Recently, when I got the opportunity to move all my work tools from the old tool shed to a brand new tool shed, I vastly underestimated the work involved in doing so.
I have three groups of tools: the stuff I inherited from my dad, the sign painter; the stuff he inherited from his dad, the Greyhound bus mechanic; and the stuff I have purchased over the years, either new or at garage sales.
My grandfather's tools are big wrenches, sockets, and really heavy-duty things that I have no idea what they are, but obviously they came in handy when fixing passenger buses. I remember visiting my grandfather in his tool shed one time, and he had dozens of jars filled with large marble-sized ball bearings. That was interesting to look at.
My father's tools were the usual assortment of hammers, pliers, wrenches, and yardsticks, plus a few extension ladders and scaffolding. After he died, I gave away the scaffolding, but kept a couple of the ladders. He had a fine array of measuring tapes, paint brushes and drafting instruments (those being useful in sketching out and designing signage.)
The tools I have personally acquired are also the usual assortment of hammers, pliers, and wrenches as well, along with electrical tools, plumbing tools, jacks and fencing tools. I owned two rental houses at one time so I needed a selection of maintenance and repair items.
So when came the opportunity to move the entire collection of tools from the old tool shed, I must have been out of my mind to think I had to move everything. Many of those tools could be retired, especially the rusty hammers, rusty wood plane, and rusty pliers. Basically anything with rust on it could be given away.
But even that leaves me with too many tools.
I'm thinking about the saws, the crow bars, the chisels, the wood punches. How many of those does a person really need? One wood punch is actually enough. A couple of different sizes of chisels might be handy, but more than one crow bar is not necessary especially when the big crow bar is actually too big to use since it weighs a ton.
And speaking of tons, there's two hydraulic jacks, one of which still works.
Then there are the consumables: the screws, bolts, washers, nuts, and lock nuts. Even a dozen or so cable clamps. U-bolts of every size and description, stove bolts, hose clamps. There are also C-clamps and pipe clamps. There are post hole diggers, a pole saw, circular saw, jig saw, hack saw(s), power drills, hand drills, squares, levels...
Oh, and the rope, and the chain, and driveway reflectors. Velcro strips (why are they in the tool shed?) Glass jars full of this, that and the other. Plastic bins with plastic drawers, tool boxes (both metal and plastic), carts and furniture moving wheeled platforms.
Why do I have four screw-in-the-ground dog leash anchors?
Why do I have any of this stuff? I'm not a handyman, and I don't run a contracting business. One day soon I will gather up most of it and go donate it to Habitat for Humanity. That's a really good idea. Now all I need is a wheel barrow to haul it in. I had a wheelbarrow at one time, but I loaned it to someone and have forgotten who.
There are many items that I won't be giving away or donating. Those are the plastic parts bins that are so old and brittle they are cracking open when I pick them up (and spilling fasteners all over the floor as a result). There are the tools with the black plastic coating that was originally an "easy grip" coating but is now a sticky horrible mess to handle. Into the garbage with that mess.
And speaking of black plastic easy-grip coating, the plastic sheath around my battery-powered hand drill has completely shredded. I mean, it has come apart into dozens of stringy pieces. I can still use the drill, but my hand is surrounded by dangling shreds of easy-grip plastic. Weird.
Well, enough about my tool shed. Fortunately, sometime in the past, I bought a giant mega-sized super pack of pegboard hooks so I'm good to go in that department. Hundreds of pegboard hooks of every size and description. They should go well with my oversized collection of cup hooks, wall hooks, hinges, mending plates, angle brackets, and shelf brackets.
Why do I keep all this stuff? I'll tell you why. I went to the building materials store the other day (to buy pegboard) and was amazed to find out what they were charging for hammers, screwdrivers and a small box of screws. Tools and hardware have quadrupled in price. So that's as good a reason as any to keep the tool shed fully stocked and ready to bequeath to the grandchildren for when they have their own tool sheds. Let them figure out what to do with all the giant bus repair tools.
