Sharing a Box

[Erle385]

Any one here have to share a tool box with some one?

i share on with my dad and i hate it. he'll leave everything out. he'll even leave them out side. today when we left the shop he left two rotors and a bucket of grease on the half inch drawer which was wide open. this stuff drives me crazy because most of them are either SO or Mac and the shop isn't in the best neighborhood. i cant wait till i get my own box!!!. and i can never find any torx. what the hell, there is a drawer that is only for torx, nut drivers and hex sockets, how am i supposed to remove the oil rail and injectors from a 6.0l ford with out torx. i just thought i'd tell you this because i want to know if any one else has do deal with this.

 

[tatra]

i have in the past and just adapt to how the other works.............this was with company supplied tools tho.............never would my own personal stuff be shared...........who's tools are these?..........if bought for a family business not much you can do...........if they were paid for by you, lock em up........family or not, obviously doesn't have the same set of values you do when it comes to tools..........one reason i prefer to work alone............

 

[DanCo]

I might share a box of doughnuts and that it.

 

[Hlidskjalf]

Sharing your tools is almost as bad as sharing your woman.

 

[DanCo]

Sharing your tools is almost as bad as sharing your woman.

-you get them back dirty and loose.

 

[Craftman]

-you get them back dirty and loose.

lol it is true

 

[moparmuscle88]

my dad does, and he does it because he thinks tools are tools, he doesnt understand that one of my ratchets costs more than his entire tool set, which is just as easily as accesible as my toolchest, but he insists on using mine

 

[cyamaha2007]

I doesnt bother me as long as im there, but i cant stand it when my brother uses my tools and doesnt put them back, Ill be looking for half inch ratchet for days. Then ill get some ice cream out of the freezer and there it will be.... im not kidding.

 

[Erle385]

in our box both our 3/8's and 1/2 drawer have socket trays. metric and standerd. but there always empty. they always just get thrown in the drawers. im mean come on is it that hard to just put them on the trays it saves time when looking for them.

 

[larry_g]

My solution when my Dad was in the box was to have him return the tools to the TOP of the box and allow me to clean and put away. I also do this myself. Usually just a few tools for a specific job get out of the box and will be needed till the job is done.

Ok I went back and read some of your other posts. Are you in the shop every day? If so then the above will work. If Dad is the main mechanic and making a living from the box then you may have to adjust to his way of doing things. It still behoves you both to work out a system that you can both be happy with. It does no harm to take a part of each time in the shop to clean and put tools away. You may find that Dad will come around and start to put things away a bit more as he will start to like the clean and orderly better than the old mess.

One thing that I learned from an old boss was not to come to him with problems, come to him with solutions. Understand that YOU have the problem and not dad. I would go to dad with ' Dad I really would like to be able to have a neat tool box in here. Can I get you to put tools you remove from the box in some specific area and I will clean and put them away.'

lg
no neat sig line

 

[ghnl]

Some day you won't have your Dad to share with. And then you will be sad.

lg has a good solution - provide a 'return bin'. Ask that all tools used get returned - either back in their proper place or at least to the 'return bin'. That way you are meeting him halfway.

 

[Red Green]

I know what you are saying. I hate it when it takes me longer to find the tool I am looking for then it does to fix what ever I am working on. I spent 3 days looking for a die grinder because it got put it inside a box for a different tool.

I guess it would be described as I am providing the company tools to my dad and his helper. They are working out of my box. Some how they manage to forget what drawer the tools came out of after 5 minutes.

I have a roll around cart that I use. I told them if they can't remember where the tool came from put it in the cart next to the tool box and I will put them where they go.

What is really bad is that my dad told me a lot of times when I was growing up that if you put the tools away where they go and clean when you are done using them it will make next project go better and he dosen't do it.

 

[keflaman]

Some day you won't have your Dad to share with. And then you will be sad.

lg has a good solution - provide a 'return bin'. Ask that all tools used get returned - either back in their proper place or at least to the 'return bin'. That way you are meeting him halfway.

My exact sentiments. Hate to be a killjoy, but I'm literally bawling my eyes out wishing I could have three seconds with my dad again to whisper, "I love you" in his ear.

