We removed the labels that were on the woodshop benches a long time ago because people seemed to be confusing them with the woodshop slot numbers in Skedda (which we also removed). At some point, someone decided to relabel them with sharpie
We’d like to clean these up a bit and try to provide some more clear labeling on these with lasered signs. I think for the verbiage we’ll want 2 variations —
Glue up tables: Glue up table - storage tag required - max 24 hrs
Regular workbenches: Woodshop shared space
I think the black project board that you can find at Home Depot like this would work well for this.
Ooops, realizing I didn’t put a picture (didn’t have one handy). Idea here would be for the signs to go on the skirts around the tables. These table tops get roughed up a fair amount and will have people’s stuff on them, so was thinking it’d be easier to read on the skirts.
Test pieces. Top one was too deep. Bottom was is much less so. The paint really helps readability, so I will use tape to cover the sign face before burning, then paint the letters, then remove the tape.
I don’t know the trade-offs, but often when I get to the shop, skedda has shown multiple tables free, yet no tables appear to be free. People set their stuff down while they are doing something else or spread to two tables while they are working, etc. So, I personally would appreciate the ability to reserve specific tables.
Skedda numbers and table numbers are unrelated. We removed the table numbers some time ago. Someone added them back with a Sharpie, not knowing that they should not be numbered. Using one of the MFT tables if that is all you need, or sharing a table is helpful to everyone.
Respectfully Charlie, I’m not going to try figuring out who’s working at each table and whether there is room for my project as well. I prefer for the reservation system to ensure availability of tools and space.
My two cents and much love to Asmbly for making all these resources available. It is a genuine source of enjoyment to have all the tools, workspaces, and people for next-to-nothing per month.
For what it’s worth, when I stopped in this morning all three MFT tables looked like they were converted to storage carts. Two of them were storing kipple, and the third looked like it was commandeered as CNC storage cart.
There were four people actively using the woodshop (myself included), and it looked like 5 of the white tables were in active use. Two people weren’t using the tables at all (myself included).
I think there’s a few problems at play with the current situation and definitely room for improvement —
Tables are too often being inappropriately used for storage (this should never be occurring on the MFT tables and is only authorized for the glue up tables for a max of 24 hrs).
It’s hot as hell so there may be a general increase in demand for using work tables almost exclusively (ie not really using machines, just hand tools and a table).
There are a number of low use tools that go hand in hand with some amount of work table use, eg Shaper Origin.
Tools adjacent to the main woodshop need dedicated work tables and don’t currently have them (e.g. Swift CNC, Tormach).
It’s not unheard of to use the Woodshop and not need a table at all.
Solutions
#1 is solvable and something we need to enforce more. I think we could also probably stand to have a few more MFTs which might help some (plans for them are in GDrive here). Having an MFT made working at the wide belt sander with a bunch of lumber a lot nicer for me recently, they have great utility and versatility while also simply being a great sized work surface.
It’s hard to have the benches be dedicated reservations when it’s something potentially needed but not necessarily. Would you then have to reserve a bench AND reserve the Woodshop? That seems like a bummer from an hours usage perspective. Making them all strictly coupled also seems like a bummer for the case of not needing a table and then reserving resources others could be using simply because they are tightly coupled.
There has been talk of trying to make some of the tables smaller in attempts to fit more in the shop but I’m not sure that ends up buying us much. We’d definitely need to keep at least a few big ones as there are some projects that really need the full size.
It would be helpful to have a small group of folks that are heavy users of The Shop (including Tormach and CNC users) to help brainstorm a better work table solution that would help solve the problems we’re facing here. There are a few different files in the GDrive here that can be used for playing around with different layouts. The .ai file might need a little updating for some things but should be pretty close and has accurate walls and scaling info for the entire facility. Anyone want to connect on this and work on solutions?
shared space
