Bucket Rack Followup

In February 2015 I described how I used 5-gallon bucket for storage of small items.  Recently, I’ve decided to modify the way I do that.

But wait!  First, I’ll digress and explain why I have been remiss in making blog posts.

The past two years were mostly consumed making upgrades and repairs and replacements to our home and yard while attending to all the things which deteriorate over thirty-five years of living.

The culmination came this fall when I had a concrete driveway poured to the shop associated with other walk and driveway repair at the house.

Besides being a great convenience, I see the shop driveway as a necessary addition as I approach the time when I’ll have to part with the equipment I built and otherwise accumulated to do metalworking.  When that day comes a forklift will be essential and a driveway will be essential for using the forklift.

It has been my great good fortune to have a wonderful couple come and help make a major transition in my shop.  I’ve finished doing commission work and just want to make items for our gallery and reduce the inventory of partially worked things which still crowd my workspace.

I can see clearly now what I will use and what I will not use.  My friends worked for days making the metamorphosis happen.  They moved, cleaned, organized and removed things. Some things they took home and I hope they find those things are really useful to them.  We made several trips to the steel recycling facility and one to the landfill.  Even so, I still have a long way to go.

So, what about the bucket rack?  Overall my plan worked pretty well.  I could always find the things I stored there and the plastic bags did keep water out.  However, the plastic bags eventually degrade and lose some effectiveness so it looks like replacement about every two years will be necessary.

The bigger nuisance came from Carolina wrens finding they could move the plastic enough to create a cavity the perfect size for nest building.  I like the birds so after they have a nest going I feel obliged to leave them undisturbed which means I can’t get into that bucket.  They actually have several other sheltered places on the porch to nest so I just need to make the buckets less inviting.

This is my plan.  Most buckets are only partially filled.  I plan to see that they are completely filled so when the plastic bag is tied the exposed surface is bulging, convex, and offers no cavity possibility.  I will accomplish that by crumpling newspaper into small clear plastic waste basket bags forming appropriate sized plugs.  I’ll try to remember to post some images when I actually get that done.  I may also make some more nest sites by cutting a three-inch hole in plastic milk cartons.

Storage Jars

To a certain extent I've learned to buy food to get the container. Fortunately I like peanut butter as it comes in my favorite storage jar.

The transparent jar is probably made from polyethylene terephthalate, PET, a thermoplastic polymer resin of the polyester family. The cap is made from polypropylene. It is possible to order them empty in bulk lots if one desired to acquire a lot at once. My collection has grown at a steady, slow, natural, P&J sandwich eating pace for several years.

Standard operating procedure for use in the studio involves drilling two, 1/4" holes approximately 1/2" both sides of the lid center, passing a cable tie through, and hanging it up for later use. When the need arrises I add the contents and label with a correction pen. If the jars use changes later the labeling can easily be removed with lacquer thinner.

Jars which contain something I seldom need are hung on the loft ceiling. I snapped a chalk line grid on the osb board and labeled each intersection with an alphanumeric designation and placed screw hooks at those points. I use a correction pen marker to label the lid of each jar with the corresponding hook number so it is easy to return it to it's proper home, For instance, when I'm looking for the micrometer, I can check the inventory on the computer and find that it is hanging at hook A11.

If the jar contains something which is prone to damage by excess humidity I put a Tyvek Dessicant packet inside too.

My parents behavior was deeply affected by the hard times associated with the Great Railroad Strike of the 1920's and the Great Depression of the 1930's. We saved, jars, cans, string, wire, paper bags and other things. I straightened nails bent when something was demolished. Home made was the best in almost every case. It's in my nature to look for things to save put to good use and it predated the reduce, reuse, recycle axioms of the environmental movement.

http://www.persimmonforge.com/

PVC Tube Racks

Years ago I was given a steel rack and installed it on the north porch of the studio. Arriving steel was carelessly shelved without any real organization other than being about ten foot long. This really wasn’t a problem as long as my inventory was small and I only had a few sticks of this and that but after there were ten or a hundred pieces it was a mess. Invariably, if I needed a stick of 1/4” by 2” it was three inches deep under other sizes of flat bar and was impossible to pull out.

One year in the hot season I took some time off and obtained PVC tube in two, three and four inch sizes and rearranged the same-size steel inside the tubes. Previously I had used some thin wall three and four inch steel tubing to segregate various sizes of stock and I was somewhat surprised to feel how much easier it was to pull out bars from the PVC tubes that the steel tubes. The friction is much less.

I worked at the project over a couple of months and I think the system can’t be improved much more. It’s very functional. I can quickly see which sizes of stock are in short supply and they are easy to count for inventory. It is pretty easy for me to “eyeball” size the stock but since my wife does most of this counting job I often use a Presto pen marker to write the stock size on the top piece in the tube or on the tube itself.

The only hidden bummer I’ve found so far is that the outdoor tubes provide attractive space for mice and mud dauber wasps to build their nests. One summer I discovered an old but still fragrant mouse nest in a tube in the tumbler room. Soon after, I discovered a blacksnake nearby, apparently attracted by the scent. There is never a dull moment.

http://www.persimmonforge.com/