Projects WHERE ARE MY TOOLS?

I hated SCOOPING up those blades. Did it numerous times in them old Pasadena Ca. homes.

 

My nephew tore out a wall doing a renovation. There was a small slot behind where a picture had been hanging. They found over 7000 silver dollars in the wall.

 

NICE!!!

 

I am constantly laying things down and I have to go search for them just a minute later!

 

Hello,

It is no one’s fault but, my own. I gave away all of my old 60s-70s Craftsman Tools from our original stash during out teenage/20 something hot rod/drag race years. It was getting ridiculous. I would go into the tool drawer specifically for mechanical car work tools and have to go through tons of wrenches, just to get to the small 7/16th open end. Although each tool style had their own separate sections, they were just bunched up hoping no one would come looking for them. Ha!

So, after countless garage clean ups, my wife said if I did not use the tools for the last year or have a historic/memory set that I haven’t used in two years, then it was time to give them away. Well, those well used Craftsman Tools of all kinds just were taking up space. It was a little ridiculous that I had to push stuff around to find the right size. No, I went through the exact size on a peg board, labeled and such. That was too much stuff to clean and dust. So, in the drawer they all went.

Plus, the idea of our latest garage is to make it into an area that my wife and her sister can sit and talk for hours during the safer pandemic times. The walls are insulated drywall, the roll up garage door is insulated and it makes for a comfortable area to sit and talk. safely… when my son and our granddaughter came over during the safer pandemic time, they too noticed the clean garage and looked at it as another room in the house.

Jnaki

So, since I gave away those old Craftsman Tools and other non-use tools as per rules… I should have a clean drawer with separate sections for small tools for anyone to find and use. But, when I hear my name called from the garage, my organization of those said tools is now in question and I have to go out there to show someone exactly where they are located.

They are neatly in their own sections, within a separate tool drawer. Most common ones at the top and the next lower drawer, the next usage tool and so on for all of the tool drawers in the new built in cabinet/countertop. YRMV

These are the last remnants of our hot rod/drag race history days… They still get weekly usage in our home projects and necessary repairs.

The drawers have usage as per tool. So, I recently needed a small electric front cut, circular saw to cut some steel pieces for disposal. Now, there is a new tool sitting in the deep drawer and will probably not see any action for quite some time, now that the project is over. But , the drawers somehow still get full.

We are not hoarders, but with our garage organization, new tools have taken over as the old tools go on to tool heaven or friend's garages. Somehow, new tools just seem to show up and need a new place to put them.

 

I've forced myself to get organized because of always searching for the right tool. I've got 2 rolling tool chests now and still always open the wrong drawer first when looking for something. But everything has a place!

 

There is a sure way to find it. Buy a replacement.

 

WTF?
That's plain weird. Did it come with a welcome mat for all the 'roaches that are gonna come out of the slot?
I just put the old one in the paper wrapping that the new one was in, snap it in half and put it in the bin.
But maybe I'M weird...

 

LOL! Works every time

Ben

 

Very simple. Give up and buy another at the store then they will show up

 

That’s why when I kick, my Son in law will say….”What the hell did he need all these sheet rock knives for?”

 

My wife has a black roll around with a butcher block top. in her kitchen. I put good casters on it and brought it up to counter height. Looks like it was made for it.

 

Looked around the other day and realized that I have 6 rollaways- love that triple Kennedy box from the estate of an old Mare Island machinist, with the decals down the side from the nuke subs he worked on. Sits right beside my '51 Bridgeport

 

its not just tools, when you need four identical nuts and bolts , or two identical screws, you are always seem to be one short , when your desperate for a foot of yellow electrical wire you will only find 10 inches, and just when you need that last spade terminal, you guessed it , you already used it .. and last but not least, just when you want to tack something up with the welder on Friday afternoon you run out of gas or wire .

 

Every other facet of my life is chaos, but not my tools. I have two rollaway boxes, both are neat and orderly. I seldom misplace a tool, granted I have triples of most of everything which helps.

 

I would still have to open every drawer until I found the right one….

 

Here's my other comment on tools, use a 4' x 4' piece of old carpet dump all your tools on the carpet and drag it around with you while you work. When you finish you can fold it in half and dump the tools in your tray /rollaway and nothing's missing.

 

That is too true. Couldn’t find my fuel pressure tester. Bought another. When done went to put it where I could find it….yep, there was the tester I was looking for…

 

I'm pretty good. 5 drawers in the top box, 5 in the bottom of my main rollaway. From constant use I can find anything I need fast. I use a Home Depot tool caddy when I take things out, make sure they are clean after I use them and they all go back in the box.

 

lol !! great thread...I spend more time getting ready for the job, finding tools, than doing the job.
because...
to be truly "organized" and know where everything is, I'd need a minimum garage size,
about the size of a high school basketball gymnasium, with the bleachers for the tools.
this way I could glance up, and SEE them all. and not have to dig.
big signs in the bleachers on poles, would help
like a giant tool flea market swap meet, but only for me to use