Took Nearly 2 Years to Organize

[foakes]

After working on every type of reel for over 40 years — I decided to just specialize in a few quality brands of Spinning Reels from the 50's up through the early 90's.

Easier said than done!

Got rid of most of the conventional reels, as well as any spinners I would not be needing (plastic, graphite, cheap quality, no parts availability, no interest, etc..).

Got rid of 16 large boxes of just Penn Conventional parts a little over a year ago.  

Got rid of another 3 truckloads of reels and parts.

Took a lot of stuff to the dump.

Finally, yesterday, I was able to complete the organization of the parts and reels that I would be keeping.

Dam Quick, Penn, Mitchell, Cardinals, and ABU/Garcia.

Rearranged the loft I built 10 years ago — after building a staircase also at that time.  Extra 800 sf of storage for reels & reel parts, camping gear, fishing gear, trailer & camper necessities, paint, good scrap wood, dust collectors for the downstairs equipment, misc. storage, my rock polishing gear, boat stuff, and a section for my wife's leaded glass work.

Then I also re-ordered the outer downstairs glassed in reel shop.

Was able to eliminate the most of the storage container full of stuff, and one other area of storage.

Ended up with (3) areas of essential reels and parts — all organized and mostly numbered or easily accessible.

164 bins and containers in the main inside upstairs shop.

101 bins in the outer downstairs shop, plus (3) 60 drawer library organizers, 31 additional large bins, 5 sets of cupboards, 14 drawers, and other stuff.

Up the staircase, in the upper loft, is another 111 large bins of DQ, Penn, ABU, Cardinal, & Mitchell reels and parts.

These are just the larger parts, bulk parts, or duplicate parts — there is still perhaps 50,000 small parts in number order in the pull out organizers —

Everything is clearly labeled.

Few folks know how much effort this took to organize perhaps 200,000+ parts, reels, and other stuff into an accessible and useful manner.

But it is done now.

Time to get to work on some reels!

Best, Fred

[Bill B]

Well done brother.....Bill

[oldmanjoe]

    I wish i could focus enough time  to get that organised .       I get easy side tracked when i pick something up , then it becomes a project .

[PacRat]

Some serious organizing skills!

[Midway Tommy]

You're just like me, Fred, except you actually get it completed rather than getting sidetracked right in the middle. 

[Crow]

Great job, Fred !

[Wompus Cat]

 Hey Fred ,

When can you come over to Texas and start on my shop and storage .
I have a nice covered place to park your Camper and just a block from the Lake .
Should not take over 4 or 5 years with me helping or a month or so by yourself.
If I'm not here when you arrive just go to the Back Gate and look for the keys under the Black Rock marked with a Dam Quick lil Fishy 
I can pay at least double what you got paid for organizing yours.

[Aiala]

If our government was one tenth as organized as Fred is, we'd all be in much better shape.   

~A~

[Gobi King]

Fishing rods behind the tables/shelves is a neat idea.

Fred, How you store the larger, odd shaped items?

[foakes]

Fred, How you store the larger, odd shaped items?

What types of items are you referring to, Gobi?

Best, Fred

[handi2]

I sure wish you could come do mine!

Keith

[jgp12000]

That will save time finding things in the future, that's what get's me more than anything is having to  waste 30 minutes looking for something you know you have to do a 5 minute task.I have bought things I have just cause I can't find them then i will find it after the project is done.my pet peeve is when people don't return things/tools where they got them from and then everyone else has to suffer, I don't miss that part of work, maybe now i am retired i can get half that organized. I do know where all of my tools are more or less...

[Gobi King]

Fred, How you store the larger, odd shaped items?

What types of items are you referring to, Gobi?

Best, Fred

Large tools, gallons bottles like simple green, back-up ultrasonic cleaners etc.

So in essence anything that won't fit on the plastic totes.

[foakes]

In the bins are only reels sorted by brand — and then by model.

And surplus parts that won't fit in the other two shops.

The backup US cleaner is out in the metal prep shop with the cartridge tumbler, bead-blast cabinet, parts cleaner, powder-coating station, ovens, and compressors.

The extra greases, oil, cleaners, and other prep products are on their own shelves.

All tools are on the bench, or next to the bench on the wall — every tool within easy reach without moving more than a couple of feet.  Any duplicate or unnecessary tools are either in the outer shops if they can be used for metal or wood-working.  Otherwise, they are just passed on to others.  I keep what works, and what I am comfortable using — but no duplicates — just quality tools that last and are super durable.  No tool is kept in a drawer or a cupboard, or a bin.  Every tool is out and within visual and easy reach.  

If I can't see it — I can't use it.  

If I don't use it — I don't need it.

It is nice for your ego — to have a lot of tools.  But it is just wasted storage that can be used for other useful items.

My shops are small — and they must be uncluttered and ready.

I don't break very many tools, because I have invested in decent quality tools that will last generally past my lifetime.

If one gets broken or won't work on a rare occasion — I just buy a better one.

We don't want a doctor operating on us if they don't know exactly where all of their instruments are located, or if they don't have enough instruments, or even if they have too many cluttered about.  All tools should be prepped, ready, clean, and in a visibly useful location.  Anything else should not be acceptable, IMO.

All bins are clearly labeled with what is inside.  Plus, there is a color-coded 1 inch dot on each bin.  Red for DQ, Blue for Penn, Yellow for Mitchell, and Green for ABU/Garcia/Zebco/Cardinal.

Sue & I met with our Attorney a week ago — to update our Wills & Living Trusts.  When I leave this World — a few key members will be contacted — providing our Site is still active — to take all of the reels, parts, and tools from all of the shops — to be given freely & spread out among the Ohana as they see fit — who could use the stuff to carry on this work.

Hopefully this won't happen anytime soon — but it is the right thing to do, and a good thing to have in place now.

The only day that counts — is now.  Yesterday is already history — and tomorrow isn't a guarantee.

This is what works for me — and it needs to be exactly what is needed — in a brutally honest, efficient, and proven manner.

Best, Fred

[DON3099]

Now that is truly amazing!!! VERY WELL DONE!!!