How I Spend Time In My Garage

Yup.

Ha, just seen that on Summit FB page.

Troof

Not confined to the garage. For me it's anything I set down five minutes ago.

One day I'm going to screw magnet panels to the walls so I can just throw my tools at the wall and have them stick.

That is so true. Even something as simple as changing oil seems to require a 5 minute hunt for the 17mm socket that I had in my hand right as I was sliding under the car.

That graphic is the reason that I have 6+ tape measures, and at least as many box cutters......(Grin)

I used to work with a recovering junkie that could only find a tool if it was exactly where he put it. If you grabbed his wrench and placed it 12" to the left or right of where he set it he literally could not find it. No matter how clean the area was. He would freak out and storm away. If you did it twice he would leave for the day muttering about needing a meeting.

He was also a total jerk so I tended to push his tools around a fair bit

But yeah. This is why I push my chest next to what I am doing and if I set a tool down it is back in its spot. I always know if something is missing and I haven't lost a single tool in years.

haha....So true. That describes me to a tee.

How is it that I can manage to literally lose tools? I use them in the garage only and haven't scrapped a car on years but I'll be damned if the 15mm 12pt socket is anywhere on the face of the earth.

For me it started with legos, I remember sorting through the pile looking for that one piece I needed and 5mim later realize ive been holding it all along. Now im misplacing my 12mm 1/4in socket. Ive given up my large shop that many a tools got lost to never find their way home, so its harder to lose things in my new "storage closet" ie the back of a volvo 240 wagon. Im scared to see what losing things is like when im actually senile and old

boulder_dweeb wrote: That graphic is the reason that I have 6+ tape measures, and at least as many box cutters......(Grin)

I get so frustrated looking for flashlights that my brother bought me a dozen for my birthday this year.

I spend all of my garage time cleaning it out to hopefully, one day, fit a car in there.

Gary wrote: Not confined to the garage. For me it's anything I set down five minutes ago.

Yup. Pretty much describes my house right now. It's starting to drive me nuts.

That said, when I'm wrenching I'll often stop half-way through and put everything away and start fresh. I usually try to put all of my tools away at the end of a session whether I'm actually finished or not. This seems to help a lot with the lost-tools issue.

Gary wrote: Not confined to the garage. For me it's anything I set down five minutes ago.

Same here. I misplaced an entire 15ga nailgun while doing trim work in the house a few weeks back. Thought my sticky fingered barely walking child made off with it.

I typically only spend time looking for a tool when I am in the middle of a project and haven't been keeping up with my housekeeping like I should. At that point, I usually call time out and put stuff where it goes then go back to the project at hand. Day to day I keep stuff where it goes and when I need it I know where to find it.

I use a hammer that I found in the woods when I was 5 or 6 years old, so, I've had it for 40 years. It's a K-Mart branded hammer and I haven't lost it yet.

Where is the slice for "trying to clot this cut in my hand"?

DaveEstey wrote:

And never where you need them.

I've been known to look for a tool that I have in my hand thinking I laid it down.

ssswitch wrote: One day I'm going to screw magnet panels to the walls so I can just throw my tools at the wall and have them stick.

That's brilliant! Although I'm thinking of something a bit more powerful, maybe electromagnetic. Just hold the tool above your head and wham! it is on the wall. Of course, so is every other small ferrous item, like lost nuts and bolts. Hmmmm.

Basil Exposition wrote:

ssswitch wrote: One day I'm going to screw magnet panels to the walls so I can just throw my tools at the wall and have them stick.

That's brilliant! Although I'm thinking of something a bit more powerful, maybe electromagnetic. Just hold the tool above your head and wham! it is on the wall. Of course, so is every other small ferrous item, like lost nuts and bolts. Hmmmm.

Dude, that is genius!

Somebody design it with dumpster sourced parts and I will try it.

When I was a mechanic, I always rolled my tool box to whatever vehicle I was working on, and I never lost anything. Over the years my box has gotten weak and its no longer a good idea to roll it around, so I keep it in one place, which has lead to situations in the middle of a project where tools are scattered everywhere and things get lost. My next project is to weld up a saddle for my toll box to sit in so I can roll it around again.

i generally spend the first half hour cleaning up the mess i made the last time i was out there, then the next half hour trying to remember where i just put everything.

N Sperlo wrote: Where is the slice for "trying to clot this cut in my hand"?

It falls under "cleaning up".