I hate to throw out any thing cause I might need it.

I can relate to that too! 3 as well!

 

I save every single piece of spare hardware that I acquire. I have been doing it for 25 years. I now have a collection that is unrivaled by any of my buddys' collections. I have even gone so far as to sort the fasteners and store them separately based on their size. It really makes 'project work' in my shop go a lot smoother. When I need 'something', I know exactly where to find it. I have bins full of nuts, bolts and washers and then I have bins full of odd shit - shit like drum brake parts, springs, various bracketry, special bolts, rubber parts like grommets and snubbers. You name it, I prolly have it stored somewhere. lol

Edit: Now the problem is - in my older age - just remembering where in the hell I put it!

 

Your speaking to the choir. I live 20 miles from town and save about everything.

 

when my grandfather passed away he left us a whole garage full of treasure's, now im up to my chin in heater core's and steering columns!

 

Discovered two weeks ago that the shaft from a old 1986 Celica Macstrut is exactly 1937 Chevy Dubonnet knee-action kingpin diameter, very handy when making an engine stand fixture to tear down the Dubonnet pods...

 

It all boils down to storage costs vs purchase costs.

If I don't think of it that way, I wouldn't have any room to work on any of my cars.

 

I have the same problem. I have a lot of containers full
of stuff I will use SOMEDAY.

 

I have old milk jugs with the tops cut out, but handle remaining; plus old plastic coffee cans. I save old bolts, pieces of metal, shock washers, springs, etc. Can't remember how often I've dug through during a build to find the right piece that worked to help finish a job.
I also have some boxes and bins with scrap metal, and go to them for various pieces for gussets, or brackets. When doing the rear shock mounts on my rear axle swap recently, I found a pair of tabs I cut off Ford spring plates that once held the lower shock mount on an Explorer 8.8" rear. I welded them to my axle tube horizontally, and found a couple other small triangles to weld on for gussets. Didn't buy any metal, not did I have to cut up any more. What I found fit as is, and worked perfectly!
I also have nut and bolt bins I bought at a going out of business sale at the local hardware store. So when my jugs and tubs get out of control I spend a few hours sorting, and refilling these bins, so it's quicker to find what I need.
Stuff like this just reaffirms my desire to hang onto anything that might be used again!

 

When i lived on a few acres with a couple small barns and a shop i would hunt and gather all kinds of parts for builds, now that im in a little two car garage at home i hunt and gather room for all my parts and tools... I hate passing up good deals because i dont have the room!

 

I'm the same way. I mean sure, it was hard to throw out things like my Hypertherm plasma cutter, 12" Troyke rotary table, and Swagelock flaring tool set, but I hadn't used them in over a year so the garbage man hauled them off. Rules are rules.

 

after i am gone, who ever does the clean out, will utter the words "this guy saved everything"
6500 square feet....and counting.

 

When my wife and I bought our first house in Rhode Island, the garage was 1/2 full of old jars full of nuts and bolts and screws and all kinds of hardware from the father of the lady that was selling. The realtor said "don't worry- we will clean all this stuff out and throw it away". I told him not to if we ended up buying it, which we did. Ended up moving out here to Kansas and I brought all that stuff with, and did the same thing here. I love being able to make something or use something from my stash of saved "junk".

 

A lot of the old guys around here, they save every nut and bolt. If an appliance goes bad, they remove all the screws and save them before they toss it. A board full of nails gets the nails pulled, hammered back to something that is kinds straight, and saved. All of it stored in recycled glass jars and soup cans.

So why is it every time they need a screw or bolt or nail they go to the store and buy new ones just like everyone else????

 

You'll never need it, until you get rid of it !

4TTRUK

 

If you are gonna throw it out I will take it.

 

Oh yeah, I used to have a neighbor (older -wiser ) whom I consulted
about buying - keeping THINGS . His answer was always - go ahead
it will just bring more when you're gone and they have a big AUCTION !!!!

 

There is NO good reason to throw out potentially useful "junk". I keep everything I can afford to...


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This is a wonderful conversation all of you are contributing to as it brings up in me areas that I have stored away in hopes I would deal with it somewhere down the road. My overhead bin is cluttered and if you'll indulge me I want to share some thoughts.
I have come to realize that there is a certain flow of energy that wants to run it's course and will if not impeded. Often what impedes that flow in my life is a closed off attitude to myself and others. So I store up useful ways of relating for another day. And I store anger so that I won't hurt anybody. Trouble is, the anger is now quietly running the show.
How does this relate to my storing bits and pieces for future projects? In many ways it is a physical manifestation of the condition of the unseen energy I live with. Just as positive and negative poles balance the energy between each other , physics says I must do the same with myself. And that is individual and only for each of us.

So whatever you do with your stuff, observe the flow and let that knowing be your guide.

 

I have all kinds of stuff that I have saved and stuff my dad saved.
wounder where I learded that from?
I cant even dump out the buckets of burnt end from the band saw.

 

I found 7 exhust gasket, I have had, damit I need 8

 

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I have a small 2 car garage so I can't be a hoarder and still get things done. That said, I always save fasteners, spacers, most clean steel and brackets. I never feel bad if I buy something at the hardware store and it doesn't fit what I'm working on; I know I'll use it eventually. When I do use a bolt or spacer from ~15 years ago I have to smile.

Aaron

 

are we talking yin yang?

 

I can't remember the last time I had to buy a nut, bolt, or washer. Every toolbox i've ever owned winds up with the top tray full of fasteners and doo-dads.. Looking for a bolt? Just rummage through the top of the toolbox!

 

Well I never throw anything out but sometimes it takes me a long time to find things. In November 2012 I said I had a unisteer for the 33-34's. I found it today but do not remember who was wanting it.

 

I don't think I have ever thrown anything away that was usable. I have tubs and tubs of nuts, bolts, odd shaped metal thingies that I have removed from various projects. I have stuff that I took off of old cars and things from back in 1966 when I was in school.
I did give away a lot back in the 70s when I moved to another town but I kept the small stuff.
I pity my kids when I croak, they will have to deal with all the old crap.

 

I can't win. If I throw it out, then I need it... But if I keep it then I can't find it when I need it.

 

When I built my house, I built a 40 x 24 attached garage on it, with an attic over that. I told people "I'm not throwing anything out until I run out of room" That was 27 years ago, I keep 5 cars in the garage in the winter, both my crawl spaces and the attic are full. I'm starting to NOT keep stuff now, I am definitely out of room!

Dan

 

I got CRS, I put stuff away then forget I have it. If I see it then I remember I have it. I have duplicate parts because I forgot I had them.

 

as long as you know where they are you can never have enough spare/misc. parts