Old tool

[1monkey1]

Have had to get some new tools for work this past month.
Set of insulated screwdrivers, old ones worn out.
2 new 18v dewalt drills, batterys on my old ones shot and brushes nearly worn out.
Set of insulated wire cutters. Work mate said circuit was dead,big flash and blow hole in cutters said otherwise!

So what to do with old tools, I know put them in my tool box in the shed .
So opened up tool box and counted 4 old sets of screwdrivers give or take a few missing.
Have 5 sets of cutters, one set at least 25 years old,
4 hammers and the list goes on.
Now to my old drills, had a bit of a count up 1 bosh 12v must be abt 15 years old.
One 14.4v dewalt 2 speed combi again abt 12 years old,
Two 14.4v dewalts xrp 3 speed combi 10 years n 5 years old.
All still usable, just like me a little ragged!
So why have I still got them, I know I won't use them.
I just don't seem brave enough to get shut of them.
Is it just me or is anyone else unable to part with their old tools
please please say I am not the only toolhorder!

[Jacko]

I bin tools once they've reached the end of their service life. It's just stuff, they're not kids.

[TLPower]

I bin tools once they've reached the end of their service life. It's just stuff, they're not kids.

You need to go shopping this morning, as soon as the shops open. Buy a soul, you heretic. Tools are like your second set of teeth, they're for life.

[Ptarmigan]

I'm with Jacko on this one the amount of skin I've lost off my knuckles, wrists, elbows, head (yep really!) over the years from worn tools slipping doesn't bear thinking about!  :limp:

[Juvecu]

I never chuck any tool that I can still use. If something breaks and isn't repairable (new handle for a hammer, say) then it's binned. Only exception is probably screwdrivers as I'll use them as disposable punches.

I really need a new set of screwdrivers now, the cheap ones I had are all bent/tips are knackered.

[Andy M]

Bin. No point struggling with worn out kit.

That said I have given such stuff to charity. Any screw driver is better than a rock and the places they'all be sent are way better at keeping stuff repaired than we are.

Andy

[MartinW]

Old screwdrivers with knackered tips make fine substitute mini crowbars  

[Jacko]

My screwdriver set is knackered, I've had some of them since I was 18, they still work though. I thought they were for life, I never considered that they might wear out and I'd have to replace them.

[mr_diver]

New tools... most of mine were inherited with the house

the Mrs' grandfather may not of known how to use the tool to make something that lasted or looked OK, but he spent money on the tools and they are mostly still here today.
but the cheap screwdrivers I bought 6 months ago are naffed!  

Electrical tools I have mostly bought myself- I keep things until the replacement becomes the spare and then bin the second spare  

But old hand tools never die- they just find other uses. parts of an old rusty tyre lever became the exhaust hanger bits for the CX500  

[TLPower]

I'm talking spanners.

Screwdrivers are collateral.

[hookie]

Being a child of the '60s, I got up to a lot of things my parents would have cringed at. Saw "Easy Rider" when stoned, dropped out of college, lived in a caravan etc. etc. and was asked by a friend to assemble and service the then new Kawasaki 2 strokes. Went to an engineering supply shop in the town (which is still going today), and spent a small fortune on some Britool sockets and ring spanners. I still have them all to this day and although getting a bit worn (less then me!) they still work fine and have survived much abuse over the years. Lesson leaned over the years is buying cheap tools is a real false economy. Always buy the best you can afford. I rarely throw tools away, only ones that have worn out and can't be repaired or used for anything else.

[iansoady]

Put them on freecycle / freegle then somebody can get some more use out of them - and maybe a spotty youth will discover a new passion for twirling spanners.

[temporaryescapee]

I bin tools once they've reached the end of their service life. It's just stuff, they're not kids.

The kids are for life?   I thought we only had ours because we were still waiting for them to begin their useful service life ;-)

[Brockett]

In 1971 I got a set of ring spanners from the "Pink Shield Stamp" catalogue shop in Finchley.
Still got them and though they have been worked hard they are still good.
But I do get brassed off when rechargeable batteries die and can't be replaced and I'm left with mechanically good power screwdrivers and drills that can't be powered.
I take them to the dump for recycling
why ?

Remember those toy puzzles with plastic tiles that had to be shuffled round in alphabet or number order?
They don't work unless there's any empty space.

And life's the same. When clutter fills that last empty space then movement of any kind ceases.

[hookie]

But I do get brassed off when rechargeable batteries die and can't be replaced and I'm left with mechanically good power screwdrivers and drills that can't be powered.
I take them to the dump for recycling
why ?

Try googling getting old Ni-Cad working again. Basically you zap the little buggers with double their voltage and it stirs them up inside enough to get them working again. There's a lovely one on Youtube with someone using a Mig welder to do the job. For some reason he felt the need to put on some PPE. Wonder why?... Don't try this with Lithium or Ni-Mh types though. If you do take out some insurance first and 'phone the fire brigade before you start.