do woodworking and everything in between.

If your workbench is like mine, and it gets filthy, all you need to clean it is some light-duty degreaser. Spray some on, wipe it off, and let it dry. If the bench is really beat up, take a few passes over it with a sander and some 220-grit sandpaper. Use one application of wipe-on wood finish like tung oil or wipe-on polyurethane.

Maintain Your Vise

A bench vise will loosen over time. Tighten its mounting bolts with an appropriately-sized socket and wrench. Lubricate the vise’s screw, and turn the vise on its base. If the vise doesn’t rotate freely, remove it from its base and grease the surface on which it rides.

Don’t have a machinist vise? A small vise will take you just ten minutes to install on the work bench. There’s not much to it. Drill four holes and bolt it to the bench.

Gather Your PPE

Some years ago, I realized that I’m more likely to use PPE (personal protective equipment) if I keep it handy and put it one place. Now, I hang my shop apron, ear plugs, gloves, safety glasses and dust mask in one place. Done.

Maintain Machines

Stop putting off crucial machine maintenance. Replacing a worn belt on a belt grinder or belt sander takes minutes. If you’ve got a grinding wheel that’s clogged with metal particles, clean it with a grinding wheel dressing tool.