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Shop system tips, woodworking insights, and lessons from my Bonney Lake garage.

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Day 7: Week 1 Recap: You Already Leveled Up

If you’ve been following along this week, here’s what you’ve done:

  • Day 1: Added 10 Duplicate Zone items and 3 locations
  • Day 2: Applied the One Home Rule: every item, one home
  • Day 3: Learned the 2-minute readiness check
  • Day 4: Started tracking material replacement costs
  • Day 5: Wrote your first failure note
  • Day 6: Named 5 locations in your shop

That’s it. No massive overhaul. No weekend-long reorganization. Just small, daily improvements that compound.

February 16, 2026 · 1 min read
Move Faster

Day 6: Label Locations, Not Items

Labeling every item becomes homework. Nobody keeps up with it.

I’ve seen workshops where someone spent a weekend labeling every drawer, every bin, every shelf — and within a month it was all outdated. Items moved. New tools arrived. Labels peeled off. The system collapsed under its own weight.

Feb 15, 2026 1 min
Cut Better

Day 5: Failure Notes: Turn Downtime Into Data

If a tool fails repeatedly, it’s expensive, even if it was cheap to buy.

That $15 set of drill bits that dulls every other use? The sandpaper that clogs in 5 minutes? The clamp that slips? Each failure costs you time, material, and momentum. But without data, you just keep buying the same stuff. In fact, I’m kinda doing this with a set of router bits. I got 100+ bits (I think). It seemed like such a good deal, but I’ve used like 6 of these bits, one or two times each, and they are dull and I’m getting tear out.

Feb 13, 2026 2 min
Spend Less

Day 4: The 'Use What You Have' Trap

Hot take: “use what you have” can be more expensive than buying the right sheet good.

It sounds responsible. It sounds frugal. But sometimes the scrap plywood you’re forcing into a project costs you more in time, rework, and frustration than a fresh sheet would have.

Feb 12, 2026 2 min
Move Faster

Day 3: The Readiness Check To Avoid Stalls Before They Happen

Surprise store runs are the #1 project killer.

I’d say “Imagine this…” but I know that you’ve already done it. In fact, we all have. You know, you’re mid-cut, flowing, making progress, and then you realize you’re out of 120-grit. Or the right bit. Or finish. Or screws.

Feb 11, 2026 2 min
Move Faster

Day 2: The One Home Rule - Find It Fast

One Home Rule: every item has one home location. Flow dies when you search.

If a tool doesn’t have a home, it becomes a traveler. Travelers create mess and wasted time. You put the router on the assembly table “just for now” and three days later you’re tearing the shop apart looking for it. I’ve done this a hundred times!

Feb 10, 2026 2 min
Spend Less

Day 1: The Duplicate Zone is Where Your Shop Leaks Money

Shops leak money on the Duplicate Zone: bits, sanding, fasteners, glue, finish.

These are the items that are cheap enough to forget and expensive enough to keep rebuying. You don’t notice any single purchase. But over a year? You’re paying a duplicate tax you never signed up for.

Feb 9, 2026 1 min

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