 

[nolatoolguy]

We have me, my uncle, and 6 full time farmhands. That have access to all the tools. Its a little iritating because one will come down to grab a tourqe wrench and he goes off to use it. Its in the cab of his truck. He returns ir just not that night. Its not hard to forget after a long day that you got a wrench in the back of your truck. Or he may be down at the other end of the farm. We have mulitples of each but its till a pain. For the most part thoe we make it work. I have a serivce truck as a daily driver. I will go to school come out and someone came and left another truck cause they needed the welder or something. Were all like janitors with keys to every truck, tractor, box, door, lock, atv, etc etc

 

[Mustangmike]

have the same problem with using the shop supplied tools at work..tools are never put back if at all..anything cordless with have dead battery, and the charger will be unplugged...the work lights have frayed cords, burnt out bulbs,and are usually covered in grease. the morning shift is usually at fault for about 90% of these concerns, but for some reason the foreman/manager usually looks the other way and will browbeat us guys who work in the afternoon to clean up after ourselves and to make sure that everything is put away properly..

 

[BioHazard]

I don't share. Period.

 

[Aberdale]

This has been interesting reading, and the descriptions sound pretty predictable. I really have nothing to add, as I've never had to share a box ever. I had my own box since I was 15 years old because dad didn't want to share his box either. Hats off to you guys that share a box and can still get things done. It would take way more patience than I have.

Dale

 

[Andy Griffith]

I'd give just about anything to have my father back and sharing a tool box.

 

[GeorgiaHybrid]

Almost the same as Dale, I was working at the garage using dad's tools. As a careless 15 year old, he warned me a few times and then locked his box. That was the day he explained that the Snap-on truck would set me up with an account and if I wanted to work, he suggested that I talk to the man that afternoon when he came by.

The next week he unloaded a pretty, new, KR59A loaded with all of the tools I ever thought I would need (boy has that changed over the years....). I have never shared tools since but dad, even at 88 years old, still likes to look at the collection when he comes for a visit. Even at that age he still appreciates a fine tool.

And for all of you cresent wrench fans, he still calls them "nut rounders" and will not allow one in his toolbox. He laughs at the 2 or 3 I have in my box and asks me if those are my "lender" wrenches

 

[Indy_500]

I think we all at sometime shared boxes (as in sharing the tools with dad, etc.) My dad never had any of his tools organized around and inside his toolbox (this is night and day with mine) and finally after i kept going thru a craftsman ratchet every year, i got my own tools. I started out a few months ago with an HF roller and Got it filled up with mostly HF tools and i'm slowly switching over to Craftsman and whatnot. Yes i've use these sockets and ratchets just about everyday and these pittsburgh ratchets and sockets look like they've been used for about 10 years worth already. I got some craftsman ratcheting wrenches, and i got some SK sockets and all but 1 of my power tools are craftsman or up quality.

 

[Vinko]

Any one here have to share a tool box with some one?

I share one with my father. He leaves the key in it all the time

Smaller one on the floor I have locked with only key.

 

[Vinko]

have the same problem with using the shop supplied tools at work..tools are never put back if at all..anything cordless with have dead battery, and the charger will be unplugged...the work lights have frayed cords, burnt out bulbs,and are usually covered in grease. the morning shift is usually at fault for about 90% of these concerns, but for some reason the foreman/manager usually looks the other way and will browbeat us guys who work in the afternoon to clean up after ourselves and to make sure that everything is put away properly..

I started a new rule: if your area isn't cleaned, the next day you have to clock out and go home, and when I find the time, I'll clean your area and then you can come back. Worked for day one.

Had idiots who did the old "I'll cut off the ground on a cord so it'll fit into an ungrounded plug. But that's pretty much stopped too.

 

[NUTTSGT]

Your main concern is why I don't lend my tools out, except to a few friends. Sounds like it's time for you to step up and invest some of your cash into a box and tools.

 

[Professur]

My dad gave me my first toolbox when I was 6, with some of his old tools in it. Sharing just wasn't done.

 

[larry_g]

I started a new rule: if your area isn't cleaned, the next day you have to clock out and go home, and when I find the time, I'll clean your area and then you can come back. Worked for day one.

I'm curious what kind of a shop you work in. Do you own the shop, Dad's shop or something else. Perty draconian measures and a shop that has not enough work that they can send people home for punishment.

