Tools/parts "disguised" as junk?

[DaleK]

What are the most useful things in your shop that you just know your wife would toss after you die? For me, it's

1. The handful of 60cc syringes from the barn with various short lengths of tubing that I use alternately for lubing things that are hard to get at or sucking up small spills from inside equipment.
2. The used tire tubes I use for making gaskets, rubber washers, etc. in an emergency or when the factory ones just aren't right.
3. The old silicone milker tubes I use for making anti-vibe mountings for electric motors around the barn.
4. The partial hydraulic hose that's used to provide shear protection between two driveshafts on my silo unloader.

 

[RbrtAWhyt]

My t-shirts...

 

[bsaint]

These welded thingies I made up to tighten up belts by slipping into the grooves of the two pulleys and pushing them away from each other. Back from my compressor days.

 

[Scout Driver]

First one that comes to mind is the "Dent-o-matic". Its an old scissor jack that someone long ago welded a 1/2" drive socket to the drive screw. I have straightened tractor fenders when doing restorations, used it to back up dents when hammering them down and used it to lift leaf-springs into position when putting a suspension lift on one of my Scouts. Works well with a ratchet and even better with an impact wrench.

Scott

 

[anodyne33]

My power steering pulley installer that looks suspiciously like a heavy fender washer jammed onto a torx head seat belt bolt.

 

[4x4gearhead]

I would say my various puller sets with random bolts washers and lead screws that help me in a pinch, also many bolts ive hacked the heads off to line up transmissions and gearboxes

 

[crewchief888]

quite possibly anything thats NOT in a toolbox.
she found out my tools aint junk, after the conversation of replacement value came up one time.

everything else is questionable.

 

[Moose-LandTran]

What are the most useful things in your shop that you just know your wife would toss after you die?

Myself? Not much to look at, more useful than most expect.

1. The handful of 60cc syringes from the barn with various short lengths of tubing that I use alternately for lubing things that are hard to get at or sucking up small spills from inside equipment.

I too have a handful of syringes in various sizes in my toolbox. They make great mini grease guns for small stuff. When you only want a little bit of grease on bolt threads or something they work perfect. I have a 100cc one that's used for stuff like brake fluid where the reservoir is in an awkward place. Handy little things to have around.

 

[alamerang]

An old 24" length of 1" electrical conduit I found laying around. I used it to install freeze plugs on my Chevy Caprice back in high school. Plus it doubled as a cheater bar for my ratchet. That thing is all beat up and rolled over on each end. I don't know why I still have it in my tool box but its been with me for many many years.

 

[TAMPAGT07]

The 365 used condoms I've been meaning to melt down into a tire. Of course I'll call it a "goodyear."

Actually, this is a funny thread because my wife is always accidentally throwing things out. She just threw out her brand new shoes a few weeks ago by mistake.

 

[Wanna Ride]

The 365 used condoms I've been meaning to melt down into a tire. Of course I'll call it a "goodyear."

Gotta ask... are they new or, "spent"?

 

[TAMPAGT07]

Gotta ask... are they new or, "spent"?

Spent, of course...That's why the tire will bear the name "Goodyear."

If they were new, I'd call the tire (or tyre) a "Hancock"

 

[fflintstone]

my wife would box EVERYTHING up to give to my son on his 18th birthday.

 

[BerninicaCO3]

Hah-- my uncle did that for me, only, his tools (I never told him, though I suspect he knew) were obsolete junk for the most part...
Regifting is a beautiful thing.

Now that I have some blackhawk ratchet wrenches, my stepbrother will be getting my HF ones as a present

 

[BerninicaCO3]

my favourite quote, and it may have come from this forum, is:

"My fear is that when I die, my wife will sell my tools for what I TOLD her I paid for them!"

Every time I buy a new tool, I downplay the price tag. Just tonight, spent $600 building a USA-made socket collection to replace more of my HF ones; and $600 was a verifiable bargain. To everyone else? "Oh... $60. Just some loose sockets." No one must know of my addiction.
Hmm, I wonder if there's a thesis for a socioeconomics major in this: parallels between coke and chrome, the untold tale of the tool-tormented"

 

[oldwino]

I have sat down with my wife and explained to her what some of this stuff is worth and to take good photos to post on ebay or ?...I really should inventory my stuff and give her a pretty good $ estimate (most of my tools were bought before we met)...actually I don't want to know how much I have invested in tools but it is large five figures.

 

[crewchief888]

my favourite quote, and it may have come from this forum, is:

"My fear is that when I die, my wife will sell my tools for what I TOLD her I paid for them!"

Every time I buy a new tool, I downplay the price tag. Just tonight, spent $600 building a USA-made socket collection to replace more of my HF ones; and $600 was a verifiable bargain. To everyone else? "Oh... $60. Just some loose sockets."

i dont downplay the cost, i just try to spread the cost out over the year. she knows i dont spend $$ on tools "wrecklessly", i hunt for sales, closeouts, and hunt at flea mkts, swap meets, and garage sales. garage tools dont get used every day. but when i need them i need them.
i pull wrenches all day long on construction eq, and most of the time , the last thing i wanna do is get home and pull more wrenches.

as i said before, she knows it's taken me 35+ years to accumulate this many tools, and knows what it would cost to replace them. thats the reason she never asks, "if you dont use it, why dont you sell it".
what i paid for it is one thing,
what it will cost to replace it if i do need it is gonna be a lot more money out of our [pocket