The Way of the Sheddi
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@Benjamin Hall said in Things that remind you of WDTWTF members:
What is the longest an item has been in your shed/garage/etc, counting from when you put it away 'in case it will be useful', up until the moment you actually used it for something?
For me, it was probably a shelf support bracket and rail, which was about 5 years, except it was actually in my dad's shed. However, its previous use was in my bedroom at my parent's place so it may count.
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@PleegWat said in The Way of the Sheddi:
What is the longest an item has been in your shed/garage/etc, counting from when you put it away 'in case it will be useful', up until the moment you actually used it for something?
I had little drawer with a bunch of electronic components that I'd scavenged from TVs and stuff in the late 80s, everything from switches to transistors, opamps etc. It had been sitting in my mother's attic since I first went abroad in 2000. About two years ago I gave most of it away to a tinkering neighbor but kept a few pushbuttons to fix my bike light with. So, 30+ years X)
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@PleegWat said in The Way of the Sheddi:
What is the longest an item has been in your shed/garage/etc, counting from when you put it away 'in case it will be useful', up until the moment you actually used it for something?
When my mother-in-law moved a couple of years ago, we inherited some DIY stuff that dated from when she moved the time before (around 2000?). That included a box of various connectors and fuses, and when I accidentally blew a fuse on my automatic door control unit, I found a matching one in that box. So that's at least 20 years (that box had been sitting at the back of a cupboard at my MIL's, which is why she gave it to us when she moved and rediscovered it). OTOH while it's stuff put there "in case it will be useful," I don't think that fuses (or bulbs or similar replaceable items) are really in the spirit of your question.
Maybe more fitting, there is a big piece of linoleum that was initially used as part of some sort of screening, around 2007-2008, and then stowed away. We still have it and cut out chunks every now and then as needed for padding etc. So it's about 15 years though it has not been sitting unused for that time, it's constantly (well, maybe 1-2 times per year) used.
The gardening part of the shed had bamboo poles that I used this spring, and that had been sitting unused for at least 10 years.
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@PleegWat said in The Way of the Sheddi:
What is the longest an item has been in your shed/garage/etc, counting from when you put it away 'in case it will be useful', up until the moment you actually used it for something?
We've got a large board stowed in our garage that's supposed to be used sometime as a base for putting a model railway on. It's been in store for at least 40 years, and I suspect it's never going to be used, but never say never.
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I was at a party at my parents' house last summer, and I was taking the trash out and noticed that on a shelf collecting dust, my father had a No. 4 handplane.
My father doesn't do any woodworking and didn't have any use for the plane, so I asked him about it. He said, "What's a handplane?" and said I could have it if I wanted it.
It turns out that my grandfather had given my parents most of the junk in his garage when he moved to Florida in 2004, and the handplane must have been part of that.
My grandfather was at the party, so I asked him about the handplane. "Oh, that belonged to Guy MyMother'sMaidenName."
"Who's that?"
It turns out that my grandfather had never used the handplane himself. Instead, it had belonged to my great grandfather. He gave it to my grandfather when he was cleaning out his garage before he moved to Florida in the late 1970s.
It also turns out that I'm named after my great grandfather, which I never knew.
So, I've got 1978 to 2021 (and three garages). Can anyone beat that?
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@GuyWhoKilledBear said in The Way of the Sheddi:
"What's a handplane?"
*checks title*
An elegant tool for a more civilized age
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@dkf said in The Way of the Sheddi:
@PleegWat said in The Way of the Sheddi:
What is the longest an item has been in your shed/garage/etc, counting from when you put it away 'in case it will be useful', up until the moment you actually used it for something?
We've got a large board stowed in our garage that's supposed to be used sometime as a base for putting a model railway on. It's been in store for at least 40 years, and I suspect it's never going to be used, but never say never.
That's a bit old-school. Modern model railway construction tends to favor insulating foam panels as a base. It's lighter weight, quieter, and easier to shape than plywood.
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@HardwareGeek said in The Way of the Sheddi:
@dkf said in The Way of the Sheddi:
@PleegWat said in The Way of the Sheddi:
What is the longest an item has been in your shed/garage/etc, counting from when you put it away 'in case it will be useful', up until the moment you actually used it for something?
We've got a large board stowed in our garage that's supposed to be used sometime as a base for putting a model railway on. It's been in store for at least 40 years, and I suspect it's never going to be used, but never say never.
That's a bit old-school. Modern model railway construction tends to favor insulating foam panels as a base. It's lighter weight, quieter, and easier to shape than plywood.