Had idiots who did the old "I'll cut off the ground on a cord so it'll fit into an ungrounded plug. But that's pretty much stopped too.

Again what kind of a shop is allowed to have ungrounded circuits avaiable to hired people?

lg
no neat sig line

 

[nolatoolguy]

Some day you won't have your Dad to share with. And then you will be sad.

lg has a good solution - provide a 'return bin'. Ask that all tools used get returned - either back in their proper place or at least to the 'return bin'. That way you are meeting him halfway.

Hes right. A few weeks before my dad passed away I was saying how it would be nice to have my own full set of tools. We were close exepct when it came to sharing tools.

 

[TheGrooveking]

My exact sentiments. Hate to be a killjoy, but I'm literally bawling my eyes out wishing I could have three seconds with my dad again to whisper, "I love you" in his ear.

A huge +1, my father had big issues with him having no organization skills when it came to tools, add to that he would lose them and blame me, even though I was 1,100 miles away. Growing up I had my Matco chest and cabinet in my father's garage and I can still remember coming home one morning after an all nighter and finding him in the garage with a crow bar getting ready to break into my tool box because he couldn't find his oil filter wrench.

He gave me the speech about that it was his house and everything is his to do what he wanted to do with it and if he determines that the Matco tool boxes and it's contents were garbage then he could roll them right out to the street if he wanted to. It was frustrating as all hell. Almost evertime I visited him I would clean his garage and organize his tools, but within a week it was right back to what it was before I did anything.

But given all of that I would give up all of my tools to be able to talk to him again....

TheGrooveking

 

[Erle385]

"I'm curious what kind of a shop you work in. Do you own the shop, Dad's shop or something else. Perty draconian measures and a shop that has not enough work that they can send people home for punishment"

Its my dads shop. we are the only mechanics. i work part time, after school and on staurdays.


Originally Posted by keflaman
"My exact sentiments. Hate to be a killjoy, but I'm literally bawling my eyes out wishing I could have three seconds with my dad again to whisper, "I love you" in his ear."

ive been trying to figure out a way that it would work better for us. we get along but we are both disorganized in different ways, if that makes sense

 

[keflaman]

[QUOTE "I've been trying to figure out a way that it would work better for us. we get along but we are both disorganized in different ways, if that makes sense[/QUOTE]

It makes sense to me.

At the time I read your post I was in a deep "I miss Dad" funk and I missed the point of your post; I didn't mean to infer you don't appreciate your dad and I hope I didn't offend you.

 

[speed bump]

Never have ever had a problem sharing with my dad, heck I don't mind my grandpa using tools out of my box either and they don't mind me using their tools. I worked at a place with 4 common tool boxes and common organization for everything and it didn't bother me which van I was in or where I was at I could get things done.

 

[BioHazard]

Had idiots who did the old "I'll cut off the ground on a cord so it'll fit into an ungrounded plug. But that's pretty much stopped too.

I see this a lot too and I can only wonder WTF? I honestly don't understand where these people are finding ungrounded outlets to use? Seems like a fad that should have passed by the 70s.

My old neighbor at the shop did that with two different things I let him barrow, never said a word about it like I just wouldn't notice. Problem is, I moved into his shop later on...after he got arrested...and there were no outlets in there that didn't have a ground pin. He even left most of his old extension cords, even though most of their ground pins were cut off too, they still had a hole for it on the female end. Is there some kind of myth out there that grounds are dangerous or something?

 

[Vinko]

I see this a lot too and I can only wonder WTF? I honestly don't understand where these people are finding ungrounded outlets to use? Seems like a fad that should have passed by the 70s.

My old neighbor at the shop did that with two different things I let him barrow, never said a word about it like I just wouldn't notice. Problem is, I moved into his shop later on...after he got arrested...and there were no outlets in there that didn't have a ground pin. He even left most of his old extension cords, even though most of their ground pins were cut off too, they still had a hole for it on the female end. Is there some kind of myth out there that grounds are dangerous or something?

I have no idea. I think the guys that did were from another country, so who knows. I did have a few old old power tools w/o grounds. They have the male connector in them. You can fit an ground extension on them. But cutting off the ground on a new cord? I tells me you're an idiot, or more likely you just don't respect other people's equipment.