weird things in your garage

[Jhoff310]

What are the weird things in your garage? I'm talking "unorthodox" items not usually found in a garage.
Tampons--for draining gas tanks or absorbing liquids in a tank or other vessel that would be difficult to drain
Toothbrushes-Scrubbing grime, dirt, or other material from delicate parts
Hair dryer--until I go buy a new heat gun

 

[bwringer]

An urn containing half my Dad's ashes (my sister has the other half).

He's on a shelf just behind the engine assembly lube, overlooking my work bench.

Most people are a little puzzled when they spot the urn, but anyone who knew my Dad understands immediately why he's in the garage and not in the house.

 

[mjeff87]

I've got a lot of toothbrushes, my old ones get recycled to the garage sink once I replace them.

I have an odd assortment of plastic food containers and jars (plastic and glass) that I find multiple uses for. I also have several of those jumbo fast food plastic soft drink cups......cut the bottoms out and slit the side and they make great funnels. I buy a lot of stuff in bulk (birdfood, cat litter, deicer, etc.) and pour them down into smaller plastic lidded containers (cat litter jugs) for storage. Using those cups as funnels makes transferring the product into the jugs much easier.

 

[ddawg16]

Dentist tools.……….

 

[bdbecker]

A chunk of concrete block with a portrait of Albert Einstein painted on it.

Backstory - in high school, seniors who took art for four years were allowed to paint a mural on a 2'x2' square in the art room. Einstein has always been a hero of mine, so it was a natural choice for me. Fast forward 6 years - half of my hometown gets leveled by an EF5 tornado. The high school was also in the path. A few days before the demo crew came in to start removing what was left of the high school, my Dad snuck in and chiseled the blocks out of the wall for me.

(If you look to the left of the TV, you can see the block on my bench)
View media item 67937

 

[MrSurly]

A chunk of concrete block with a portrait of Albert Einstein painted on it.

Backstory - in high school, seniors who took art for four years were allowed to paint a mural on a 2'x2' square in the art room. Einstein has always been a hero of mine, so it was a natural choice for me. Fast forward 6 years - half of my hometown gets leveled by an EF5 tornado. The high school was also in the path. A few days before the demo crew came in to start removing what was left of the high school, my Dad snuck in and chiseled the blocks out of the wall for me.

(If you look to the left of the TV, you can see the block on my bench)
View media item 67937

Cool story.... we're gonna need a better pic, mister.

 

[Jinks]

Small pile of motel room plastic key cards. They make good scrapers when you don't want to scratch what ever you're scraping stuck on stuff off of. Need a few around 'cause they will melt if held in front of the heat gun too long.

 

[b-boy]

My wife would say it was me....

I do have a 1900 cast iron wood stove sitting there taking up space. My wife got it for free from someone. I have no idea what to do with it now.

 

[porschen]

Old encyclopedias, great for holding things up like exhausts, and for wheel chocks.

 

[engineer2]

A 24x24x60 coffee table made out of extruded 80mm aluminum strut bars. Probably had a glass top originally. Found it in the trash. Going to re-purpose it, but no idea for what. Maybe an engine test stand or drill press stand.

I also have old tooth brushes and the wife's old hairdryer. Also keep old makeup brushes as disposable paint brushes and a random assortment (too many) of containers for parts, painting, storage.

 

[Doug Arthurs]

Does a functioning walk/don't walk signal light fit. It has absolutely no purpose.

 

[mfs54729]

Does a functioning walk/don't walk signal light fit. It has absolutely no purpose.

It would go good with my functioning stop light.

 

[larry_g]

https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=86962

Posted in the above thread of the same subject; Bummer lambs getting fed to grow up and feed me.

lg
no neat sig line

 

[ddawg16]

Does some 1960's vintage Hewlett Packard catalogs count?

 

[engineer2]

^^Yes as long as my HP-35 counts.

 

[bdbecker]

Cool story.... we're gonna need a better pic, mister.

I became an engineer and not an artist, for obvious reasons...

View media item 89541

 

[ddawg16]

^^Yes as long as my HP-35 counts.

And it still works?

I'll raise you with my HP 1200C o-scope.....that still works. Takes 5 min to warm up....but it still works.

 

[Innovate1]

A wood snow plow for my tractor for the occasional times we get enough snow that I need to clear it from the driveway.

And an old Whitney kickpress for embossing and punching holes in sheet metal. Works good on thin stuff and is fast.

