Tool Eater in the drawer?

allen levine

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new york city burbs
I know I put my tools away when I done.
I'm much more organized these past 2 years.
I dont purchase throw away tools anymore, and try to buy quality hand tools, or at least a quality that is acceptable.(ex: craftsman hand tools)

So why is that as of last night, 2 different hand tools I bought within the last 2 years, have dissappeared?
The only person would have access to my tools in my garage is my son, and he swears the only tool hes borrowed is the hammer or drill.(he has his own tools, and hes very picky who touches them)

Is there a tool eating monster in my closet or work bench drawer I dont know about?
Is this a common monster?

It was suggested to me that not realizing it I might have tossed them into the trash, but I dont see how I could toss a 14 inch chisel I paid good money for and a craftsman rachett handle, and not any rachets are missing.
 
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Sorry to hear that. My shop has a messy look to it, I just don't sweep often enough. But everything has it's place. My rule, and work habit, is to return a tool to it's 'place' as soon as I am finished using it. Rarely is something not at hand when I need it.
But, I'll admit, maybe there is a tool eating apparition out there. :eek: Can't count the number of times in my life when I'll be using something, like a hammer. Set it down for a moment, then when I reach for it....gone. Usually, this is with chores not in the shop, on farm, in yard, etc. Can look for hours and never find it. :huh:
 
the easiest way to find the lost/missing tools is to rush off and buy replacements............if you don`t then murphy says it`ll be months before you see `em again..:rolleyes:
 
its not like its a 2 dollar pair of socks, and one goes missing in the dryer.
Ive always known you have to feed your dryer one sock every 6 months or it breaks down.
Its just inconvenient when you go to the spot, and boom, it aint there.
 
I know I put my tools away when I done.
I'm much more organized these past 2 years.
I dont purchase throw away tools anymore, and try to buy quality hand tools, or at least a quality that is acceptable.(ex: craftsman hand tools)

So why is that as of last night, 2 different hand tools I bought within the last 2 years, have dissappeared?
The only person would have access to my tools in my garage is my son, and he swears the only tool hes borrowed is the hammer or drill.(he has his own tools, and hes very picky who touches them)

Is there a tool eating monster in my closet or work bench drawer I dont know about?
Is this a common monster?

It was suggested to me that not realizing it I might have tossed them into the trash, but I dont see how I could toss a 14 inch chisel I paid good money for and a craftsman rachett handle, and not any rachets are missing.

I think you hit the nail on the head without knowing it. Like you I am the same way, a 2 second sweep of my tool box will prove if anyone has touched my tools over the weekend (at work)or in my home shop. EVERYTHING has its place.

But I have found out that IF I do put something in the wrong spot then it tends to go missing and for a very long time. A few weeks ago I could not find my 7/16 inch wrench. It was just gone and I use it all the time. After a day or two goes by I am sure someone has taken it and its not just misplaced. After a week..2 weeks...3 weeks...now I know its been taken,whether on purpose or by lack of returning it.

Thursday it turned up in an obscure drawer in my toolbox. I had been using this odd-ball drawer that day, and in a split second of inattention dropped the wrench into the drawer where it was not discovered for several weeks.

It gets on your nerves though because I cannot stand searching for something. I'll work for about 10-15 minutes and if my bench is cluttered with numerous tools,I stop right there and then and put EVERYTHING back. Same thing if I find myself searching for something. If I make two lines with a framing square, and then go to make the third cut and its not within reach...yep...time to stop and put everything back. I am compulsive that way.
 
Im not one that would be considered a tool maven.
I know very little about quality tools.
Ive spent most of my life working, and my work doesnt involve any tools.
Once in a blue moon Ive had to unscrew a sign or hang something.
My tools consisted mainly from what I scrounged up over the years from relatives or other peoples throw aways.

So when I spend 20 dollars on a chisel, or a pliers, its kills me when I go looking for it, and all I find is my import 99 cent pair of pliers.

I try to keep organized now.

I simply have to find something, and in the middle of a hot day I cant stand spending 2 hours looking for something I should have found in 6 seconds

I could see how the people here who depend on tools constantly for their livelihood would be throwing things when they cant find what they need on the spot cause some coworker or relative borrowed it and didnt put it back into its proper place.
 
Sometimes I can suffer from a bit of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.

Nothing kicks that into high gear more than not being able to find something I 'KNOW' should be around somewhere. Doesn't matter if it's my keys, sunglasses, a tool, or an obscure, irreplaceable part for the 46 Chevy I'm trying to restore...

I will, and have spent, hours before looking for something out in the garage.

Case in point, I was once wirebrushing a little brass brakeline distribution block for the Chevy on a wirewheel on a grinder. All of a sudden the block 'caught' on the wheel and 'ZING' it fired over my sholder across the garage at a high rate of speed (Always wear safety glasses, yadayadayada).

I spent 10 HOURS emptying shelves moving things looking for that darn block. Couldn't find the darn thing. Then I spent hours on the internet looking for a replacement. No such luck. Seriously, I probably could have cobbled something together from plumbing parts, but that didn't matter. I had to find it.:doh:

Went back to the garage to look. I had a dart board on a panel that would swing down from the ceiling. Out of desperation I pulled it down. Bingo. There it was. Somehow the part had managed to fly at a high rate of speed up toward the ceiling and fit through a 1.5 inch gap between the dart board and the ceiling...:doh:

I HATE having to look for things, but I spend quite a lot of time doing it... :rofl:
 
its not like its a 2 dollar pair of socks, and one goes missing in the dryer.
Ive always known you have to feed your dryer one sock every 6 months or it breaks down.
Its just inconvenient when you go to the spot, and boom, it aint there.

I'm in agreement with Tod. Buy a replacement and keep the receipt. When the missing one mysteriously reappears, return the replacement up opened.

As to those socks that go missing in the dryer; through careful observation I have discovered that they morph into hangers that appear in the closet in a tangled mess.

One of my problems is that I live alone and have no one to blame. Oh, missing tools . . . thy name is "old-timers" disease.
 
What I do in these cases is tie a knot on my t-shirt or whatever piece of cloth I'm wearing, and cast a spell.

Then stop searching for it, in less than half an hour I find the missing tool or whatever I was looking for.

Believe me, I do not know how it works but it does.

When my wife taught me how to do it, I was very, VERY sceptic but after seeing its continuous effectivity time after time my scepticism turned into a feeling of that there are things that we can't explain but that work.

You can laugh if you want but I find missing things and you don't:)
 
If I can't find something, I quit looking for it and start looking for something else. Next thing I know, the thing I was looking for in the first place falls off the shelf and hits me in the head!!! :huh:
 
Bill,

the problem with your system is it assumes you remembered what you were looking for in the first place :rofl:
 
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