I Made Progress Towards My Dream Workshop

My dream workshop is one where I can do anything quickly, even if it means running less-used tools and parts from shelves, cabinets, and my storage room. I’m making changes towards this goal.

What you see above are my recently emptied Milwaukee Packout tool boxes and organizers lined up in their temporary new home before being distributed to new testers and users.

I also said goodbye to Festool Systainers and Sortainers (1 or 2 samples, the rest purchased), and so much more.

Do you see the (purchased) ToughBuilt Stacktech tool box on the floor? Inside are random things, such as ToughBuilt soft tube-shaped containers I bought from Sears many years ago.

On top are 6 power cords. I bought 8 for a wiring project, but then quickly realized I preferred right angle plugs. So, I bought portable cord, wired things up, and was left with these brand name but inexpensive power cords. I kept 2 and donated the rest.

Here’s everything packed into my SUV for the first trip.

My wife came along too, and packed her small SUV as well.

If you look carefully, you’ll see pre-Packout Milwaukee parts organizer – 1 test sample and 2 I purchased from Home Depot.

Last fall I donated my Festool Sortainers – 4 were test samples and the rest I had purchased.

I said goodbye to Dewalt ToughSystem drawers and quite a few compact tool boxes I had purchased.

Even before Packout, Milwaukee tool boxes were excellent. It was tough to part with this one.

Some of you might scream at me for giving away this Ridgid tubular-shaped tool box. It was an awesome form factor, but I wasn’t using it to its full potential.

I also donated my 5 remaining Dewalt Pro organizers. I dumped the contents of each – mostly pipe fittings – into small removable lid containers I bought from Home Depot at $2.50 each, and also 2 small containers with lids – those were $5 each from Amazon a few months ago. I expect the form factor to work a lot better for me.

I am entering a time where everything must be deliberate.

Why did I buy so many Milwaukee Packout organizers? Because they were cost effective.

I like Sortimo’s older style of T-Boxxes, but there’s a limit as to how many I could justify due to cost.

Packout organizers aren’t as space-efficient for workshop or storage room use, but they were cost effective during various holiday season sales.

I finished moving the Packout organizer contents over to Packout drawers and temporary bins and containers.

There’s a voice in my head screaming “you MONSTER, I paid good money and needed those!” But then an emotionless business voice counters by saying “we’re moving to a new space-efficient setup, and think of how much more space we’ll have for creative projects.”

This will be good for me, or so I keep telling myself.

I have tried out so many different storage and organizational products over the years, and I think I’m getting close to the “perfect setup for me.” Or rather, a suitable setup that can optimally fit my space.

Did I feel good about dumping 12 bins worth of different 1/2″ and 3/4″ PVC and CPVC plastic pipe fittings into mixed containers? Of course not.

What about the couple of plastic tank bulkhead fittings I bought for a project? I bought 2 each of 2 sizes to experiment with, and after testing things out I eventually moved in a different direction. As long as I know where they are, that’s fine. I don’t need these to be separate and immediately accessible. I might also decide to keep 1 of each size.

That’s what I did with the power cords. I kept 2 for “I’m sure I can use this in a future project or prototype” purposes, and passed along the rest. I donate to a large group of resourceful people, and assume they’ll be used. And if not, they’ll be scrapped, and that’s okay.

I have very broad project interests – woodworking, metalworking, electronics, mechatronics, etc.

My goal is to remove obstacles.

I parted with 10 older-style Sortainers nearly a year ago, and maybe 6 of the newer style one with 3 drawers each. Plus 3 Systainer tool boxes and countless mini Systainers.

I didn’t count the number of Packout organizers. There were 5 Dewalt organizers, 9 Stanley, a total of 12 Durham steel parts drawers. Oh – and an Akro Mils 20-compartment parts cabinet. I don’t recall when I bought it, but I posted about it over 14 years ago.

Did I get my money’s worth? I’ve been avoiding that question. The question I’ve been focusing on has been “is it delivering value NOW?”

Is it space-efficient? Is this the direction I’d go in if I were building a workshop from scratch today?

In the past, I donated gear I wasn’t using, like the Ridgid tool box I bought so long ago. I also donated my Pelican 0450 tool box case – that one was particularly painful. I have not missed the Festool Sortainers.

This past weekend I parted with gear I had been using, but not to maximum benefit.

Almost all testing tasks and projects are now on hold, but I feel like I’ve made great progress towards getting back to both creative projects and niche tool reviews.

As a loose example*, I sought to understand how wire rope crimping tools worked, and how brand-name tools compared to others. This was an interesting exploration that I shoehorned into a gardening project, and I hope to make room for more content along such lines.

* Pun not intended, although I started cracking up thinking about how few readers would get the reference if it were intentional.

I also have tons of tools that I’ve purchased just to check out, such as this Felo Ergonic stubby. According to my records, I purchased it from KC Tool back in 2017 around Black Friday.

I’ve had this Felo screwdriver for 8 YEARS, and I don’t think I’ve posted about it once, except for the recent “cleanup” post. Needless to say, I have a backlog.

More room for creative projects, more breathing space for niche tool reviews and explorations. That has been the goal, and for the first time in quite a few years, I feel like I’m getting close.

I have an air cleaner in the garage, and kept the smaller one that I used to have in my apartment spare bedroom workshop. It’s been 10 years since I powered it on. I donated that unit and its spare filters this weekend.

I have finally grown intolerant of inefficiency and waste. Will I have regrets? “I don’t need to save it, I can buy it again.”

I also parted with my purchased set of Dewalt 12V Max cordless power tools, save for just one, but that’ll probably go to.

I made up my mind a long time ago that I would buy what I need, so that I would not be reliant on tool brands or advertisers. Tool samples are helpful, but I was determined to not need them for anything I wanted to do.

However, I am testing out a Bosch latest cordless screwdriver. Do I need to have an owned copy of Dewalt’s?

Do I need my purchased Festool CT dust extractor if I have Milwaukee’s new model in for testing?

I occasionally work test samples into natural projects, but I prefer to have the option of using my own purchased tools. It might be time to move away from this thinking as well. Shop vacuums, miter saws, dust extractors, cordless power tools, and other things take up space, and duplication has been a hinderance.

It sounds counter-intuitive, that getting of storage and organizational products would help me achieve a neater and more efficient workshop. But I’m not getting rid of all storage products, just the less efficient ones.

*Deep breath* Clean and efficient workspaces? I’m getting there.