 

[Arkansas COB]

Does a spray bottle full of cheap mouthwash count ?

Great for keeping the mosquitoes away in the summer time. Just mist the air or spray a wall.


COB

 

[logical]

Shower caps.


I travel and stay in hotels dozens of nights each year. I bring them home and use them to cover the air cleaner when washing my Street Glide or lawn mowers, temporary cover for an open paint can, etc.

 

[GrayFlattop]

Probably not THAT unusual given the bulk of the audience here, but would several boxes of ******* magazine from the 60's and 70's - categorized by year, on a top shelf count?

Of course I am a MUCH more evolved human being now - in our modern times. I keep them solely as a reminder of my misspent, maladjusted youth, lol.

 

[555]

A crock pot I use for cleaning small parts. A roasting pan that goes to 450 degrees. Good for curing small powder coated items and for heating motorcycle parts as needed. Both gifts from my wife if I promised to stay out of her kitchen!

 

[bctexas]

How about an autographed picture of Ralph Nader?

Back when I owned and autocrossed Corvairs (a long time ago) a buddy cut Nader's picture out of newspaper, put Nader's "autograph" on it, framed it and gave it to me.

Its hanging in the bathroom at eye level right over the toilet....

 

[rburke65]

A paper mache ice cream cone fron DQ.

 

[ichabod]

a buffalo chip / cow pie from 1991

 

[lilscorpion]

An Iron (like the kind you use for clothes) for edge banding sheets of wood. Not really strange or weird but those who have seen in the drawer do ask why it's there. I tell 'em "m wife stopped ironing my shop shirts after I cleaned my paint gun in the kitchen sink".

 

[malibu101]

a buffalo chip / cow pie from 1991

That ranks very high on the weird chart. Plus it's age.

PLEASE tell us why you have this weird thing for so long.

 

[Firstram]

An Iron (like the kind you use for clothes) for edge banding sheets of wood. Not really strange or weird but those who have seen in the drawer do ask why it's there. I tell 'em "m wife stopped ironing my shop shirts after I cleaned my paint gun in the kitchen sink".

I have an iron in my kit too.

 

[crasher98]

https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=86962

Posted in the above thread of the same subject; Bummer lambs getting fed to grow up and feed me.

lg
no neat sig line

Will you be having beer-flavored lamb? Yum!

 

[turbowoodworker]

Antique and obsolete surgical stapling devices...just in case!

 

[Ancient Iron]

I have a US Mail city mail box from the 1940's.It's cast iron and weighs about 80lbs.

 

[Ancient Iron]

How about an autographed picture of Ralph Nader?

Back when I owned and autocrossed Corvairs (a long time ago) a buddy cut Nader's picture out of newspaper, put Nader's "autograph" on it, framed it and gave it to me.

Its hanging in the bathroom at eye level right over the toilet....

Corvairs were cool cars I took my road test in a 1964 Corvair 500 coupe with a 3 spd stick.
Pictures of ralph nader should be in the toilet for target practice. nader is a ********.

 

[Farrier]

I have severed horse legs in the freezer. I shod horses full time for well over a decade. My plan was to melt them down to make specimens to show my customers the lower anatomy of a horse limb. Never did get around to it; can't get myself to toss them either. Took me several years to convince (any) horse owner to let me cut the legs off their deceased horse.

 

[c39er]

Just odd....

 

[Pruittx2]

old electric guitar body hanging, and a school bus Stop arm sign from retired bus. I ran a few wires and can set up a 9v battery it'll still flashs.

 

[Dentaltec]

My wife

 

[Dan in Pasadena]

I guess this is the only thing “weird” in my garage. An old metal dump truck toy my brother-in-law found at a yard sale and gave to me. I didn’t know what to do with it but said, “Uh, thanks!”

It ended up on my bench with tape measures in it and everyone seems to like it

 

[A**holes Garage]

no, not permanent;

 

[bradysdad]

Probably not THAT unusual given the bulk of the audience here, but would several boxes of ******* magazine from the 60's and 70's - categorized by year, on a top shelf count?

Of course I am a MUCH more evolved human being now - in our modern times. I keep them solely as a reminder of my misspent, maladjusted youth, lol.

And I’m certain you only keep them, just for the articles !!!

 

[foodie]

Does a spray bottle full of cheap mouthwash count ?

Great for keeping the mosquitoes away in the summer time. Just mist the air or spray a wall.


COB

Love this idea,...I am going to try it this summer..