Home |
Search |
Today's Posts |
|
Woodworking (rec.woodworking) Discussion forum covering all aspects of working with wood. All levels of expertise are encouraged to particiapte. |
Reply |
|
LinkBack | Thread Tools | Display Modes |
#1
|
|||
|
|||
Any Ideas For Organizing A Contractors Work Van?
hi friends
SHORT FORM - FOR BUSY PEOPLE: could use some help in the arena of coming up with structures to organize the standard boatload of pretty typical general contractors' tools and materials in my boss' work van (i work with him out of the same van). i've no doubt many of you have come up with some sly ideas, and i'd really appreciate any insights you might offer. thanks, michael in MT ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ LONG FORM - FOR GUYS LIKE ME WHO LIVE IN REMOTE CABINS WITHOUT TELEVISION MACHINES AND THE LIKE: ~~~~~ way optional OT: nice to be back msg~~~~~~~~~~~~ FWIW, i used to read a lot and post some on the 'wreck -- until 2+ years back when i moved into a teeny cabin with no phone (or electricity or hot water or...) 4 mile ski in 3 months a year. not everyone's idea of paradise, but it is mine, my dog's, and my sweeetheart's. i've recently built an super-directional antenna (based on a web based schematic) out of a coffee can, pvc pipe, and about 600 feet of dumpster found armature wire -- and viola! now i can link into the UofMT wireless grid. wahoo! been lurking for a few months now. i much missed the wreck. though i'm sad to see the legion of trolls in the mix. so it goes... ~~~~~ way optional OT: babble ends ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ i'm also lucky in that i'm working with a great guy (my boss). a truly fine guy. he pays well, on-time, compliments my work when i get it just so - and looks the other way when i don't. he's a gifted finish carpenter and furniture maker who has taught me plenty. now 99.999% of the time this fine guy is as calm as a buddist monk. however yesterday he went ballistic when he couldn't find some material we bought last week in our work van. i mean he was howling and tossed most everything out (and into a snow drift). there was no consoling him so i hid behind a tree as skil saws, chisels, even a contractors saw went fly by. sheesh, i nearly dialed 911 and asked them to send Marlon Perkins to shoot him with a tranquilizer dart before he either had a heart attack of ripped the roof off the van. so the point is we're having a real problem organizing the mass of tools, materials, and paperwork in the work van. the van is kept clean (it's my job to keep it clean and i empty it and vacuum it at least once a week). but we really need a better system then the rows of buckets, piles of stock, stacks of power tool boxes, and all the other stuff i'm sure many of you work with most every day. i've been assigned to design and build up an organizational system. sounds easy, and should be. i'm a creative enough guy. but he's given me a bunch of design/implementation restrictions that are really making it tough -- such that 15 sketches into it i'm not really making progress. these restrictions (gospel/unchangeable - i tried, begged in fact) a [1] no commercial rack systems (he can afford it but detests store bought solutions - case in point, this guy carved his own toilet seat.) no plastic tubs or boxes. essentially nothing store bought or prefab. [2] the existing hand built wooden shelves (12" wide, 16" apart, with 2" lips, running the length of both sides of the interior) are not to be removed. [3] the spare tire bolted to the back of the drivers seat is to stay "in-situ" -- my plan to mount it on the back of the van or under it has been vetoed. [4] i'm not to use any of the (to my eye perfect) old metal index card file boxes (two drawers per box) nor the old metal single drawer letter sized file cabinet boxes i saw as equally perfect (i plucked them out of an old warehouse we had to clean before building new offices in it). "make too much noise - and well probably open on the road" he says - despite the fact i was going to frame sets of them in wood, put window sash locks on each drawer, and line them with carpet. [5] there are to be no structures that span across the width of the van - he wants to be able to walk (well, crawl, as he's 6'4") from the back door to the front 2 seats. [7] all power tools (mostly porter cable and milwaukee) are to stay in their original metal carrying cases. we're talking 12 or 15 such tools. to my mind that is a boatload of wasted space, but, i'm not the boss. ~~~~~~~~~ on the upside he's given me a very generous budget of "up to a grand" for materials and will pay my hourly for construction an install. of course when he says materials, he means wood -- not plastic or metal boxes, or most anything commercial/store bought. essentially if what i come up with didn't start out as a seed grow in the dirt he'll veto it. that and he shown some slack in the past. I put a couple of 18" length of 5" pvc on the ceiling to hold extension cords and he's slowly come to like them after at first calling them "ugly mutations". as if the inside of the work van is a living room or something. sheesh... ~~~~~~~~~~ at present i'm thinking along the line of s set of 6'L x 22"W x 12"H with two 1"x1" hardwood runners under each side with a length just shy of the box length so that one box will stay but atop another. i plan to round over the ends of these runners so that they slide in and out (and over floors and carpet) easily. i'm thinking two 2.5" dowel handles running across the boxes spaced about 2.5' apart equidistant from the midpoint to carry them. the width of the boxes is wider than i'd like, but will allow me to fit the power tool boxes. i plan to optimize a box for each of the major task types -- a finish carpentry box, a framing box, a plumbing box, a drywall box, an electrical box, a painting/staining box. i'll put dividers in each for what needs to go into them. small areas for screws and nails; large areas for power tools. i plan to lay all of the contents for each on the shop floor then sketch dividers to match. ~~~~~~~~~~~~ well, that the whole of it. i look forward to your ideas - and thank you in advance for them. be well, michael in MT ~~~~~~~~~~~~OB:OtrPplQuoteWad Follows~~~~~~~~~~ "The dullest end of the pencil is the top of your head" -Franz Kafka "I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work." -Thomas Edison "If at first you don't succeed, forget skydiving." -Launegayer "If all the girls who attended the Harvard-Yale game were laid end to end, I wouldn't be surprised." -Dorothy Parker ~~~~~~~~~~~~OB:OtrPplQuoteWad Ends~~~~~~~~~~~~ This email sent using 100% recycled electrons |
#2
|
|||
|
|||
Any Ideas For Organizing A Contractors Work Van?
