# Dangit .



## mmcmdl (Mar 7, 2020)

Have about a ton of 80/20 aluminum extrusion in the dumpster in here . Unfortunately , it has to stay in the dumpster  I'm thinking about pulling some out and stocking it for fixtures and other crap around our maintenance shop . I sure hate to see this stuff dumped for free .


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## Aukai (Mar 7, 2020)

I'm not familiar with 80/20, and I can post a picture....


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## mmcmdl (Mar 7, 2020)

Hm .................................................


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## Aukai (Mar 7, 2020)

YOU need to get a phone with a camera that can focus,,,or better glasses so you can see it's out of focus


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## mmcmdl (Mar 7, 2020)

No , I need to get a set of EYES that can focus !  Just tore apart 4 of our motors on our chiller that went out yesterday . Bad bearings and boards . We're going to try to fix them up in here . I had this set up to press the motors thru the housings , talking about some strong ass magnets !


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## Aukai (Mar 7, 2020)

I did a ninja edit, but you beat me.


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## mmcmdl (Mar 7, 2020)

LOL , I just saw it . It's true though , these work glasses are prescription and their 8 years old .  ( I'm actually going next month to get new ones )


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## Aukai (Mar 7, 2020)

I think you will be surprised at the difference.


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## C-Bag (Mar 7, 2020)

That's just sad and wasteful. That's basically how I got my 75' of 80/20. It was an old DIY cnc router frame and they stripped all the electronics and were going to scrap the 80/20 frame. I never could have afforded to buy new including the hardware but they let a guy who worked there have it all and he sold it to me for $175 off CL. It's made all the difference in my home biz.


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## mmcmdl (Mar 7, 2020)

C-Bag said:


> That's just sad and wasteful. That's basically how I got my 75' of 80/20. It was an old DIY cnc router frame and they stripped all the electronics and were going to scrap the 80/20 frame. I never could have afforded to buy new including the hardware but they let a guy who worked there have it all and he sold it to me for $175 off CL. It's made all the difference in my home biz.


 Wasteful for sure . Last month someone " emptied out " our dumpster of aluminum , motors , and stainless . We have cameras located everywhere on the building . Management wasn't concerned a bit about going forward with an investigation , they consider it trash .  I don't find it to be trash in any way , and I could have used it for fixturing and tooling .


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## Ulma Doctor (Mar 7, 2020)

if its trash, why do they care if a few pieces end up missing?
i get the liability thing, i get the overlord/serf thing too.
but dang, they could sell the scrap instead of donating it to the local transfer station, who will in-turn remove the said metal and sell it for scrap


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## mmcmdl (Mar 7, 2020)

My point exactly . They're trying to save money , groan about spending $500 for tooling , yet throw $1000s of dollars worth of usable material to the scrap wolves . On top of that , we're building a new line so they'll have to buy all new material !  Maybe I'm just a hoarder , but good material is good material .


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## Ulma Doctor (Mar 7, 2020)

mmcmdl said:


> Maybe I'm just a hoarder , but good material is good material .


then i'm definitely a hoarder if that's the prerequisite and/or definition


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## DavidR8 (Mar 8, 2020)

I’m with the Doc. I hate waste. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## MontanaLon (Mar 8, 2020)

Years back we had a bunch of trash and metal we had to clean up. Boss told me to get a dumpster and take care of it. I ordered 2 dumpsters, 1 for trash and one for the metal and set to work cleaning up the mess. When it was done I had 1/2 a dumpster for the land fill and a dumpster completely full of metal. My boss showed up and chewed my ass for "wasting money" on 2 dumpsters when I could have fit it all in 1 heaping full dumpster. Said I would have to pay from my own pocket for the second dumpster. I called the company to pick up them up and they did. It ended up that the metal dumpster paid for the other dumpster entirely and left about $600 which I used to throw a party for everyone that worked for me. A couple of months later my boss asked me if I had learned my lesson about "wasting money". Yep, sure did.

Places around here that do fab work sell their scrap to the scrappers. They get that every penny they save makes them more profitable and while it may only bring $40 a ton, that adds up quick. And it also makes them amenable to letting me dig through their bins. I give them $20 and take an armload that is maybe worth $1 as scrap. They don't mind if I take the "best stuff" at all.


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## mmcmdl (Mar 8, 2020)

MontanaLon said:


> It ended up that the metal dumpster paid for the other dumpster entirely and left about $600 which I used to throw a party for everyone that worked for me. A couple of months later my boss asked me if I had learned my lesson about "wasting money". Yep, sure did.



