My shop is a disaster area

[electra225]

We are putting new kitchen cabinets in. The old upper cabinets will be installed in the garage for storage. The lower cabinets go into my shop. The only part of the old cabinets that won't be used is the three-foot-long section that is cut out for the sink. I originally placed my workbench in the corner. That cost two feet of the end of my bench. So, the corner kitchen cabinets will allow the bench to be placed more in the middle of the wall, giving me the entire length of the workbench for actual work, not just for storing instruments. I had to move my largest, most heavily laden cabinet, which took three days to empty. Some of what was in it won't go back in. There is a LOT of stuff going to be recycled. I won't use it and I don't want to store it. It would cost more to ship it than it's worth, and, besides, I don't want to fool with boxing and shipping it. Everything is stacked to one side of the shop so I can get cabinets in. I put plywood and blankets on top of consoles and stacked "stuff" to almost as high as the ceiling fan. The bench is stacked four feet high, I can't even get close to it anymore. So, none of my projects are getting done, and I haven't had much to contribute to the forum. The cabinets will go in almost a year to the day that they finally finished the shop so I could work and have AC. New cabinets weren't in the plan a year ago. These are contractor-grade cabinets, which don't look that great in the house, but will be fine for the shop and they were cheap. Win, win.......

Why did I keep so much stuff? What do I get rid of? What if I need it? Well, this may sound macabre, but if they can burn radio cabinets at a radio swap meet, I can divest myself of some of the stuff I thought "I'll need that someday". Someday is not gonna get here. I am going to keep things appropriate to my electronics collection, specific things that might actually be used. I have lots of tubes I am going to start selling. I'm just not sure HOW yet. I don't want to fool with ebay. I have some Sams, mostly late stuff, mostly for TV. That is going. I have books, magazines that kind of stuff. I may donate some of that stuff. I haven't looked at it since I moved, so that violates my "if you don't use it in a year" rule. I have a bunch of transistors. I don't need that stuff. When I moved I didn't know what my next shop would be. I saved more than I have room for.

[Hi-Fi-Mogul]

I sure understand your situation, Greg.

One thing I've learned is that letting stuff go that you
don't see but once every so often will not be remembered
to be missed.

And then there is magical space created, poof !

[William]

I understand too, I miss my pole barn, but then I don't miss it. It was built to house the 5th wheel when not in use. That is gone now, and so is the car hauling trailer so the rest of the stuff was mostly stuff that is just stuff. I sorted out the good from the bad, parted with the bad not needed stuff and found places for the good I may need someday stuff. Now I'm wondering just how much of that stuff I need.

Bill

[Dr. Radio]

I hear ya. For me it's a constant battle. It wouldn't be so hard to toss stuff if 'ole man Murphy didn't literally pop up EVERY time I toss something. As sure as the sun rises in the east and sets in the west, it will literally be a day, a week, whatever later, I'll need what I threw away....

[19&41]

It's one thing goes in, one thing goes out. I trip over the mistakes.

[Firedome]

One blessing of a very small house is that we were forced to get rid of a lot of stuff when we sold our bigger place in '16 and moved to this much smaller one that for the previous 7 years we'd been letting our son live in thru college and grad school, and before that rented out for extra income (oh and being a landlord to the public sucks btw, never again!).

It does have a 3 car garage, 10 x 16 shed, and basement, however, so enough tools and other stuff has remained to make us start to think about more purging. We're having a yard sale tomorrow to start it off, but I hate it when some cheapskate will invariably look at some item my wife has priced at 25 cents and ask if we'd sell it for 10... gettouttahere!

I also have a big 4 drawer filing cabinet full of 50 years worth of collecting car, motorcycle, boat and electronics brochures and catalogs that I"ll need to give away someday. Our kids don't want it, and I don't think even the library would take it nowadays, and it's way to much to sell on eBay piece by piece. It's a conundrum.
And we still have a house about the same size in VT to deal with sometime. Sigh.

[electra225]

Without the wife to put a boot up my butt about "keeping junk", I'd be on "Hoarders, Buried Alive". I would be one of those who would be kicking and screaming about tossing every little thing. When I cut the leads on a cap, I save that little piece I cut off. I have them in a pill bottle. I use one occasionally, but not often enough to have a three-lifetime supply. Same with tubes. I'm not going to acquire anything else, and what I do have sorta-kinda works and doesn't need tubes. I have some industrial tubes that are headed for the trash can. I have a Sony tape recorder that will need more work than it's worth. Trash can. I have a Philco TV with a bad CRT. Trash can. I may take all my TV sets to e-waste and get rid of those. I have 300 reels of open-reel tape, probably 500 cassettes. Trash. I found a box of scraps of grille cloth. Trash. On and on. It becomes overwhelming after awhile.

[William]

300 reels of open reel tape. Is there music recorded on all 300?

Bill

[electra225]

Yes. Most if it is very good quality, somebody did a good job with it. Country, LW, and some other stuff I haven't played yet. The person who recorded it knew my preferred genre. The cassette tapes are the same way for the most part. I got that stuff at an auction in Missouri. 90% of it is Sony tape.

[TC Chris]

i know you said you're not going to box & ship, but sometimes a bit of investigation finds somebody local who would be tickled to get stuff like tapes and a tape recorder. I snagged about 10 reels off the local Freecycle before it disappeared, and I've given lots of stuff away by local posts. I picked up the stuff I wanted and the people ho wanted what I was giving picked it up.

