Does anyone else pickup/save random hardware/bits?

[Pete Gossett]

No, not just leftovers from my own projects...I'll be walking down the street, or through a parking lot, and see a decently clean nut/bolt/screw/washer on the ground, pick it up & put it in my pocket. Of course now I have piles of mismatched hardware and no good way to organize it.

I've been thinking about building a board with both metric and SAE nuts & bolts epoxied to it, so I'd have any easy way to at least determine what it is. Then I could sort it by size & pitch at the very least.

I've been searching ideas here, and found plenty of great ones for hardware storage and organization, but it seems like most people who have thoroughly planned out systems are more or less trying to mimic a hardware store setup - often to the point of actively purchasing hardware/restocking bins when they get low. That's mostly way overkill for my needs, but yet I'd like to do a better job of utilizing what I do have...so I don't need to run out to the hardware store and buy even more stuff.

I've read that there are at least a few other packrats on here. Do you have any suggestions?

 

[colt zantop]

I do the same thing! I always think....." I can use that for something!" Haha. My work threw out a whole pallet of mixed hardware....I told them.... "Throw it in the bed of my truck!" And I've actually used a TON of it already! Here's a pic of what they threw out!!

 

[colt zantop]

Here's what I did to store small stuff. Mounted drawer sliders on some old printers drawers under my bench. These things are built to last and work perfect!

 

[CJ7VFR]

Me too. All the time!

As a matter of fact, last week I took a walk down a side street off of my own street and I found some stuff out at the curb. It must have just been placed there because it was not wet from a rain storm we had a few days before.

I brought the stuff home and started to take it apart. I found out that all the hardware was stainless steel and it was in excellent shape.

My wife laughs at me when she comes home and finds me messing with this kind of stuff. But I tell her that the nice gate latch on her garden was found the same way!

Oh, and around here we call it "Pickin" when you root thru stuff and take some of it home.

Jim

 

[RPH]

At work, we use non magnetic stainless and the amount thrown away every day baffles me. I get it when ever I can. Costs too much to pick it out of the dust pan when sweeping up.

 

[lakeroadster]

Hello, my name is John, and I am also a Road Vulture.

It truly is amazing the stuff people through down and leave.... from loose change to vented soffit panels, to cowl extensions for a 63-66 C10 pickup.

If I see anything discarded I may be able to use, I stop and pick it up.

 

[lilredex]

All the time, a sampling below (except the hydrant caps were obtained legitimatly).

Once picked up a box of lathe stuff (carbide inserts, etc.) and a big load of cadmium plated power pole hardware (through rods, steps, etc.). Guys were cleaning up their places.....something I should be doing before I check out. But, it is difficult not to pick up all that useful stuff, for future use.

 

[lilredex]

I've posted this one before, a guy at work in Montreal.

https://garbagefinds.com/

 

[Boilerhouse]

For organization, I got cheap plastic containers from the dollar store. I sort by diameter only- meaning bolts/nuts (coarse and fine), washers, etc of each size go into a bin. I do this for imperial and metric. This all sits on 3 shelves in a wood cabinet. Not perfect but simple and cheap.
I walk my dog along the road every evening. Have founds lots of hardware type things. Everything goes home. Crappy stuff to the scrap bin for eventual sale at the scrap dealer, fasteners in good shape go it's respective bin.

 

[Jon_E]

I don't find much but I do pick stuff up occasionally. There's usually good pickins' in the Home Depot parking lot - where someone dropped a piece or a bag full and didn't get it all back. It all goes in a big coffee can for "someday".

 

[Outlander]

I almost bought a complete set of fasteners for my ATV (wrecked bike take off) - I thought that was a bit much

 

[CJ7VFR]

Hello, my name is John, and I am also a Road Vulture.

It truly is amazing the stuff people through down and leave.... from loose change to vented soffit panels, to cowl extensions for a 63-66 C10 pickup.

