Show off your missing tools...

[mech-tech]

I been meaning to ask this for a while now that I have experienced it. At my previous job, my devil boss was fasinated with the idea of us mechanics hurrying all day every day as he watched the clock, sending us on road calls, then back in the shop, then back on road calls, yada yada yada. As a result my master socket set of all brand new craftsman sockets and wrench sets had been scattered everywhere which really ticked me off until the day I was ready to quit, so I had begun gathering all the tools together. As I slowly found some here and some there, I realised I was missing one socket, but no biggie since I had a duralast to replace it. My question is, do you guys have a certain brand that ya'll go to when ever you realise a socket or wrench is missing? It does kind of tick me off that one socket does not match perfectly, but I see some older mechanics with socket sets that literally no two sockets match. What brand do you guys turn to for replacements? Or does the replacement have to be the exact replica of what went missing? For me, the tool trucks were not even an option because all of us mechanics had our stuff scattered because we were pushed to leave the very moment boss man commanded.

 

[chrisa7164]

I usually try to replace with what I had. Unless I need it immediately.

 

[Letsgobowhunting]

My OCD takes over and forces the replacement choice for me.

 

[Gmonkee]

The last shop I worked at was like that.

I worked out of two tool bags and always tried to pick up completely at one tractor before moving to another. It took 'too much time' in his eyes and pissed him off often. Still I'd leave the hammer behind at times while fretting over the socket set..... grrr....

I was the only working with my own tools, it was important to me. The tough times hit and I was let go leaving the other two. They work with the boss' tools so if stuff gets lost due to a huge rush its his loss too.
It works out in the end.

 

[jjjrmx5]

Show off my missing tools??????????????

Now how the F&^% am I supposed to show off or even post a picture of something that I am...ummmmm...MISSING!

It's gone! DUH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


LOLOLOLOLOLZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!


In today's internet age you can usually find an exact dupilcate tool of most anything lost if not on a ramen noodle budget.

As for "OCD types", well that's their cross to bear.

I've got several full socket rails of full sockets sets that are a mish-mash of Indestro, Proto, Plvmb, Snap-On and S-K.

Oddly, they work just a good as a set that all matches and looks new.

I usually buy stray name brand sockets inclduing C'man at flea markets just to keep around or in the event a co-worker needs one to fill in due to loss.

Your tools don;t care they don't match and if not OCD, most users don;t care they don't match.

Only if buying or selling tools/ sets does all matching and perfect tools come into play.

Fill in with equal or better quality unless your a tool flipper and you'll be fine.

 

[chopper1]

To me, a set is not a set if all pieces do not match. It becomes an assembly.
My garage tool boxes have sets, while in my car box is an assembly.

 

[jd_1138]

I don't really care about brands (I prefer to replace with SO, Cornwell, Mac, but don't mind if I have some SO, Cornwell, Craftsman, etc.). The only thing that I am concerned with is filling any blanks, because if I am in the middle of a repair job, I don't want to have to run to the store to buy a 18mm socket or something.

 

[jjjrmx5]

To me, a set is not a set if all pieces do not match. It becomes an assembly.
My garage tool boxes have sets, while in my car box is an assembly.

I can only imagine the horror and chaos that insues if a family member, child or friend misplaces or looses a fork or untensil out of a set of kitchen dinner ware in your house.

Do you pitch the whole set and buy new, try and find an exact match at your local garage sales or just "deal" with a ONE mismatched utensil every -time-you-eat-a-meal.

It must be horrifying.

But I respect that.

I don't live that way, but again respect the many GJer's that do.

 

[redwrench60]

If I could show them off they wouldn't be missing.

 

[jmm]

I like to replace with what I had, but I'll replace immediately with Northern Tool/Craftsman/Duralast tools. They make capable stand-ins until I can find replacements.

 

[Fedwrench]

This is why when hitting the flea markets, i pick up common sized sockets in the brands I use to have a few spares if the price is right. Of course, then for some mystery, the size i need turns out to be uncommon.

I learned a long time ago not to place any tool under the hood and instead to lay tools on a nearby cart to prevent loss.

perhaps you could get a wheeled tote or a tote on mover's dolly and just heap everything inside quickly to prevent loss. I think i would consider working somewhere else if i couldn't track my tools.

