and a few unknown to mankind until I made them. Finding logical spots for them has become a larger and larger challenge. Finally, the dam burst and I gave up one of my four railroads and en- larged the shop area by its square footage. The Sn3 logging road once in the shop is now history, and I have an- other 200 square feet to mess up. Most of the day-to-day tools we use should be stored where they can be lo- cated instantly. Multiples and back ups can be relegated to boxes and drawers, out of sight. Label the drawer or box so it is also not out of mind. In this part of the hobby, labels are a must. We have such a wide variety of tools and sup- plies that the best memory on the plan- et could not keep track of all of it. For example, Grandt Line and Tichy Train Group make a lot of different O scale doors and windows. I have every one of them. Needless to say,


Arko-Mills


(parts drawer makers) loves me. You folks in HO scale have even more to choose from. Having a drawer marked windows is just not going to cut it. Having a dedicated 60-drawer unit is a good start, but ten of them is better. I know this. You do, too. Likewise, most of us have a serious


array of styrene and wood strips, sheets and shapes on hand. Add to them the incalculable number of other details, tools, and supplies that need to be stored where they can be had as needed. The ways to accomplish this are many and varied. Bins, boxes and various shelving options are only part of the answer. Finding real estate for all this storage is an on-going chal- lenge in itself, as well. Look at the obvi- ous places (under the layout and such), then to the less obvious, like shelves suspended from the ceiling and rolling containers under work areas.


PHOTOS BY THE AUTHOR


I mounted my stripwood bin on a plywood platform on casters that could be rolled out of the way when not being used. A smaller version for strip styrene is small and light enough to slide along the floor to a convenient spot under the bench when not in use. My rule of thumb is this: I need room for my carcass to work comfortably, and every other cubic foot is fair game for work surface and storage. DeWalt made that screw gun bright


yellow for good a reason! Other tool manufacturers have come to the party as well, like hobby knife handles are hard to miss. Electrical tape can be purchased in a multitude of colors. It can be used for ownership identifica- tion (this I learned from my days at Rush Medical Center, where surgeons ID’d their implements with color-coded tape), or so a dull tool would stand out a little on the bench. If you travel, say to a club work-night, it's nice to differ- entiate your tools from those of others. A lot of small ideas will conspire to make your time at the workbench more enjoyable. Make those color-coded tools mentioned above work for you. You can make your own code for the knife han- dles, red for the sharpest/newest blade, green for the daily usage one, and black for the dullest of the lot that is used primarily for scraping. Alterna- tively, you can put different types of blades in different colored handles so, at a glance, you know what type of blade is in the knife. If you are any- thing like yours truly, the blade itself will be hidden under a pile of debris. A carefully-placed light fixture un- der the bench will assure that you nev- er actually drop anything of great im- portance. Likewise, readily accessible cleaning materials will almost always guarantee that you will never spill


anything. A lot of the amenities on my bench are of a preventive nature. Read- ily available plastic bandage strips and antiseptic ointment are a good idea if you are anywhere near as klutzy as I am. Knowing where the blade will go when (not if) it slips, is a good way to keep the first aid supplies gathering dust.


I've mentioned before that I have pin vises in multiples of multiples. For a while there they were like guppies. I started in 1956 with one and now there are two dozen. They contain the twenty something most-used drill sizes and have saved me a lot of bit-changing time over the years, as well as an un- known number of lost or mis-placed drill bits. I do have a block of foam (from some brass locomotive no doubt) that holds even more drills, as well as salvaged lengths of brass wire,


a


sewing needle or two, and a few tooth- picks. That same foam block used to hold a bottle of styrene cement, but I upgraded to a chunk of 2″×4 that seemed steadier. Believe me, you will only spill that stuff on a mostly done model once.


I keep my most-often used tools in a little office pencil holder on the work- bench and at hand. I’m not talking the whole tool collection here, just the bare essentials: knife, square, a few screw- drivers and the like, those you tend to use on most every project. Access is im- mediate; no hunting around. The few times you absolutely have to use a “left handed framus” a little searching will probably turn up all kinds of goodies you forgot you had. Then is when you will remember that you sold the thing on e-Bay five years ago because you never used it. That brings me to the last bit of sage advice for this month: never throw away, give away, sell, or otherwise dispose of any tool. The mo- ment you do you will have desperate need of it within a fortnight. Next month we will revisit jigs and fixtures, as well as some random (there's that cautionary word again) tips and tricks.


A well organized workshop has the tools and supplies labeled and ready to go. This is espe- cially true for things that are used all the time. Have a supply of clean up wipes close, too.


RAILROAD MODEL CRAFTSMAN 69


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