# Too many



## Eyerelief (Jun 8, 2022)

My mentor from the 90's has gone to assisted living.  He's in good spirits, close to his oldest son and his grand children.  I feel fortunate to have been able to help him until just recently.  I still talk with him weekly.  I helped his boys sort through all that he had putting a value on everything that we could.  It wasn't going as "lucrative" as they had hoped, but when tools set unattended for years, no good can come of it.  I will say, that he only invested in quality.  When the tools got small, the boys through all of them into a couple of big tubs and said I could have them or they were going to sell them by the pound.  Probably 200-250 pounds I would guess.  I told the old man what I had, and he was excited for me to have them.  So far I have cleaned up and fixed a few of the items that were practical for any household and gave them back to my friend so that he could give them to his boys.  Tap wrenches, taking various sets of drill bits and making a couple complete sets, allen wrench sets, socket sets etc.  Some items that were in his first tool box from the 60's I am sure.
I'll share some of the other items as I get them cleaned up.
Here is a boring head that was pretty badly rusted but came out of the Evaporust looking OK.  A little Bridgport #1 with a short 3/4" shank.  Adjust as smooth as glass.  If I only needed a boring head..... Sadly I have 5, this one makes 6, and I only paid for one of them.


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## MrWhoopee (Jun 8, 2022)

Good on you for maintaining the connection and showing him that someone still appreciates the things that were important to him.

I find I have been inheriting tools in a similar fashion for nearly two decades. As my friends pass or are forced to down-size, my collection grows. Being in undeservedly good health, I am beginning to fear that I will end up with all the tools and no surviving friends.


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## Eyerelief (Jun 9, 2022)

MrWhoopee said:


> Good on you for maintaining the connection and showing him that someone still appreciates the things that were important to him.
> 
> I find I have been inheriting tools in a similar fashion for nearly two decades. As my friends pass or are forced to down-size, my collection grows. Being in undeservedly good health, I am beginning to fear that I will end up with all the tools and no surviving friends.



Me too!  At this point, I have plenty of tools, would rather sit around and drink beer with the old friends.  These guys were great at getting things done without hopping online and buying "a tool for that".  Invaluable information.  I have had the luxury of drawing on well over 150 years of accumulative machining and tool making knowledge, but its dwindling each year.  If this keeps up, pretty soon I will have to start figuring the difficult stuff out on my own.


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## C-Bag (Jun 9, 2022)

MrWhoopee said:


> Good on you for maintaining the connection and showing him that someone still appreciates the things that were important to him.
> 
> I find I have been inheriting tools in a similar fashion for nearly two decades. As my friends pass or are forced to down-size, my collection grows. Being in undeservedly good health, I am beginning to fear that I will end up with all the tools and no surviving friends.


My dad became the de facto handyman for the 55+ park he lived in the last 28yrs of his life and every time one of the guys in the park passed he got everything. Some of the stuff I got. The pattern was any time I needed to borrow it he would say don’t bring it back. Either he already had 5 or didn’t need it in the case of the table saw.

It is a concern of many that none of your kids want tools and nobody who wants them. I’ve been lucky that I can give my surplus to the neighbors son who works as a mechanic.


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## C-Bag (Jun 9, 2022)

Eyerelief said:


> I feel fortunate to have been able to help him until just recently. I still talk with him weekly.


+1. There are few things in this world I get sadder about than another hard working guy goes on standby. When my dad hung up his ability to work his only goal was to reach 90. He passed pretty quick after that. So I’m very watchful of my older friends as they get into their mid eighties. My neighbor down the street is the German version of my dad. Hard worker still sharp but unlike my dad his hobbies of building models etc keep him active mentally. But his wife has Alzheimer’s and he’s dealing with it alone. Caretaking is so hard and I try to keep in touch but it’s really tough. I’ve gotten him involved with some projects which has made him ask me to help him with a couple of projects like the two weather vane’s we’ve gotten restored. He’s sharper than my dad but the stress of his wife is really taking a toll. I only wish I’d gotten to know him decades ago.


