Left Over Hardware

[Cypherian]

Hey,

I am sure a lot of you here have the same problem as I do , when ever you get something for the house hold , automotive , yard etc related it seems you have extra hardware. No not because you umm did not read the instructions as I am sure we all do ... Usually from most things coming with multiple mounting options ie TV mounts, Door Locks, Bike parts, auto parts etc. I generally keep them but over the years I have ended up with various odd screws, nuts, bolts etc usually in 2s though upwards of 6 . I already have 2ea 5lb cans for old automotive nuts, bolts, clips etc and at just about the same with these extra hardware bits. Most of the time the stuff is low quality and I do not want to mix it in with similar better quality hardware. What do you all do with it keep it for a while to ensure you don't need it and toss or keep it and use it here and there when you can?

Cypher

 

[D.J.]

I always keep any leftover hardware on any project piece, my dad ran a service station for 37 years and always had numerous nut bolts and etc in 5gal buckets. When any one in town would loose a screw nut or bolt they would come in and dump buckets one at a time out on the office concrete floor and search thru them until the found what they needed seems their wouldn't be a charge if they bought their gas off of us and they cleaned up their mess and put all of it back in the buckets.

 

[48RON54]

I keep them for a short period then chuck them. I don't like keeping lots of clutter around.

 

[GarageWarrior]

Put leftover hardware in a zip-lock bag, label the bag, secure with strapping tape to the back of the unit so it's all together

 

[Woody610nb]

Toss it, you spend more time looking for what you need then if you ran to the store to get new hardware. Of course, keep the normal stuff.

 

[GuyllFyre]

I keep any reasonable quality hardware in bins. Nuts, machine screws, bolts, screws, washers, etc.
Anything 1/4" or above is a bolt.
I'm getting ready to separate inch from metric as I've just stripped a 2001 Audi B5A4 and have lots of really good condition hardware to start sorting.
If you do enough projects, you do tend to use a lot of it.
Here's my bins on the shelf in the back entry.
I've used enough hardware to have to buy nuts, bolts, washers, etc., and then the extra gets put into the bins.

 

[Notgrownup]

I keep it for now because I haven't had that many assembly projects... I keep them separate... Harley, car, house, power tools , electrical, plumbing miscellaneous ...Who the frig am I kidding, it's all over the damn place...

 

[Thumper68]

Toss it, you spend more time looking for what you need then if you ran to the store to get new hardware. Of course, keep the normal stuff.

That might work well for you but I have a 45 minute drive each way to get to a real hardware store add to that the fuel and that 12 cent bolt just cost $26 and 2 hours of my time.

 

[bczygan]

My grandfathers estate, from a lifetime on construction sites, was 2 wooden barrels full of nails. One barrel bent and one straightened....all rusty.

Maybe that's where I got my hoarding tendencies.

It's NOT a good idea.

 

[48RON54]

That might work well for you but I have a 45 minute drive each way to get to a real hardware store add to that the fuel and that 12 cent bolt just cost $26 and 2 hours of my time.

You know, I had been thinking based on where people lived would in many cases determine whether they kept lots of hardware or not. I suppose spare time plays into it as well.

My parents live in the country in OK and any trip to the store seems to become an all day affair. They save and/or reuse most everything.

I live in the concrete jungle where my space is very limited as is my time. A run to the hardware store eats up little time and/or money for me. If I lived out where my parents live I would be livid if I had to make muliple runs to the hardware store in a single day over hardware.

 

[NUTTSGT]

The odd extra hardware that comes with something that needs put together, gets tossed in the scrap bucket. Those cheap *** hex wrenches get tossed in there too.

 

[Woody610nb]

That might work well for you but I have a 45 minute drive each way to get to a real hardware store add to that the fuel and that 12 cent bolt just cost $26 and 2 hours of my time.

Well it doesn't work if the trip is that far, but most people can get to a hardware store in 10 min.

 

[orca8589]

That might work well for you but I have a 45 minute drive each way to get to a real hardware store add to that the fuel and that 12 cent bolt just cost $26 and 2 hours of my time.

