Updating our Storage Policy
Equipment, projects, material - what do these all have in common? They all take up space - valuable space. In the coming months, as we continue to clean out 10Bit, you will start to see sections of the workshop enclosed in painted lines, tables color coded, and tools given better defined homes. Let me share with you some of the trials and tribulations we have faced while trying to come up with simple storage policy that is as enforceable and objective as possible. Our goal is to eliminate the need to clean up someone else’s mess before being able to start your work, reduce the time to find the right tool, and give clear guidance on where and how to clean.
Trial #1 Junk
You may have noticed that there is a lot of junk at 10Bit - we have! These items typically fall into two categories, project byproducts (jigs, forms, molds, and abandoned projects themselves) and donated tools/material. Let me begin by mentioning that I am not from San Antonio and my experience in San Antonio has been as a renter. I was not aware that residential properties generally only have two bulk pickups per year and the cost of dumping in San Antonio is incredibly high. Now it starts making sense why any type of bulk item - working/non-working, useful/garbage, modern/historic - seems to get donated to us!
Trial #2 Enforcement
If you have signed up, you have signed a membership agreement that outlines your responsibilities to the space. 10Bit has no full time staff so it is imperative that members clean up after themselves. Unfortunately, this rarely happens. The floor is never swept, projects are left on the table saw outfeed table, scrap lumber is strewn around the shop, and tools are left out or stored randomly. If staff doesn’t have 24hr presence, how do we apply standards equally? Does the guy that comes in Saturdays from 2-4 get harangued while the night owl here alone escapes penalty?
Trial #3 Communication of Rules
Ok, maybe you didn’t read the membership contract - no worries, until I joined the board neither did I. But we do have signs that say “clean up after yourself, “ and tables labeled “do not leave projects here.“ Also, what does “clean up” really mean? If I put away my tools but don’t sweep, have I cleaned? We get it, not everything has a clearly defined home, that sawdust on the floor - is it mine or the last guys - if I need to glue up but there isnt a glue up table, where can I leave my project? All fair questions.
Solution: SECTIONS
Our solution is the implementation of three types of floor spaces. Work areas, tool storage areas, and project storage areas.
Work Areas: Work areas will be enclosed in a red painted line. This line means “If you bring something in, you must take it out before you leave 10Bit - period, no exception.” If there is something in the work area that wasn’t when you got there, you are in the wrong. This means project materials, offcuts, clamps, tools, and sawdust.
Storage Areas: Storage areas will be enclosed in a green painted line. This line means “Feel free to store your project and materials here but it must be recorded as yours or face removal from the space.” We will have floor standing storage, table storage, bin and shelf storage - all with QR codes that you must scan to record your ownership.
Tool/Material Areas: Tool/Material areas will be enclosed in a yellow painted line. This line means “If you take something, you must bring it back.” To be clear, bringing it back consists of putting it where you took it from - no piles next to drawers!
These rules are as binary as we could make them, as self-explanatory as possible. If you are on the wrong side of the law you should know it before anyone has to tell you.
Implementation
We are working hard to get this up and running as fast as possible - we believe this will truly improve your experience at 10Bit. We are about half way done with eradicating our junk problem - almost totally done in the area we have marked for member storage. We have synchronized our camera system with access logs so that we can better identify and correct members that make the space more difficult to enjoy for others. To tackle the problem of communication we will be creating more explicit signage as well as placing these expectations and section rules in your inbox, on slack, and as many places as we can in 10Bit.
Special thanks to Matt, Juan, Bob, Don, Beans, and Jeremy for working so hard to find solutions to these challenges, sweeping constantly, and filling the dumpster!
Thank you for taking the time to work through this novel - no person that contributes their time and resources to 10Bit receives payment of any kind - we do it because we feel strongly that 10Bit provides a service to our community - in this way, members have an equal role to those that, on paper, govern the space.