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## Eyerelief (Jun 9, 2022)

C-Bag said:


> +1. There are few things in this world I get sadder about than another hard working guy goes on standby.


Isn't that the truth.  I helped my friend with a few jobs in the last few years as his endurance faded.  The last thing we did together was just a project making a brass presentation holder for a pocket watch his grandfather had given him, and he in turn was giving it to his granddaughter.  He knew exactly what he wanted it to look like, so I machined it through his minds eye with no input from me.  Understandably, he came up short on a couple of his ideas, but I let him keep going with his thoughts and fixed the issue when he wasn't looking.  He had a blast just sitting in the shop watching the brass chips fly and giving me a hard time.
I do think it great that he moved closer to family though.  His grandchildren will keep him younger longer than I can.  And he always has a shop to come to if he gets a hankerin.


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## C-Bag (Jun 9, 2022)

Eyerelief said:


> He had a blast just sitting in the shop watching the brass chips fly and giving me a hard time.


LOL. Horst sneaks down whenever he can, which is not often. His wife gets frantic when she can’t find him and that’s why he can’t work out in his garage. But when he comes down he wants to see what kind of stuff I have gotten into. Last time he was down as he turned around to leave he said “don’t ever stop, ever”. And seeing what happened to my dad I can see the writing on the wall. When I don’t want to get out there and tackle something or finish up some project or even just “visit the tools” it will remind me the slip n slide to the dirt nap is next and better get a move on.


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## Eyerelief (Jun 9, 2022)

Words of Wisdom "Dont ever stop"


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## mickri (Jun 9, 2022)

One of my best friends dad had a garage full of stuff.  Not really machine related.  Just stuff.  Nuts and bolts, screws, gadgets that he had made to help do something.  His dad wouldn't part with anything.  Somebody might need that his dad would say.  So Jim started offering his dad a $1 for one thing.  $5 dollars for something else.  And so on.  Saying he had a friend who needed it.  Took awhile but the garage was eventually empty.  Jim's dad was happy.  Some stuff was junk and it went into the dumpster.  Metal got dropped off at a scrap yard.  Some stuff Jim kept.

Who knows what my kids will do with my stuff.  One grandson loves to make stuff.  Loves tools.  He just turned 6.  I always give he some kind of tool for Xmas and birthdays. He's been learning how to use a hand drill this spring.  If somebody has some construction happening on their street he puts on his tool belt and goes down to watch.  He might want my stuff.  Who knows.


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## Eyerelief (Jun 9, 2022)

I as well wonder what will be the ultimate demise of my "stuff".  My son has an engineering degree from the Academy, but is a pilot in the Marine Corp.  He says he is excited that I have this machining equipment but I'm reserved.  I hate to get rid of it if he wants it, but I would hate to burden him and my daughter with getting rid of it if when they throw dirt on my face.  With his current line of work, his mind stays pretty full. Understandably, I have yet to get that call from him saying, "I have this idea".


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## C-Bag (Jun 9, 2022)

mickri said:


> One grandson loves to make stuff. Loves tools. He just turned 6. I always give he some kind of tool for Xmas and birthdays. He's been learning how to use a hand drill this spring. If somebody has some construction happening on their street he puts on his tool belt and goes down to watch. He might want my stuff. Who knows.


Now there is a rare bird in this day and age. I hope you get hang with him and feed his budding urge to make something. My grandfather and my uncle were both mechanics but my poor dad had ten thumbs. But bless his heart he had tools(even though he didn’t really use them) and my brother ended up a plumber/machinist and I a mechanic /fabricator. He just fed the proclivities I guess. It worked out great for him because we took care of his stuff. Smart man  

My dad was a potato chip salesman so he had tons of boxes. One whole wall of the garage was shelves with a solid wall of boxes. Not a single one had anything marked on them  Every year my mom and dad would load up their trailer and go fishing all over the western US for a month. So I knew 1/4 of the garage was filled with bogus junk in those boxes so I waited for them to go on vacation and we got a dumpster delivered to the house and got rid of all that junk. One box was assorted oddly bent coat hangers. Another had a flat 4 square ball and broken squeegee. That was just a hint of what was in those 30 some odd boxes and not one of them had anything useful or were over a quarter full. We called it organized stealth hoarding.


