A client's simple comment about my workbench made me rethink my whole setup

I was fixing a laptop for a regular, and she said, 'Your bench is so neat, but it takes you a minute to find anything.' She was right. I had everything in labeled bins, but they were stacked and I was always digging. That afternoon, I cleared a wall and hung up a pegboard. Now my most used tools, like my iFixit kit and my good screwdrivers, are right in front of me. It probably saves me 15 minutes every job just not hunting. Has anyone else switched to a wall setup and found a tool they forgot they owned?

3 comments

3 Comments

ryan_black22d ago

Man, I read an article once about "out of sight, out of mind" with tools. It's totally true. My own junk drawer at home is a black hole for tape measures and good pens. Putting stuff on a wall forces you to see it, so you actually remember what you have. It stops you from buying a third pair of snips because you can't find the first two.

henry_ross22d ago

My buddy who does guitar repairs had the same thing happen. His bench was a total museum, everything in its place but buried. He put up some slatwall and hung his fret files and nut drivers. Found a whole set of radius gauges he bought years ago and never used. Kind of funny how just seeing a tool changes how you work, right?

ruby65922d ago

My uncle's woodshop had that same slatwall system. Henry's buddy is right, it stops tools from becoming invisible parts of the clutter. You start reaching for the right file instead of just the one on top.