Foo - Old stuff you hang onto

About 20 years ago my ex wife's uncle passed away from cancer.

Before he passed, he told me that since I made my living with my hands, he wanted me to have his Snap-On toolbox...full of tools. The tools were simple and inexpensive for the most part, but I got good use out of everything and still have most of them. The box itself is very nice and is still used in my studio.

The one "tool" I never did have much use for, but never got rid of is his combat knife from the Korean conflict. It's a Camillus M4 bayonet for the M1 carbine with the fiberglass M8 scabbard. I guess it's a good thing I never found a use for it as it's only made for one thing....and I have yet been pressed to do that one thing.

http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l156/Wordbiker/P3130247.jpg

http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l156/Wordbiker/P3130251.jpg

http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l156/Wordbiker/P3130255.jpg

I know there's some Foo experts out there that are much bigger cutlery buffs than I am, and my question is...what do I do with this thing? It seems to be in perfectly fine shape, though it could use some cleaning. What do I use to clean it? Would it ruin the value if I sharpened it and/or oiled it? Do I hang onto it to pass on to my kids as part of their heritage? Do I go out and buy an M1 carbine and join a reenactment group?

I'm not really interested in selling it as from what I gather, it's only worth about $100...unless I got some crazy offer or something. Just consider it an item of interest, though any more info shared would be appreciated.

So...what stuff have you hung onto for no real reason?

Somewhere in the attic I have a lava lamp. Hubby threatens bodily harm if I go up there and dig it out. Maybe I'll give it a shot this weekend!

Lava lamp?

I have one on my nightstand. :p

I don't have any old things, since I'm not that old. However, the oldest thing that in my possession that I can think of is a picture of me when I was about six. I was scanning it to add it to my photos, but have yet to return it. I also have a little cross thing that my former girlfriend gave to me four years ago; still attached on my book-bag. Don't know why I'm holding on to that, but I never felt like taking it off.

I used to hang onto my old kitty at nights. It was the only way I can sleep was to have him sleep on my neck.

But he's gone to Heaven.

I used to hang onto my old kitty at nights. It was the only way I can sleep was to have him sleep on my neck.

But he's gone to Heaven.

:hug:

While reading this thread, I've been drinking out of a souvenir cup I got at a gift shop on the Chesapeake Bay bridge when I was about eight years old. I use it literally every single day.

Yeah, I can see hanging onto something useful and sentimental.

Have anything that you don't know why you hang onto it?

My sanity....it's in a shoe box under my bed. I don't know why I keep it. It's not like I'll ever use it.

My first stuffed animal, Doggy, is about 26 years old. He is head stuffed animal emeritus, and gets to rest comfortably on my bed as long as there aren't two humans present. Thanks to reconstructive eye surgery over Christmas break, he now is in better shape than he ever had been in the past 15 years or so. He's been through a lot. He moved to the United States with me and got his name translated. When I was 5, I accidentally left him at Wellesley, and my parents grudgingly agreed to go back to look for him. (Happily, he was just sitting where I had last left him.) In high school, he kept in a zippered compartment my favorite love letter from my then-girlfriend. I left him at my parents' place when I went to college, but then eventually decided to bring him to college with me. One of my college friends questions his identity and thinks that he is a female bear. (Silly girl... who ever heard of a bear named Doggy? Of course he's a dog!)

My dad's stuffed animal bunny. It is really old and falling apart.

Go ahead and dress up the edge and oil the blade, it'll preserve it. Leave it looking old, though, don't take the blade down to shiny metal, overall.


About 20 years ago my ex wife's uncle passed away from cancer.

Before he passed, he told me that since I made my living with my hands, he wanted me to have his Snap-On toolbox...full of tools. The tools were simple and inexpensive for the most part, but I got good use out of everything and still have most of them. The box itself is very nice and is still used in my studio.

The one "tool" I never did have much use for, but never got rid of is his combat knife from the Korean conflict. It's a Camillus M4 bayonet for the M1 carbine with the fiberglass M8 scabbard. I guess it's a good thing I never found a use for it as it's only made for one thing....and I have yet been pressed to do that one thing.

http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l156/Wordbiker/P3130247.jpg

http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l156/Wordbiker/P3130251.jpg

http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l156/Wordbiker/P3130255.jpg

I know there's some Foo experts out there that are much bigger cutlery buffs than I am, and my question is...what do I do with this thing? It seems to be in perfectly fine shape, though it could use some cleaning. What do I use to clean it? Would it ruin the value if I sharpened it and/or oiled it? Do I hang onto it to pass on to my kids as part of their heritage? Do I go out and buy an M1 carbine and join a reenactment group?

