old stuff. Going bad

[LCHIEN]

How we collect so much stuff we think we have a use for or perhaps use a little and stash the rest for another day.

1. i told the other day, i still have boxes of assorted wood and machine screws so old they are all slotted. I hate using those slotted screws but the other day I found one the right size in the slotted assortment box and had to use it. I am torn between tossing all those old screws and buying new assortments or maybe the packs inthe box stores as needed.
2. Sandpaper belts - I used to buy packs of 5 or ten figuring I'll use them someday. But often one belt would last a year on the sander. But I found to my chagrin, that the special adhesive it takes to complete the loop of the belt only has a useful life of about a year. I found putting one of my saved belts on a year later the thing ran for about a minute and then the belt joint failed. And for three or four more after that. Both my 4x36 belts and my 1 x 42 belts. THat's when i found they have a shelf life or use life of about a year.
3. Yesterday I went to locktite a bolt and a stop nut together. I knew exaclty where the LocTite 242 Blue threadlocker tube was. I got it and put it on, it seemed a little runny. I looked up the Loctite website they said 24 months unopened, 12 months opened. I know it was several years old. The website said if it was runny or clumpy it was bad. After a couple of hours it should have set up some, it still turned freely. Cleaned it off, tossed it and ordered some new.
4. Varnish and stains.... yeah well, who knows how long those last.
5. Adhesives and glues. CA once its been opened goes bad fast. PU from gorilla glue, I had a couple of $5 bottles go bad unopened in about a year.

What else has gone bad in your shop? Rubber parts that deteriorate?

Stories.

FWIW, Loctite 242 6 ml is $6 at Amazon and $9 at Lowes, Home Depot and Ace.

[d_meister]

FWIW, Harbor Freight has their own threadlocker in two strengths. Only one showed up in a search:
https://www.harborfreight.com/search?q=thread%20locker

[leehljp]

Wood glues and super glues. Since I tend to work in places other than my home/shop, I keep two or three bottles of wood glue and CA/super glue here, there and yonder also. Wood glues start losing their strength after about 2 or 3 years and CA/superglue tend to get rock hard after 18 months to 2 years once opened. For Pen makers on lathes, Superglue ("C A" as we call it) we tend to buy the CA in 4 to 8 ounce bottles of thin, medium and thick. If we do not use it quick enough, it will begin to thicken in 12 to 18 months and be rock hard in 18 to 24 months as mentioned above.

Old tools - I give my old working electrical tools to my grandson or son in law - if they don't have that tool already. Since I have two Festool corded sanders, I have given away three other corded sanders - after I replaced the dense foam sandpaper bases on two of them.

That brings up sanders with velcro and thick foam bases - old sanders will eventually lose their tiny velcro clip holders and have to be replaced; and in some cases the dense foam padding will crumble. I had to replace the one on my (then almost 20 year old) DeWalt orbital sander about 10 years ago and one on a 1/4 sheet sander about 6 or 7 years ago.

To get outside of SHOP TOOLS - yard carts and wagon tires / tubes. I have 2 yard carts that are at least 20 years old. I get tired of having to change tubes every 3 years or so, or tires at least every 5 years. I have one large wagon that I can hook on the back of my 26 year old lawn tractor. That wagon's tires have to be aired up at lesst twice a year, and at least one tube replaced every year from dry rot. Last year, I replaced the four 24" "bicycle" tires on the two yard carts with the solid tires. Best thing I could do. Bicycle tires on yard carts are a constant work in progress to use when you need the carts! The large wagon - I went to HF and bought 4 solid tires to replace the tube tires. Another good choice. Caveat: I leave mine parked on the ground and have not had a problem; However if I left them parked on pavement or concrete in the hot summer, I could probably expect some "flatness". One other problem with solid tires for some - they are not as soft riding for grandkids or if one is carrying a box of glass jars. Things tend to "bounce" just a bit more with solid tires. But the trade off for convenience and longevity is well worth it.

[LCHIEN]

FWIW, Harbor Freight has their own threadlocker in two strengths. Only one showed up in a search:
https://www.harborfreight.com/search?q=thread%20locker

Interesting they have 3:


I'm confused as to the relative strength. Is the #42 medium strength stronger or weaker than semi-permanent "Blue"?
Int he Loctite lineup, they have 222 purple, the weakest, 242, is blue which is the medium (semi permanent) they offer, the stronger being 262 red (Permanent)

[LCHIEN]

Oh yeah...
Adhesives & glue
Batteries, both Alkaline (leaking) or rechargeable which don't like to be left either uncharged for fully charged...
Rubber parts - roller, belts - dry out and get hard of take a set

[leehljp]

Oh yeah...
Adhesives & glue
Batteries, both Alkaline (leaking) or rechargeable which don't like to be left either uncharged for fully charged...
Rubber parts - roller, belts - dry out and get hard of take a set

Batteries: To me Lithium based batteries - I have had extreme success and long term use with Ryobi 18V batteries. However, I have had VERY poor success with off brand 18V & 40V purchased on Amazon to use on my Ryobi products. 40V Ryobi batteries are very expensive (to me) so I have tried a couple of off brand replacements with poor results.

