Surplus Tools

Like a lot of other members of this forum, I suffer from this habit of collecting tools. Usually I see tools for incredible prices and I just grab them out of habit before anyone else can get them.

But this means that I have a weird imbalance of surplus tools. For instance, the other day I decided to allocate a space in a cupboard for tape measures, and I'm reluctant to admit that I ended up with 17 tape measures sitting there! I's guess I'd have about 8 drills, but it could be more, about 300 drill bits, 3 jig saws, 4 circular saws, 25 hammers of different types and so on.

My shed is a breeding ground for shifting spanners; I must have 35 of them. They sit around staring at me from all corners of the shed, until they detect my desire to use one, then they hide. But while I'm looking for one, I often start noticing that there are a lot of, say, vyce-grip pliers around. So I collect them and decide that they should all go in "that draw", and when they're all in there, there's 22 of them. These in turn aren't there when next I need one.

For SWMBO this is all pure idiocy and something that is highlighted when she's angry with me (daily) and wants me out of the house: "get down to the shed with your 25 hammers...".

Am I the only one?

No simply I am not as bad but close screw drivers heaps of them hammers all sorts pliers hand saws a growing collection.

Mind you if I had a decent size shed and the $$$ it would be similar.

LOML hates me going near tools stores sales or even markets she knows the outcome.

But I have a saviour she is just as bad with craft stuff, knitting, weaving (4 looms) sewing (4 machines one we found on the side of the road works a treat), spinning(3 wheels numerouse drop spindles) art stuff I bought her a Rose wood box set of art crayons years ago been used twice.

No different to camera's, computers, I guess we are all hoarders and gatherers.

I'm a bit like that. Just did a reorganization and found a have a lots of screw drivers, a few shifters, hammers, hearing protectors... Nothing really worth anything so I'll give them to the local charity. You got anything forsale that we might be interested in?

Whats the problem?

Pusser

We've been in our current house for about six years. There's a 1.5 car garage that's my 'workshop' which basically means I dumped all my stuff in there when we moved in and everything stayed more or less in the same position ever since.

I've just started reclaiming the space to try and set things up in a manner that I can actually start a new project in some degree of safety i.e. I wont trip over the junk again!

My problem is that I've been picking up junker planes and chisels for a few years. They all still need to be cleaned and tuned. I've literally got a bucket of chisels :cool: and boxes of woodies that have never seen the light of day since I bought them :(.

However I probably still don't have the tools I need.:B It seems whatever project I consider calls for something I don't have! Not to mention every time I repair something around the house I never seem to have the right size screw or nail. I stare at my collection of hardware and I just can't believe I have to go down to Bunnings AGAIN to get another size screw.

I'm beginning to realize it'll take me a long time to sort things out and build all the storage needed to put things in the sort of order that makes them user friendly. Not to mention that I doubt there is enough space to put all the resulting cabinets around the walls and still have space for timber storage and build space for a project!:?

Rossluck, it looks like you must be just around the corner. PM me if you want to get together and compare notes.

BTW. My 5YO Stanley metric tape measure just snapped its end off and I've had to fall back to my 20YO Stanley metric/imperial tape. They don't make them like they used to - even a few years ago! I'm thinking of getting a 4 fold rule next. Has anybody seen a nice metric 4 fold boxwood rule anywhere, cheap? See I need another tool already!

We had a garage sale a few weeks ago and I decided to offload a lot of tools. But I was pretty disgusted with how mean people were. I mean, I was selling things in excellent condition that are $100 new for $20, and these people still wanted to argue about it. For example, I had a 200mm set of Mitutoyo dial verniers for sale for $30 ($120 or more new). One fellow bought a lot of stuff and needed $10.00 change, which SWMBO had wandered away with. So I "generously" offered him the verniers instead. After he carefully considered this offer for about three minutes, I whipped them out of his hands and said: "offer withdrawn, I'll find your change". I sighed with relief and kept them.

In the end I put a whole lot of stuff in the cabin of the truck because it was "too good for them". But then a chippie came along with his trailer after working on a house down the road and asked me if I had anything for him. I showed him the stuff in the truck and he bought it all without haggling.

Rossluck, next time you want to "give" stuff away, give eBay a thought first. You might have sold some of that stuff for a lot more than you got for it, from people who have no appreciation (or too much appreciation??) of its value.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Ron Dunn

Rossluck, next time you want to "give" stuff away, give eBay a thought first. You might have sold some of that stuff for a lot more than you got for it, from people who have no appreciation (or too much appreciation??) of its value.

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I used to sell a lot of stuff on Ebay but I got a bit sick of it. You know, the photos and then the postage. Believe it or not I used to warn people when they were bidding too high by pointing out that they weren't too far off the new price. I ain't gonna be rich.:(

...and I never go to garage sales because there's only ever junk and a lot of suss clothing.

Reminds me of the time we were clearing out my deceased mothers house, before the days of ebay. We had several generations of stuff to get rid of and there was lots of good stuff there that if we had still lived in Melbourne we probably would have opened our own cabinet in one of the antique malls.

The stuff that sold best was the real junk. Hardly anyone was prepared to pay anything for an item of value. We had one hard nose trying to argue down a pair of new sheepskin boots from $2 to 50c. I would'nt budge he wouldn't buy. I took the boots putting my hand inside to find mother dear had hidden a purse with a fist full of notes.:o