I'm not really interested in selling it as from what I gather, it's only worth about $100...unless I got some crazy offer or something. Just consider it an item of interest, though any more info shared would be appreciated.

So...what stuff have you hung onto for no real reason?

Seems most people you meet are either the saver/hoarder types or the get rid of it types. I'm def. in the former group and have really put effort into getting rid of stuff I have no practical use for. My biggest problems were books, magazines and clippings. Take up lots of space.

Occasionally I'll regret getting rid of things with sentimental value but in the end I like the freedom from clutter. I know some people who have real issues with their stuff that they hang onto encroaching on their lives...of course in extreme cases (real honest to goodness pack rats) it can be really limiting and debilitating. Very sad.

Comic books.

I know what you mean pgoat.

My natural father was a real hoarder, had scads of old junk that we all saw no real purpose in...though he certainly did. I do my best to not hold onto anything I'm not using, but as a carpenter I have to retain (and keep organized) a certain amount of hardware, supplies and materials. I just do my best to go through it on occasion and cull it out.

The studio project is just that: an attempt on my part to organize all my tools, reference materials and parts down to just what I need. The knife is just one of those items I'm not sure what to do with.

Thanks Tom. :) I'll oil it up and do nothing beyond a little cleaning. I believe the blade is either blued or Parkerized, neither of which I am prepared to restore. Perhaps I'll find someone interested in it that's willing to trade for something I really do need.

Believe it or not, you folks with the stuffed animals are cool. I can see passing something like that down to your kids. Unfortunately I never formed an attachment to any of my toys...besides bikes that is. ;)

I do my best to not hold onto anything I'm not using, but as a carpenter I have to retain (and keep organized) a certain amount of hardware, supplies and materials.



I'm sure many of us do just that with bike hardware, at least. It's saved me many times, fixing my bike and other people's, especially older bikes with odd sizes and threading.

And unfortunately, you just KNOW that if you do throw out that odd part after saving it for years and years, you will absolutely need it in the next week or so.:rolleyes:

For the love of God please oil that poor Camillus!!! It's steel, so it's prone to corrosion just like bike parts, and needs to be oiled. Steel wooling the rust would also be good.

As for what I hold onto, I like to keep stuff that belonged to my deceased relatives that I can use. I have a number of such tools from a better, vanished time when American products were among the finest ever built, and lots of people built them. I have Stanley tape measures that were made on contract in the 50's by the company my grandpa worked for. They are the size of the little yard long key chain kind, but they go to 8 feet, and they work extremely smoothly. Not bad for 50+ years old. I've got an especially nice 8" kitchen knife that belonged to my great grandfather.

I've also got some of my grandpa's other tools, including a few 1/4" SK and Snapon sockets, some primitive vice grips which were also made by his company, 54 year old channel locks, a really old sander that works great but could use a new cord, and a goofy wrench he turned into a crows foot by chopping and welding it.

Other odds and ends include my grandma's binoculars, my grandma's little cheap Taiwan made pen knife, which for sentimental reasons is my favorite knife, a family blanket from the UK, and a flag from the Spanish American war.

My dad's Gillette Superspeed razors. That's the best way for me to remember his face is when I remember his gentle instructing reflected in the mirror as I shaved for the first time.
Ernest

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b396/Gordo_Ruckus/Picture2727.jpg

My first stuffed animal, Doggy, is about 26 years old. He is head stuffed animal emeritus, and gets to rest comfortably on my bed as long as there aren't two humans present. Thanks to reconstructive eye surgery over Christmas break, he now is in better shape than he ever had been in the past 15 years or so. He's been through a lot. He moved to the United States with me and got his name translated. When I was 5, I accidentally left him at Wellesley, and my parents grudgingly agreed to go back to look for him. (Happily, he was just sitting where I had last left him.) In high school, he kept in a zippered compartment my favorite love letter from my then-girlfriend. I left him at my parents' place when I went to college, but then eventually decided to bring him to college with me. One of my college friends questions his identity and thinks that he is a female bear. (Silly girl... who ever heard of a bear named Doggy? Of course he's a dog!)

I had a stuffed dalmatian named Jeffrey. Loved him like there was no tomorrow. I have no idea where he is, but he's probably with my other stuffed animals at home.

Chipcom and Wordbiker. Should have banned them long ago, but I just keep hanging onto them.

My dad's Gillette Superspeed razors. That's the best way for me to remember his face is when I remember his gentle instructing reflected in the mirror as I shaved for the first time.
Ernest

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b396/Gordo_Ruckus/Picture2727.jpg

Those are real nice Ernest! Is the one on the right all silver?