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## sdelivery (Jun 9, 2022)

Organized Stealth Hoarding 
That is a GREAT one


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## sdelivery (Jun 9, 2022)

Hi My Name is Creighton
and I am tool addict and Love to build create and repair......
I learned of my condition through a web forum. 
I sure hope there is no cure...


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## C-Bag (Jun 9, 2022)

It was funny that I’d not thought of organized stealth hoarding for 40yrs. Even funnier, organized stealth hoarding…OSH


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## sdelivery (Jun 9, 2022)

Well the really cool thing is it brought up your Dad, and you related a great story, that brought laughter and more talk about your Dad.


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## Eyerelief (Jun 9, 2022)

OSH!  Oh man!  I might have that


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## C-Bag (Jun 9, 2022)

I have TAS, tool acquisition syndrome. And like all addicts I can quit at anytime and have quit a thousand times. Until the next insane deal comes along. My last was this 5 drawer flat file cab for ….$25.


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## sdelivery (Jun 10, 2022)

I can quit at any time


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## 7milesup (Jun 10, 2022)

sdelivery said:


> I can quit at any time


Crap, now I have to clean up the coffee that I just snorted out.


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## C-Bag (Jun 10, 2022)

Eyerelief said:


> OSH!  Oh man!  I might have that


See, that’s a fine line that I am always watching. I recognized early on in order to be like your mentor and his crew you needed a good stock of materials to pull from in order to solve problems. So there is a difference between OSH and MAS (material acquisition syndrome). OSH is a box of oddly bent coat hangers and MAS is a pile of steel at a ridiculous cheap price. Yes to our better half it looks a lot the same but they do not occupy the same space in the universe. One will forever take up valuable space in the shop never to be repurposed, the other will be pulled upon to make a much needed gate, legs for the flat file, a reciprocating sheetmetal forming machine etc etc.

 Unfortunately it’s always a fight with my DNA to useless hoard and my trained repurpose of that urge into “collect” the useful for future projects. Luckily I’ve been able to demonstrate to my best half the difference. She always asks me “what are you going to do with that?” and if I don’t have a good answer she talks me down. It doesn’t happen often but it does help she is a psychologist.


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## Eyerelief (Jun 10, 2022)

You are spot on.  The line between MAS and OSH is razor thin.  MAS on one hand is a noble affliction.  With the price of material acting the way it is, MAS makes sense.  I get a great deal of satisfaction out of finding a piece of drop that is the exact size I need.  OSH on the other hand is driven by the voices in my head.  Thats bad.  Those voices are why I have pieces of material too small to fit in a chuck or hold with a clamp.  

Those voices say things sometimes that scare me. I laugh, but its a nervous laugh.  Like when I was looking for an inch and a half of hardened round bar the other day.  Didn't have any.  The voices said, "take an axle out of the neighbors truck and use it".  "With your cordless impact you could have that axle out in less than 10 minutes".  Fortunately I am much lazier than the voices or right now the neighbors truck would be on a paint can and I would be napping in the old stony lonesome.  Besides, he already ran me off once for trying to steal the gutter off his house (needed a chip shield for the mill and his gutter was painted the right color and everything).  The voices seem to have a very short memory.

Fortunately my bride is not a psychologist or I am sure I would be a case study.


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## C-Bag (Jun 10, 2022)

Eyerelief said:


> Fortunately my bride is not a psychologist or I am sure I would be a case study.


In my case my ability to make and repair is one of my most loved attributes to her. Her dad only owned a hammer, and only because somebody gave it to him. If his hammer didn’t knock it back into place or got the tv/radio working again he called the repairman or bought another. But it was funny how he instilled in her that if she found a mechanic she liked, marry him. But not being from a family that fixed or made anything she had no way of knowing if I was good or not. She also is very jealous that it seems to come naturally and is so ingrained with who I am. She watched my dad’s decline and saw firsthand when that drive left so did his drive for life.