If I see anything discarded I may be able to use, I stop and pick it up.

It is amazing isn't it!

Last year I found what appeared to be a really nice shopvac at the curb while I was walking. It was a smaller 1 gallon size.

I was picking it up when a yuppie looking guy poked his head out the front door of his house and said that it didn't work, and that it would not vacuum up anything anymore. But he said I could have it if I wanted it.

I said sure, maybe I can use the hose. So I took it home, plugged it in, and it fired right up, but there was no suction. So I thought maybe something was stuck in the hose. So I took the hose off an it was clean. So I took off the lid, and low and behold the entire canister was completely packed with crud!

Obviously it never dawned on Mr. Yuppie to ever actually empty the canister. I couldn't believe it.

I emptied it, put the hose back on, and that baby works great! Because it's a small one, it's perfect for cleaning out the interiors of our cars.

Jim

 

[ken w.]

I don't go out of my way to pick up misc hardware , but I do have everything very organized in assortment boxes. I will buy an assortment box at a garage sale and go thru it and take what I will need and give the rest to a friend of mine who is a complete hoarder of hardware.

 

[Pete Gossett]

Glad I'm not the only one!

Here's what I did to store small stuff. Mounted drawer sliders on some old printers drawers under my bench. These things are built to last and work perfect!

That's an awesome idea - I actually have a bank teller's drawer that still has the dividers in it. I'd been thinking it would be good to use for something, maybe using it for the random bits that don't really belong anywhere else would work perfect!

 

[Bookworm]

My wife came home from an errand the other day, handed me a 1/4" washer, and a 2" machine screw. Said she saw them laying in the parking lot, thought I could use them for something.

What a woman.

Into the fastener bins they went.

 

[rayra]

I've remodeled and flipped a few homes over the years, as well as worked on a lot of vehicle projects. I harvest all that hardware when I can. Just did a big sort a few weeks ago when I built some new garage cabinets. The fastener stuff got sorted by type, bolt, nut, washer, screw, carriage bolts, lag bolts / screws, misc/oddball. Not worth sorting it any further. I use some larger flat rectangular tupperware to keep them in, makes them easy to paw thru when looking for a particular size / shape.
The other stuff got sorted into 1gal freezer ziplocs, tough enough and see thru. And see-thru totes for household hardware, plumbing, painting etc.

 

[Pete Gossett]

I like your spray paint storage. I always seems to end up with a random mess of cans, never thought to turn them on edge so it would be easier to pick one out of the bunch though!

 

[drmarkr]

It is amazing isn't it!

Last year I found what appeared to be a really nice shopvac at the curb while I was walking. It was a smaller 1 gallon size.

I was picking it up when a yuppie looking guy poked his head out the front door of his house and said that it didn't work, and that it would not vacuum up anything anymore. But he said I could have it if I wanted it.

I said sure, maybe I can use the hose. So I took it home, plugged it in, and it fired right up, but there was no suction. So I thought maybe something was stuck in the hose. So I took the hose off an it was clean. So I took off the lid, and low and behold the entire canister was completely packed with crud!

Obviously it never dawned on Mr. Yuppie to ever actually empty the canister. I couldn't believe it.

I emptied it, put the hose back on, and that baby works great! Because it's a small one, it's perfect for cleaning out the interiors of our cars.

Jim

You ****.....

 

[Deej-79]

Pickings were great when I was on new construction sites everyday. I would pick up near anything, especially after the electricians had come through and left wire all over. Now a day, I only do remodels, not so great. I will pick up things from the parking lot or side of the road. Picked up a perfectly good t25 bit yesterday at ace hardware.

 

[RoscoTom]

I got it bad.
I got it from my Dad.
I used to be a garbage man in the 70's, early 80's.
I took so much good ****/cool **** home that it became a problem.

I have all my Dad's stuff, all my stuff......and I bought and moved into an estate from a retired Ford machinist.