Check out the Toolbox Book from Jim Tolpin. Search amazon they have it. The
work van conversion he shows in that book is pretty amazing and should give you some good ideas. Jim "michael_m_MT" wrote in message ... hi friends SHORT FORM - FOR BUSY PEOPLE: could use some help in the arena of coming up with structures to organize the standard boatload of pretty typical general contractors' tools and materials in my boss' work van (i work with him out of the same van). i've no doubt many of you have come up with some sly ideas, and i'd really appreciate any insights you might offer. thanks, michael in MT ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ LONG FORM - FOR GUYS LIKE ME WHO LIVE IN REMOTE CABINS WITHOUT TELEVISION MACHINES AND THE LIKE: ~~~~~ way optional OT: nice to be back msg~~~~~~~~~~~~ FWIW, i used to read a lot and post some on the 'wreck -- until 2+ years back when i moved into a teeny cabin with no phone (or electricity or hot water or...) 4 mile ski in 3 months a year. not everyone's idea of paradise, but it is mine, my dog's, and my sweeetheart's. i've recently built an super-directional antenna (based on a web based schematic) out of a coffee can, pvc pipe, and about 600 feet of dumpster found armature wire -- and viola! now i can link into the UofMT wireless grid. wahoo! been lurking for a few months now. i much missed the wreck. though i'm sad to see the legion of trolls in the mix. so it goes... ~~~~~ way optional OT: babble ends ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ i'm also lucky in that i'm working with a great guy (my boss). a truly fine guy. he pays well, on-time, compliments my work when i get it just so - and looks the other way when i don't. he's a gifted finish carpenter and furniture maker who has taught me plenty. now 99.999% of the time this fine guy is as calm as a buddist monk. however yesterday he went ballistic when he couldn't find some material we bought last week in our work van. i mean he was howling and tossed most everything out (and into a snow drift). there was no consoling him so i hid behind a tree as skil saws, chisels, even a contractors saw went fly by. sheesh, i nearly dialed 911 and asked them to send Marlon Perkins to shoot him with a tranquilizer dart before he either had a heart attack of ripped the roof off the van. so the point is we're having a real problem organizing the mass of tools, materials, and paperwork in the work van. the van is kept clean (it's my job to keep it clean and i empty it and vacuum it at least once a week). but we really need a better system then the rows of buckets, piles of stock, stacks of power tool boxes, and all the other stuff i'm sure many of you work with most every day. i've been assigned to design and build up an organizational system. sounds easy, and should be. i'm a creative enough guy. but he's given me a bunch of design/implementation restrictions that are really making it tough -- such that 15 sketches into it i'm not really making progress. these restrictions (gospel/unchangeable - i tried, begged in fact) a [1] no commercial rack systems (he can afford it but detests store bought solutions - case in point, this guy carved his own toilet seat.) no plastic tubs or boxes. essentially nothing store bought or prefab. [2] the existing hand built wooden shelves (12" wide, 16" apart, with 2" lips, running the length of both sides of the interior) are not to be removed. [3] the spare tire bolted to the back of the drivers seat is to stay "in-situ" -- my plan to mount it on the back of the van or under it has been vetoed. [4] i'm not to use any of the (to my eye perfect) old metal index card file boxes (two drawers per box) nor the old metal single drawer letter sized file cabinet boxes i saw as equally perfect (i plucked them out of an old warehouse we had to clean before building new offices in it). "make too much noise - and well probably open on the road" he says - despite the fact i was going to frame sets of them in wood, put window sash locks on each drawer, and line them with carpet. [5] there are to be no structures that span across the width of the van - he wants to be able to walk (well, crawl, as he's 6'4") from the back door to