I am just now having some degrading issues with a couple of Ryobi 18V batteries purchased 14-15 years ago, but I have enough other 18V purchased through the years that still work well. I had about sixteen 18V Ryobi batteries at one time, but gave a couple to one of my daughters, and 2 to one grandson, and finally 2 to a son in law. I am down to 10 now and doing fine with them - but that makes 8 that are still strong.

Batteries degrading fast: my calipers batteries - about every 12 to 18 months.

[LCHIEN]

The problem with my HF calipers batteries is that they are always on. The on off switch only turns off the display and small LCDs like that are no power. You know it keeps power on because the zero setting and mode are retained. I confirmed this with ammeter measurements once. My hf caliper batteries only last a couple of months. I have switched to HD Husky calipers they seem to last longer. They also have a lifetime warranty. My HF get intermittent after a few years.

[leehljp]

I will have to try the HD Husky ones. I need longer lasting ones. Thanks!
Just found this on Google: "True "Off" vs. Standby: High-end calipers like Mitutoyo use low-power electronics that either shut down completely or enter a very low-power sleep mode. Cheap calipers often only turn off the LCD screen, while the internal electronics continue to draw power to track the position"

[LCHIEN]

hank, I asked AI and they said that Husky probably have just standby. I am used to changing betteries so I can't recall if I have changed them or not in the Huskies I have. Still the lifetime warranty is attractive at less than 2x the price of HF. And I buy packs of LR44 batteries $2-3 for 10 or 20. Maybe Silver oxide SR44 are better, I may have to try that.

[LCHIEN]

I had an opportunity to check my Husky calipers and unlike the HF ones, they do not retain the position/zero when turned off which means that when you push OFF, it turns off the measuring circuits-true off- (but apparently memorized the mode). When you toggle it back on, the reading is zero no matter where you are. For the record, I do not recall having replaced the batteries in my 2 Huskies for a long time which tells me they are true off compared to the HF which are standby/LCD off, The HF retain the zero setting and any movement while "off" changes the reading when turned back on which means it retains the zero and actively tracks any movement of the jaws. Resulting in relatively high battery drain. I haven't tested it yet, but Husky hand tools have a lifetime warranty which the HF ones definitely do not.

[dbhost]

Not sure if anyone else mentioned it, but spray paint. The cans leak super slow, but they DO leak the propellant out over time.

[Jim Frye]

I learned a long time ago to buy stuff in small quantities even though it is more expensive. Lesson learned was buying a gallon of TBII on sale and having to toss half of it after it got old and stringy. I do have a jar of wood screws (slotted & Phillips). The issue is I stopped using metal fasteners in woodworking almost twenty years ago, so they remain only to serve for the odd, rare repair job. In a fit of stupidity, I bought a bunch of solvent based Color Putty online in various wood colors because the local stores quit carrying the product. A couple of months ago, I discovered I had nearly a dozen jars of dried out product. Fortunately, this stuff reacts positively to soaking in mineral spirits for a time and I was able to save them. One advantage of having a small shop is there is not a lot of room to hoard stuff. I follow the Zac Brown lyric, I have everything I need and nothing I dont.

[capncarl]

I use a good bit of CA glue so I buy it in larger size bottles, usually Rockler Stik Fast 4.5 bottles. After my 4 bottle stash turned to a brick I did some research and found that the shelf life is greatly extended by refrigeration. Since then I store my CA stash in the shops dorm size refrigerator. I have some CA that has been in the refrigerator for 3 years without hardening, some of which is the Thick viscosity CA.

Early on a bottle of CA developed a leak, what a mess. I then started packaging each new unopened bottles in a small Foodsaver vacuum bag. It is extra work but 100% better than cleaning up after a spill.

[capncarl]

I have quite the collection of fastners, fittings and hardware. A while back I got on a clean out binge and attacked the “fasteners dept”. The first Plano box I tackled was Castle nuts, sorted by size in SAE. BS Wentworth. Most of these nuts I have been lugging around since I was 16 and I can’t remember the last time I’ve used one. In the shop trash can they went, I did have a little remorse thinking about my ole trusty collection, but that quickly went away on trash day when I grabbed the plastic can liner bag to transfer it to the big road can and the bottom of the bag fell out dumping 20 pounds of nuts on the floor. I still find a stray castle nut under a toolbox of something. I don’t see that I’ve accomplished anything, the Plano box is still empty, anything I put in it would be lost in the abiss.