What do you do with old/damaged tools?

[Autoguy]

Wrenches hammers screwdrivers pry bars saw blades ...etc are usually made from quality alloy steel that can be used to make knives axes and many other tools instead of throwing them away??or sell them at trow away prices.

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[shawndp]

Stuff that is too far gone and has no warranty goes to the scap guy who picks up our rotors, radiators, etc... I don't have time to mess around with broken tools or make art projects out of them.

 

[metaldad]

i throw them out. too much stuff accumulated.
except screwdriver handles. those get repurposed. shafts - go in the scrap pile

 

[billwood437]

i throw them out. too much stuff accumulated.
except screwdriver handles. those get repurposed. shafts - go in the scrap pile

What do you do with the handles?

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[Richard Cranium]

that was my question also.
I have a loan box that i put the junk tools and worn out stuff in. That away when some one asks to borrow something I send them to look in the box and give my junk away. I made up a pretty nice box of tools yesterday for my sister's son who just got his first car. I had a fair set of craftsman older with rust socket set in metric, found a working craftsman ratchet and a bunch of other stuff and put it all into a plastic tool box for him. Plus it get a little more junk out of my garage. Rich

 

[buffalobill]

Wrenches get the bad side cut off, screwdrivers that are junk are still useful for picks, scrapers, chisels, prybars, etc. Ratchets get junked, as do sockets.

 

[metaldad]

What do you do with the handles?

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handles for files.

 

[Bacon Man]

Any tool I break, either at home, work, or on the farm, I take to work and it gets turned into a Proto or SK.

 

[Gmonkee]

Some get fixed as they were, wrenches may get sized up but most just get replaced and the old recycled.

I used to mess with all of them but really not worth big efforts.

 

[Al Borland]

I like to go to my buddy's shop and slip one or two into his toolbox. I don't take anything, just add bad tools. He never seems to realize that he has never seen these broken tools before.
Only thing he ever caught on to was when I added a set of Whitworth wrenches

 

[mikebaker1129]

Any tool I break, either at home, work, or on the farm, I take to work and it gets turned into a Proto or SK.

Cool now tell us where you work ?
Are they hiring ?

 

[RandyRanderson]

I keep and reuse just about everything.

 

[rsanter]

Trade them in for a new one from snap on....

Bob

 

[jeejay]

I revive topics on here about them, even simpler.

 

[ssdave]

Throw them in the scrap metal if they're not warrantied.

I don't make knives or such from them; mystery metal is not a good way to start a project. If I want to make a knife, I start with knife steel with known properties, and a clear heat treat sequence. Saw blades are all over the place for steel and trace metal content, and difficult to figure out how to heat treat properly.

I gave up using mystery metal a long time ago, after having projects and or tooling ruined by trying. Now, I keep a stock of known property metals, and only use those. If I don't have the right metal for the job, I order it. I don't chuck a piece of mystery metal up on the lathe or in the mill vise.

 

[MushCreek]

I put them back in the drawer with the good ones. I never seem to throw stuff out, no matter how bad.

 

[firecracker]

I tend to keep stuff, I have an estwing hammer I've had 35 years it's got a horrible ring to it I just can't throw it out, but can't stand that ring. Any ideas on how to stop it ringing?

 

[ScottsGT]

Honestly, the only tools I remember breaking were a couple of my Snap On's and they were replaced under warranty.
Wait, I did have a HF heat gun that the trigger went **** up. Tossed it in the trash.
Also had a couple of floor jacks that just quit working. Went to the curb for the scrap guys.
Now I do have a few older tools that still work that I've handed down to my boys since I've bought newer replacements. Gave one my old Bosch drill driver that I bought 22 years ago about the time he was born. It's on the third set of batteries, but still chugging along.
The other got the old Craftsman shop vac I bought around the same time. Upgraded with a Ridgid that's much quieter.
I've got an old Craftsman circular saw I no longer use, but they have no use for that one, yet.

 

[spike99250]

I tend to keep stuff, I have an estwing hammer I've had 35 years it's got a horrible ring to it I just can't throw it out, but can't stand that ring. Any ideas on how to stop it ringing?

