Do You Hoard Anything?

[Bill Jobe]

Every piece of OO I can find.

[Frederick Skelly]

Got 2 boxes of small stuff. Never know when a bit of plastic or metal will be useful.
Got 3 akro-mills "drawer cabinets" full of new and old nuts/bolts/washers. And every time I have to buy a couple bolts at the store, I buy a couple extra.

[Darrell LaRue]

I have a weakness for spokeshaves. Especially those little Stanley #64 shaves. This picture is from several years ago (2011) and I have accumulated at least this many again.

I am so weak.

Weakness.JPG

[george wilson]

I'm the WORST hoarder! Ask my wife!

[Jeff Ranck]

My wife says quilters don't talk about their stash.

[george wilson]

All those spoke shaves,and not even ONE of those little,round Miller's Falls ones? I made some replacement blades for someone here a few years ago. Not the easiest thing to make,as they are cylindrical. I do have one,but never seem to use it. Not because it isn't good. I just like the wooden ones I've mostly made.

[Karl Andersson]

It's not hoarding, it's stockpiling... because it's selective

- Any quality early tool that costs less than $3 at the flea market, whether I already have several or not (i.e. I've got a large pile of Starrett dividers, etc. in one stockpile that cost on average 50 cents each)

- nicely bent pieces of branches that fall in storms - for making spoons. until they dry and split, then they are curvy firewood.

- Pieces of scavenged dogwood. it grows in the woods around here and is very useful for tools, etc. because it's so hard. I look for broken limbs, trunks, etc.

- Of course, hardwood cutoffs bigger than 2 inches, walnut chunks from firewood piles, pieces of 2x doug fir it they have dense growth rings (for painted carvings)

- Brass. Doesn't matter what it is - plumbing fixtures, scrap, cheap thick knickknacks. I have used it for ferrules (knives, chisels) and also hammered things out of it.

- if very cheap, old tool steel like cold chisels, scrap, etc. to feed my early blacksmithing interest cheaply and not ruin storebought stuff

[Pat Barry]

Not a hoarder per se, it's just I don't like throwing things away, ie wood cutoffs, old electric motors, hardware, wire, switches, handles, casters, partially completed projects, half used cans of paint, broken tools that maybe someday could be fixed, tools I don't use but might someday, tape measures, razor knifes, old table saw blades that could be resharpened, etc = you get the idea. What do you consider hoarding?

[Bill McDermott]

My brothers and I cleaned out our Grandfather's basement before selling the building. Decades worth of bits and pieces, gathered by a very busy handyman, amounted to a lot of work sorting and sifting and packing and trashing. I learned something about the downside of what we are calling hoarding here. There was a lot of completely useless stuff that was simply not worth the effort to dust off, let alone keep. But I also learned about the upside. It's been a long time since that cleanout, yet there are still times when I go to my share of Gandpa's stash and am able to lay hands on exactly what is needed. The upshot is that while I do salvage some screws and bolts, there are many others that I send on their merry way. I try to decide by imagining my son cleaning out my stash somewhere down the road. If I can make that work more efficient by sorting the useless from the useful during the accumulation phase, maybe he (or his sons) will not have so much work in the clean out phase. I put myself in the decisive frame of mind I was forced to assume while in Gandpa's crawlspace. I can still smell it. Ironically, it makes me smile now.

[Shawn Pixley]

Having had to clean out the house of a hoarder, I am anti-hoarding. If something comes into the house, something else must leave.

[Chuck Nickerson]

I have a disturbing number (150+) of wooden planes, each of which needs only a few hours of rehab to make them magnificent once again.

When I can't afford lumber or run out of project ideas, those planes are up next!

[Brian Henderson]

Having had to clean out the house of a hoarder, I am anti-hoarding. If something comes into the house, something else must leave.

My wife's grandmother was a hoarder, and I mean that in the worst sense of the word. Her house was wall-to-wall junk, old newspapers, etc. when she died, floor-to-ceiling garbage with little tunnels carved out to move around in. It took us weeks to empty the house into a dumpster. So yes, I am anti-hoarder too, at least in that sense. I don't just throw things away that have use though, although I do go through the house regularly and anything that I can't see a reason to keep, I pitch. I'm the resident clean up expert for the family. Just roll up a dumpster and get out of my way.

[Chris Schoenthal]

Actually, I prefer to be called a "collecting enthusiast"
My wife does refer to me as a hoarder, especially since in my 20'x20' garage (shop), I have only two 2' paths that I can walk.
The biggest part of it is wood, taking up probably a 12'x8' section of it.
I always have plans on getting it organized, but never seem to get around to it.

[Mel Fulks]

I get too much stuff ,then get rid of enough to get some more. I confess to instantly conjuring up bizarre scenarios of what the item being considered for permanent residency could be used for ,then later tossing it because it's useless junk. But I doubt I'm nutty enough to get my own TV show. I mean there is no way I could compete with the stars who when asked by one of the therapist detox people holding a plastic leaf bag full of plastic band aid peel-off pieces if it's OK to toss them quickly replies "I might need them for book-marks"

[Bill Jobe]

misperception[/B] though, sopool best we not bother asking her. . . . . .

Excellent advice, Patrick. I usually try to make it home after dark with my loads of wood, then tuck them in as best I can make them look like they were there all along.