Shop Maintencnce Scheldule

[genek]

Maintenance Scheldule something that every shop should have in place no matter how large or small your shop is. Here is my shop maintenance schecule. What is yours.


Every Day: Empty shop garbage cans, Check all dust bins and empty if needed. Clean out rag storage cans; hang rags soaked with cleanner, thinner, finish, etc. outside to dry. Lubricate all air -powered tools.
Every Week: Cean sawdust from the shop floors and other survaces. Drain moisture from the comprssor air storage tanks, Pipes Manifolds and filter/moisture traps. Clean dust collectors filter or bags (more often if necessary). Empty shop vac and clean filter. Check heating and cooling air filters (replace if needed).
Every Month: Vacuum fine dust from tops of light fixtures, ledges, shelves, equipment, out of electrical outlets, switches, out of junciton boxes. Blow out electrical pannels. Vacuum or change prefilters on air filtration devices, Heating and cooling filters. Clean out Machines, equipment, sanding tables etc. Clean off buid-upof finish from spray guns, spray booth, walls, etc. Check air filter and oil level on compressor, vaccum pumps, etc. Test and reset ground-fault breakers or GFI Outlets and Circuits. Wax all machine surfaces.
Twice a Year: Inspect equipment, machines, power tools: service as needed. Check fire extingquishers: recharge as needed. Change the oil in the air compressor. Check the Air compression system (tank, hoses, fittings, filters, etc) for leaks. Check condition of fiter bags, cartridges on dust collection system: replace if necessary. Inspect central dust collections system's ductwork, flexible hoses for air leaks or clogs. Make sure grounding system is working or dust collection system. Check first aid Kitss and replace or refill supplies. Check condition of glues and finishes, discard product that are out of date. (Use proper methods to discard). Check central air and heating system for blockages. Check shop for leaks or moisture that could harm tools or damage stored wood.

[knight_toolworks]

thats scary really. dust everything? I wish I could pay someone to do that. I get my floor picked up and dump the cans as needed. maintain the machine. fix something when needed. though I do cheat and have a auto oiler for my airguns. no real heat in my shop only dc bags t deal with couple times a year or less. no GFI outlets. maybe I should hire you to do it (G)

[genek]

thats scary really. dust everything? I wish I could pay someone to do that. I get my floor picked up and dump the cans as needed. maintain the machine. fix something when needed. though I do cheat and have a auto oiler for my airguns. no real heat in my shop only dc bags t deal with couple times a year or less. no GFI outlets. maybe I should hire you to do it (G)
Insurance companies are getting tighter on wood working shops. I for see this being a required step in our lives of wood working. I have check off sheets that we do that is kept on record. In the past it has helped with insurance claims (roof Leaked one weekend). Most fires are stared by dust. Not a board on fire.. by kieeping the dust under control you cut down on the posibility of fires and how fast a fire spreads. Shop Maintenance is protecting you , your equipment, and employee's . If you maintain a scheldule it is easy to keep ones shop resonable clean.

[knight_toolworks]

my insurance company asked a few questions and I sent them a check. I don't have employees I can't even afford myself sometimes (G) I pay a guy to clean and sweep up.

[genek]

my insurance company asked a few questions and I sent them a check. I don't have employees I can't even afford myself sometimes (G) I pay a guy to clean and sweep up.

My insurance sent out a person that takes pictures of the shop, building and everthing in the shop including my lumber rack. I had to re-design the lumber rack to meet their requirments. Insurances are getting tighter on wood working shops.

[coryatjohn]

I spend a ridiculous amount of time vacuuming. I clean everything before I start a job, during machine runs and after. I personally cannot stand walking through dust. A lot of my cutting is plastic so that makes it even more important to clean that stuff up before it tracks everywhere. It really helps to have a high power dust collection system and use it on every tool. I had a friend use my shop for a job once and he didn't clean anything, ever. It was the first and last time I let him use any of my tools. His shop looks like a bomb went off 20 years ago. I doubt he ever picked up a wood scrap. It's a fire just waiting to happen.

[dmidkiff]

Thanks Eugene, I copied and pasted your schedule to a word processing software and made it easier for my old eyes to read and will attempt to follow. I think it makes sense to get ahead of the insurance companies if you can

[cr2]

You are thorough; I'll give you that. The only thing I do more often than you is I drain the water from my compressor twice a day...when I leave for lunch, and at the end of the day. I would never want to leave it in there for a week.

[Davo]

I turn off the light.

[Ajcoholic]

What Eugene says might seem overkill to many - especially if you are working alone part time, or infrequently. As a woodworking business, which has been around since the 1970's, I have to say we are held to quite a stringent standard from both the OHSA (workman's health and safety) and also the local FD, and most critically from the Insurance provider.

I've had several inspections over the years from the insurance company inspector. Just getting a major insurer to take on a woodworking shop here is hard - seriously. Ive been with the same brokerage and insurance company for many years. I have tried over the year`s to investigate from other brokers - several couldn't even get a company interested to quote.

Anyhow, as a three person shop with me in charge, I don't have a written, documented maintenance schedule. However, I will say, that the main issues (housekeeping, maintenance, etc) are done all the time and I don't need a written schedule to stay on top of things.

