While there’s no one big trick to an exponential efficiency increase, there are several small things you can do to promote productivity in your shop. From proper organization to batching your work, here are some ways to make your woodworking shop more efficient.
Organize Your Shop
Tidiness and organization go a long way toward increasing efficiency. Spend a few minutes at the end of every day vacuuming up sawdust, returning tools to their homes, and clearing away your workbench. This helps you avoid days, weeks, or months’ worth of clutter piling up and feeling like an impossible chore to deal with.
If your shop has haphazard organization, you’ll spend more time than necessary searching for where you left a saw blade. Invest in organizational tools like pegboards for hanging tools, an area devoted to wood storage, and shelves full of drawers and storage options.
Prevent Glue Stains
Glue stains are a massive waste of time. You may miss a stain on a piece only to spot it once you start staining. Then, you need to spend extra time sanding down the glue and restaining, which interrupts the rhythm of your work. Your best bet is to avoid these issues before they arise.
Clamp your pieces together without glue and put masking tape over the joint. Cut the masking tape with a sharp tool and separate the parts. Then, apply glue and re-clamp. This results in excess glue oozing onto the masking tape instead of the wood.
Batch Your Work
Batching your work allows you to focus on one tool at a time. Start by cutting all your boards, then sand them. Next, you can either assemble or stain and paint. Some people prefer staining and painting first to avoid the problems of glue stains, but others find that pieces have a hard time sticking together once they’re stained.
Now that you know these ways to make your woodworking shop more efficient, implement some small changes and enjoy more productivity when working on your projects!
