I need organization help!

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carladeam

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Oct 17, 2005
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Weaverville, North Carolina
Okay. I don't know about all the frame shops out there, but I have Soooo many matboard pieces and fall outs--big ones, little ones, all colors, styles, you name it. And now that Cresent discontinued so many of the Tru-vue matboards AND changed the numbers on the rest, I can't keep up any more. Actually, I have never been really good at keeping up with all those pieces.

How do you you organize all those very usable matboards? I already cut many down to 11x14's and 8x10's and give tons away to preschools, but I need a good way to organize so I will know what I have.

After 12 years, you would think I would have come up with a solution by now, but since I haven't I am begging for help.

Thank you Thank you Thank you
 
We trim everything down to the folowing sizes.
8 x 10
11 x 14
12 x 16
16 x 20
20 x 24
24 x 32

It turns a messy mess into a neater mess.

Doug
 
Ron, before someone else asks (and because I forgot) is there a "part 2 and 3" to that saga?
 
Ron, you're a genius, no wonder you're a
Framing God!! I have 3 of those racks in the shop now, two for ready-mades, one for horizontal moulding storage, for 10+feet lengths, we have short ceilings.

Matboard storage! Yes! And I have a whole bunch of extra shelves, because I've only used 3 on the existing racks, they come with 6. Easy to put together, and I have the perfect spot for it.

Thay're affordable too, we found them at Costco for $79! $69 sometimes. Oh man, I can't wait, you have just solved a HUGE problem!!!

Ron, you're my hero!!
 
Oh, Carla, I got so excited about Ron's Racks, I forgot about scraps: We haven't time yet, since we started the "new" shop, but saving them to....we do what Doug said, do-it-yourselfers will buy "blanks" in those standard sizes, and students, etc. Sell them for, say, $1.75 for 12x16, $1.50 for an 11x14, $1 for 8x10, etc. And get a metal rack to store them on! FoamCore too. Made decent money selling blanks in my first shop, rather than tossing. I do donate smaller pieces to the Boys and Girls Club every few months.
 
Not sure about parts 2 and 3. I think at least one of them was about organizing the mat corner samples and there's been PLENTY of discussion about that.

A big part of my plan was to emotionally separate myself from matboard scraps. That happened when I started moving them to a new location. A lot of scraps got left behind when they demolished my building for a new performing arts center.

I do keep some alpha-cellulose scraps to use for backing, filler or - if large-enough - slip sheets. I don't try to organize them.
 
Ron,

I just reread your post about the taming of the matboard monster and had forgotten how organized you are!!

I think you could teach a class about this - I know I would sign up - in a heartbeat!!!

Roz, the queen of organized disorganization - but I know where things are, really!!
 
Roz, you will just have to share that crown with me.

It's organized chaos in my shop.
 
can you fit three heads in that crown
faintthud.gif
 
I got so excited about Ron's metal matboard rack this morning that we went to Costco and got another one! And for a good reason...

The Matboard Monster turned on me! I was looking for a particular matboard among the full sheets leaning against the wall. The pile changed direction and leaned (hard!) on me, and pinned me between it and the trash barrel, just about knocked me on my butt! My new hips are still pretty fragile, that would have been a disaster! So....Sunday we're putting together our NEW MATBOARD RACK and organizing that area before I get hurt!

Thanks again, Ron!
 
thanks

Thanks to everyone for the ideas, and mostly the motivation to get myself organized. That is all I have been doing for the past two days, and still have a ways to go, but at least I am getting there. I have incorporated a lot of the ideas in to something that works for me. I am going to find some of those racks like you used, Ron, but when I went back to look again, the link is not working any more. But that is okay, I studied them before.

I could do even better if I could get over that "emotinal attachment" to my matboard--can't get past the fact it could be used for something.

Gee--we ARE building a house. Is there something matboard could be used for? Open up a whole new market for scraps!
 
The new search function has some powerful tools in the advanced setting, but it's really awkward to post a link to a previous thread and all the old links are no good.

Let's try this:

http://192.168.1.4/showthread.php?t=7161&referrerid=1221

I go that link by selecting 'email this thread' and then copying and pasting the link.

The link doesn't appear in the address od the web browser any more when you find it with a search.

I'd say that doesn't work.
 
Thanks Ron, got it this time. Great idea too!
 
I spent all day and evening yesterday, Sunday, in the shop, putting together the new chrome rack (Handy Husband helped with that, it only takes a few minutes but it's sturdy (heavy!) and moving matboard and foam core and glass around. What a difference!!! Because we already have bins with full sheets, the new rack, in the back "glass" room, has one bin for foamcore, one for 32x40 glass in their boxes, one bin for full matboard sheets, and the rest for not-quite-full-size sheets. All "tamed" now and unable to knock me down!! Organized by color families.... warm colors, cool colors, black/white/grays, suedes, etc. I'll get more specific with organizing colors/types but ran out of steam.

It really helped get the main work area uncluttered. I walked in this morning and went Wow!! The shop got bigger!!! Look at all this room! And then didn't want to work and mess it up! Ha!

Why do we have such an attachment to matboard scraps? I can't bring myself to throw it out, except the very smallest scraps, and I donate most of those.

Again to Ron, thanks for the ingenious but simple idea. I have 5 of those racks in the shop as shelves, 2 for horizontal moulding racks, placed end-to-end, and 3 for ready-mades frames, and one at home in the kitchen... never thought of turning one on its side like that.

I mentioned earlier, but for anyone who missed it, we get ours at Costco for about $79, but I believe Home Depot or Lowe's carries them too for a little more.
 
Guess I'm the Tightwadiest

When we bought the store, it had lots of built-in wooden racks to hold matboard sheets (We buy direct from Crescent once a year). On the opposite side of the room we have the scrap bins (vertical storage). The mat scraps (shortest side no less than 16 inches; smaller go to churches, schools, anyone else I can get to haul them away... and occasionally into the trash. OW!) are marked with the number and the whole inch size (16 3/4 x 32 gets marked as 16 x 32, e g.)

The tallest scrap is stored to the right and smaller sizes progressively moving to the left. This seems like the only way to either keep from being overwhelmed with a useless mess or missing the real profit maker of reusing fallouts for a second job. The size and color numbers are written on as we stand waiting for the Wizard to make its run around the opening.

If this seems obsessive, it's just that I can't stand not to have things organized in some manner... probably because I occasionally forget where my brain is, and it may take several days for it to show up again...
 
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