Nothing Spent But Time
In short order, I was able to make some holders for all the various bits and in the end, I didn't weed out a single one. I figured since I have the room in an organized manner, I'll keep them for just in case. Ninety percent of all routing I do use the handful of bits in the lower right tray and the other 10% are out of the lower left tray. The yellow ones on both sides are rarely used anymore as I out grew them years ago but the price was right at the time.
With the trays in, I scrounged around through my scrap bin and found several small cut offs of oak that must have been from the altar project and I had forgotten about them. I thought they would make passable doors so I spent a morning doing the joinery and gluing them up into passable doors. I also looked through my cabinets and found some hardware from our old kitchen which I will repurpose the hinges and handles for this case. I think I still have some cutoffs of plexiglass from when I made my own windows for the greenhouse that will hopefully fit inside the doors and keep the dust out while allowing visual inspection.
If all goes to plan, I will have spend exactly zero dollars on this project in materials and only wasted some labor which arguably would have been wasted one way or the other.
It seeems as tough time is one thing that you have at your disposal. That and skill.
ReplyDeleteFortunately I do have time, not as much as I would like, but enough to wet my appetite for wood working.
DeleteIt's funny, but the things that I use rarely-to-never and so decide to pass on are always the things I'm looking for next. Nice to see everything so neat and orderly.
ReplyDeleteThose thoughts had crossed my mind which is why I kept them all for now.
DeleteHow great to use the extra wood and hardware! However, it reinforces what my late husband used to say, "I can't get rid of that. I might need it some day!" (why there is still so much stuff in his side of the garage)
ReplyDeleteI pick and choose my battles on that front. I do get rid of some things if I reasonably believe that I will never need them again. Small door hinges though don't fall into that category.
DeleteAmazing, free, and beautiful!
ReplyDeleteWell, it cost me some free reading time but I was willing to pay that price.
DeleteIt's a pleasant challenge to take scrap material and put it together as reasonable project.
ReplyDeleteI don't do such projects nearly as much as I should because it indeed feel nice to have done so.
DeleteWell spent time, nice and neat!
ReplyDeleteThank you!
DeleteThere is an African saying (at least reputedly so, although I read of it before Abraham Lincoln and the InterWeb) that if you keep a thing seven years, you will have need of it. There is nothing more annoying to not have the one thing you need when you need it, even if you use it occasionally.
ReplyDeleteI have many things that I have had for more than seven years. I only have a few things though that I have hung onto and not used for seven years. I'm a bit of an oddball though as I place a fairly high price on empty space. Nothing bums me out quicker than having to shuffle things around to find something I need.
DeleteI always love a good “use what you have” project! Those oak cutoffs and repurposed kitchen hinges sound like the perfect combination—and adding plexiglass doors will make it look sharp while keeping everything tidy. Zero cost and maximum creativity—can’t beat that!
ReplyDeleteIf I would have had to pay a $100 for some plastic cheap router bit storage case with no room for all my bits, they would still be in a drawer.
DeleteOK... This will blow Art's mind when I show it to him. Both Art and my brother have lots of bits (and pieces) too. I wonder if he can find them in our tool closet.
ReplyDeleteBeing organized certainly helps my productivity.
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