Keep in mind that cassettes are becoming fashionable among the young folks.

Chris Campbell

[electra225]

I can't imagine much of a connection between young folks and the material on my cassettes. I had a fairly good collection of cassettes of my own, when I bought a half a pickup load of cassettes and reel-to-reel tapes at an auction for a dollar. Nobody would even bid on them. The lady having the sale was named Vivian and she was a regular at all the local venues where music and dancing could be enjoyed. She wasn't a bar fly necessarily, she just liked music, dancing and being around other folks. There was a Magnavox stereo at the sale, perhaps an Imperial. At that time, you couldn't give me a console stereo, so I have no idea of its fate. I didn't know Vivian personally, but I knew OF her. She had a big sale with all quality stuff, no junk. My regret at that sale was not buying a TV she had. It was a Zenith color "roundie" with remote control, absolutely like brand new and they had it playing at the auction. It didn't get a bid.

One of the cassette tapes is a compliation of Justin Tubb material. Hard to find stuff. Kids nowadays wouldn't know who he was. To me, that is the jewel in the whole lot. It would probably be the first one erased or tossed if a younger person had it.

[William]

I kind of agree with Chris, in that I would try and find a home for all of that recorded tape. It just seems a shame to throw it all away.

Bill

[electra225]

I found out how the kitchen cabinets are connected to the house. There are two 2 1/2" square-drive deck screws holding each base cabinet against the wall, screwed into a wall stud. The Formica countertops are attached by "stickem" goop of some kind, construction cement, I think. They will come right off if you tug a bit. The new/old kitchen cabinets are about 3/4 of an inch lower than the shop cabinets and my bench. I will get some 3/4 lath and shim them up a bit, so they are more or less the same height. I'm not concerned about being dead on, but closer than 3/4 of an inch would sure be nice. The kitchen base cabinets stick out about six inches farther than the shop cabinets. I'm going to fill the 24" base cabinet with tape. Open reel and 8MM home movies. I'm going to put a shelf in the sink cabinet, then use it for my music processing. The island I'll put on wheels and use it for a mobile bench for doing Tolex projects and keep that mess off my bench. I can wipe the Formica island top with lacquer thinner or whatever I need to in order to remove any slopped Tolex glue. That stuff sticks to the polyurethane finish on the bench. I don't know yet what I'll put in the corner cabinet, nor how to configure whatever goes on the top. I might actually try to keep it clutter-free (a tall order for me) so it is available for a shop project. I beileve the old kitchen cabinets can all be removed without damage, and will work out really nice.

The current counter is 18' long by 12 inches wide. That, cut in three lengths, will make dandy heavy-duty shelving. I'll get some HD brackets and screw those to the studs. The ones that hold 100 pounds apiece. The only part of the old kitchen cabinets we won't re-use is the 3' section where the sink cutout is.

[William]

It sounds like the new kitchen is moving ahead nicely and you are getting your new/used cabinet for the shop with a plan on how to install everything. Your shop must really be full now, hard to move around in. Once done, it will be well organized and spotless, right!

Bill

[electra225]

I'm hoping for a path to the bench. I'm not much of an organizer.

[electra225]

The guys who came out to remove the cabinets were the antithesis of the mob of idiots that built the shop. These guys were professional, gave almost concierge service, and were accomodating to a fault. They swept and mopped after they were done. They removed all the cabinets and even the long bar with no damage whatsoever. I have the corner cabinet in the shop, it needs shimmed and the top raised, but I knew that already. They were hesitant to remove the Formica in one piece, but I asked them to cut it in usable lengths and it came up absolutely perfectly. I had looked and had determined that the Formica was held on with bubble gum and baling wire. The only thing holding the bar down was contractor's cement. I still have lots of work to do, but I think the hard part is over.

[electra225]

I can find my bench! I got the corner cabinet in and shimmed. I got five boxes of mostly tape stashed in its new home. I have a guy who will buy what tape I dont want, so I need to see if I still have a working tape deck, edit those tapes I haven't already, then let the guy know what I will sell. If I can get rid of half of what I have, that will surely help. I'm almost ready to put all my collection back out so I can enjoy it again.

[Motorola minion]

I sure understand your situation, Greg.

One thing I've learned is that letting stuff go that you
don't see but once every so often will not be remembered
to be missed.

And then there is magical space created, poof !

That does work! I try to rehome everything. Giving away stuff to younger enthusiasts is always the best option, its how I got started.

[TC Chris]

Agreed about the new homes for old stuff. It takes a bit of effort but the recipients are likely to be happy and to have fun with your cast-off stuff. When I was a little kid my Alabama uncle would send me off after a family visit with a box of junk parts--dead speakers, old tuning caps, some Philco bakelite cap blocks, all worthless stuff but for me it was like gold. As an old guy I still love to get new bits and pieces from friends who remember me before they toss the old device in the trash.

Chris Campbell

[electra225]

I have most of the mess cleaned up. I have the collection out where I can get to everything. I have a few more boxes to empty and a box of industrial tubes (4-digit stuff) I need to find a new home for. Probably at least 200 tubes, maybe more. I hate to see them go to the landfill. I can get to my bench and have been tinkering with stuff, so life is good........