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Tool grinch

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  • Member since
    November 2006
  • From: NW Pa Snow-belt.
  • 2,216 posts
Posted by ricktrains4824 on Wednesday, January 11, 2023 6:07 PM

Is the tool grinch that Murphy guy? I really dislike him....

Or some other cute looking furry style gremlin type person? If he's one of these, hide the Mountain Dew... Don't ask me how I know. Big Smile

Ricky W.

HO scale Proto-freelancer.

My Railroad rules:

1: It's my railroad, my rules.

2: It's for having fun and enjoyment.

3: Any objections, consult above rules.

  • Member since
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Posted by Mike in NC on Wednesday, January 11, 2023 12:29 PM

You call it the "Tool Grinch",  I just say I'm suffering from CRS,..   "Can't Remember S***".     Actually as a woodworker pencils and measuring tapes are my biggest offenders.   I can start out with a dozen sharp pencils and 3 or 4 measuring tapes and in two hours I'll be searching,...   grrr,...   CRS,..

-Mike in NC,

  • Member since
    July 2006
  • From: Bradford, Ontario
  • 15,797 posts
Posted by hon30critter on Tuesday, January 10, 2023 8:02 AM

I don't seem to have a problem with misplacing tools (that's not to say that I don't lose plenty of other stuff like detail parts). I use a wall mounted tool rack that holds most of my pliers, screwdrivers and tweezers:

P1010179

I also use a simple wooden block with holes to store my files and Dremel bits, and my most commonly used tools like my X-acto knife simply sit to one side of my cutting mat. For less commonly used tools like calipers and hole punches, I have a tool drawer in one of my storage cabinets.

Here is a cheap tool storage rack that might help:

https://www.amazon.ca/Screwdriver-Organizers-Storage-Multi-Function-Workshop/dp/B08LTMGYGJ/ref=sr_1_26?crid=1P1Z4W3OQWGAW&keywords=hand+tool+rack&qid=1673358655&sprefix=hand+tool+rack%2Caps%2C98&sr=8-26

Cheers!!

Dave

I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!

  • Member since
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  • From: 4610 Metre's North of the Fortyninth on the left coast of Canada
  • 9,352 posts
Posted by BATMAN on Monday, January 9, 2023 1:05 PM

maxman
Just don't mix different brands. I built an item very recently and couldn't figure out why items were not fitting together properly.  Finally discovered that one tape was a small fraction of an inch different from the other.

I learned this lesson while cutting tiles during bathroom renovations. I had one tape in the bathroom and the other out on the tile saw on the driveway. I clued in pretty quickly but it cost a couple of tiles.

Brent

"All of the world's problems are the result of the difference between how we think and how the world works."

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    February 2008
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Posted by maxman on Sunday, January 8, 2023 10:50 AM

hbgatsf
I no longer have a problem with those.  Several years ago I was walking through Lowes and saw that the had two packs of them that had the origanal price the same as singles.  They were then marked down 50% so I bought several.

Just don't mix different brands.

I built an item very recently and couldn't figure out why items were not fitting together properly.  Finally discovered that one tape was a small fraction of an inch different from the other.

  • Member since
    June 2014
  • From: Ohio
  • 231 posts
Posted by josephbw on Sunday, January 8, 2023 10:11 AM

I have a bad habit of not putting things away after using them. As a result, my workbench is about 8' too small. I am always losing tools seconds after using them.

As an example, I am currently building a Walthers Library my daughter got me for Christmas. I was at the stage of installing windows. Every time I took the cap off my glue bottle it took me at least 5 minutes to find it. And it was the same with any tool I used. At 74 years old, my mind is deteriorating faster than a snow cone in the desert.

Joe

  • Member since
    February 2017
  • From: Harrisburg, PA
  • 660 posts
Posted by hbgatsf on Sunday, January 8, 2023 8:45 AM

SeeYou190

I have six 25 foot tape measures. They all go on a rack above my workbench in the garage.

When I get down to the last one, I go and find them again.

-Kevin

I no longer have a problem with those.  Several years ago I was walking through Lowes and saw that the had two packs of them that had the origanal price the same as singles.  They were then marked down 50% so I bought several.

I now have one in each garage and work area and scattered throughout the house.  If I need one I don't have to look far.  I will know that I have the onslaught of demensia if I forget to keep my mouth shut when my wife asks why I have so many and reply "because you never put them back where they belong."

Rick

  • Member since
    February 2005
  • From: Vancouver Island, BC
  • 23,330 posts
Posted by selector on Saturday, January 7, 2023 5:36 PM

One of the advantages of a 'never finished' layout is that there's this excuse to leave stuff on it somewhere.  I have what must be a 12 year old aluminum disposable pie plate that carries bits, track nails, a few joiners if I fish for them, lots of screws, my track gauge, and at least one remnant of my original needle file set.  I use these, plus some dental picks, so often that I can reach behind myself in the dark, or not look, and retrieve what I need.

Now, paint brushes.....fuggetaboudit. Coupler replacement stock...same...it'll take me at least ten minutes.

  • Member since
    August 2003
  • From: Canada
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Posted by wickman on Saturday, January 7, 2023 3:03 PM

I'm not so sure it's the tool grinch but more just a lacks in memory, I know I have  the same problem. Even at 61 my memory lacks and I try my hardest to keep all my RR tools in one spot/pile.

  • Member since
    November 2002
  • From: US
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Posted by jacon12 on Saturday, January 7, 2023 9:49 AM

BATMAN

 Lol... I once picked up my (metal) Kadee coupler height guage, set it down on the powered track, and for a few seconds couldn't figure out why things shut down.

