You know you're getting old when.....

[myxpykalix]

You go out looking to buy a tool that you aready own but forget you have!:eek:

I'm not talking about some pliers or screwdriver that is easy to misplace.

I needed a stationary sander for a small project so i propped my handheld beltsander on end and sanded what i needed and came in to look online and seeing an oscilating sander it struck me that i had one of those somewhere out in the shop.
That may say more about the organization (or lack thereof) in my shop then my memory:eek:

[jhedlund58]

I re-buy the tool and then the old one shows up... at least i have 2 now... sanding belts, repair parts etc etc... looks more like a hardware store than a workshop

[GDGeorge]

My garage is so small, that would be hard to manage... It's packed pretty tight, but I think (think!) that I know what's out here. I did find a tap and die set while I was cleaning today. I didn't know what was in the case until I opened it.

J

[knight_toolworks]

I think it is a sign of a too large of a shop. then again I ended up with two grizzly anvils that both dent when pounding brass on.

[myxpykalix]

Steve,
I think you speak a "misnomer" when you said "too large of a shop"

I don't think any of us ever think we have "too large of a shop" We can always find stuff to put in the largest of shops till we run out of room....then we just get a bigger shop!:eek:

[Rob Gunn]

To large of a shop is a myth that you hear about but never see. Bigfoot, Lochness, Sasquatch, To big of a shop... all the same topic.:rolleyes: I just got a great deal on a 12' horizontal panel saw with digital readout. Great machine that will be very helpful but now the issue, where the heck do I put it. Guess its time to add on to the shop.:eek:

[cowboy1296]

at least i am in good company

[chiloquinruss]

My shop size is just fine! Except, that I need a little small addition for the paint room, and Oh Yeah I want to move the DC and the compressor into an outside room, and then . . . . . OK I get it! :) Russ

[GDGeorge]

Stuff always expands logarithmically to fill available space plus pi. At some point everything implodes and then you have that black hole someone mentioned. And here I thought this was an innocent hobby.

:D

J

[myxpykalix]

I was recently diagnosed with OMTA---Old Man Tool Addiction...that is the uncontrollable urge to fill empty spaces with tools. That is why we feel compelled to go to the DIY Tool Shows to visit our "Pusher" for a "Fix", being a unannounced discount on a tool you've had your eye on.

One of the signs that you may need "Rehab" is if you have a daily urge to go to http://www.woodworkingshows.com/ and look up the date when the show is coming close to your town. (mine is March 2-4 according to the note i have taped above my computer monitor that i see everyday:o)

You know you have issues when you count the days...ONLY 18 DAYS LEFT FOR ME:D
I must admit that as i'm standing in line waiting for the show to open and them to let us in...I have to get in line early in order to be one of the first there...I feel the adrenalin starting to flow and my pulse racing...as the barrier comes down i've been known to knock a few old men out of the way on my way to the booth where i have prescouted that they are giving something free away....
OH MY GOD...I JUST REALIZED....I'M A TOOLAHOLIC:eek:

I can see it now...going to the meetings....
"Hi my name is Jack, and i'm a Toolaholic".......Hi Jack!
It all started back when I was a kid on my uncles farm where he gave me a hammer, some nails and some 2x4's and said "make something from these scraps"
I recall a few pieces had 45 degree cuts on them and i quickly fashioned a crude looking boat complete with a sail all from my own imagination and what the wood "said to me"...

That led to a major addiction by signing up for woodshop in highschool, then never giving the habit up all thru my working years.

Now I have met the biggest enabler of this habit...TED HALL who introduced the SHOPBOT which has consumed my woodworking habit and made me a slave to all the effects of this addiction!
I have to admit that I haven't started snorting saw dust or ingesting splinters but that can't be too far behind!

I do find myself spending hours online looking for models to download and cut, or designing things myself, reading woodworking forums. In my younger days I might have dreamt about women, now my dreams are centered around wood, (you might consider that one and the same)

OK, I ADMIT IT, I'M AN ADDICT!:rolleyes:
------------
The above account is pure fiction.....or is it?

