The black hole that swallows tools.

[Charles Spencer]

(09-26-2015, 01:17 PM)f350ca Wrote: The cabinet shop on the other hand eats pencils, go through 3 or 4 boxes a year but never have a short one.

Ha! That reminds me of old Mr. May.  Back around 1976 my best friend and his wife bought a house from a neighbor of the wife's parents.  His name was Mr. William May.  Everybody always called him Mr. May, the Mr. was never dropped.  Mr. May was a veteran of WW I and WW II as a member of the Yankee Division, Massachusetts Army National Guard.  His civilian job was maintenance at the State Hospital.  At the beautifully made tongue-and-groove workbench he had made along one wall in the basement we found a cigar box full of pencils that were between 2" and 3" long.  Mr. May used them until they were that size, then saved the stubs.  His screws and other small hardware were stored in baby food jars from his children.  His youngest child was in her 50s.

His house was also paneled in solid cherry that he had salvaged from a demolition job.

Mr. May never wasted anything and I'm guessing he didn't lose things in his shop.

On the other had I have an official black hole.  It's where two work benches have a gap where they come together.  Underneath them is where I pile old machine parts.  If something falls in back of them it's gone unless I can fish it out with my telescoping magnet.