That time a job in Portland made me rethink my tool cart setup

I was running a 3-axis Haas at a shop in Portland last spring, and the owner had us doing these tight tolerance parts for a medical client. My tool cart was a mess - just wrenches and parallels thrown in drawers with no organization. One day I grabbed what I thought was a 3/8 end mill but it was actually a 1/2 inch, and I didn't catch it until the spindle was already running. Crashed the tool holder into the vises and snapped the end mill, which cost the shop about $120 for the holder and carbide. The owner walked over and said "you gotta know where everything is before you hit start" - real quiet like. After that I spent a Saturday building a foam insert layout for every drawer, with cutouts for each tool and wrench. Has anyone else had a crash that forced you to totally redo your organization? What did you change?

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blake6912mo ago

$120 for a holder and end mill before lunch...

4

daniel_walker2mo ago

Read a forum post where a guy used colored tape on his wrenches to match drawer slots.

2