the front 2 seats. [7] all power tools (mostly porter cable and milwaukee) are to stay in their original metal carrying cases. we're talking 12 or 15 such tools. to my mind that is a boatload of wasted space, but, i'm not the boss. ~~~~~~~~~ on the upside he's given me a very generous budget of "up to a grand" for materials and will pay my hourly for construction an install. of course when he says materials, he means wood -- not plastic or metal boxes, or most anything commercial/store bought. essentially if what i come up with didn't start out as a seed grow in the dirt he'll veto it. that and he shown some slack in the past. I put a couple of 18" length of 5" pvc on the ceiling to hold extension cords and he's slowly come to like them after at first calling them "ugly mutations". as if the inside of the work van is a living room or something. sheesh... ~~~~~~~~~~ at present i'm thinking along the line of s set of 6'L x 22"W x 12"H with two 1"x1" hardwood runners under each side with a length just shy of the box length so that one box will stay but atop another. i plan to round over the ends of these runners so that they slide in and out (and over floors and carpet) easily. i'm thinking two 2.5" dowel handles running across the boxes spaced about 2.5' apart equidistant from the midpoint to carry them. the width of the boxes is wider than i'd like, but will allow me to fit the power tool boxes. i plan to optimize a box for each of the major task types -- a finish carpentry box, a framing box, a plumbing box, a drywall box, an electrical box, a painting/staining box. i'll put dividers in each for what needs to go into them. small areas for screws and nails; large areas for power tools. i plan to lay all of the contents for each on the shop floor then sketch dividers to match. ~~~~~~~~~~~~ well, that the whole of it. i look forward to your ideas - and thank you in advance for them. be well, michael in MT ~~~~~~~~~~~~OB:OtrPplQuoteWad Follows~~~~~~~~~~ "The dullest end of the pencil is the top of your head" -Franz Kafka "I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work." -Thomas Edison "If at first you don't succeed, forget skydiving." -Launegayer "If all the girls who attended the Harvard-Yale game were laid end to end, I wouldn't be surprised." -Dorothy Parker ~~~~~~~~~~~~OB:OtrPplQuoteWad Ends~~~~~~~~~~~~ This email sent using 100% recycled electrons |
#3
|
|||
|
|||
Any Ideas For Organizing A Contractors Work Van?
All the scads of good ideas for
organizing your van are hexed by one factor - The likelyhood of getting ripped off. I've tried so many different systems it isn't funny, but for the last few years I've just followed these guidelines: Drive a cargo van with no side or back windows - If they can't see in, why break in? Lock it up no matter how long you think you'll be away. Keep the tools scattered around the truck (you can do this neatly) so that everything can't be taken in one package. Don't take anything you think you won't need to a jobsite. I know a contractor who made a false floor about a foot deep in his truck that has hatches and big drawers. He did it for security reasons and it seems to work pretty well for him. Lastly, call your local radio station that runs ads for mega-fleamarkets who tout "visit our giant outdoor section for all kind of tool bargains," and protest. |
#4
|
|||
|
|||
Any Ideas For Organizing A Contractors Work Van?
James D. Kountz wrote:
Check out the Toolbox Book from Jim Tolpin. Search amazon they have it. The work van conversion he shows in that book is pretty amazing and should give you some good ideas. Jim you know, i actually own a well worn copy of Tolpin's Toolbox book -- and I'd forgotten that section. Many thanks for the info, Jim michael ~~~~~~~~~~~~OB:OtrPplQuoteWad Follows~~~~~~~~~~ "Battle not with monsters, lest ye become a monster. And if you gaze long into the Abyss, the Abyss gazes into you." -Fred Nietzsche "Truly, I would not hang a dog by my will, much more a man who hath any honesty in him." --Shakespeare, Much Ado About Nothing ~~~~~~~~~~~~OB:OtrPplQuoteWad Ends~~~~~~~~~~~~ Speak the truth, but ride a fast horse... |
#5
|
|||
|
|||
Any Ideas For Organizing A Contractors Work Van?