I grew up in rural North Carolina, and that was the reason for all the old coffee cans, Mason jars, and margarine containers full of every kind of fastener, that all of my elders had. If anything was being junked, it was stripped down for any fasteners or parts that might have a possibility of coming in handy some day. One of my favorite activities at my grandmother's house was going through my late grandfather's old cans of screws & stuff. I still have a few old screws & nails today from his stuff.

I used to keep EVERYTHING, but I've started purging over the last year or two. I keep any extra hardware (and original boxes that household items came in) for maybe six months, then it all goes into the recycling bin.

I only keep a minimum of old fasteners for any old furniture I might need to fix, and any currently used fasteners. Even with what little I do hold onto (and use occasionally) I still have a dozen HF sorter boxes full.

~Chris

 

[The Cobbler]

My grandfathers estate, from a lifetime on construction sites, was 2 wooden barrels full of nails. One barrel bent and one straightened....all rusty.

Maybe that's where I got my hoarding tendencies.

It's NOT a good idea.

I can relate, I think I was in my teens before I realized you could actually buy nails . I thought everyone had barrels of nails in their basement, when you wanted to build something you sorted out what nails you needed then straightened them LOL

 

[rburke65]

I am 66 yo, and I remember as a kid straightening nails for my dad, a product of the Great Depression. He saved everything.God love 'em......

 

[southalabama]

Since tractor supply came to town the trip for a bolt got shorter but the problem I've got is if I stop working to run to the store I seem to get stopped by someone needing advice and all momentum goes out the window.

I save tons of stuff but thanks to this forum making progress organizing it.

Last week I blew a tail light in the jeep. Is always bought packs of two over the years. I never could locate the second bulb when it came time to use it until last week. I went to the bin and pulled one out.

 

[bobss396]

I keep all of my newer leftover hardware in marked plastic baggies in plastic bins so I can find them quick by size.

I also have a spackle bucket of hardware that goes back 40 years of wrenching. That coughs up real gems all the time. I do need to pour it all out and throw out the utter ****. For some reason there is a ton of fine-thread bolts and nuts mixed into it. I could probably do a basic sort by size that would suit me.

 

[sberry]

I don't save it all. I toss lot of old bolts and lock washers. We save some if we think it has a use and we have a place. Mine aint perfect but I have been thru it pretty good. We have 1 storage basement that is going to get a purge in short order.
I have space I created in the basement of an old house specifically for junk/parts. It could use a stripping again. We use a fair amount of stuff from storage but its not the kind of thing that would be insurable and I glean any hi valuable or perishable things from it.
I can keep that kind of thing without it being in the way and it reall becomes fair game for use, no longer got to think of how much something costs to get a chunk of wire or salvage a part.

 

[sberry]

I had saved box fans for a while and then all at once did about 4 projects where I used the boxes and some of the grills. Used them all in a week. As for the little stuff have about a shelf or so dedicated to a few coffee cans that has some misc junk and some sorted by Ubolt, hook etc There is a place for some of it but one doesn't use as much as one may think, most of our own design revolves around common hardware/nut and bolt as possible.
I find myself using bits of steel more than unusual connectors.

 

[vartz04]

Im building a shelf rack for my plano stowaway boxes (should have it finished tonight) but I was putting thing in little parts bins but it gets full of dust and **** being open.

I always save everything. I have used the stuff a ton. I need to retrofit fix stuff sometimes to just get the job done and those little piles of hardware come in handy.

That being said the best thing you can do is if you need a few bolts buy the big pack (20-25 of them) of that size. Eventually you will have a stock of quality hardware. My dad taught me that and not being a cheapass on every project has paid off.

 

[sberry]

I really try to group like minded items and if it doesn't need to be used now its out of the way, I will walk to get it if its able to be found. Center drawer for automotive lamps and fuses
Most pics were soon after we put this together, most fundamentals are still the same with a lot of addition. Its not so much anymore but I did manage to move some stuff around yesterday. I have a swing thru pass on my storage about half done, going to free up a little space.

 

[TheShrine]

I thought this was going to be another MaxJax FUBAR thread!

 

[vartz04]

Here's mine