 

[HighPlainsWrencher]

Replace with what I had. I have been fortunate in 7 years to have only lost 7 tools but only 5 of them were my fault. The other two tools grew legs and haven't been seen since.

Tools are too expensive to let them get scattered all over hell, if I have to take ten minutes to round stuff up even just to throw it on the bench in a pile at least I know were everything is. And Friday when it is time to go home everything gets wiped down and put away. Because on the weekends when no one is around anything not under lock and key becomes community tools and the community doesn't give a **** about your tools. This is a lesson that cost me two tools to learn.

 

[chopper1]

I can only imagine the horror and chaos that insues if a family member, child or friend misplaces or looses a fork or untensil out of a set of kitchen dinner ware in your house.

Do you pitch the whole set and buy new, try and find an exact match at your local garage sales or just "deal" with a ONE mismatched utensil every -time-you-eat-a-meal.

It must be horrifying.

But I respect that.

I don't live that way, but again respect the many GJer's that do.

I don't live that way either. My tools have nothing to do with eating utensils.
For many years I put up with miss matched tools when replacing ones my son 'lost' when he was growing up. I couldn't afford buying a good replacement then, I can now.

 

[1/2 Cup]

I don't do missing tools in the first place, nobody but nobody uses my tools the wife, my siblings, relatives, friends, my dad included!
Every thing has a place and every thing is in its place.
Quite happy to do the job for you and help out!

 

[krdiesel03]

My OCD takes over and forces the replacement choice for me.

Yep this is me also!

 

[krdiesel03]

If I could show them off they wouldn't be missing.

Good point!!

 

[General Geoff]

I've had a 154 piece Craftsman mechanic's tool set since about 2001, I bought it when I was 16 and had just got my first car (yes my age is showing!)

Over the years it's been borrowed and used by multiple third parties, and earlier this year I did an inventory and found three sockets and a few bits for the driver missing. I was fortunate enough to decide to replace them before Cman switched completely over to China, as I was able to find all the sockets I needed, individually, still made in the USA. They don't completely match as they are the "easy read" ones, but they fit in the molded case perfectly, and that's good enough for me. I haven't been able to find just the bits for the driver, though.

To put it plainly, yes I felt compelled to replace the missing sockets with Craftsman...

 

[GTA Matt]

Snapped a couple pictures of my missing tools. Gone but not forgotten






















































Hope this helps

 

[BK13]

I try to replace with equal or better, in other words, if I lose a USA Craftsman, if the only replacement is PRC, I'll get an SK replacement. But then again, I'm slowly trying to upgrade everything to SK, USA Williams, Wright...

 

[monkeyspanners]

I used to replace like with like but now i prefer to buy equal quality but a different make, variety being the spice of life and all

 

[2oolhound]

Snapped a couple pictures of my missing tools. Gone but not forgotten


















































Hope this helps

Great photos Matt!

 

[crewchief888]

when i was younger, i used to replace missing tools with the same brand/type/style.
all truck brands


i gave up on that a few years ago.

i've been a full time const eq field mechanic since '04, i loose more stuff now than i ever have.
but it's replacement now only costs a $1 or $2, instead of full list price.

i pick up (name brand) duplicates and spare stuff from pawn shops & flea mkts.

 

[WildwoodChuck]

I have no matching tools. They are all over the place SO, Husky, Kobalt, CMan, Proto, Apex, Blackhawk, Cornwell, Armstrong any industrial brand. I use a GearWrench set list for my truck and the Craftsman 299 socket set on a spreadsheet to keep track of what im missing and what to watch for at garage sales and flea markets.

 

[98sierra]

Never lost a tool

 

[mech-tech]

I've noticed it is very difficult to not lose a tool here and there if you're a field tech, especially if you work in the dirt or rocks. Heck, I've spend half an hour looking for a socket that decided to play hide and go seek when it flew off the universal joint I had on the impact. Thats the only thing that stops me from splurging on a nice proto set.

 

[Heavy Metal Doctor]

Never lost a tool

I think you forgot the word "YET" on the end, there.


