Dangit .

[Ulma Doctor]

i was lucky enough as a child to spend time with my grandfather on my father's side..
He lived through the great depression, a man in his 20's.
For as bad of a period of time it was for most folks, some beneficial things came from the experience.
For my grandfather, it honed razor sharp resourcefulness, he never seemed to throw anything useful out.
it seemed he cold make or repair ANYTHING , with only the possession of simple tools
i'm hoping some of this rubbed off on me
i don't have simple tools, my collection leaves little excuse for me not to be able to repair or remake things
but i still keep the most insignificant hunk of scrap, thinking i will find a use.
the tactic of hoarding has worked hundreds of times in producing something from nothing- i don't see it changing anytime soon unfortunately

 

[C-Bag]

i was lucky enough as a child to spend time with my grandfather on my father's side..
He lived through the great depression, a man in his 20's.
For as bad of a period of time it was for most folks, some beneficial things came from the experience.
For my grandfather, it honed razor sharp resourcefulness, he never seemed to throw anything useful out.
it seemed he cold make or repair ANYTHING , with only the possession of simple tools
i'm hoping some of this rubbed off on me
i don't have simple tools, my collection leaves little excuse for me not to be able to repair or remake things
but i still keep the most insignificant hunk of scrap, thinking i will find a use.
the tactic of hoarding has worked hundreds of times in producing something from nothing- i don't see it changing anytime soon unfortunately

My G-pa was a Dust Bowl Okie and I was in his extended care several times when I was little. As hard as the Depression was the Dust Bowl compounded it. He was a simple and direct man with a second grade education but a masters in hard knocks and more common sense than anybody I've ever known. He was an anti hoarder ( I think because they had to leave everything in OK and had their house burn to the ground twice) and was a master IH mechanic who specialized in crawlers. So in my book he could fix anything having had to deal with IH and CAT crawlers for short stints. But kinda like Dave not doing machining as a hobby, he was not a fixer or hoader in his private life, he was a farmer at heart. What I did get from him was no matter the job or task he was proud to have that job or task and was going to get it done, period. He was a pitbull of quiet determination and never complained and one of few times i saw saw him get riled was when somebody was complaining about work. If it was a machine or hydraulic's or whatever he was going to learn how to fix it and didn't need fancy tools specialized equipment. I wish more of that rubbed on me. I think I have more of the Portuguese dairy farmer in me from my dads side because them folks were straight up hoarders and from what my dad told me his dad could make silk purse out of a sow's ear

 

[ACHiPo]

it seemed he cold make or repair ANYTHING , with only the possession of simple tools

Gee, that sounds like Jim George (and you come to think of it)!

 

[DavidR8]

i was lucky enough as a child to spend time with my grandfather on my father's side..
He lived through the great depression, a man in his 20's.
For as bad of a period of time it was for most folks, some beneficial things came from the experience.
For my grandfather, it honed razor sharp resourcefulness, he never seemed to throw anything useful out.
it seemed he cold make or repair ANYTHING , with only the possession of simple tools
i'm hoping some of this rubbed off on me
i don't have simple tools, my collection leaves little excuse for me not to be able to repair or remake things
but i still keep the most insignificant hunk of scrap, thinking i will find a use.
the tactic of hoarding has worked hundreds of times in producing something from nothing- i don't see it changing anytime soon unfortunately

I'm the youngest child of Depression era parents and I definitely recognize the repair and reuse mentality they had. I'm grateful for it to be honest.
Too much waste going on today.

 

[MrWhoopee]

I could tell many stories of my co-workers leaving work with their ass end of pickup trucks dragging behind them . It was a nightly ritual for them . I had my shop going and didn't need the stuff back then , but if I woulda only known .

When I worked as a lab tech in chemical research, I would regularly be told to dispose of perfectly good pumps, regulators, compressors etc. after we completed a study. I just couldn't bring myself to do that, so I started stockpiling it in a little used building. The day came when I was leaving to return to school (to study machining) and realized there was no way I could smuggle all that stuff out to my VW bus in the parking lot. Undaunted, I went to the motor pool, checked out the Travelall, loaded it up, drove out the front gate past the guard and took it all home.

 

[middle.road]

I'm going to try my best to get this stuff and I think they'll agree to it . Besides all the 80/20 , there's a ton of jig plate , round stock , angle stock etc . For my area , they wouldn't buy any of it , so I go down and hit the shop up . I don't need a lot , but this would keep a hobby shop going for years .

I guess they don't understand you can make a useful tool out of a piece of scrap metal . And I can also make a perfectly good piece of metal into scrap .

Amazing what gets scrapped.
All that 80/20.... *SIGH*

 

[middle.road]

When I worked as a lab tech in chemical research, I would regularly be told to dispose of perfectly good pumps, regulators, compressors etc. after we completed a study. I just couldn't bring myself to do that, so I started stockpiling it in a little used building. The day came when I was leaving to return to school (to study machining) and realized there was no way I could smuggle all that stuff out to my VW bus in the parking lot. Undaunted, I went to the motor pool, checked out the Travelall, loaded it up, drove out the front gate past the guard and took it all home.

You mention a V-dub Bus and a Travelall - Kind of dating yourself there.
Both are cool and I sure wouldn't turn down an old TravelAll if it were offered. Especially one of the droopy eyed ones - two tone, with 4WD.

 

[ACHiPo]

I'm the youngest child of Depression era parents and I definitely recognize the repair and reuse mentality they had. I'm grateful for it to be honest.
Too much waste going on today.

David,
Right there with you. My dad was tighter than a frog's @#$. He was born in 1929, Feb. 14 to be exact--the day of the Valentine's Day Massacre. He was a passionate farmer, a university professor, and a consultant--pretty much worked 3 full-time jobs. His love of Harbor Freight and Big Lots contributed to my tool acquisition syndrome--I can't stand cheap tools! But he had the good sense to set me up in business at the ripe age of 9 repairing and selling bicycles, which also added to my passion for all things mechanical. It also paid for the first two years of engineering school. I still need to fight the urge to cobble something together--hammer to fit, paint to match.

 

[DavidR8]

Cobblers unite!
My dad’s material of choice was plywood. For all things. That and the kind of thin metal used to sheet campers and RVs.
When he passed away I must have recycled twenty pounds of small pieces.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[ACHiPo]

Cobblers unite!
My dad’s material of choice was plywood. For all things. That and the kind of thin metal used to sheet campers and RVs.
When he passed away I must have recycled twenty pounds of small pieces.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Oh and pop rivets! And stick welding