Take a hacksaw and cut a small notch between the claws. I was told that works.

 

[rlitman]

... Any ideas on how to stop it ringing?

Well, on an anvil, you would wrap the waist in a chain. I suppose the same would work on a hammer.

 

[rlitman]

I like to go to my buddy's shop and slip one or two into his toolbox. I don't take anything, just add bad tools. He never seems to realize that he has never seen these broken tools before.
Only thing he ever caught on to was when I added a set of Whitworth wrenches

You're evil. I like the way you think!

I managed to continue something like that for a few years until I was caught. Every time I saw a different style cheap vegetable peeler, I'd pick it up and stuff it into a drawer at the in-laws.

I started, when I noticed that they had trouble closing the drawer, and I asked why they needed four different peelers, and got a dirty look in response. Eventually, I added at least a dozen different ones.

 

[zktk01]

I like to go to my buddy's shop and slip one or two into his toolbox. I don't take anything, just add bad tools. He never seems to realize that he has never seen these broken tools before.
Only thing he ever caught on to was when I added a set of Whitworth wrenches

That's hilarious

 

[jdlong]

Gorilla glue and duct tape.

 

[zktk01]

Donate to Goodwill and get a huge tax write-off.

 

[tym]

You're evil. I like the way you think!

I managed to continue something like that for a few years until I was caught. Every time I saw a different style cheap vegetable peeler, I'd pick it up and stuff it into a drawer at the in-laws.

I started, when I noticed that they had trouble closing the drawer, and I asked why they needed four different peelers, and got a dirty look in response. Eventually, I added at least a dozen different ones.

I like the way you think too!

Reminds me of a time I was hiking with some college friends. The hike leader had left his backpack partially unzipped, so as we hiked, I started adding rocks to the bag. My friends quickly followed suit. Must've added about 20 lbs to his pack before he realized what had happened!

 

[derosa]

I tend to keep stuff, I have an estwing hammer I've had 35 years it's got a horrible ring to it I just can't throw it out, but can't stand that ring. Any ideas on how to stop it ringing?

Try hitting the rivets at the bottom of the handle with a ball peen hammer. Mine rings but I don't really notice the noise and it always has rung.

Anything scrap I junk, I've got too much **** laying around and too many unfinished/never started projects to bother with thinking I'll put scrap to good use.

 

[Lelandwelds]

All my stuff is old.

I buy garage sale hammers to reforge into axes or hatchets. I buy wrenches to make knifes. Ive had good luck with anything "vanadium ". I use the oddball stuff for a quarter and gift the result to someone.

Good stuff I keep so the grandkids can leave it in the yard.

 

[mmason7764]

I like to go to my buddy's shop and slip one or two into his toolbox. I don't take anything, just add bad tools. He never seems to realize that he has never seen these broken tools before.
Only thing he ever caught on to was when I added a set of Whitworth wrenches

Excellent story,

In the county where I live horse owners had to start locking their gates after a couple episodes where they woke up and found they had inherited extra horses overnight !

A friend of mine told me I had ruined his german shephard dog's squeaky toy by playing tug-of-war with it and the dog. About a month and a half later they told me the cleaning lady had found over a dozen identical squeaky toys that they had not bought and fingered me (correctly) as the culprit. To accomplish this I ran 6 or 7 Walmarts out of stock.

 

[Al Borland]

I like the way you think too!

Reminds me of a time I was hiking with some college friends. The hike leader had left his backpack partially unzipped, so as we hiked, I started adding rocks to the bag. My friends quickly followed suit. Must've added about 20 lbs to his pack before he realized what had happened!

Added a plate from railroad tracks to a co-worker's tool bag. One of the plates that supports the rail on the tie and the spikes go thru, maybe the size of a sheet of paper and an inch or so thick. I watched him load and unload that bag for weeks trying to figure out why it was so heavy. He didn't notice the plate because it was almost exactly the size of the bottom of his bag. Hard not to laugh when he would start dropping tools back in and they would "clank" off the plate.

 

[plinker]

Depending on whats broken, some stuff gets re-used by modifying or making a one off tool.
Broken adapters work fine for welding onto something, for example. If there is any good part left of something, I save it.