I used a black-handled model like the one on the left when I first started shaving. Still have my dad's old red tip. Like Michigander says, some stuff works incredibly well for being half a century old.:)

Bikes
Bike parts
Jeans
Old plumbing bits that might be reusable
Pretty much anything else I think I might use some day

aaak, I've become my parents

For the love of God please oil that poor Camillus!!! It's steel, so it's prone to corrosion just like bike parts, and needs to be oiled. Steel wooling the rust would also be good.
What kind of oil...gun oil? Motor oil? Will the oil harm or color the leather grip?

What kind of oil...gun oil? Motor oil? Will the oil harm or color the leather grip?

Any of the above, or bike oil, or bearing grease. I from time to time have used cooking oil on metal. Probably not as good, but it will inhibit corrosion.

You don't have to get any on the leather if you're careful, but remember that petroleum based oil is actually used to treat leather boots, so it probably wouldn't hurt.

I have a unicycle from the mid 80's i rebuilt I ride from time to time.
dont really own anything that old, I move around too much

What kind of oil...gun oil? Motor oil? Will the oil harm or color the leather grip?

You can also get camellia oil which has been used on samurai swords. Interesting article (http://everything2.com/index.pl?node_id=1464298) you might enjoy

You can also get camellia oil which has been used on samurai swords. Interesting article (http://everything2.com/index.pl?node_id=1464298) you might enjoy
Thanks pgoat!

From what that article says, mineral oil seems to be the proper choice.

You can use a bud off a camellia or hibiscus to shine your shoes.

My Great Grandfathers Cabinetry tools, some are from before the first world war. I put them back to use when I started playing around building furniture.

I'll never part with the Stanley #45 plane.

Those are real nice Ernest! Is the one on the right all silver?

I used a black-handled model like the one on the left when I first started shaving. Still have my dad's old red tip. Like Michigander says, some stuff works incredibly well for being half a century old.:)

Thanks Pgoat. They're both black handles but the one on the right is faded and caught most of the camera flash.
Ernest

I would have guessed that looking at it again.

Supposedly the black handled models were like the old blue tips. I picked one up on ebay and it did feel a lot like the black handled one. My Dad's old red tip is heavier and I definitely had to ease up or I'd have ripped my face up. It works well but needs a cleaning - yours are in great shape!

I need to find a better razor brand. I have been using the basic Wilkinson blades you can find anywhere....supposedly there are better brands.

My Great Grandfathers Cabinetry tools, some are from before the first world war. I put them back to use when I started playing around building furniture.

I'll never part with the Stanley #45 plane.

OK...officially jealous here.

I used to hang onto my old kitty at nights. It was the only way I can sleep was to have him sleep on my neck.

But he's gone to Heaven.

What makes you think cats go to heaven? First of all, the litter box would be huge and it would reek.

What makes you think cats go to heaven? First of all, the litter box would be huge and it would reek.

Is this your sensitive side?

What makes you think cats go to heaven? First of all, the litter box would be huge and it would reek.

All sweet things go to Heaven, Pcad. ;)

I have my grandfathers old rifle. Made by great eastern or maybe its great western gun works, I forget, but a google search for the name says it went out of business shortly after 1900.
Have a box full of all those old school papers me parents kept. I figure they kept them all these years I hate to justthrow them out.

I have my grandfathers old rifle. Made by great eastern or maybe its great western gun works, I forget, but a google search for the name says it went out of business shortly after 1900.
Have a box full of all those old school papers me parents kept. I figure they kept them all these years I hate to justthrow them out.

I'd love to see a picture of it enine. :)

That would break Shadiyah's Rule and make this thread turn into the third type: a gun thread. :p

think of it as an amendment to Shadiyah's rule.


Thank goodness this is only the first amendment - if it were the second, we'd be heading for P&R:D

Lava lamp?

Used it on my one nightstand. :p
Frat Party'd it for ya!

My first stuffed animal, Doggy, is about 26 years old. I still have a little Curious George stuffed animal that my dad won for me at a fair or something when I was too little to even remember. I'm 38, so that things got to be 36 or 37 years old. The eyes are missing and I hand drew some in with a sharpie somewhere over childhood.

My dad's Gillette Superspeed razors. That's the best way for me to remember his face is when I remember his gentle instructing reflected in the mirror as I shaved for the first time.
Ernest

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b396/Gordo_Ruckus/Picture2727.jpg


I just got a 1960s Gillette Fatboy so I can try out saftey razor shaving. It does a pretty good job...and replacements are 50cents vs. $2.50 for a freaking mach cartridge.

i also have some of my granfathers tools, some are hand made tools (very cool), i also have a garage full of crap including a metal cup from the ponderosa ranch(banaza) i got it when i was a kiddont know why i have it still not much setamnetal value