So many "advice givers" want us to declutter.

[ultrarunner]

Growing up tools were something carefully handed down through the family but not so much anymore.

They also held value and theft could be a problem.

From my Real Estate friends many times the family just wants to get rid of the Junk… even paying to haul away.

No one in my family has the least bit interest in my Bridgeport tape mill or Tool Room Lathe…

These skills are no longer the backbone of US industry as they once were…

 

[goeduck]

No one in my family has the least bit interest in my Bridgeport tape mill or Tool Room Lathe…

I think I am your long lost relative.

 

[ultrarunner]

Somewhat related...

My good friend passed away and his widow decided it was time to downsize a few years ago... They had built their home and had no kids but we'll traveled and some very nice things plus a couple shelves of well organized car parts and Harley parts.

Being realistic with the move from CA to AZ from 3600 square feet to 1400 she knew what she had to do and did it well.

Friends said call the companies that specialize in buying household estates... she did as a package of all she was not taking by the movers.

Offers from we will take it to $800 for all...

(I was able to help selling the car parts and Harley friends came through on motorcycle things)

She said the heck with household and got busy... 30 days later the $800 was 20k and this is with giving some things away...

The take away is sometimes you just have to roll up your sleeves and dig in... a neighbor teen took pictures and posted on the internet and she said 10% of everything you bring the buyer... 13 years old and very happy...

 

[LS Tractor Owner]

that would be a good machine to buy

I have asked a few times..... It will rust out before she would be willing to part with it! Probably has a mouse / rat hotel in it now.... its been under a tarp for at least 2+ years now..... with trash / debris piled all around it.

 

[Oaktree]

It took 70 years to figure out but it sure makes life easier: When a project is completed, put everything away. Tools where they belong and any unused or extra parts where they can be found again later.

Clearly you don't have a wife who "borrows" stuff and doesn't put it back because "she's not done with it yet". Drives me nuts.

 

[jyoutz]

Sounds like my current neighbor. If you dare go in the house, there is just a path to go to each room.

She bought a new garden tractor 3 years ago.... she used it once.

She has 4 sheds ranging from 12'x12' on up to a 12'x32'. All packed to the door... with??

She has a 'handyman' do some things, won't let him throw away anything. There are scrap plywood 1/2 sheets, assorted size lumber up to 16' long, metal roofing, rolls of partially used welded wire fencing, etc...

She also has a horse.... never cleans the corral or run-in. The horse was always getting in trouble getting into the piles of debris.
Instead of having the handyman haul off all of the useless piles of junk, she had him pound in T-posts and use the fencing pieces to put a fence around the piles! There are now two 'fenced in' piles.

She has 2 utility trailers with 4' high sides filled with junk. I thought she was finally getting rid of some stuff ---- nope... they have been in the same spot for at least a year and a half, probably longer.

When she goes, the house will probably have to be burned!

Oh, and she use to have 5 dogs and a potbelly pig living in the house with her. Another neighbor went over there one time.... he said you couldn't breathe in the house because of the ammonia smell.

That’s awful. Hopefully she is far enough away that you don’t have to view her junk collection.

 

[scaredychicken]

Ah ha, that must be what happens to my workbench!

I think it is a universal issue
happened again while I was at church for the past 2.5 hrs

 

[jaxs]

I picked up one of those on the side of the road with a "Free" sign on it. It wasn't even in front of somebody's house, they had hauled it out from a side street to put it on the main road. It didn't have any of the 8" blades, but when we were cleaning out my parent's cellar I found several to fit. Now I just need the bushing adapter and I'll have a nice belt driven table saw.

7-1/4" blades are easier to find in wider selections. I occasional use 7-1/4" blades on my 10" table saw.

 

[Doofy]

I use to do that with some of the HF freebies, flashlights, measuring tapes etc. Since I've effectively 5 or 6 separate shops I'd try to leave a measuring tape in each shop. But sometimes I'd find 3 or four of them had gotten together in one area!

You can never have to many Tape Measures! I bought several new 12 footers, removed and pitched the belt clips and installed magnets instead. I now have Tapes where I use them the most: Drill Press, Work Bench and Tool Box. The secret it keeping them where they belong, all the time.

 

[BravoXray]

Clearly you don't have a wife who "borrows" stuff and doesn't put it back because "she's not done with it yet". Drives me nuts.

I don't have a wife, but a lady that stays here while she's waiting to have a house built, does that, and it drives me nuts.
A while back, my stainless steel kitchen tongs came up missing out of the drawer where I always keep them. I searched everywhere for them, when she came back a few days later, she searched for them too. Never found them, so I bought another pair.
Then, the multi bit screwdriver I keep in my center desk drawer went AWOL. Had that thing for over 20 years, gone, disappeared.
Argh!
That's the best thing about being single and living alone, everything is always just where I put it away the last time I used it, and in the same condition.