September 29, 2005

Random Sockets Anyone?

My family is very fond of attending auctions out in PA... They really enjoy a good farm sale on a Saturday... I've been going to these things my whole life, and I too have developed the love for them... You end up finding some of the strangest things at them, as well as some outrageous bargains... There are times you simply must purchase something, simply because its too cheap not to... For example, last weekend, my parents were at such a sale, while I was not... My dad knows I'm a tool junkie, and since I have tools at my shop, my garage, and a set I keep boxed to be road ready at all times, I tend to have at least 3 of everything... That's the goal at any rate... Some things I only have one of, and its never where it needs to be... So when my dad sees tools go cheap, and I mean cheap, they always make their way to me... He may not be able to identify exactly what it is (and he's a hell of a tool guy himself mind you) but he'll probably by it anyway... The thing that brought this post to mind was nothing quite so exotic... He picked up a container of 1/2" drive sockets... There must be 40 or 50 of them in there, but they're rusty... Some of them are so rusty I can't tell you what size they are... The rest I cleaned up while waiting on phone calls today... Wire wheel the outside until they shine, and then wire brush the inside too to clean out the rust... So it turns out that there are an awful lot of decent sockets there... There are a whole number of odd sizes though... Sizes I didn't even know they made... Sizes I don't know why anyone ever made... There are sizes there that simply do not exist on any nut or bolt that I have come across, or that I could find in a catalog. (I looked since I was confused) Mind you, this guy must have needed these things for something, because I have multiples of some of these sizes... I don't get it...

Will I toss them?.. Not on your life... They have been spray lacquered to stave off the rust, and they'll go in a drawer with all the other stray sockets I have... Some day... Some day I'm going to run in to a nut or bolt of those sizes, and I'm gonna be ready... 'course its more likely that I run across the nut/bolt, and the sockets will be in my other box/location...

Posted by Backstage at September 29, 2005 10:24 PM | TrackBack
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