# Tool Alarm



## Graybeard (Apr 16, 2019)

I need a tool alarm that goes off when I walk away with a tool in my hand and set it down some place there's no reason for it to be there. I swear I spend half my time trying to find stuff. Maybe an electrode like an invisible fence they use for dogs. GRRRRR.

Reactions: Funny 8


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## Schroedc (Apr 16, 2019)

Graybeard said:


> I need a tool alarm that goes off when I walk away with a tool in my hand and set it down some place there's no reason for it to be there. I swear I spend half my time trying to find stuff. Maybe an electrode like an invisible fence they use for dogs. GRRRRR.



Get a bungee cord with a big magnet on one end of it, attach one end of the cord to your belt, use the magnet on the tool. You'll keep track of them then.

Reactions: Agree 1 | Funny 4


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## Echoashtoreth (Apr 16, 2019)

Attach to ur belt buckle... if its a large tool u will only err once.....

Reactions: Funny 1


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## Patrude (Apr 16, 2019)

Well here's my story. Last year was a bit difficult, we'll leave it at that. Anyway my shop took a real beating , so bad that I was tripping over stuff and couldnt find anything. I just about managed to keep the lathe area workable. About a month back one of my friends said he stopped by but I wasn't home. Darn streight ,that got me thinking how embarrassing it would've been for him to see my shop in such a disaster. I decided to get the shop respectable so I could have company. I started in one corner and worked diligently every day. Installed peg board , mounted some wall cabinets, got rid of stuff I wasn't using. Bought steel rack, painted the whole shop. Took 3 weeks and a lot of energy. I now feel comfortable having visitors to my shop. Been several weeks on the good. I now clean up and put all tools away and sweep the floor at the end of every day. I read that if you follow a pattern for a month it becomes a habit. Right now it feels worth the effort just to look at my unusually organized shop just before I put the lights off.

Reactions: Like 2


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## Eric Rorabaugh (Apr 16, 2019)

Rich, would you come down for 3 weeks and do mine so I can see how it goes?

Reactions: Like 1 | Agree 4


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## Graybeard (Apr 17, 2019)

So Colin, you're suggesting I find one tool and possibly loose another?

Reactions: Funny 1


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## Schroedc (Apr 17, 2019)

Graybeard said:


> So Colin, you're suggesting I find one tool and possibly loose another?



You'd probably only do it once.......


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## Patrude (Apr 17, 2019)

Eric Rorabaugh said:


> Rich, would you come down for 3 weeks and do mine so I can see how it goes?


On my way Mate

Reactions: Like 1


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## Texasstate (Apr 17, 2019)

This is a funny thread but a real real problem of mine as well

Reactions: Thank You! 1


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## rocky1 (Apr 18, 2019)

You know Rich, if you cleaned 3 shops a day, you could cut that learning the routine to only 10 days.

Reactions: Like 1 | Agree 1


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## rocky1 (Apr 18, 2019)

Graybeard said:


> I need a tool alarm that goes off when I walk away with a tool in my hand and set it down some place there's no reason for it to be there. I swear I spend half my time trying to find stuff. Maybe an electrode like an invisible fence they use for dogs. GRRRRR.



You just needed a father like mine, when I was growing up David. Man would, still does, walk off and lay things down, then when he couldn't find it, it was always "Damn thing didn't sprout legs, what did you kids do with it?" Of course, we were at a total loss to explain where the hell it went, because we didn't have anything to do with it being missing to begin with. Don't know how much stuff I got blamed for carting off as a child, but having been yelled at for losing tens of thousands of tools, (_I'm sure_), most of which I hadn't touched; I developed a nasty habit of putting things back where they belong, or laying them out in the open somewhere close, where they can be found. 

During my Air Force days, we had a personal tool box, then there were shop tools in the tool room. All shop tools were hung on the walls, outlined and their spot on the wall painted in a contrasting color. Made figuring out where they were supposed to go when you hung them back up much easier, and it made it clearly evident they were missing if someone forgot to return them to the tool room. We of course had to sign them out and back in, so everyone knew who was the last one to have it. Which that wouldn't do you much good in your shop, but the painting of the tool on the wall might help.

Reactions: Like 1


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## Herb G. (Apr 19, 2019)

My problem is a wife that borrows my tools, then leaves them where she used them at, instead of putting them back.
I know I have 6 pairs of Channellocks around here. Matched sets of straight & curved jaw tongue & groove pliers.
I can only find about 1/2 of them at any given time. Last time I looked for them, I found 2 sets in her craft room.
I have since started locking my tools in my tool cabinet & hiding the key so she can't get into it.

It's pretty bad when you have to go that far.


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## woodtickgreg (Apr 19, 2019)

Herb G. said:


> My problem is a wife that borrows my tools, then leaves them where she used them at, instead of putting them back.
> I know I have 6 pairs of Channellocks around here. Matched sets of straight & curved jaw tongue & groove pliers.
> I can only find about 1/2 of them at any given time. Last time I looked for them, I found 2 sets in her craft room.
> I have since started locking my tools in my tool cabinet & hiding the key so she can't get into it.
> ...


Get her a set of her own tools.