BUB 209 wrote, in part:
All the scads of good ideas for organizing your van are hexed by one factor - The likelyhood of getting ripped off. good point. most of our work sites are pretty rural. but then we do go to town for lunch, materials, and the like. i'd hardly win an prizes if what i come up with for my boss' van ends up being perfect packages for a quick heist. I've tried so many different systems it isn't funny, but for the last few years I've just followed these guidelines: Drive a cargo van with no side or back windows If they can't see in, why break in? check. it is a cargo van, but has windows on the side door set. those i can make opaque. i don't think my boss would dig me blacking out the windows in the back doors - but perhaps some of that mylar see through mirror film. Lock it up no matter how long you think you'll be away. huh. good point, of course. but my boss doesn't even believe in locking his house ("i don't want to live anywhere where you have to lock your own front door" he says) what i might do given this peccadillo of his is wire up a couple blinking red LED's to go on when the ignition is off. i did this for myself and friends when i went off to the "big city" (well, "middling city" - new haven) for school. hell of a change from my 'ute in MT. anyway, for $5 in radio shack parts it's easy to wire up a series of blinking red LED's. the power draw is trivial; it'd take years for them to draw down the battery. in all, kind of a poor man's "burglar alarm" -- enough to make a miscreant sh*thead pass it by for another vehicle less likely to 'go off' -- or so i found in the worst ghetto of 'blue haven' another good head's up. Keep the tools scattered around the truck (you can do this neatly) so that everything can't be taken in one package. see your point here. but then it was the 'scatter' effect that blew the bosses otherwise very high amp fuse. Don't take anything you think you won't need to a jobsite. this too is a good idea, but it'd be hard to sell 'the big kahuna' on this -- as where we work it is typically an hour or more round trip to go get a tool left in the shop. hmmmm. well, i'll run this by him. I know a contractor who made a false floor about a foot deep in his truck that has hatches and big drawers. He did it for security reasons and it seems to work pretty well for him. huh... now that might work out well - as in addition to security putting my planned long boxes under a sturdy false floor (carpeted and all, with a couple cheap odds and ends on it) offers the additional advantage of letting the kahuna slither easily from back doors to driver's seat as he wishes. also make it easy to put materials (2x's, ply, and the like) in without knocking over every other bucket, toolbox, and can of stain. my friend you've sent me in an excellent direction. the creative juices are flowing (wither that or i've just wet my pants...) many thanks. Lastly, call your local radio station that runs ads for mega-fleamarkets who tout "visit our giant outdoor section for all kind of tool bargains," and protest. see your point. i lost 2 firmer chisels at one work site. they belonged to my grandfather. i'd recognize them at 200 yds. if i were to ever see them, anywhere, on anyone, well ... oh my. i'm a devote passivist. however my dog bob isn't. he's 7/8 timber wolf 1/8 malamute. tips the toledo at 160lbs and there's not an ounce of fat on him. you know how some dogs bring home a bird or rabbit for their masters? bob brought me home a 250lb+ mule deer. and that when he was only a year old. yeah, i'm a passivist but bob isn't. i need only say the word and he would rip any miscreant holding those chisels into small pieces then lick the marrow from their bones. fwiw, i've trained him to only respond to commands in Nepali. wouldn't want some jerk or even just a good soul to say the wrong word, for the results would be apocalyptic. good thing that outside of khatmandu, pretty much only only my lady and i know that word. just as a test i gave him that command while pointing at a raccoon who'd upended the compost can. oh my. a roto-tiller couldn't have done more damage. so i know it works. just hope i never have to use it on anything other than the occasion rabid coyote who visits yeow i've become a verbose curmudgeon in my dotage (40 is coming on fast). that and i'm irish and one of 11 kids. oh my. well, pardon my prattle. and again, many thanks for taking the time to share your tips. for that idea of a 'secret floor' really lit the jets. and i suspect that, if properly executed, it'll light the boss' jets as well. heck, might even get an elk tenderloin dinner out of it. i helped him ski/drag half of an 8x out of "there" so i know he's got some in the freezer. ever had elk tenderloin? in comparison, fillet mignon taste like a work boot. oops, prattling again. enough already... thanks. be well, michael in MT ~~~~~~~~~~~~OB:OtrPplQuoteWad Follows~~~~~~~~~~ "You see, wire telegraph is a kind of a very, very long cat. You pull his tail in New York and his head is meowing in Los Angeles. Do you understand this? And radio operates exactly the same way: you send signals here, they receive them there. The only difference is that there is no cat." -Albert Einstein, answering a reporter's question as to how wireless telegraph worked. ~~~~~~~~~~~~OB:OtrPplQuoteWad Ends~~~~~~~~~~~~ Ring around the Internet, Packet with a bit not set, SYN ACK SYN ACK, We all go down. |
Reply |
Thread Tools | Search this Thread |
Display Modes | |
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Forum | |||
can't pass up usefull trash | Metalworking | |||
VFD won't work on lathe, Why? | Metalworking | |||
"Part P in force by 2004" | UK diy | |||
Severely OT - for all MCP out of work IT contractors | UK diy | |||
Another toolkit question | UK diy |