The featured image for this post is of the pork tenderloin that I grilled last night for dinner. It was amazing. Good grilled meat is always a key part of focusing your mind on the task at hand so I felt it was the best place to start this post about how I get going in the shop after a break.
When I have had time off from being in my shop for whatever reason, I sometimes find it hard to get going again. It is just difficult for me to get my mind back into the flow of working on a project. In this situation, there are a couple of things that I will do to get back in the groove.
The first is to clean up. Depending on the cause of the break and where I left things, this can be a big project or it just might involve a little straightening up. Whatever the case may be, cleaning the shop helps me get focused. Without something to focus on, I can just stand and stare at the shop trying to figure out where to begin. Cleaning and putting things away forces me to move around in my shop. Getting everything back where it belongs gives me some peace of mind and allows me time to focus on a plan of action.
The other thing that I do to get going is to find a small project or two to complete. This often is something around the shop. Today what I worked on was storing a few small tools that were delivered last week.
One tool was a set of Setup Blocks from Woodpeckers. These came in a storage case so I only needed to find space in a drawer that has other similar items.
The next tool was a set of Mini in-DEXABLE Combination & Double Squares also from Woodpeckers. These came with storage racks so all I needed to do was find a spot on the wall to mount the racks. The set also came with an extra blade for the squares that did not mount on the provided racks. I used a small picture hanger to store the blade between the two squares.
The last tool to be stored was the Woodpeckers OneTIME Tool Bevel Square & Angle Reference Plate. These did not come with any sort of way to mount or store them. I like to keep my measuring and marking tools out and easily accessible if possible so I decided to make a quick way to mount these to a wall.
I have found over time that I can almost always create a simple way to hang a tool on a wall with some combination of scrap plywood and dowels of various diameters. Sometimes these take the form of things that hang on the French cleats that adorn much of the walls of my shop. Other times they are directly screwed to the plywood that covers all of the walls and ceiling as did what I built today.
While this was very simple to build I still used the router table to round over the edges of the board, the downdraft table when sanding the board, and the drill press to drill the hole for the dowel. I also used a hand saw to cut the dowel and cordless drill and driver for mounting the board to the wall. None of this was difficult but that wasn’t the point. I got moving and made some sawdust while storing a tool that needed a home in a convenient location.
Now I am ready to get back to more serious work tomorrow.