Progress on 'the new me'.

[Ray Newman]

Gents: according to my physician, I am "at that age" (76) and about 4-5 years ago I found myself doing the same as Rick Potter. Passed up good deals, then slowly sold off some tools. Last year when my wife was sick, I sold off 35-40 years of collecting Enfield and other military surplus firearms. I found that when I approached 75 years, my attitude about a great deal of what I had and what was doing really changed. At first i thought it was just me, but now I see it in others I know. See what you youngster have to look forward to?

[Rick Potter]

Well said, Ray.

I will be 80 in October, and I am definitely slowing down. I am wanting to avoid any new large scale builds and just work on small furniture, which I have never had a chance to play with. Always working on remodels, and rentals until recently when I started hiring out more of that work as I could afford it. Like the signature line reads...DIY journeyman.

My real hobby is cars, and I have also slowed down on them. I gave a Model T to my daughter a couple years ago, and a Model A resto rod to my son in January. Now down to four toy cars, and will probably sell the '55 T-Bird next.

A support group sounds good to me too.

[Alan Lightstone]

...

My real hobby is cars, and I have also slowed down on them. I gave a Model T to my daughter a couple years ago, and a Model A resto rod to my son in January. Now down to four toy cars, and will probably sell the '55 T-Bird next.

Wow. Simply, wow. Lucky kids.

[Michael Schuch]

Most of them I picked up used. Before the new style compact routers were fashionable I picked up four small B&D routers about that size. They are really neat, but cheapo. They look like a Bosch Colt with two D handles, which makes them really nice to hold safely. I bought them separately for $20, two $10 and a $5. They each have a small round over or laminate trim bit...ready to go.

Some I got with table saws I bought and turned over. I remember getting a barely used Bosch kit with plunge and standard bases...the one with the wooden handles. The lady advertised it for $125, I think. Offered her $100 and she refused. Couple weeks later it is advertised at $80 and I bought it. I didn't tell her I had offered more earlier.

Got a DeWalt 621 at Lowes at closeout of $40. Display model missing a collet and another part. Called DeWalt to buy the parts and they sent them free. Another I could not pass up was a new PC 690 from Lowes for $40 NIB.

I could go on, but I don't want to sound like a tool collector.

On the other hand, I have a few router tables, which will be found in the classifieds someday. My first one cost 50 cents.

So how do you organize all your routers? Drawers and shelves don't work very well for me. I was thinking of making a router book case where I could line them all up and only have the one deep, face ups, with a slot in the shelf for the bit and the cord behind the router. I would include router bit storage in the same unit. Then I start thinking that it would be really nice to store all my shaper cutters in it too. Then I pile up all my routers on the shelf and figure it is too much trouble to make a router specific book case like storage unit.

[Michael Schuch]

Gents: according to my physician, I am "at that age" (76) and about 4-5 years ago I found myself doing the same as Rick Potter. Passed up good deals, then slowly sold off some tools. Last year when my wife was sick, I sold off 35-40 years of collecting Enfield and other military surplus firearms. I found that when I approached 75 years, my attitude about a great deal of what I had and what was doing really changed. At first i thought it was just me, but now I see it in others I know. See what you youngster have to look forward to?

I started collecting military firearms back in the 90's. I had a curio and relics license in this golden age when they were importing all the European surplus arms. I am 54 and haven't gotten to the point of wanting to part with any yet but there are some less favorites that I am considering selling. My daughter will go out and shoot 22's with me but doesn't like the bigger guns and doesn't have the same appreciation of their history that I do.

1001192220a - Copy.jpg

I have always been more partial to the Swedish Mausers than the Enfields myself.

[Rick Potter]

ORGANIZE??

Surely you confuse me with someone else. Stored on router tables, table saw wing, shelves, drawers, shed.

And router bits....believe me you don't wanna ask about router bits. I have over a hundred just from one purchase.
I'll bet most of us would have bought them too. I paid $100 for them, less than a buck a bit, and a lot were new.

I would love to see how others store them.

Lots of stuff needs thinning, but I have trouble putting pics on CL, and much of what I have is too heavy to ship, so I don't put much on the classifieds here.

Alan, yeah the cars are worth some money, but I have traded in them for 50 years and my monetary investment really isn't that bad. I sell one, buy another....repeat. Probably had about 170 over the years. Not rich, retired fireman.

[Michael Schuch]

ORGANIZE??

Surely you confuse me with someone else. Stored on router tables, table saw wing, shelves, drawers, shed.

And router bits....believe me you don't wanna ask about router bits. I have over a hundred just from one purchase.
I'll bet most of us would have bought them too. I paid $100 for them, less than a buck a bit, and a lot were new.

I would love to see how others store them.

I completely understand! And yes, I too am sure I would have bought them! I find myself passing on to good to pass up deals more and more but some still light off the G.A.S. I have always had a list in the back of my mind of the machines that I would like to acquire someday. There isn't much left on the list and the shop is full. I keep telling myself that I need to put some of the spares on craigslist. Used machines seem to be going for a premium these days. At least it seems to me like the highest prices I have seen in a long time and the adds are staying up for a pretty short period of time.

Pictures are pretty much a requirement to get much response off craigslist in my experience. Do you have a computer or are you doing everything through your phone?

[Tom Bender]

Is there a way to sell this stuff on commission?