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Junk Drawer. Necessary?

Do you have a junk drawer?

  • Yes

  • No

Results are only viewable after voting.
H

housewolf

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Joined
Feb 3, 2021
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1,144
Location
East Texas
I can’t help but notice a lot of the members here at least appear to be extremely organized. At least in the shop pics they post 😉

In the last two years; I’ve retired, survived a tornado, built a new house, went back to work, sold a house, moved, built a shop separate from my garage, then retired again. Needless to say, I had several “junk drawers” and more than a couple of boxes.

My shop is primarily to store and maintain a street/race car. Since I live farther now from people that I race and work on cars with I’ve added a lot of equipment & tools to my shop in the last year. I’m now more organized and independent than I’ve ever been in my life.

I’m down to going through my last two or three junk drawer/boxes, organizing & storing fasteners, parts, tools etc… as I work down to zero it gets exponentially harder.

Is it possible to live/work/function productively without a junk drawer?
 
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P

PassnThru

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Joined
Jan 5, 2010
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6,510
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Bowling Green KY
It's a 'might be needed later' storage area. It's the second in line to be searched for something that is needed to complete a project.
Hardware I know I will keep doesn't necessarily get filed away immediately but it goes in a separate place - sometimes just a Solo cup on a shelf - not in the junk drawer.
The junk drawer is the wildcard stuff that you just can't toss right away because you may need it someday but even when you put it in there you know better. Sometimes it's mostly because it just reminds you of the project you just fought and won.
Clean it out yearly. Not just to pare it down - but also to remind yourself of what's in there.
 
A

Alchase

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 2, 2016
Messages
187
Location
Harrah, Oklahoma
I consider myself an organized person with an organized shop.
Having said that, I always seem to find many items that have me thinking WTF does that belong?
Ah, the junk drawer!

About every few months, I go through the junk drawer, and either find a place or ****- can it.
 
L

landrover bodger

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Joined
Sep 25, 2014
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Location
norfolk england
we have a junk drawer in the house contains all the useful **** like pens and sticky tape. i have a junk drawer in my tool box it contains all those small things that are going to be useful one day like pens sharpies spare glasses and plenty of things i cant remember.
 
L

Lassen Forge

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Joined
Apr 26, 2014
Messages
15,115
Location
The romantic hills of central Umbria, Italy,
I clean out my "Excess materials storage areas" about once a year... sometimes I carry it forward or put it away. Biggest candidate for the s***can are all the old dried up pens and paint markers, the **** hardware that comes with chinesium stuff that I "may" use (even though it's about grade 0.05 nuts and bolts in 11.83mm), and things like paper clips and scraps of paper. And broken, irretrievable tools (usually also chinesium)... OTOH if I buy a box of screws or (more common now) wall anchors, use a few, the remainder goes in a cubby for future use. Someone 40 years from now will look at them and go WTF, but hey, if I need one (and hopefully remember they're there), I got it here, and it saves a 30-45 minute trip into town...
 
M

mrb1

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Joined
Aug 20, 2021
Messages
5,457
Location
Miami County, Ohio
Working for a moving company years ago, we would always label the outside of whichever box.. "Junk Drawer" with a ********* marker when packing up a kitchen. Most the time folks would chuckle and say "Thanks, that will be the first box we unpack". Every now and then the owner would ask us to cross it out because.. "We don't own any junk"... sure lady :thumbup:
 
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6

619DioFan

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Joined
Apr 9, 2013
Messages
3,617
Location
San Diego , Ca.
I don't have any junk drawers because all my things are " treasures" . when I die and my nieces show up to claim what I what I have left them ( they get everything ) they will probably say " why did uncle diofan have all this junk"?
 
OP
H

housewolf

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Joined
Feb 3, 2021
Messages
1,144
Location
East Texas
Michigan Mike said:
I am thinking not necessary more like unavoidable.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the replies.
I recently replaced a 6’ work bench & two somewhat categorized junk drawers with a 54” tool cabinet. Cleaning out the drawers in the old bench, I’ve had for 30 years I found “stuff” I’d thought I’d lost, I could have used, or I will use, but I threw away about 75% of the contents. I do not want to dedicate a drawer in the cab for “junk”, or even a small box in a drawer. When I supervised large construction projects I always told the guys, any material or equipment we can’t put our hands on in ten minutes is useless to us. We waste time & money looking for things we don’t have and buying things we already have. I need to step up to the plate and practice what I preach(ed).