 I believe we are seeing a true shift where guys could be proud of working with their hands and could make an honest living to I’m not sure what. My dad and my grandfather were my hero’s because they worked hard and took care of their families. That kind of work ethic is a thing of the past because it was not taken care of like in the past where you could work for one company and earn a pension and retire. Now being a hard worker means you’re a sucker while greed is good and screw them before they screw you.


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## Eyerelief (Jun 10, 2022)

I always tell people that my bride says "She doesn't find me handsome, but does find me handy".  

You and I are in the same boat.  Grandfather was a mechanic, dad, mechanic, me, mechanic.  I never take vehicles into a shop for repair, nor have a repairman come to the house save AC or fridge repair at the house.  I started doing everything because I didn't have a deep enough wallet to pay someone.  Now I'm more comfortable doing it myself.  My wife looks at the tools I have accumulated over the years and says "Nobody has this many tools".  I tell her that I could justify buying them because they paid for themselves in savings, usually after the first use.

Both her mom and mine are widowed so I now have three homes and 9 vehicles that I watch over.  Her side of the family is always thrilled because when I fix or make something, if there are any parts purchases, it is parts only. 

I see the world trending the same.  So many things we purchase these days are disposable that I understand part of it.  Look at TV's.  Been a long time since I have seen a sign that said TV repair.

I may be wrong, but dont see my son carrying the torch.  Dont blame him, and glad it is an option for him.  His job keeps him busy and on the move.  Whenever I am working on something, if he is around, he jumps right in with interest to help.  All that I could ask.  I used to make him help as I did maintenance and repair on vehicles, made him fix up his first ride.  When he was 5 years old I asked him if he was interested in learning how to work on cars.  His response was classic, and I quote,  "NO!, If you learn how to do it, then you have to do it."   Pretty good for a 5 year old.


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## C-Bag (Jun 10, 2022)

Eyerelief said:


> I may be wrong, but dont see my son carrying the torch. Dont blame him, and glad it is an option for him.


Yup, very true. I never set out to be a mechanic. My first car was a 57’ Karman Ghia that we went in on together on. One day he came in and threw this book “How to keep your VW alive for the complete idiot” on the table. I laughed as it looked like a joke being all hand drawn. He said he would buy whatever parts and tools that were needed but he wasn’t paying for shop repairs anymore. So being cheap I took the manual to heart and through weird turn of events was a car mech for 20yrs until the end of the 80’s drove me off and I went from repair of cars to the building of fruit and veg packing equipment. I’d always known I much rather build something than to repair what always seemed like bad designs. So spent the last 20yrs doing that.

I always admired my dad for being able to foster something in each of us kids that helped us to launch. Being that I never thought of myself as the mechanic type I didn’t expect my son to go that route. I had a love of drawing, mechanical and art when young and when my son started really showing interest I steered him as best I could. Like me he is an autodidact and would give him successive goals through books and he got to where there were no schools that could teach him all on his own. He now makes a living doing what he loves as an online artist. Still working with his hands and working as an independent contractor basically. I am proud of him as at one time I really wanted to be a cartoonist but knew I’d never be able to do what amounts to an office job. He has taken a dream of mine that got derailed by making a living and for exceeded what I could have ever done.

I also love that quote of your 5yrld son’s. So true. My son had a very vivid imagination (crucial for a fantasy artist) and I would catch him while driving in the car looking very deep in thought. I’d ask him what he was thinking about and he learned not to tell me because I couldn’t help but laugh as they were truly amazing. I mentioned that to his mom and she said she noticed it too and would ask him and because she wouldn’t laugh he’d tell her. Just that day she asked him and he replied “ I’m thinking how Jesus and Elvis are a lot alike” his mom asked how’s that? He said “ people say they still see and talk to them, and they call them both the King”. He was 6 and they were on the way to kindergarten.