That's the way it used to be , and the way it should be .  I may take a walk


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## Aukai (Mar 8, 2020)

Isn't there a song about that


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## mmcmdl (Mar 8, 2020)

Aukai said:


> Isn't there a song about that


Which one ? Everything is still there . If it's still there next week , I'm going to inquire about it . I always need target material and the boss likes me , so who knows . I'll have to unload the truck of all my scrap aluminum though . ( the kind I love to scrap .


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## Aukai (Mar 8, 2020)

About you taking a walk


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## mmcmdl (Mar 8, 2020)

LOL Mike , I just went thru it 2 weeks ago . 2 days ago , I was told I will be training one of our dayshift temps on my shift . He will be employed full time with the company , which will be a huge + for him . I'll soon be starting a new shift which works out better for my family . 12 hours Sun , Mon , Tues and 6 on Wed . Dayshift !  I will still fill in all OT shifts but hey , I'll have my weekends back after 2 years of not having them .


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## Aukai (Mar 8, 2020)

That's great if the new guy has any talent


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## mmcmdl (Mar 8, 2020)

Aukai said:


> That's great if the new guy has any talent



He's a good guy with some talent . Not a machinist , so they'll lose that aspect on nights but it's not really necessary anyways . He's never missed a day , never been late , is friendly and attentive . I recomended hiring him on full time because of this . He'll just have to learn how to deal with the people skills which I think he'll do fine .


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## Aukai (Mar 8, 2020)

That's awesome!!!


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## mmcmdl (Mar 8, 2020)

For ME it is !


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## Aukai (Mar 8, 2020)

If you guys hit it off you can teach him some skills, that'll work. OOOOyeah


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## mmcmdl (Mar 8, 2020)

The company unfortunately will not let mechanics use the shop equipment . I guess for liability issues . I have to lock out the lathes and mills when I leave for the night .


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## Aukai (Mar 8, 2020)

Facility machinist instructor???


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## mmcmdl (Mar 8, 2020)

Absolutely NOT !  We have a fully attended machine shop on daylight . I'm in maintenance but am a machinist , they moved the machines in for me after many discussions . I save them alot of downtime with the small change parts I make in here at night , but the machine shop still does the production stuff . And I hate production .


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## C-Bag (Mar 8, 2020)

I


Ulma Doctor said:


> if its trash, why do they care if a few pieces end up missing?
> i get the liability thing, i get the overlord/serf thing too.
> but dang, they could sell the scrap instead of donating it to the local transfer station, who will in-turn remove the said metal and sell it for scrap


i have gotten so many schizophrenic responses from different levels of so called "managment" I've quit trying to worry about the right thing. The same guy will one day say "I don't care take what you want" and the next "I can't just let you have it!" and when I offer to pay him says "just go ahead". Meanwhile they have yards full of equipment rusting away and don't have a clue. Both places I worked as a plant mech I emptied their bone yards and reorganized their lines without buying any new equipment. I am NOT bragging. I know how to manage resources but suck at managing people and any other myriad of things my bosses did and wouldn't want their jobs for love nor $$. But somehow they got intimidated by my junkyard dog ways. Part of my gift if you want to call it is somehow keeping a balance sheet in my head about what is useful and can trash the rest. I see 80/20 as so infinitely useful in so many ways because it's reusable it would have to be mangled to not want to squirrel away good useable chunks especially since you say most of the equipment at your plant is made out of the stuff. 

I had a good friend who worked for Lockheed in the 80's on Star Wars and he explained to me whole contract process.......he wasn't a junkyard dog like me at all(a 'puter nerd) and the waste offended him. It made me sick to my stomach. But we don't want to go there......


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## mmcmdl (Mar 8, 2020)

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 .


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## mmcmdl (Mar 8, 2020)

C-Bag said:


> I had a good friend who worked for Lockheed in the 80's on Star Wars and he explained to me whole contract process.......he wasn't a junkyard dog like me at all(a 'puter nerd) and the waste offended him. It made me sick to my stomach. But we don't want to go there......



Any DOD contract states that when the contract is up , all tooling , material , inserts are deemed scrap and should be thrown out . I worked in the R&D lab and we had dumpster rights to all of this waste .   We supported our shop this way .


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## C-Bag (Mar 8, 2020)

It's shocking to how a pile of something goes away in a hurry when you have an actual project. It's why I'm always on the lookout for material. It's a full time job here as I don't have access to scrap and drops.


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## C-Bag (Mar 8, 2020)

mmcmdl said:


> Any DOD contract states that when the contract is up , all tooling , material , inserts are deemed scrap and should be thrown out . I worked in the R&D lab and we had dumpster rights to all of this waste .   We supported our shop this way .