Reactions: Agree 1


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## rocky1 (Apr 19, 2019)

Herb G. said:


> My problem is a wife that borrows my tools, then leaves them where she used them at, instead of putting them back.
> I know I have 6 pairs of Channellocks around here. Matched sets of straight & curved jaw tongue & groove pliers.
> I can only find about 1/2 of them at any given time. Last time I looked for them, I found 2 sets in her craft room.
> I have since started locking my tools in my tool cabinet & hiding the key so she can't get into it.
> ...




My mother-in-law lives with us, I have the same problem there.


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## Graybeard (Apr 19, 2019)

If the shoe fits, get six pair.

Reactions: Funny 1


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## Clay3063 (Apr 19, 2019)

rocky1 said:


> You just needed a father like mine, when I was growing up David. Man would, still does, walk off and lay things down, then when he couldn't find it, it was always "Damn thing didn't sprout legs, what did you kids do with it?" Of course, we were at a total loss to explain where the hell it went, because we didn't have anything to do with it being missing to begin with. Don't know how much stuff I got blamed for carting off as a child, but having been yelled at for losing tens of thousands of tools, (_I'm sure_), most of which I hadn't touched; I developed a nasty habit of putting things back where they belong, or laying them out in the open somewhere close, where they can be found.
> 
> During my Air Force days, we had a personal tool box, then there were shop tools in the tool room. All shop tools were hung on the walls, outlined and their spot on the wall painted in a contrasting color. Made figuring out where they were supposed to go when you hung them back up much easier, and it made it clearly evident they were missing if someone forgot to return them to the tool room. We of course had to sign them out and back in, so everyone knew who was the last one to have it. Which that wouldn't do you much good in your shop, but the painting of the tool on the wall might help.



Sounds like your dad and mine were of the same family. And being the oldest, I got blamed for most of it. One day I said to myself if I was going to be accused of something I might as well be guilty of it too. Thus began a long hard lesson in life.

Reactions: Funny 2


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## kweinert (Apr 19, 2019)

I'm not completely done yet, but I had a similar experience recently. One of the sons and a son-in-law had occasion to borrow something and made mention to my wife that the shop didn't even look that messy when it was in the old place.

I've gotten about 3/4 of it picked up now. And I sweep and put stuff away at the end of the day.

I also finished building a cross cut sled so I could then build a box joint jig so I can put slide out shelves in the lower cabinets. That way I can actually find stuff I put in there. I have the drawer slides (full extension, 100 lb) and finally found a use for that poplar I got from a guy (12' 1 x 4s) a year back or so. I'll use the box joint jig to also create some open boxes that can fit on the shelves (As an aside - the William Ng video of building a box joint jig really worked for me. He used actual measurements and explained why he used the ones he did so that dialing in the jig is very straightforward. The use of a caliper and numbers really appealed to the engineer in me.)

I still have to sort out why my remote switches won't fire up the dust collector and to run the ducting for it. And to add a few more outlets on one side of the shop.

But it is nice to be able to find stuff (mostly, right now) and to look out there and see how neat it all looks.


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## Echoashtoreth (Apr 19, 2019)

rocky1 said:


> You just needed a father like mine, when I was growing up David. Man would, still does, walk off and lay things down, then when he couldn't find it, it was always "Damn thing didn't sprout legs, what did you kids do with it?" Of course, we were at a total loss to explain where the hell it went, because we didn't have anything to do with it being missing to begin with. Don't know how much stuff I got blamed for carting off as a child, but having been yelled at for losing tens of thousands of tools, (_I'm sure_), most of which I hadn't touched; I developed a nasty habit of putting things back where they belong, or laying them out in the open somewhere close, where they can be found.
> 
> During my Air Force days, we had a personal tool box, then there were shop tools in the tool room. All shop tools were hung on the walls, outlined and their spot on the wall painted in a contrasting color. Made figuring out where they were supposed to go when you hung them back up much easier, and it made it clearly evident they were missing if someone forgot to return them to the tool room. We of course had to sign them out and back in, so everyone knew who was the last one to have it. Which that wouldn't do you much good in your shop, but the painting of the tool on the wall might help.


My dad loved to yell at me and my mom for his missing tools too... but 99% of the time they were in his back pocket...  drove me crazy but kind of miss it now that hes gone....

Reactions: Like 1


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## rocky1 (Apr 19, 2019)

Well I was accused of not putting things back where they belonged enough that I started putting them back where they belonged. Thinking that then he couldn't accuse me of not doing so, but he did anyhow.


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## Herb G. (Apr 20, 2019)

woodtickgreg said:


> Get her a set of her own tools.


That's the problem. I did get her a set of tools for herself. I even bought a nice new toolbox to put them in.
She decided my tools are nicer, and I have more of them, so I won't miss them.

Reactions: Funny 3


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## rocky1 (Apr 20, 2019)

Not to mention, she now has a place to keep them!


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## Karda (Apr 24, 2019)

I didn't have enough bungie's or magnets so I just tied my tools to my belt with a dummy cord. One to was ok but you never use one tool for a project. I would tie a new cord each time I used a tool. I found i wasn't getting anything done because i spent so much time untangling cord so i could use a tool. I found it especially inconvenient when using power tool. maybe somebody could invent a proximity alarm to fit screw drivers and other small tools.


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