I can relate to this!

[dwco5051]

 

[southkogs]

So funny!! Been there.

 

[Scott Danforth]

the CDO in me (OCD in alphabetical order) would have cataloged the bolt bin.....again.....

 

[dwco5051]

the CDO in me (OCD in alphabetical order) would have cataloged the bolt bin.....again.....

That was my father. He sorted and labeled hundreds of jars, cans, and boxes of items. I found a box in the attic full of pieces of carpet padding labeled "pieces of carpet padding to small to save" We never threw anything away without first taking it apart and saving all the fasteners, belts, pulleys, switches, etc.

I just remembered where I stowed things. That system worked fairly well until I passed 80 and now triples the time to do a job as I play the shop game of hide and seek.

 

[southkogs]

I found a box in the attic full of pieces of carpet padding labeled "pieces of carpet padding too small to save"

That is genius. My kids are going to have stories like that one ...

 

[Renken2000Classic]

I spent most of my workout time one morning a couple months ago picking up the screws from my sheet metal/wood screws tote that I kicked off the table while I was stretching. That stuff's a liability sometimes... Awful nice when you have something you need though. The sure way to need it real soon is to chuck it out, lol.

The saving stuff reminds me of being around people who saw some of the depression era; you could still see the mentality decades later. I worked around a few old guys in the late 90s, and one of them reportedly had a lot of money. He was still a skin flint, worried about wasting stuff and that.

My kids have it better than I did, though by worldwide standards we were still rich back then. So it bugs me when they waste food and stuff, while I'm reusing a cold drink styrofoam cup for like weeks, lol.

 

[dwco5051]

The saving stuff reminds me of being around people who saw some of the depression era; you could still see the mentality decades later. I worked around a few old guys in the late 90s, and one of them reportedly had a lot of money. He was still a skin flint, worried about wasting stuff and that.

That was my Dad. He graduated first in the engineering department class in 1938. The only job he could find was as the tool room boy and tool grinder for a brass valve mfg company. Married and soon with me on the way things were tight but I never knew how tight until my mother passed about 9 years ago and we found a shoe box of letters Mom had written to my grandparents describing how they were just getting by. A couple of years later after he landed a job at Westinghouse he was loaned out by them to a major engineering firm to work with them on design work for the Oak Ridge nuclear facility and later back at Westinghouse after the war until he retired. I never knew this either until I was in my fifties.

He often said he learned more about how an engineer should think from listening to the first generation German and Swedish machinists at his first job than he did in college.

He never threw away anything that he though was of value. When I started school they didn't buy me a lunch box. He made me one in the basement out of a piece of sheet metal that someone had discarded. I wish I still had it today even though it wasn't as nice as the ones the other kids had. I would set it on the top shelf of my computer desk and before I hit the "Buy Now" icon on Amazon I would look up at it and then make a better decision.

 

[Earl Cordova]

I had an old junk tool box filled with over 200 pounds of nuts and bolts off of 64-70 Ford Mustangs.
Figured it was safe on my back porch, but someone carried it all off about 30 years ago.

 

[FLATHEAD]

Years back when I was a young pup working on commercial construction sites I worked time to time with an older guy that was in the game his whole life. He had an old blazer that was loaded with stuff. Even had removed the passenger seat to carry more stuff. If you ever needed any kind of nut, bolt, screw, washer, etc. he would go into a big box he had in his truck. He called it his “Cultch Pile” . Never failed to turn up what you needed. Any left over or used hardware he ever had went into this box. Since that time I’ve always done the same but my “cultch pile” consist of a couple big plastic Folgers containers full of stuff. Seems I go to it weekly.

 

[bassman284]

I know I've posted this sometime before but what the heck.

An optimist says the glass is half full.
A pessimist says the glass is half empty.
An engineer says the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.

 

[garbageguy]

That was my Dad. He graduated first in the engineering department class in 1938. The only job he could find was as the tool room boy and tool grinder for a brass valve mfg company. Married and soon with me on the way things were tight but I never knew how tight until my mother passed about 9 years ago and we found a shoe box of letters Mom had written to my grandparents describing how they were just getting by. A couple of years later after he landed a job at Westinghouse he was loaned out by them to a major engineering firm to work with them on design work for the Oak Ridge nuclear facility and later back at Westinghouse after the war until he retired. I never knew this either until I was in my fifties.

He often said he learned more about how an engineer should think from listening to the first generation German and Swedish machinists at his first job than he did in college.

He never threw away anything that he though was of value. When I started school they didn't buy me a lunch box. He made me one in the basement out of a piece of sheet metal that someone had discarded. I wish I still had it today even though it wasn't as nice as the ones the other kids had. I would set it on the top shelf of my computer desk and before I hit the "Buy Now" icon on Amazon I would look up at it and then make a better decision.

Your Dad sounds great. I thought I was becoming the old Engineer on site - but listening to others is still a great way to learn what is needed. Learning more about others before us, in different times, never ceases to interest me. Thanks for sharing

 

[poconojoe]

Oh yeah!
I have tons of hardware in coffee cans and jars, but more than half the time I have to go buy what I need!

 

[64osby]

I bought an old hardware bin years ago. It is 8' long and has 4 rows of galvanized pull out bins. I used to own an installation company that worked on bleachers and chairs. I saved most of the left over hardware over the years. 20 plus years later I still have thousands of bolts, nuts, screws, washers....most is 1/4" up to 1/2".

If it is not small stuff or metric I can find what is needed 95% of the time. Saves a lot of time and money in the big picture.

Also have a lot of square steel tubing and aluminum pieces that come in handy too.