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Does anyone else pickup/save random hardware/bits?

Off-Street Parking

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Joined
Aug 1, 2015
Messages
351
Location
Midwest
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.

Reuse is the ultimate form of recycling. :thumbup:

I wish more municipalities realized and supported this, but the fear of lawsuits from people digging through other people's stuff has many cities too scared to even consider it. :sad:
 
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Bondo

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Dec 22, 2007
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2,549
Location
Greenfield, Maine
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. :bounce:

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

Ayuh,..... 'ell Ya, I'm a packrat,....

Dumpster Divin' is my favorite sport,...

5 gallon plastic pails, 'n ole metal or plastic milk crates are great for stashin' stuff,...

short story,....
'bout 15 years ago, just after We hooked up, Deb, 'n I had to go to Boston,....
After leavin' the place, 'n with my sister, 'n bil followin' us down the street,....
I spied an ole steel window security grate layin' in the ditch by the sidewalk,....
When I pulled up, 'n stopped for the light, I yelled to Deb, "Jump out, grab that thing, 'n toss it in the back of the truck",.....
She did as told,.....
not a 2nd guess, til We were underway again,....

Years later, in a conversation with my Sis, Diane told Deb that she Knew her brother had finally found the Right gal, when she saw her jump outa the truck in traffic, to pick up a piece of junk metal,...... :lol:
 
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XJPat

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Joined
Nov 28, 2015
Messages
737
Location
Central Jersey, Merica
I save a much hardware as I can, that stuff costs money, and is a pain to run to the hardware store for a bolt or two.

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk
 

Off-Street Parking

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Joined
Aug 1, 2015
Messages
351
Location
Midwest
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.

Many years ago, I worked at a place that had a central office/warehouse/workshop, but basically supported about 10-12 guys working out of their vans. We accumulated all kinds of misc hardware over the years, and quite a bit of it was piling up back at the shop.

The techs in the vans genuinely didn't have time to dig through and sort the stuff, so they were buying quite a lot of NEW hardware when they were on the road. At one point the owner got upset with the bills, tried to get the techs to use the hardware we already had, and after a few days of high-cost lower productivity realized the mistake and hired a kid as a temp worker to sort the hardware instead.

I think that experiment lasted about a week, before he finally realized what the techs knew all along- that it cost more to sort, organize, store, and distribute the hardware than it was worth. And since we had a backlog of work, the cost of the hardware was a drop in the bucket compared with the value of the technician's time. :beer:

In the end, they scrapped a huge amount of random stuff, and only retained a few bins for the most commonly used hardware. It was all worth it just for the shop space we reclaimed. :thumbup:
 

kaymccampbell

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Feb 27, 2015
Messages
29,476
Location
Upstate New York
I have a 4' lateral file and a hundred little plastic racked HF tubs full of fasteners of one sort or another that were leftovers or I salvaged. I hardly ever go to the store to buy anymore, unless I need a specific size for a special purpose. Otherwise I just dig in the bins.
 

justanengineer

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Joined
Apr 5, 2011
Messages
7,722
Location
Motor City
Nope, I toss the random **** to keep things clean. I've got two Fastenal bins, ~2'x3' each to store new hardware and they hold plenty from tiny 1"+ in common sizes. I dont wonder why some folks dont have room for decent sized equipment in a small garage, its obvious when I see a hardware store, 10 tons of rusty/random garbage, and/or 20'+ of workbench. Personally, I'd rather have a capable shop than a warehouse.
 

Alchymist

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Joined
Mar 1, 2009
Messages
4,423
Location
Central PA
I save everything "good" I come across. Nothing gets thrown out until all reusable parts are retrieved - old appliances, furniture, computers, etc. Just took apart a bunch of old hard drives - a good magnet in each one, and aluminum frames that go into the melt pile. Amazing what an old dishwasher or dryer will yield. Retired, so I can afford the time! :thumbup:
 

Kpaige

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Aug 12, 2015
Messages
751
Location
Big Lake Minnesota
Good story here. My grandfather kept everything, My uncles kept everything I keep most things. When I first married my wife I had inherited everything from my grandfathers garage. No way I could store all of it and a lot of it was not needed by me. She said this is all rusty junk. A lot of it she said you can not even tell me what it is! I lived in an older area had a guys garage sale. We made thousands I had old guys showing me things and what things were and they ate it up. Got the tools and hardware to guys that could use them and left my wife speechless!
 
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LumpyMusic

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May 2, 2012
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492
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Phoenix Arizona USA
Reuse is the ultimate form of recycling. :thumbup:

I wish more municipalities realized and supported this, but the fear of lawsuits from people digging through other people's stuff has many cities too scared to even consider it. :sad:

Roger that.

