Who here 'rescues' tools?

Monsterbishi

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I, for one, simply cannot resist the urge to stop when I'm driving along and spot a tool laying neglected on the road.

This weeks patient is a side cutter/nips that I spotted sitting in front of my pickup on the way back to work after lunch, rusted solid from being out in the elements for only goodness knows how long.

On the up side, I could see the potential straight away, as the jaws didn't appear to have any nick/dents.So after a liberal dose of PBlaster I hit the exposed parts with the wire wheel, it's not pretty, but is now rust-free on the outside.

After that, more PBlaster, a lot of persuasion using a few blocks of wood to slowly knock the jaws open a thou at a time until it's fully open where I can wire-wheel the bearing surface, PBlast it and then beat it shut again.

Repeat above step a hundred times until it's opening smoothly by gravity alone, and closing just as well and off it goes to my toolbox with a squirt of WD-40 to keep it happy for the rest of it's time on this earth...

So, who else is a sucker for rusty tools on the road?
 

ElrodKTPQ_89

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Nothing at all wrong with snagging up tools off the road! I tend to find a lot of rubber bungee straps also and always stop to pick them up. Plus working in an industrial environment (paper mill/chemical plant) we are always finding stuff...I've found several pairs of various sized Channel locks, Klein 'dikes' and screwdrivers and even some chokers and D-ring straps and slings that I keep in my 4WD for when things get outta hand lol. Two of my mottos are 'if it's free it's for me' and 'Smoke em if ya got em!'
 

Slipperman

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When I lived in California, I was driving on a mountain road and spotted a plastic truck box on the shoulder.
I stopped to check it out and it looked to belong to a roofing contractor as it was full of sheet metal hand tools along with a Makita cordless drill.
I looked, but could not find any kind of identification, so I bought new batteries for the drill and used it for about two decades.
I still have the pop rivet guns, shears, etc.
 

DeepList

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I've never found any tools laying along the road, but living near several large foundries and steel mills, I do find rubber tarp straps all the time. I make a point to stop and grab them.
 

DropTopPony

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I have found some of my favorite tools on the side of the road. I assume they fall off trucks/stake bodies etc but if I see shiny I usually stop:)

I also can't resist a yard sale or estate sale to try and snag some cheap tools.
 
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Monsterbishi

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Ratchet tie-down straps & ratchets are also another favourite find of mine, I have a tendancy to find the ratchets more often than the straps - but fortunately my Father in-law finds a lot of straps - so we trade from time to time.
 

ttocs

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a neighbor of mine had a vice that he wasn't using and it got knocked off the shelf he had it on and it broke one of the 3 mounting feet. He was going to throw it out when I found it. After a little bit of research I figured out what I needed to do to weld a large piece of cast iron and was happy to try it out. A new coat of paint and now its mounted to my bench being put back to work.
 

MustangChris

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o_O you guys find A LOT more stuff laying around than i do. lol. on the ground, at garage sales, etc.... usually come home empty handed.
 

g36 monkey

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Yea, I've literally never found anything like that. My big find was a rusty pocket knife in the junk yard lol
 

Orange 94

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I rescued my own tool once....


Left a socket in the engine bay of the mustang once. Drove 30 min on the highway, and parked for work.
At the end of the day I saw a shiny snap on socket while leaving the parking lot...and it look familiar... picked it up and sure enough it had my dads initials on it... oops.
 

ElrodKTPQ_89

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That^ made me remember, when I first bought my car and was tearing out the engine I found a Blue point 3/8 drive ratchet and a Craftsman 3/16" boxed end wrench...the things is like 2.5" long lol.
 
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Monsterbishi

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Looks like I'm not the only one in the household with the habit too, the wife came home from a school meeting last night with a 12mm/13mm spanner, just a cheapy - but it made me smile :)
 

chris91

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I just picked up a craftsman ratchet with 14mm socket on it. I love finding tools. LoL
 

CC'S95GT

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I've found a few good things and put them back in use.
-Mac straight screwdriver, found outside of oil change place covered in grease.
-Vise Grips, found still attached to truck after having some simple body work redone. If they would have fixed it right the first time I probably would have returned it to the tech.
-1/2" drive ratchet with rubber grip on handle- found in Ohio river in the 70's when I about 10ish. Dad took it apart and lubbed it up and I still have and use it today.
- Buck knife, found in bag bin of a 767 airplane, very dull and beat up.
 

Addermk2

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Rescued this one yesterday. It was stuck on the lower strut bolt of a Prius...

I wonder if my Snap On rep will warranty it.

y7ybemez.jpg


Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk
 

ttocs

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they probably will.

Found a small socket yesterday on my parts car on the mounting plate that the overflow tank rests on attached too the core support.
 

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