[jhedlund58]

Not sure who TED HALL is yet... and i haven't snorted saw dust... on purpose. i love my shopbot and the aspire software purchase at the same time through shopbot... guess my check cleared!!! I hardly make cabinets anymore, unless i can use the bot for a side carving or perfectly lined up adjustable shelves. plaques and signs lately... thanks for teaching old dog new trick

[chiloquinruss]

Ted's the gentleman who started this whole deal and is the guy that will probably cash your check when it arrives in N.C.! :)

I love my bot and I am amazed at what comes out of it, all it takes is some imagination, a little Aspire, and my bot. Pretty cool!. Take a quick look back through the posts in the Virtual Show and Tell area and you'll see what I mean. Russ

[harryball]

I will generally spend an hour looking for some tool, say a contour tool. I convince myself I have one but can't remember where I put it. Then maybe I convince myself I loaned it out and never got it back... or I remember using someone elses. So, I buy one and do the job. Then, with careful thought I determine the exact and perfect location to keep it so if I need it again I'll know exactly where it is. I get the step stool and put it on the display shelf right over the shop door... right next to the one I already own.

:rolleyes:

/RB

[myxpykalix]

" ]I get the step stool and put it on the display shelf right over the shop door... right next to the one I already own.[/I]"

My version of that is, while i'm laying in bed starting to drift off to sleepyland it pops in my head exactly where it is. Then i go to sleep and forget where i remembered it was. Thats why i usually keep a little paper and pencil close, write it down then go on a treasure hunt the next day.:eek:

[tuck]

"Hi, my name is Mark and I'm a toolaholic."

Haha, ain't nothing more fun than a new tool. Well, not much.....:)

About 20 years ago, I purchased a cast aluminum dovetail jig for around $200.00? (I forget), and at the time I thought..."I'll wear that jig out!" I still have it and have never used it even once. A few years ago, I tried to use it for a project and couldn't figure it out, having lost the manual and all. It sits on a shelf in my shop to this day with about 1/4" of dust covering it.

I'm also guilty of buying tools and stuff I already had and forgotten about or misplaced. Nothing major though,...mostly router bits.

BTW, you can have a shop that is "too big". Mine is not, but it is possible. If ya gotta walk all over tarnation to get what you need or do what you need to do, your shop is too big. Smaller is good (within reason), but organization is the key. "A place for everything, and everything in its place." :)

[harryball]

Haha, ain't nothing more fun than a new tool. Well, not much.....:)

Provided firearms are maintained in the proper category of "tools" I completley agree. New tools (even new to me tools) are always exciting. Be it a new drill, table saw, 3D scanner or Chinese SKS, learning all the capabilities and quirks and dreaming up all those things you know you'll never have time to do... that keeps you going and THAT is worth a great deal on its own.

I have one of those dovetail jigs too. I have used it but honestly... I look at it whistfully as I complete a rabbit, glue and a couple of nails in the time it would take me just to pull it down and set up to cut.


/RB

[MogulTx]

I am doing a ton of Box Joints on LONG poplar pieces (about 53"). I have a special (very tall stand underneath it) dovetail jig so I can do those parts. I am thinking seriously about re-designing the joint so I can do them flat, with my shopbot! It would save me a LOT of set up and PITB... I just have to figure out how to round over the inserted box sides so I know that it will fit super snug and tight! I have about 320 joints to do over the next 3.5 months!

[danhamm]

I use Gary Beckwiths 1/8 carving bit to clean out the corners on my box ends..the taper does a neat job for ease of assembly and tight fittings..

[MogulTx]

Dan- You are milling vertical, right ( bit cuts perpendicular to the end) right... and if flat (board horizontal)- how?

I can't see me doing this mine without (1) raising my Bot about 4.5' into the air and going vertical off the end of the table or (2) having a radius to the inside corner if I have to lay it flat on my table


The boxes I am making.. they are about 53" x 31.5" x 6" tall ( 1 x 6 poplar)

Thanks
Monty

[myxpykalix]

Dan, Monty... carry the boxjoint dovetail discussion over at:
http://www.talkshopbot.com/forum/showthread.php?t=14514

because i have a lot of questions and want info from you on some of your setups and techniques because it looks like you are getting good results and i have not had success so far and want others to join in that discussion.:D

[MogulTx]

Its a deal Jack!

[michael_schwartz]

I have a leigh jig and its not too bad. Its been years since I cut dovetails by hand but learning how to do it really helps you understand layout, and visualize what your doing with a jig.

Tools are a downward spiral. I started when I was 15 and it wasn't too long thereafter I had to give up any hope of keeping them in all in one box again.

Now they barely fit in my shop.

[twelchPTM]

You REALLY know your getting old when you try to buy a tool only to find nobody makes them anymore....