Garage sale

It’s an indisputable law of woodworking that you can’t have too many clamps, but that rule doesn’t always apply to other tools. In fact, the opposite is true.

I have at least six cordless drills, of which I typically use only one. I have three impact drivers, of which I use only one. I have three cordless drivers, of which I use only one. Elsewhere in my tool arsenal I have four routers, three circular saws (four if you count the track saw), two drill presses, three random orbit sanders, three jigsaws and maybe 57 hammers.

Noticing a pattern here? No, I’m not a hoarder, but when I acquire new tools I’m loath to give up the old ones. I mean, you just never know when you might need one, right? It’s certainly possible a project could arise that absolutely requires a circular saw in each hand.

If my shop where huge with unlimited storage space, or maybe had wall after wall of museum-like shelves where I could proudly display my collection this wouldn’t be a problem. But it’s a converted two-car garage shop. I frequently have to store materials that I fully intend to use under our bed or in my office, so I really don’t have the space to store old tools I’ll realistically never touch again.

My daughter’s sudden burgeoning interest in carpentry comes at a good time, but that creates a home for only one of each of my extra tools. After several years of thinking about it, the solution has been obvious for some time, but I’ve been in denial. Till now.

My new neighbor told me the other day he’s having a big garage sale to dispose of numerous items he no longer needs. He and his fiancé are combining two homes into one, and he noted that if I had anything I wanted to get rid of I could join his sale. The timing’s right, and I can’t really can’t continue deluding myself into thinking that keeping all these retired tools makes any sense. So two weeks from now it looks like I’ll have a lot more storage room.

Of course, maybe I’ll keep just one extra of each old tool.

Because, you never know.

A.J.