I got it bad.

Tom

 

[Big Daddy Chop Shop]

I really have to control this impulse. My dad is a hoarder, bad. He watches those shows, and is like "amateurs!". Seriously, 28*40 barn- filled. 25*25 garage- stacked above the rafters. House, barely can find a path upstairs, and the basement- forget about it.

But I still save some stuff, and its hard to pass on certain things. Here is my "magic bolt bin" (on the right). I sort by category, and you can't see really well in this pic, but nuts, bolts, washers, household electric, auto electric, fused, pop rivets, on and on. still need to label the bins, but its a never ending process, right?

 

[bulletpruf]

I do the same.

Always save hardware from cars.

Recently started doing some organization. Bought a thread gauge and some other doohickeys (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003FJW0GK/?tag=atomicindus08-20) to help me with sorting by metric, standard, fine/coarse, etc.

And a Durham cabinet (similar to this but larger - http://www.amazon.com/dp/B006WQPGQO/?tag=atomicindus08-20) to put most of it in.

Scott

 

[tgj7]

I got it bad.
I got it from my Dad.
I used to be a garbage man in the 70's, early 80's.
I took so much good ****/cool **** home that it became a problem.

I have all my Dad's stuff, all my stuff......and I bought and moved into an estate from a retired Ford machinist.

I got it bad.

Tom

I can only imagine. Is it wrong to be envious?

 

[Big Daddy Chop Shop]

Here is a scared straight for hoarders, maybe. This is how "not to do it". We were digging out the tractor....this is after about an hour, and the tractor has not moved. Yes, it was right at the entry. This is the garage. He has almost 5 acres that he has owned since like 84. Its bad... real bad.

Kids, do NOT try this at home.

 

[Pete Gossett]

Our town used to have a "Cleanup Day" each spring, the general idea was you'd drag your stuff to the curb & a crew would come along and haul it to the dump/recycling/whatever. Instead it turned into a town-wide "I'll swap my **** for your ****" with people just driving around picking up stuff...I got a few good scores too.

The last time they had one, they just pulled some dumpsters into the city maintenance lot & people had to to bring their stuff in. Even then, some of the top local hoarders where there grabbing people's stuff before it hit the dumpster & starting their own stockpiles. It was really hard to resist joining in on the fun...

 

[s_ontario]

Just remember it's not considered hoarding if it's
cool stuff


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[ryan20021982]

All full of little parts, nuts, bolts, etc. About half of it used and I couldn't throw it away.

 

[pmiranda]

Here is a scared straight for hoarders, maybe. This is how "not to do it".

Yeah... if you can't get something out in less time than it takes to go buy a new one, you're doing it wrong.

 

[theoldwizard1]

My Dad did, because he grew up during the Depression. Not well organized, so you really had to dog through piles to find 3 or 4 matching bolts.

I'm just the opposite. Any old fasteners go out in the trash. Sure there are a few hiding here and there, but if I am working on a project, I buy new. Anything related to my boat is stainless.

 

[Richard Cranium]

I used to save all the old bolts, now I have a lot of new one in inventory.

 

[Modoc]

No, not just leftovers from my own projects...I'll be walking down the street, or through a parking lot, and see a decently clean nut/bolt/screw/washer on the ground, pick it up & put it in my pocket. Of course now I have piles of mismatched hardware and no good way to organize it.

I've been thinking about building a board with both metric and SAE nuts & bolts epoxied to it, so I'd have any easy way to at least determine what it is. Then I could sort it by size & pitch at the very least.

I've been searching ideas here, and found plenty of great ones for hardware storage and organization, but it seems like most people who have thoroughly planned out systems are more or less trying to mimic a hardware store setup - often to the point of actively purchasing hardware/restocking bins when they get low. That's mostly way overkill for my needs, but yet I'd like to do a better job of utilizing what I do have...so I don't need to run out to the hardware store and buy even more stuff.