 
Southgate 2
I also lost my first NMRA gauge some time back.

 

While I don't lose tools, my brain does malfunction as I have been known to check the track gauge with my NMRA gauge while the trains are running.Dunce

 

 HO Scale DCC Modeler of 1950, give or take 30 years.
  • Member since
    January 2017
  • From: Southern Florida Gulf Coast
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Posted by SeeYou190 on Saturday, January 7, 2023 9:47 AM

Back when I was a working man...

I had my wonderfully stocked worbench at home, and I had my model building desk in my "dorm room" apartment up in Tampa. I also had my travel tool set that I took with me to hotels.

As a result, I accumulated way too many tools.

Once I get my workbench set up again, I am sure the tool and supply surplus will be astounding when I get it all gathered together in one place.

-Kevin

Living the dream.

  • Member since
    July 2006
  • From: west coast
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Posted by rrebell on Saturday, January 7, 2023 9:21 AM

hbgatsf

Well, I did find the gauge. It had crawled under a piece of paper I had used to check a building footprint.  The fact remains that these incidents seem to be happening more often.  

 

I have multiples of most tools but I picked them up gradually over the years at deep discounts. That being said, tools have always disapeared even though I am fairly well orginized. They tend to slip under paper or get left in another part of the house being used on a short project like removing a screw on the back of a battery powered item.

  • Member since
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  • From: Harrisburg, PA
  • 660 posts
Posted by hbgatsf on Friday, January 6, 2023 7:20 PM

Well, I did find the gauge. It had crawled under a piece of paper I had used to check a building footprint.  The fact remains that these incidents seem to be happening more often.  

Rick

  • Member since
    January 2018
  • From: Douglas AZ.
  • 635 posts
Posted by Little Timmy on Friday, January 6, 2023 6:33 PM

We constantly loose tools here on the Demon's Hollow & Pacific.

During my "vacation" this past week, I managed to clean out part of my shop ..... I discovered that I now own 17 pairs of pliers,  32 Philips screw drivers ( all the same size ) , 4 tape measures, and  multiple sets of sockets .

Oh yea, and 9 1/2 inch wrenches ... that I know of...

 

 

Rust...... It's a good thing !

  • Member since
    January 2017
  • From: Southern Florida Gulf Coast
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Posted by SeeYou190 on Friday, January 6, 2023 6:04 PM

York1
I have two of many tools. I can't find one, I buy another, and when I come home from the hardware store, the original tool mysteriously appears.

I have six 25 foot tape measures. They all go on a rack above my workbench in the garage.

When I get down to the last one, I go and find them again.

-Kevin

Living the dream.

  • Member since
    December 2015
  • From: Shenandoah Valley
  • 9,094 posts
Posted by BigDaddy on Friday, January 6, 2023 6:04 PM

My tools only disappear when I need them or an actually using them.  I blame the poltergeist.

Henry

COB Potomac & Northern

Shenandoah Valley

  • Member since
    March 2011
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Posted by NVSRR on Friday, January 6, 2023 5:23 PM

I keep loosing my tool buying green rectangles tools. 

Shane

A pessimist sees a dark tunnel

An optimist sees the light at the end of the tunnel

A realist sees a frieght train

An engineer sees three idiots standing on the tracks stairing blankly in space

  • Member since
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  • From: 4610 Metre's North of the Fortyninth on the left coast of Canada
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Posted by BATMAN on Friday, January 6, 2023 4:15 PM

Southgate 2
I also lost my first NMRA gauge some time back.

While I don't lose tools, my brain does malfunction as I have been known to check the track gauge with my NMRA gauge while the trains are running.Dunce

Brent

"All of the world's problems are the result of the difference between how we think and how the world works."

  • Member since
    February 2021
  • 1,110 posts
Posted by crossthedog on Friday, January 6, 2023 1:14 PM

Southgate 2
the original never showed up. It never leaves the layout room so...???

Back pocket of the jeans you gave away?

Returning to model railroading after 40 years and taking unconscionable liberties with the SP&S, Northern Pacific and Great Northern roads in the '40s and '50s.

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    August 2020
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Posted by Southgate 2 on Friday, January 6, 2023 12:43 PM

I also lost my first NMRA gauge some time back. I had it for many years. I got a couple more on Ebay, and have them, but the original never showed up. It never leaves the layout room so...???   Dan

  • Member since
    February 2018
  • From: Flyover Country
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Posted by York1 on Friday, January 6, 2023 12:35 PM

I have two of many tools.

I can't find one, I buy another, and when I come home from the hardware store, the original tool mysteriously appears.

Strange occurences.

York1 John       

  • Member since
    January 2017
  • From: Southern Florida Gulf Coast
  • 18,255 posts
Posted by SeeYou190 on Friday, January 6, 2023 12:29 PM

For some reason I have a very hard time keeping track of tweezers.

-Kevin

Living the dream.

  • Member since
    February 2017
  • From: Harrisburg, PA
  • 660 posts
Tool grinch
Posted by hbgatsf on Friday, January 6, 2023 12:23 PM

Has anyone else noticed the tool grinch getting more active as you get older?  I have always had one lurking around but I am starting to pull my hair out (which I can't afford.)

I have a hard time keeping track of my NMRA gauge.  I was recently checking some clearances with it and put it in a place where I would be able to find it. I am now into day 3 of looking for it without success. I know that it will show up at some point but my patience is running out. 

Rick

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