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## Eyerelief (Jun 10, 2022)

WOW!  That is deep thought for a 6 year old.  He obviously absorbs a great deal from his surroundings.


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## rabler (Jun 10, 2022)

C-Bag said:


> “How to keep your VW alive for the complete idiot”


That was a good book!!


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## C-Bag (Jun 10, 2022)

Let's just say his view or reality is a lot more "fluid" than most, including me. We could see the same thing and come to a completely different conclusion. His take on Bible study at the school he went to when young was not what everybody else was receiving. My psychologist wife is absolutely fascinated by him because it's based on a form a logic that makes sense but just like the example it's not one most folks would come too.


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## C-Bag (Jun 10, 2022)

rabler said:


> That was a good book!!


I believe it was the very first "for the complete idiot" book ever published. It was my total guide and I thought all manuals were like that. No other car or truck manual was that complete I've ever found. Kinda ruined manuals for me.


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## rabler (Jun 10, 2022)

C-Bag said:


> I believe it was the very first "for the complete idiot" book ever published. It was my total guide and I thought all manuals were like that. No other car or truck manual was that complete I've ever found. Kinda ruined manuals for me.


When I turned 15 I was given a barely running VW bug as a project.  My father was not mechanically adept,  he could get by but it wasn't his specialty.  I found that book and it was my key to having transportation for the next 3 years.


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## C-Bag (Jun 12, 2022)

Continuing on with “too many” or in this case out with the old in with much better. My wife came back from a short walk telling me a neighbor was headed down to the “free” corner where neighbors in our little development put out the good stuff for neighbors to pick up. She thought it looked mighty nice and I better go look. As usual she was right. So I took the new one and ended up giving my old/cheap one to my neighbor and his dad. Win win.


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## Eyerelief (Jun 13, 2022)

C-Bag said:


> Continuing on with “too many” or in this case out with the old in with much better. My wife came back from a short walk telling me a neighbor was headed down to the “free” corner where neighbors in our little development put out the good stuff for neighbors to pick up. She thought it looked mighty nice and I better go look. As usual she was right. So I took the new one and ended up giving my old/cheap one to my neighbor and his dad. Win win.


Man,  all the fun of buying brand new without worrying about what it cost or where you are going to store it.  And helping a neighbor out along the way!  You must be living right.............


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## C-Bag (Jun 13, 2022)

Eyerelief said:


> You must be living right.............


I must. Stuff just keeps showing up. Had a neighbor want to give me a Lincoln tombstone stick welder and a Craftsman floor standing drill press. Both almost new. Not enough need and not enough room. The latest acquisition is really a deluxe kit that is basically unused. He has several kit tools like that I’ve borrowed like a 1/2” impact drill and an angle head 3/8” drill. I use them more than him which so far is once  he just decided he needed more room in his stuffed garage and I happened to be there when it was going out to the “free” curb. And as my wife was taking the other unit to the free curb, she bumped into the neighbor with the son who I try to supply with my overages. It would seem there are more tools than real users in this area.


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## Eyerelief (Jun 13, 2022)

C-Bag said:


> Stuff just keeps showing up.


Good stuff at that!  I have stuff that shows up, but its usually from peoples "BUT collection".  
You know what I'm talking about:
"This is a good lawn mower BUT it wont start.
"This has been a great drill BUT it wont hold bits.
"These are hi dollar wrenches BUT 1/2",9/16",5/8" are missing"..............
I could go on.


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## sdelivery (Jun 13, 2022)

Great socket set BUT it's missing the 10 mm!


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## C-Bag (Jun 13, 2022)

Eyerelief said:


> "BUT collection".


Was the story of my life until a couple of years ago. It has me worried I’ve hit that zone where I don’t absolutely NEED it, and the end of the road where I might not want to use it is possible. So stuff just keeps falling into my lap. Needless to say the neighbor was shocked I’d turn down a buzz box and a drill press!


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