Shop Note

Workshop Organization - [Ship plans storage]

Art Herrick

The following is one man's solution for drawing storage, and reference display:

DRAWING STORAGE:

For drawings actively related to my present research or ship model projects I use Jim Bean bourbon corrugated whisky cartons, which are free from my local liqueur store. These are "heavy corrugated cardboard" and come divided into twelve compartments approximately 3" square which are of corrugated cardboard egg-crate construction. My drawings are loosely rolled and stored vertically in the box's twelve compartments. The box itself has a footprint of 10" x 13 1/2" and is 11" high, so does not take up much space and is portable. The 3" square compartments allow the loosely rolled drawings to lay reasonably flat when unrolled, even after being stored rolled for a period of time.

Trim off the box's top --- give the outside a spray coat of gray primer --- and you have a respectable, permanent and strong ship plans storage container. To identify the rolled up drawings when they are stored in the JB Drawing Container, print their identification nomenclature on the back edge of each drawing so it is visible when the drawings are stowed vertically in their individual egg-crate type compartments.

For my collection, of at least over 150 ship model and reference drawings, which I have collected over the past fifty years, I have home made cardboard Drawing Storage Folders. These are made of 39" x 54" heavy corrugated cardboard sheets, that I purchased from my local Industrial Paper Supply company. For a hinge along the 54" edge of the folder I use 3" wide Cloth Library Tape (book binding repair tape). Lay the two sheets, edge to edge, on the floor, with a 1/4" gap between them, and lay a piece of tape bridging the gap. Turn the two sheets, which are now taped together, over and lay a second piece of tape bridging the gap on the other side, and you have a hinged folder. Be sure to press the tape together in the 1/4" gap between the two pieces of cardboard, because this produces a hinge for the folder.

To hold the Drawing Storage Folder closed I use 2 1/2" long spring steel alligator paper clips, two on the shorter edge, and three on the longer edge. So I know what is in each Folder, I have glued a 9" x 12" manila envelope to the outside of the folders, which contains an inventory of the folders contents, and I try to keep the drawings stacked in order. These Drawing Storage Folders can be stacked vertically for storage, so they really occupy a very small amount of floor space.

DRAWING REFERENCE DISPLAY:

My own ground floor 12' x 20' model shop, has a work area at one end and a drafting/reference area at the other end, with a 38" x 72" professional drafting table and a 36" x 60' reference drawing table. I find my own work methods are to do all my layout drawings and shop sketches on the drawing board, from which I then reproduce parts for a ship model. This means that there is no need to have devoted wall space in my work area to hang purchased reference drawings from, but I must admit there is a well worn path from my work area to the drafting/reference area, and I must note that the work methods, and tools and equipment, used in the two areas really do not mix well, if at all.

One thing that does hang on my shop wall, is a picture of the vessel, or vessels, I am presently involved with ... needed purely for inspirational purposes, but this is of extreme importance in keeping a project on track.
{Art Herrick}

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