Phoenix has "Bulk Trash Week". Every 3 months, residents are encouraged to put stuff like furniture, appliances, bicycles, computers etc at the curb. You can put them out 7 days prior to the scheduled pickup. They encourage others to collect stuff they might need from the piles. That keeps the stuff out of landfills, saves money for the city, keeps the desert a little cleaner from people dumping old refrigerators and couches etc.

Lots of guys, including me, have a regular route. We pass each other and tell the other guy "Hey I saw some plywood you'll probably want over on XYZ street". This guy collects aluminum, that guy electronics, that guy wood etc. So we all scout the stuff for each other.


Sgt Lumpy
 

NUTTSGT

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Northern Central Ohio
I'm in the process right now of helping clean out a deceased hoarder's house and garage. A 20 yd dumpster of metal scrap has already been hauled away. I took two pick up loads in myself today and started another scrap pile. There is a 5 gallon bucket full of odds/ends and fasteners, along with 2 more regular sized pails and still more in the garage.

Some of you guys would probably be in heaven latching on to this stuff but I'm not keeping any of the odds/ends. I did grab a few things though... old drill press and a Snap On dial torque wrench Torqometer.
 

Ford GP

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Aug 16, 2008
Messages
8
Location
Columbus, OH
I'm in the process right now of helping clean out a deceased hoarder's house and garage. A 20 yd dumpster of metal scrap has already been hauled away. I took two pick up loads in myself today and started another scrap pile. There is a 5 gallon bucket full of odds/ends and fasteners, along with 2 more regular sized pails and still more in the garage.

Some of you guys would probably be in heaven latching on to this stuff but I'm not keeping any of the odds/ends. I did grab a few things though... old drill press and a Snap On dial torque wrench Torqometer.

I'm Just down the road from you in Cardington. If you come across any old radio or phonograph stuff (victrola) in your clean out, drop me a note. That is my other hobby.
Brian
 
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Pete Gossett

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Feb 13, 2016
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Location
Biloxi, MS
I'm Just down the road from you in Cardington. If you come across any old radio or phonograph stuff (victrola) in your clean out, drop me a note. That is my other hobby.
Brian

About 4 years ago I ended up with 4 pickup truck loads of vintage & antique radios and parts from the '70s back through the '30s for free, after a friend's-brother's-boss's-father passed away and he was wanting the property cleaned out. They've all been sold, unfortunately.

If you know anyone who's into old records I still have thousands of 33's/45's/78's though!
 

Mgnu

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Jun 5, 2013
Messages
425
Location
Valley of the Sun, AZ
Roger that.

Phoenix has "Bulk Trash Week". Every 3 months, residents are encouraged to put stuff like furniture, appliances, bicycles, computers etc at the curb. You can put them out 7 days prior to the scheduled pickup. They encourage others to collect stuff they might need from the piles. That keeps the stuff out of landfills, saves money for the city, keeps the desert a little cleaner from people dumping old refrigerators and couches etc.

Lots of guys, including me, have a regular route. We pass each other and tell the other guy "Hey I saw some plywood you'll probably want over on XYZ street". This guy collects aluminum, that guy electronics, that guy wood etc. So we all scout the stuff for each other.


Sgt Lumpy

I do the same up herein my neighborhood, but for me it's just looking for scrap metal for welding.
 

67CarGuy

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Feb 6, 2008
Messages
763
Location
Outside Boston, MA
Yep! Started when I was working in a small hardware store, and those little single washers, nuts, bolts, whatever wouldn't make it back into their bins. Too much time to pay us to find the right bin. So they came home with me!

Sometimes they've even come in handy...
 

smedly

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Joined
Jan 11, 2009
Messages
403
Location
Savage, Mn
I often need to visit my personal hardware store. 380924ec89216295ff611021f8e61fd4.jpg

Closest one is all bike stuff. Just tonight I grabbed 4 semi-special use bolts that I have had for 10 years at least. Last summer I cobbled a few things out of that one to fix my grill lid.

I don't save much in normal nuts and bolts, but any oddball shouldered thing or specialty piece I keep.

Example

2a04e197a3a91704eadded2fd2070dbb.jpg

WTF am I going to do with these? But when I find a use for them, I will know exactly where they are.




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
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Pete Gossett

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Feb 13, 2016
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Biloxi, MS
I like your bike part stash smedly. I have drawers full of old bike parts, most people would probably call it all junk, but like you every now & then I'm sure glad I have it!
 

m.breen

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Joined
Oct 19, 2013
Messages
98
After I wash 'em I throw 'em in a drawer with 5 or 6 flat magnets. I just pick up a magnet to find what I'm lookin' for.
 

dougf

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Joined
Feb 22, 2013
Messages
402
Location
Missouri
I do it all the time. I'm in the Army, I don't steal, but when things are left on the ground by containers in the back of a motor pool to rust and corrode I save them. The amount of things left out to rust or are thrown away are amazing. I just save them from their fate.
 
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