Is it? Wood cuts pretty cleanly. I'd assume foam panels tear out more.
I'd also worry that the foam isn't stiff enough to run trains. And the screwing?
Does foam even hold screws? Or do you attach the tracks to the foam some other way?
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@GuyWhoKilledBear I get the impression the usual approach is a wood base, with a foam layer between it and the tracks to dampen vibrations.
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@dkf said in The Way of the Sheddi:
@PleegWat said in The Way of the Sheddi:
What is the longest an item has been in your shed/garage/etc, counting from when you put it away 'in case it will be useful', up until the moment you actually used it for something?
We've got a large board stowed in our garage that's supposed to be used sometime as a base for putting a model railway on. It's been in store for at least 40 years, and I suspect it's never going to be used, but never say never.
I have some nice hardwood in my basement that moved to CA with me. 27 years ago, So I've had it about 29 now.
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@GuyWhoKilledBear said in The Way of the Sheddi:
@HardwareGeek said in The Way of the Sheddi:
@dkf said in The Way of the Sheddi:
@PleegWat said in The Way of the Sheddi:
What is the longest an item has been in your shed/garage/etc, counting from when you put it away 'in case it will be useful', up until the moment you actually used it for something?
We've got a large board stowed in our garage that's supposed to be used sometime as a base for putting a model railway on. It's been in store for at least 40 years, and I suspect it's never going to be used, but never say never.
That's a bit old-school. Modern model railway construction tends to favor insulating foam panels as a base. It's lighter weight, quieter, and easier to shape than plywood.
Is it? Wood cuts pretty cleanly. I'd assume foam panels tear out more.
Hot wire or hot knife.
I'd also worry that the foam isn't stiff enough to run trains.
Supported on 1x3 or 1x4 wood frame.
And the screwing?
Ask @Tsaukpaetra about that.
Does foam even hold screws? Or do you attach the tracks to the foam some other way?
Generally, strips of cork "sub-roadbed" glued to the foam, and track glued to the cork.
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@HardwareGeek I have been summoned, and so I appear.
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@HardwareGeek said in The Way of the Sheddi:
Oh. Caulk. Got it. Can't believe I forgot about the caulk.
Seriously, though, thanks for the explanation.
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@GuyWhoKilledBear said in The Way of the Sheddi:
So, I've got 1978 to 2021 (and three garages). Can anyone beat that?
The unanswered question is: did you already use it (which is cool, and you might win the challenge), or is it now waiting for you to pass it on when you move to Florida... 😉
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@robo2 said in The Way of the Sheddi:
@GuyWhoKilledBear said in The Way of the Sheddi:
So, I've got 1978 to 2021 (and three garages). Can anyone beat that?
The unanswered question is: did you already use it (which is cool, and you might win the challenge), or is it now waiting for you to pass it on when you move to Florida... 😉
I used it a week and a half after I got it, and several times since.
Technically, I didn't use it during that week and a half, so it's three garages plus a workshop. But the streak stopped in 2021 because I've made a few pieces of furniture with it.
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@HardwareGeek said in The Way of the Sheddi:
@dkf said in The Way of the Sheddi:
@PleegWat said in The Way of the Sheddi:
What is the longest an item has been in your shed/garage/etc, counting from when you put it away 'in case it will be useful', up until the moment you actually used it for something?
We've got a large board stowed in our garage that's supposed to be used sometime as a base for putting a model railway on. It's been in store for at least 40 years, and I suspect it's never going to be used, but never say never.
That's a bit old-school. Modern model railway construction tends to favor insulating foam panels as a base. It's lighter weight, quieter, and easier to shape than plywood.
foam as in expanded polystyrene? I would be worried by the fire hazzard, because wires, iron soldiers, maybe hand tools to work metal.
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@cabrito said in The Way of the Sheddi:
@HardwareGeek said in The Way of the Sheddi:
@dkf said in The Way of the Sheddi:
@PleegWat said in The Way of the Sheddi:
What is the longest an item has been in your shed/garage/etc, counting from when you put it away 'in case it will be useful', up until the moment you actually used it for something?
We've got a large board stowed in our garage that's supposed to be used sometime as a base for putting a model railway on. It's been in store for at least 40 years, and I suspect it's never going to be used, but never say never.
That's a bit old-school. Modern model railway construction tends to favor insulating foam panels as a base. It's lighter weight, quieter, and easier to shape than plywood.
foam as in expanded polystyrene? I would be worried by the fire hazzard, because wires, iron soldiers, maybe hand tools to work metal.
Insulation is usually fire resistant.
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