For me, the main things are to keep all machinery clean, lubricated and stay on top of anything that seems out of adjustment, etc immediately. Keeping the whole shop tidy is actually quite easy with good dust collection, and hand tools that are connected to vacuums and so forth. I am quite heavily invested in the Festool system, with three vacs, and 6 or so sanders. I do clean up (and the guys know to do so as well) where I am working, whether it be wood scraps or shavings etc) as I am working - we dont leave things until "tomorrow". This makes it easy to work clean and having a few brooms and shovels, and garbage pails around the shop again makes it easy.

One thing I can say, if you have employees that dont care about the shop, or your tools, or cleanliness - youre going to be hard pressed to keep things in line. I am lucky, I have two good guys who understand how I want things run and respect that.

As far as things like the compressor drain - get an electric timed drain and forget about it. I have mine set to drain every 45 minutes, for about 3 seconds. Never lets any water build up in the tank... ever.

[knight_toolworks]

the problem is not getting the dust when cutting on the bot it is removing the parts. I use a downcut and it can get messy removing parts when they stick i the scrap. I am in the basement of a old building and I don't have a way to air out the dust if I blew the dust out of everything. most of my dust is not in the air from tool use though

[dlcw]

I add to this a blown-down once a year. I open all the doors, place a positive pressure fan in one door to positive pressurize the shop then go around and blow dust off everything with compressed air. I have a full face mask dust mask on and the shop fills with dust. But the combination of the fan and selecting a day when it's windy clears the dust outdoors quickly. I'll do this 3 or 4 times to clear the dust out.

[bleeth]

Wow Don. If I don't blow down at least once a month I can't stand it, although I am not nearly as good at daily as Gene Or Andrew.
Often for me general cleaning is a Saturday or Sunday chore if I'm too busy or beat for a tidy Friday.

[dlcw]

With winter wx here, I can't blow down in the winter. I will turn the shop into an icebox. In the summer, I don't like to open the shop up for too long as it is super well insulated and stays pretty cool most of the day for me.

So I do my blow down in the spring or fall when it's about 70-75 degrees outside and I have a really good westerly breeze. Nature takes care of most of the dust clearing that way. I start around 6am so the shop is good and clear by the end of the day and I can get back at the next day. I have done most of my blow downs on weekends so as to not interrupt work.

Between fire department and my business I am busy and don't get the chance to blow down multiple times a year. I can't take my shop out of service for a day or two to get it done... I guess that's a good problem though :) and I'm not complaining about being busy.

My dust collection and air cleaners keep the shop tolerable the rest of the time. Every piece of machinery is connected to dust collection. All my routers and ROS's have vacuum hookup as well. For hand sanding I set up a fan at one end of my sanding work and an air cleaner at the other end. Fan blows the sanding dust into the air cleaner. In other words, I try to catch all the dust and chips at the source of creating it.

I do have some dust - it's a woodshop after all - but it isn't really that bad.

[genek]

How I blow down the shop is as follows. I have a 5 x 5 fan I place this under the Garage door. I block off the sides. I put on my face mask, and air mask. I use a leaf blower and I start at the opposite side of the shop and open that door. I precede to blow the shop down from top to bottom and blowing in the direction of the huge exhaust fan. (ceiling , walls and floors.) If you keep your shop tidy all the time it is much easier to do your daily, weekly, monthly and by yearly... It is getting into that routine. At first it is a pain in the rear. but after you get settled into the routine, you find yourself doing it every day, week, etc and liking the out come. as far as the plugins and other boxes I use the shop vac and air hose.

[Ajcoholic]

I do use compressed air to clean off machine surfaces (mainly just the ts, ras, and around the shaper, and the cnc table) of shavings/dust that gets past the dust collector. But I dont blow the whole shop - been in my present location going on 5 years in April since I started production. I bet there is less than 1mm dust on my duct work, etc. I owe that to proper dust collection and vacuum hook up to the hand tools.

Case in point... (timely as well!) Today, one of my guys was sanding drawers all day with one of the FEstool sanders/vacs. I was in the middle of the shop milling wood for doors all day. After lunch, my other guy (who is working on a few desks) decided to put the Festool sander he was using, and give one of my older pneumatic sanders without a dust pickup a try (not 100% sure why, he just wanted to try it).

As I was working on the shaper, I realized that the air wasnt quite as clear as it should be, and I looked over and saw what he was doing. I made him go back to the Festool sander, lol. It really does make a difference.

When I go back to my old shop, where 4 guys are working full time with no dust hookup.. I am amazed that I used to work like that too. Dust everywhere, you look like a snowman, and have to wear a respirator all the time.

As for maintenance, everything counts. Today I was also gluing up a bunch of panels, and realised my Lamello pressurised glue pot was leaking a bit when I released the handle. Took off the head, washed it and lubricated it. Took maybe 10 minutes - back in business for another year of use. If I left it, I guarantee it would get worse, take more time to clean and repair and make more mess while I am working. My rule is to take care of things when they need to, not when you feel like it. That way it gets done.

[coryatjohn]

I never blow anything off. I use a vacuum. It does the same thing but produces zero dust. It takes a bit longer but overall, does a better job. Doing this regularly keeps everything spotless.