I've been lucky enough not to loose much on the job. Mostly small stuff...and a few things gone by way of being destroyed by accident - like when my helper ran over my cut off wheel with a truck.....or the creeper he ran over.....

What really makes me nuts is when others borrow stuff and I don't know it. SOP for possible lost tools is for me to search all around wherever the boss has been - he the worst offender for borrowing my stuff and leaving it behind in another area of the shop.

 

[arms1970]

Replace with what I had. I have been fortunate in 7 years to have only lost 7 tools but only 5 of them were my fault. The other two tools grew legs and haven't been seen since.

Tools are too expensive to let them get scattered all over hell, if I have to take ten minutes to round stuff up even just to throw it on the bench in a pile at least I know were everything is. And Friday when it is time to go home everything gets wiped down and put away. Because on the weekends when no one is around anything not under lock and key becomes community tools and the community doesn't give a **** about your tools. This is a lesson that cost me two tools to learn.

That ill never understand. I can't stand working with guys who dont respect tools, and just borrow borrow borrow, or worse "Steal". Thank god i dont deal with that anymore. Work for myself

 

[mech-tech]

I am more than willing to let a new guy borrow a tool he had never needed before, but I drew the line when I found one of my expensive sockets in the shop tool box that everyone uses. I didn't stay much longer.

 

[NHBandit]

Now that I'm retired and my "work" tools are at home along with my "home" tools I've been taking inventory and trying to fill in the blanks on some sets. One of the local flea markets has a guy who sets up every week with tubs full of truck brand sockets for $3 each, truck brand wrenches, etc. I've had good luck filling in some blanks that way. It wouldn't be cost effective for me to buy those things new since I probably have 3-5 complete sets of all the common stuff and really don't need any more and replacing 1 socket with new in a set that's 20 years old defeats the purpose of keeping it cheap. But it's fun to try to do it on a low budget.

 

[NHBandit]

SOP for possible lost tools is for me to search all around wherever the boss has been - he the worst offender for borrowing my stuff and leaving it behind in another area of the shop.

LoL the last job I had prior to retiring was service manager for a small used car dealer. The owner used to go to salvage yards to get parts for the stuff we were repairing and he was constantly bugging me to give him a key to my toolbox. He would make the case that I could keep it locked up when I was away from the shop and he would make sure the other guys couldn't get into it. I explained to him several times that it wasn't the other guys I was worried about losing my stuff, it was HIM... He had cheap Chinese junk for tools and preferred using mine when he went off to get parts not to mention he knew he could go to my box and find what he needed easily but kept his **** thrown loose in his desk drawer. I solved the problem by keeping my box locked ALL the time and being the only one with a key. If someone wanted to borrow something they had to get it from me. I knew who had it and if it didn't come back to me by the end of the day they knew they were buying me a new one. If you have to borrow something more than once BUY ONE. Problem solved.

 

[Heavy Metal Doctor]

I solved the problem by keeping my box locked ALL the time and being the only one with a key. If someone wanted to borrow something they had to get it from me.

I have threatened many times, but I get the "We're all a team" kinda attitude and for the most part everyone else is fine. They all know to lay the borrowed tools back on the on the worktop of my box. DO NOT put it away so I can see it myself and KNOW it came back.....And I don't get my boss's lackadaisical attitude about it all because he insists on nothing but the best for tools - he has lots of stuff sitting in the "shop box" that hardly get used. ...I always know when the boss or his son use my tools, 'cuase that when tools end up back in the wrong places when they do try to put it away...I spent a week mad 'cause a set of tappet wrenches (pouch and all) disappeared....Then I heard some mention of the "boy" (boss' son) doing a home project I guessed might need them...and a few days later I stumbled across them in the wrong place in my box where I KNOW I searched....the bastid "borrowed" 'em to take home and never said a word
I have also made it clear that if I KNOW without a doubt that someone else has lost my stuff, I will just order a new one and charge it on the company account.

 

[monkeyspanners]

My old boss used to use my workvan when i was on holiday or weekends off and lose and steal my tools, he'd even lend them to his mates! He had the attitude they were all his as he paid my wages...
Plus he'd drive like an idiot and all the stuff would fall off the shelves. Glad i left there!