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Thread: Start the timer.....

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jan 2004
    Location
    Lewiston, Idaho
    Posts
    28,504

    Start the timer.....

    I have a limited number of tools with which I hammer in my shop. I have a rubber mallet, a turned carving mallet, a dead blow hammer and I HAD a 40+ year old Stanley 16 oz. curved claw hammer. In my shed, I have a couple sledge hammers of different weights, a 27 oz. (IIRC) framing hammer, and two roofing hammers (think hachet made for roofing). My dearly appreciated 16 oz. Stanley disappeared a couple weeks ago. I have crawled all over my shop, opened all drawers, looked behind tools, cabinets, under tables and I can't find it. It's the one I use most often when I am building projects. Today I picked up the first load of materials for the shower remodel I am beginning tomorrow. It's stuff I ordered online from HD. The big stuff I had to special order and it's shipping to be delivered to my home. One thing I did pickup as part of the partial order today was a new Estwing 16 oz. claw hammer.


    I am sure the Stanley will turn up soon now that I have bought it's replacement!
    Last edited by Ken Fitzgerald; 09-09-2021 at 11:23 PM.
    Ken

    So much to learn, so little time.....

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jun 2012
    Location
    New Westminster BC
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    2,981
    It will show up the first time you put a mark on the new one (making it ineligible to return)or the return window on it expires, whichever comes last.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Sep 2007
    Location
    Longview WA
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    My wife borrows tools and then doesn't put them away. This is a real pain if much time passes before it is needed again. She seldom remembers where she was using it.

    jtk
    "A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
    - Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Mar 2010
    Location
    Somewhere in the Land of Lincoln
    Posts
    2,546
    Isn't that Murphy's Law? Once you purchase a replacement the original will turn up? Usually it's a "oh I forgot I used it there" moment.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Feb 2003
    Location
    McKean, PA
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    Don't worry Ken, it happens to all of us. I spent a hour yesterday looking for a partial spool of 1/8" braided nylon rope.

    You will now have two 16 oz hammers as the original one will miraculously appear in a location where you thought you checked at least a dozen times.
    Last edited by Lee Schierer; 09-10-2021 at 7:47 AM.
    Lee Schierer
    USNA '71
    Go Navy!

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  6. #6
    Join Date
    Mar 2003
    Location
    SE PA - Central Bucks County
    Posts
    65,688
    Fortunately...you can never have too many hammers. Well, maybe you can, but...
    --

    The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...

  7. #7
    If I could get back the time spent looking for misplaced tools my hair would be gray instead of white.

    I recently had a helper for a day who used one of my earmuffs, which quickly disappeared. I usually go on the assumption that a lost tool will be on a visible horizontal surface and start scanning. A couple of days later I found it on a horizontal surface alright- at the bottom of a 4' high empty veneer box whose top flaps had given way under the muff's weight.

    I still think it true that everything has to be somewhere.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Apr 2013
    Location
    Kansas City
    Posts
    2,652
    I keep a list on a clipboard of all the tools I can't find, and cross them off when they turned up. But now I can't find the list.
    < insert spurious quote here >

  9. #9
    The shop I used to work at has a signout list for borrowed tools. That cuts down a bit on fruitless searches.

  10. #10
    So the progression in my shop goes something like this...
    I need to (repair a gutter), so look for hammer in shop, and look, and look, and look - everywhere.
    Four hours later, after combing thru the grass outside, I leave to buy a new one.
    My father arrives. He looks for hammer in shop, and looks - - in all the same places I looked.
    Assuming he lost it, he leaves to buy a new one.
    We both arrive back at the shop with a new hammer.
    I chastise him for needless trip.
    He chastises me for needless trip.
    Eight hours into effort, I take MY new hammer and grab the ladder for (repair).
    Old hammer, willfully hiding out of sight on top step of 8' ladder, falls off and hits me in the head.
    Repair is completed 4 minutes after return from ER.

  11. #11
    Join Date
    May 2015
    Location
    Ingleside, IL
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    1,417
    Quote Originally Posted by Malcolm McLeod View Post
    So the progression in my shop goes something like this...
    I need to (repair a gutter), so look for hammer in shop, and look, and look, and look - everywhere.
    Four hours later, after combing thru the grass outside, I leave to buy a new one.
    My father arrives. He looks for hammer in shop, and looks - - in all the same places I looked.
    Assuming he lost it, he leaves to buy a new one.
    We both arrive back at the shop with a new hammer.
    I chastise him for needless trip.
    He chastises me for needless trip.
    Eight hours into effort, I take MY new hammer and grab the ladder for (repair).
    Old hammer, willfully hiding out of sight on top step of 8' ladder, falls off and hits me in the head.
    Repair is completed 4 minutes after return from ER.

    Sounds just about right. The only thing I would add is the money lost buying "just one more clamp" while at the tool store.
    Stand for something, or you'll fall for anything.

  12. #12
    Quote Originally Posted by Bill Carey View Post
    Sounds just about right. The only thing I would add is the money lost buying "just one more clamp" while at the tool store.
    But I'll use the clamps. All of them.

    The hammers, well... SWMBO will throw a heck on an estate sale. I think we've got ~37 claw hammers now. (I'd like to be more precise, but uhm, ...I can't seem to find....). I'll be right back!

  13. #13
    Join Date
    Mar 2018
    Location
    Moscow, ID
    Posts
    428
    I have about 10 different hammers, but that doesn't stop me from wanting to buy a Stiletto hammer. I have no need for one - I'm just a DiYer, but I'm pretty sure I'll end up with one, just because I think it's cool and I want it. That's how I ended up with a lot of tools, like my laser level and a Kreg Foreman pocket hole machine.

  14. #14
    Join Date
    Sep 2016
    Location
    Modesto, CA, USA
    Posts
    9,889
    I have found it difficult to buy a claw hammer. Very few if any for sale mixed in with the claw hammers. I only use the wrong end for pulling nails and a cripping hammer is not designed for that. I use a chisel or crowbar, wonder bar etc if I need a ripping hammer.
    I suppose they would be good for lath work or other crude jobs. Lath was gone after ww2 when drywall came out
    Bill D

  15. #15
    Quote Originally Posted by Jim Koepke View Post
    My wife borrows tools and then doesn't put them away. This is a real pain if much time passes before it is needed again. She seldom remembers where she was using it.

    jtk

    Just the other day, wife said "Let me get MY HAMMER." She comes back with a 22 oz, straight claw, Plumb, framing hammer, that looks just like the one I have been missing for years.

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