Dear Lord, I think I've inherited my father's dread disease, DSPH

[Bill White]

I've been in a twelve step program for that illness. Now you've just solved my problem with the "just throw it away" concept. What will my fellow hoarders do now that I am cured?
Bill

[Mike Henderson]

I really had to laugh in reading your post, Dean. I have to force myself to throw used sandpaper away - I always figure there's more life in it. But then I have a pile and can't easily find what I want so I get a new piece, anyway.

Good luck in your recovery program!

Mike

[TYLER WOOD]

Hear Hear Dean. I clean only when necessary, keeps her out of my space! Would love to clean, just don't have time for all the goofing off, lazyitis and other things getting in the way. Ok never mind I don't think I would clean.

[Paul Engle]

So dats where dat disease came from....Thanks for the HU Dean...

[Bill Wyko]

I'm the same way. Use it until it's like notebook paper. What you're really supposed to do is use it like someone else is paying for it.

[Jesse Cloud]

Laughing out loud - that really hits home. When my dad passed he had about ten old electric motors in the garage, I think from every fridge, washer, and drier we ever owned. He always knew they would come in handy some day.

BTW, the theory that used sandpaper will work on the next grit is suspicious. At the woodworking school I attend, they are really anal about totally cleaning off any dust from the previous grit. off the wood, off the sanding block, etc. Their theory is that any leftover grit will make new scratch marks while the finer grit is removing them, e.g. digging a hole and filling it back up in the same process.

[Curt Fuller]

The best sandpaper saving device I've ever had came via an old timer named Fred Hunger who is in our turning club. Since I started using this it just seems like I never have to buy sandpaper, a sheet lasts forever. And I never feel like I'm losing an old friend when I throw a piece away. Check it out....

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=38985

[Dean Thomas]

So, can we utilize some of our stash of used hack saw blades or do we have to have new??

One could even hone the back side of a used blade and make is plenty sharp enough to make good cuts on the paper.

[Pat Doble]

I was a 'keeper' until my mother and I had to deal with the estate of her brother when he passed about 10 years ago. He lived in a old farmhouse that he hadn't let anyone in for quite some time. Every inch of every level of the house was piled at least 2 feet high with stuff - just a path from the door in the kitchen to the bathroom and couch. Also had 3 garages/outbuildings full and a 40' construction trailer he had just purchased to put Lionel train setups in. Spent a whole spring and summer of weekends going through and pitching stuff. He had an entire room full of clock and pocket watch parts and tools from his younger days when his eyesight was better.

Ever since, I purge things pretty regularly. Now it's just wood and turning blanks that I hoard and don't let go of.

[Bill Wyko]

That makes sence to me. I still have a box with old sandpaper just incase I run out of new paper.

[Henry C. Gernhardt, III]

Dean---

Don't worry so much about your affliction. It's merely a specific case of a more general class of disorders known as laxuviciutilitis, more commonly known as ``Junk Box Syndrome''. This disorder is most vocally pronounced in some circles as a boon, especially among Amateur Radio enthusiasts.

In the early stages of this disorder, the mantra ``It may come in handy later'' is often heard. As the disorder advances, the rationale of ``One can never have too much/many ____'' may be used. In its most advanced stages, sufferers of this syndrome actually find seemingly useful, and often creative, applications for the stuff that has been accumulated.

I have to admit, though, I'm scratching my head a bit at the potential utility of spent abrasive material. Now if you handed me a few hundred feet of narrow-gauge wire and an old oatmeal canister, that might be a different story...