NOW I get where all your "Rusty Relics" come from! That would drive me crazy!!!!! Probably just hook up to the dumpster and drive it home


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## mmcmdl (Mar 8, 2020)

I consider myself a bottom feeder as I'ms sure anyone on this site is . I will hold onto the smallest piece of scrap and one day find a use for it . I had to make a few special punches last night in here , I used scrap lying around collecting dust . I don't care if it's rusty or not . A quick .005 cut and it's a brand new piece of stock !


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## mmcmdl (Mar 8, 2020)

C-Bag said:


> NOW I get where all your "Rusty Relics" come from! That would drive me crazy!!!!! Probably just hook up to the dumpster and drive it home



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 .


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## C-Bag (Mar 8, 2020)

I've been keeping the old cookie tins and mint tins etc for odds and ends. Just the other day I needed a shim for a jig setup and I'll be dipped I had just the piece. Much better than cutting something special. Bottom feeder indeed!


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## C-Bag (Mar 8, 2020)

mmcmdl said:


> 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 .


By the multiple shops full of stuff it doesn't seem like you would have "leave it behind remorse". Is most of your stuff what was left over from your commercial shop?


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## mmcmdl (Mar 8, 2020)

I had a small very well tooled shop after years and years of auctions long before the internet age existed . I worked it and my buddy worked part time for me . When my 3rd was born , we outgrew the house . I sold my equipment , RPCs , blast cabinets , compressor , anything large . I packed up all the tooling which I considered the hard stuff to replace .

I clubbed the basement and we stayed in that house for 2 more years . I bought another house 100 feet away and that's where we are now . I went 20 years without machines , did tractor restorations which was pretty fun . Maybe 6 years ago I get a call from the guy who was working for me . He wanted to know if I wanted any equipment . I told him no but ended up with 3 mills , a couple lathes , saws etc . I was a supervisor at the company and brought him in and he ended up being the plant manager after I switched jobs .

So I got the equipment , didn't really want to get back into machining , and sold it all ( for a very small profit ) 

I kept all my tooling though . Machines seem to fall into my lap these days , knowing so many in the trade . They are small , 12" lathes , a BP , surface grinder , other small stuff . I still own the other house with the nice basement , and it's a very hard decision as to what I want to do . Get a small hobby shop going again ? Stick to the Kubota to make a few side bucks ? Get back into Cub Cadets ? Who knows . 

Right now , I'm trying to get rid of doubles , triples , exotic tooling etc . If I do decide to keep a lathe and mill , it'll be for very basic stuff , but I'm leaning the way of clearing out the house . I've stored this stuff for too many years .


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## Aukai (Mar 8, 2020)

You are enabling the next generation with quality "stuff"


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## mmcmdl (Mar 8, 2020)

Aukai said:


> You are enabling the next generation with quality "stuff"



It is quality stuff , made long before Chinesium existed . I'll be on the job today Mike . One goal is to get those shelves off the tops of the Vidmars .


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## mmcmdl (Mar 8, 2020)

I'm outta here for 3 days in 31 minutes !


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## Aukai (Mar 8, 2020)

WHOA, going home early.


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## mmcmdl (Mar 8, 2020)

Aukai said:


> WHOA, going home early.



Daylight savings time kicked in at 2 last night !


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## Aukai (Mar 8, 2020)

LOL, my time didn't change


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## mmcmdl (Mar 8, 2020)

You're in a different world  I'm packing up the pickem-up . Be home in an hour , I'll post pics of the progress today .


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## Aukai (Mar 8, 2020)

That would be cool


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## Aukai (Mar 8, 2020)

I'm going to bed.....be safe


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## finsruskw (Mar 8, 2020)

My son is the same way.
He scraps cars in his spare time IN his shop and saves ALL the valuable metals.
He just gifted me this after my search at local suppliers for a piece of 1 x 6 x 12" aluminum bar for a project.
"Here Dad, see what you can make out of this."
He smelts all the aluminum heads, pistons, and what not into ingots.
Has a huge stack of them waiting on the price to hopefully go up!!


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## ttabbal (Mar 8, 2020)

Wish I could find places with garbage like that! Haven't found local shops willing to let me buy drops even.


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## C-Bag (Mar 8, 2020)

mmcmdl said:


> I had a small very well tooled shop after years and years of auctions long before the internet age existed . I worked it and my buddy worked part time for me . When my 3rd was born , we outgrew the house . I sold my equipment , RPCs , blast cabinets , compressor , anything large . I packed up all the tooling which I considered the hard stuff to replace .
> 
> I clubbed the basement and we stayed in that house for 2 more years . I bought another house 100 feet away and that's where we are now . I went 20 years without machines , did tractor restorations which was pretty fun . Maybe 6 years ago I get a call from the guy who was working for me . He wanted to know if I wanted any equipment . I told him no but ended up with 3 mills , a couple lathes , saws etc . I was a supervisor at the company and brought him in and he ended up being the plant manager after I switched jobs .
> 
> ...


