Wood Shop Cleanliness

Maker Talk
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Is your responsibility after every task—not the end of your scheduled time. Here’s some gentle reminders to perform the following after each use:

  1. Table saws: lower the blade, turn the power off, clean the sawdust off the table and sweep up the floor.
  2. Jointer: brush off the in-feed & out-feed table, sweep up the floor and empty the dust collector trash can and main dust collector.
  3. Planer: brush off the in-feed & out-feed tables, sweep up the floor, empty the dust collector trash can and the main dust collector.
  4. Band saws: sweep off the tables and sweep the floor.
  5. CNC: sweep up the floor, the CNC beds, and empty the dust collection bins.
  6. Glue up tables: wipe up any glue that dripped onto the table, throw out your used paper towels, and put your clamps away after use.
  7. Work tables: when your done, brush off the tables and the sweep the floor to prevent tripping hazards.
  8. Shop vacs: empty the 5 gallon pale after each use, unplug and coil up the ac cord, the vacuum hose, and return to an area that’s not in a walkway.
  9. Trash cans: if you can fit anymore trash in it, empty it! If you see it’s halfway full, take it out to the dumpster.
  10. Miter saw: turn off the laser, throw out your off cuts, sweep up and vacuum the work area including both side tables, and sweep up the floor!

We all need to be respectful and responsible members. Please do your part and make the workstation ready for the next person.

2 Likes
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You forgot panel saw and dust collector, i doubt those areas are clean :slight_smile:

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I of course agree with most of this. But I would note a couple of things.

First, the miter saw laser actually powers down after a while and comes back on when the saw is next started, so turning it off isn’t critical.

Some of the vacuums have regular use locations, such as by the downdraft table and near the CNC. I think it’s fine if they stay plugged in and ready to use, provided they aren’t blocking any throughways. (In the metal shop, I was actually considering making a post asking people to stop putting the vacuums away completely. There, the vacuums definitely have standard locations, and buttoning them up completely just makes them harder to use.)

And I would note that there is some nuance to “after every task”. If I’m jumping around between machines on a project, I may wait until the larger task is done before returning to a machine to clean it. This is very situational, depending on how many others are in the shop.

But again, these are subtleties; I absolutely agree overall.

2 Likes
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As it is every morning I come into the wood shop at 5 am, the miter saw laser light is still on.

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Obviously something is wrong as the laser is not powering down thus my reminder to turn it off after use.