I've read that there are at least a few other packrats on here. Do you have any suggestions?

what's wrong with the tried and true coffee can method? put 'em all in one and then it's like a treasure hunt. you pour them all out on the bench and start searching.

 

[Modoc]

All full of little parts, nuts, bolts, etc. About half of it used and I couldn't throw it away.

I'm with you ryan, I always am picking up nuts, bolts, you name it. in fact I'm always taking old printers, cars, bikes and what not apart just for the hardware. I guess I spent to much time with my grand father's who both lived through the depression. Believe it or not i end up using a lot of this stuff. The wife says I'm a pack rat...

 

[Erampu]

My wife does not appreciate my habit of picking up odd pieces of hardware. She says it makes too much noise when it comes out of my pockets in the washing machine.

 

[LumpyMusic]

Always. While walking, jogging, bicycling, I find hardware, tools, equipment that has fallen off of cars, out of contractor's trucks, been placed at the curb.

Nuts and bolts go into the "Screw-U" box when I get home. Whenever I need some "relax in the shop" time, I reach in the box, pull out some nuts and bolts, and start checking them on the thread checker.

Nuts, bolts, wrenches, Amprobe, Skillsaw, trash pump, screwdrivers, gate hardware, anvil, C clamps, pipe, tubing, angle iron, auto parts.

My GF and I once started out heading for the Orange store to buy furring strips and paneling for a project. On the way, I said "Hey, pull over". Found a bunch of brand new furring strips, still with the barcodes and all. Picked them up, drove around the corner to continue on, I said "Pull over again", found several sheets of paneling PLUS boxes of sheetrock screws. We cancelled the trip to HD.


Sgt Lumpy

 

[Mpower5266]

I get a 4x4 box of dropped hardware from work every couple months. The parts pullers will drop stuff and sweep it into a pile at the end of the night, if its not easy to tell what it is, it gets dumped into my box. All aviation stuff too, an bolts and fittings, adele clamps, etc etc.

 

[DenisG]

I've posted this one before, a guy at work in Montreal.

https://garbagefinds.com/

I sometimes get things that people toss, but from his posts, I get the feeling that this guy's sense of superiority is probably even greater than those whose trash he collects.

 

[Strouty]

OK, some of you guys really pick up hardware off the ground and put it in your pocket?????

I save miscellaneous hardware, but I am not going to go around and pick it up from random places.

Even I have my limits.

 

[CJ7VFR]

Our town used to have a "Cleanup Day" each spring, the general idea was you'd drag your stuff to the curb & a crew would come along and haul it to the dump/recycling/whatever. Instead it turned into a town-wide "I'll swap my **** for your ****" with people just driving around picking up stuff...I got a few good scores too...

Our town has the "Town Wide Garage Sale" every year.

It happens on the first Saturday and Sunday of June. People can put out whatever they want to try to sell, and by Sunday night, whatever you didn't sell, you can just push out to the curb, and the town has recycle trucks come and get everything on Monday.

But what we call Sunday night is "Pickin Day". You see everyone out there, rooting thru everyone else's pile of ****, looking for what my wife likes to call "treasures".

If your not quick, you don't get the good ****. And eventually, if you keep looking, you will come across something in someone else's pile of **** that you recognize, and you think, damn, I tossed that out two years ago!

And if your are a true hoarder, of course you take it back, and start the cycle all over again next year!

Jim

 

[bczygan]

This is not a good thread for me.

It made me look at a broken chair on the curb up the block.

I was eyeing the casters.

I refuse to read this thread. It's too dangerous!

Bill

 

[Pete Gossett]

OK, some of you guys really pick up hardware off the ground and put it in your pocket?????

I save miscellaneous hardware, but I am not going to go around and pick it up from random places.

Even I have my limits.

Yes, I really do. Every single time...unless they're rusty/junk. I grab pennies and other loose change too - it's free money!