It's taken me all this time to understand the difference in the tooling because I didn't have access to it. Until I got to this CL guy selling off tooling from a couple of shops. I bought a couple of "bundles" of lathe bits and it's turned into a treasure trove of specialized carbide bits of all sizes including some tiny ones. And all for cheap.

It is some kind of law of nature about when you don't care about something, in your case machining equipment, it's everywhere. Sounds like if you weren't so busy with your day job you could be a dealer. 

We all have the thing that makes us happy and yours is restoring mowers and tractors. I know all about changing interests and obsessions. Machining for me is what I do to enable other things I'm interested in. Like metal forming.


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## Ulma Doctor (Mar 8, 2020)

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


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## C-Bag (Mar 8, 2020)

Ulma Doctor said:


> 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.
> ...


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


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## ACHiPo (Mar 12, 2020)

Ulma Doctor said:


> 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)!


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## DavidR8 (Mar 12, 2020)

Ulma Doctor said:


> 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.
> ...


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.


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## MrWhoopee (Mar 12, 2020)

mmcmdl said:


> 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.


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## middle.road (Mar 12, 2020)

mmcmdl said:


> 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*


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## middle.road (Mar 12, 2020)

MrWhoopee said:


> 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.


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## ACHiPo (Mar 12, 2020)

DavidR8 said:


> 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.


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## DavidR8 (Mar 12, 2020)

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. 


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## ACHiPo (Mar 12, 2020)

DavidR8 said:


> 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.
> 
> ...


Oh and pop rivets!  And stick welding


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## C-Bag (Mar 13, 2020)

DavidR8 said:


> 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.
> 
> ...


My dad was born in '29 too, Dec. 30. I don't know if I'd call him a cobbler. He just used whatever was at hand and wood was reserved for special things. He was always doing deals with my sisters trading cars with them. I remember him telling me to look in the '70 bug he'd put seat covers on and on the floor behind the front seat on the floor was a yellow Prestone coolant bottle. ?!?!? WTH? When I looked close he'd put a radio in it and didn't have anywhere to put the speaker so he mounted it in the  Prestone bottle. It was all I could do to keep a straight face when I saw that.


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## DavidR8 (Mar 13, 2020)

C-Bag said:


> My dad was born in '29 too, Dec. 30. I don't know if I'd call him a cobbler. He just used whatever was at hand and wood was reserved for special things. He was always doing deals with my sisters trading cars with them. I remember him telling me to look in the '70 bug he'd put seat covers on and on the floor behind the front seat on the floor was a yellow Prestone coolant bottle. ?!?!? WTH? When I looked close he'd put a radio in it and didn't have anywhere to put the speaker so he mounted it in the Prestone bottle. It was all I could do to keep a straight face when I saw that.



Oh yeah my dad would have done that too. 
It used to bug me but I grew to see it as kind of endearing. 


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## C-Bag (Mar 13, 2020)

My dad turned 90 and about 5yrs ago he gave up his honorary position in the mobile park he lives in as the park handyman. He was actually doing good work there for the 20yrs he was doing it. I feel like he's a cautionary tale for all of us. When he gave up his handyman thing he's gone down and the butter has pretty much slipped off the pancakes.
Sad.


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## DavidR8 (Mar 13, 2020)

C-Bag said:


> My dad turned 90 and about 5yrs ago he gave up his honorary position in the mobile park he lives in as the park handyman. He was actually doing good work there for the 20yrs he was doing it. I feel like he's a cautionary tale for all of us. When he gave up his handyman thing he's gone down and the butter has pretty much slipped off the pancakes.
> Sad.



I completely understand where you’re at. 
We eventually had to put my dad in assisted living and that was pretty much the straw. He was in an orphanage as a boy and I think it felt like he was being institutionalized again at 90. He didn’t last much more than six months after he went in. 
Sad. And I miss him dearly. 


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## C-Bag (Mar 13, 2020)

DavidR8 said:


> I completely understand where you’re at.
> We eventually had to put my dad in assisted living and that was pretty much the straw. He was in an orphanage as a boy and I think it felt like he was being institutionalized again at 90. He didn’t last much more than six months after he went in.
> Sad. And I miss him dearly.
> 
> ...


My mom passed at 56 and my dad and my uncle have always looked inordinately young for their age. He ended up marrying a woman who's 25yrs junior. She's been a very devoted wife and is taking good care of him bless her heart. So I don't see him having to go to a home thankfully. There was some resentment about her at first mainly with my sisters but nobody wants to say his wife isn't doing a good job and wants to take over.


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## mcostello (Mar 14, 2020)

Plywood was too expensive for My FIL.


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