After reading the replies here I’ve decided, No junk drawer. Anything that would have gone in the junk drawer gets tossed on top of the cab or my fab table. I’m (pretty) good about keeping those areas clear of clutter. I have crates, bins and organizers to store items I want to keep. I’ll put a small wooden box on top of the cab for small batteries, pencils, etc… So I suppose I’ll have a very small junk box instead.

Thanks again
 
OP
H

housewolf

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Feb 3, 2021
Messages
1,144
Location
East Texas
WillyBoy said:
Maybe we could label the drawer - pile - box, "Miscellaneous" or "Not categorized yet" or "To be filed later".
It makes it sound more official.
Click to expand...
I believe therein lies the problem but since it’s in a drawer, out of sight - out of mind.

Once I get my shop sorted out, and I’m almost there, I’ll move on to the garage. My “layout” isn’t exactly the way I would have planned it. My garage began with what the tornado left of my old house, new house next door, and shop in the back. The garage has tools too but I try and keep the garage stuff more or less for home, lawn/garden maintenance with the car/hobby stuff in the shop. I wish it were all combined into one blg, I’d have a nice size shop.
 
G

Garcky

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Sep 10, 2022
Messages
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Location
Twin Cities Metro Area, Minnesota
Essential. I have one in the utility/laundry room at our house. Only wife-friendly tools are in it. That way, she often goes there, rather than hollering at me to come do some simple thing. Over time, she's gotten better and better with tools. What's in there?

Two 6-in-1 screwdrivers. One diagonal cutter. One Channellock water pump pliers. One pair of needle nose pliers. Two Stanley utility knives. One taper with 3M packaging tape on it. Box of picture hanging hardware. Smallish, but good, hammer. Two Stanley tape measures. A box of pencils, pens, and sharpies. One pair of anvil-style plant pruners, for trimming flower stalks.
 
OP
H

housewolf

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Feb 3, 2021
Messages
1,144
Location
East Texas
Garcky said:
Essential. I have one in the utility/laundry room at our house. Only wife-friendly tools are in it. That way, she often goes there, rather than hollering at me to come do some simple thing. Over time, she's gotten better and better with tools. What's in there?

Two 6-in-1 screwdrivers. One diagonal cutter. One Channellock water pump pliers. One pair of needle nose pliers. Two Stanley utility knives. One taper with 3M packaging tape on it. Box of picture hanging hardware. Smallish, but good, hammer. Two Stanley tape measures. A box of pencils, pens, and sharpies. One pair of anvil-style plant pruners, for trimming flower stalks.
Click to expand...
IMO; if you can inventory it off the top of your head, it doesn’t qualify as a “junk drawer” 😉

In fact, that’s my problem with it. Over time, I have no idea WTF is in there without emptying the contents
 
G

Garcky

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Joined
Sep 10, 2022
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3,434
Location
Twin Cities Metro Area, Minnesota
housewolf said:
IMO; if you can inventory it off the top of your head, it doesn’t qualify as a “junk drawer” 😉

In fact, that’s my problem with it. Over time, I have no idea WTF is in there without emptying the contents
Click to expand...
Oh, there's other junk in there. I just inventoried the tools, mostly. I rarely use any of them, though. They're in there for my wife to use. If I need a tool, I step out into the garage and get the tool I need. For my wife, the fewer the tools available, the better.
 
P

PelicanPines

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Joined
Apr 30, 2014
Messages
38,107
Location
New Jersey, USA, Earth, My own reality
Junk drawer in Kitchen: Rubber bands, twisties, various ****** clamps
Junk drawer in Garage: Pencil sharpener, rubber bands, spare pencil leads, assorted keys
Junk drawer in Office: Pens, rubber bands, paper clips, assorted keys

I have a labelled drawer of assorted clamps in the garage, if you were wondering why I didn't list them ... there.
 
B

bb29510

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Joined
Dec 27, 2022
Messages
1,216
junk drawer, no, no, no
i got junk five gallon buckets, i got junk tote bins, not one but many
 
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