Busy work

A recent shop cleanout turned up a lot of great stuff – all of it defunct.

Since I can’t really get much done until my cataract surgery heals fully and I can get new glasses for close work, I figured it was a good time to do that one woodshop task we all put off: a thorough cleaning. Sure, it’s busy work, but it’s always good for better efficiency when you’re back doing real work.

Aside from general cleaning and organizing, I concentrated on all the things I’ve been storing for years that I can finally part with. I’m a packrat about tools, and rarely throw any out. But a number of those I’m hoarding I either don’t, or can’t, use.

I found a lot, and you can see a few examples in the photo above. There’s a pneumatic framing nailer that ceased being useful years ago, along with a cordless finisher that simply no longer works. No idea why. The Makita sander I’m holding was a favorite, but I dropped it a few years back onto a concrete floor and bent the shaft. Same thing happened to that Drill Doctor sharpener. And the Ridgid drill and jigsaw were also favorites, but among my oldest cordless tools the batteries died long ago.

I’ve held on to all of these because they were great tools, and figured I’d one day have them fixed (or, in the case of the two Ridgid tools, get new batteries). But in truth I never will. The repairs and batteries would likely cost more than they’re worth, and besides they’ve all long since been replaced anyway.

So why do I keep them? I have no idea, other than that I hate to throw out tools, even once they’ve become useless.