Tools

   Last couple days have been sunny flooding front room with light.  About 3pm here.  I've been making progress in the house and want to get to that but will focus on tools a bit more first.  Sis Kate has continued her generosity toward me.  I'm at her place this afternoon for shower, wash, and posting while she is at her lake house with a work friend.  Try to do my chores here when she and Eugene - her beau - are elsewhere so I don't wear out my welcome.

I've been keeping tools in kitchen drawer on counter in kitchen.

I'll use them mostly in the house and they are easy to access here.  You might not realize drawer at left is a metal junk drawer unless I told you - all's a jumble and pretty hard to distinguish between useful tool and used up junk here.  I'm saving everything metal I come across or remove in the event I need a screw or something else and will recycle when all is said and done.  I regularly reuse bent nails taking time to straighten them when I need a few.  Red box on right is 3/8" ratchet set I bought at the estate sale I bought the axe at.  Also got the file you see in middle of tool drawer next to wide putty knife there. 
    Couple o' days ago I scraped the floors and walls through out the house collecting lime I'd spread for odor control in August - more later.  When I got to the chimney (dark hole in upper left center of first photo) I realized it was full of soot so took wide putty knife and began reaching in through flue opening to scoop out soot.  In these older homes it was common to build chimney on wooden support rather than cement foundation - presumably to save masonry.  The bottom of the chimney is about 18" below flue opening.  Realizing this, wanting to move as much soot out quickly as possible I remembered a metal end cap in my junk drawer from a venetian blind cardboard shipping tube that came with the house.  It worked fine as shovel and helped me get about four gallons soot out of chimney.  I also intend to use this 'junk' item to melt a small amount of lead to make a tuning peg for my banjo.

That's why I save these things.  One never knows when some thing or another will be handy.  The question:  End cap, junk or tool?   Only satisfying answer:  It depends on one's perspective/perception.   If perception determines usefulness of something in this arena could it be perception is fundamental in shaping our valuation of other aspects of our lives?
    A unique thing about Eugene making me feel a pea in the pod here is the enormous amount of resale activity.  Within a mile of my house there is Salvation Army, St. Vincent De Paul household goods, a separate St. Vincent De Paul's clothing store, Goodwill, and Habitat for Humanity's building materials resale shop ReStore.  There are many other recycling businesses - BRING, MECCA, etc. - through out the city all well attended by shoppers.   For whatever reason Eugene seems to be haven for folk willing to reuse worldly goods - not as true anywhere else I've lived.  I've met people who won't consider reusing.  Not sure if economy is impetus but I'll have to step up my imagination and reuse - not to mention shopping - games to compete with this bunch.   Here in Eugene one's junk is another's treasure.  Perception, valuation, life, mmm.
     I'll begin with a few tools that have made this all possible.
     The recycled futon I'm using has been very comfortable.  Its mechanism works smoothly.  A week after getting it the wood frame broke.   Screwed small piece of 1/4" plywood salvaged from garage's attic under arm of futon and again on lower broken stringer that carries futon mechanism - plywood will bear whatever weight futon is subjected to.  To keep wood upright/leg tight to stringer I put two screws in each through a tin can lid.  A functional fix now for a few weeks - hopefully for much longer.

Gotta be warm and an oil heater Kate found for a few bucks has been doing the job.  Its cord was frayed bare when I got it so took cover - here at right - off heater, cut bad section off cord, rewired.  Later broke thermostat knob off but heater keeps going.  I only plug or unplug it now as on/off switch has issues too but heater performs great.

These scissors made it here from LA.  I've cut all sorts of things with 'em.  I don't think they were expensive but they continue to cut well enough to trim my hair.  I like a good tool.

Kate and I did an overnight at her lake place last week.  We stopped to thrift shop in Cottage Grove on the way down.   She found these Sloggers - close toed plastic Croc like mules - I use constantly now.  Dry feet are sooo important.

Besides the capacious mailbox that came with the house (unknown to me) a major selling point of Swett Lodge - which clearly needs to be raised to be repaired - was two twenty ton jacks abandoned to rust in the crawl space. 

Retrieved 'em - they're heavy - brought 'em into garage, sanded rust off pistons, and worked 'em so they would retract as intended.  They look better cleaned up and will now actually hoist that house.

 

Here fully extended, handle in place.

I made a special trip in the old truck to buy an axe at an estate sale in Springfield.   Tree in back yard and stump by front porch have extensive root systems.   Ground freeze in the midwest sends roots deep.  No such luck here so many roots are near the surface.  I want to remove them in the garden area.  The axe will help.  Having shorter handle and smaller head - by about a pound - make this what's called a boy's axe.   It'll be fine for my purposes and save my back a bit compared to a full size axe.

Used it in front yard grubbing roots.   Result.

Previous owner used nearly a hardware store to keep head on handle.

Took axe to front porch so I could work basking in a sunny Sunday used trusty vise grips to remove all hardware pictured here plus a couple more pieces in the next photo.  A wood handle won't last long with me at helm.   6' length of 1-1/4" EMT (electrical metal tubing) came with the place.  I had squished one end flattish to turn city water valve on and off so cut tube in half with hack saw, filed both cut ends smooth .

Squished one end flat 4 inches or so.  Used a bolt left at the house as drift to punch remaining wood handle out head's eye.

Squished tube fits fine in head's eye.

Cut wedge shape piece off broken wood handle with hacksaw and drove into end of pipe to lock head in place.

This axe should be durable now.

A minor slip resulting in tickled knee funny bone first use out convinced me an electrical tape grip is in order.

Hew away!  Of course I will always heed sage Pink Floyd words: 'Careful With That Axe, Eugene'.
     Gap filler has many uses.  Found my fave in mega size at St. V's for a couple bucks.  I seesawed on purchasing 'cause the real fillin' times are in the future but decided to bite the bullet so I could use Durham's Rock Hard Water Putty to make a mold for a lead fifth string tuner for my banjo - project in progress.

That about brings us up to speed on things tool - more will certainly be added and covered later.   Next time we'll take a look around inside the house with lime gone, walls scraped and at installation of knob/lock on back door.   That'll make all doors and windows effectively functional.  'Til then peace.      d