Like so many people, I have too much stuff and too small of a shop. That means I trip over myself when I try to work. Over the weekend I wanted to do some re-arranging to fix a few things I really didn't like.

First, I continued the job to get all my small parts and things into one place. It's really coming along. I'm at the point I need to make a cabinet to hold all the containers. I know, it sound weird, make something to hold the holders. I really like these organizers, though. I plan to make a cabinet to hold several more than I have right now to allow room for expansion.

My next goal was to move the workbench. I have always worked with the bench against the wall. But I want to do some more video work and having the bench against the wall makes that tricky. It's seems nicer if you can have a camera across the bench aimed at you. Plus, I often have unused areas of the bench - and in a small shop you better use ever inch you have. So, I have the bench out in the open and I can now work all the way around it. So far, I'm really liking it. It does mean cleaning off the junk since I may want to use any area.

Along with moving the bench meant some tool organization on the wall behind it. Things are still a jumble there but I want to make a proper tool cabinet and some racks for all my regularly used items. Being at the bench and just needing a slight turn to grab a chisel is really nice, plus it's easy to always put things back.

Several other tools moved around. I don't like where the planer is, but I'm out of options at the moment. I'm trying to buy the shorter rail set for the table saw. Currently I have the 60" rails and they are just too big. I can't orient the saw like I want. If I can get the shorter rails, I'll swap those on, put the long rails in storage (in case I move to a bigger shop) and then I'll get some much needed room back.

Finally, I should begin looking at a new dust collector. I have an older Jet with a garbage can pre-separator. That garbage can causes a huge loss in suction and takes up a lot of space. Since the shop is small I don't want an in place collector, but I would like a rolling cyclone system with the collection can right under it. That would reclaim some space and give me a more powerful system.

Hopefully I can get back to actual woodworking soon, and not just cleaning & organizing!