# Where did I leave that tool?



## mark sr (Jun 13, 2017)

I don't have any technological ways of finding lost tools but I do fuss at myself often for misplacing tools. Between being blind in one eye and not having the memory I once had - it happens a LOT more than I like!
Putting tools where they belong isn't the problem, it's from setting them down while using them


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## chandler48 (Jun 5, 2017)

Box stores had a big push for the locator type tags that you could access with an app on your phone. This was advertised really big to keep tool theft down. You could locate your tools if someone stole them, or you lost them.  The only problem was that you had to be within 30 feet of the tag for it to communicate. Really big "duh" factor there. If someone stole your tools, they were miles away.


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## Drachenfire (Jun 6, 2017)

Sometimes lo-tech is still the best way.

I have a tool chest and a few tool bags in different sizes. 

When I am working on a task, I get the tools out of the chest and put them in a tool bag. This saves me a lot of back and forth. When the task is done, all to the tools are taken back to the garage and immediately go back to their places in the chest.

It is the same with yard tools, they all have a designated spot in my shed. When I finish working with them, they get cleaned and put back in that spot.

All my IT/telco tools are in a tool case (sort of a large brief case) which is kept in my home office.


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## wrangler (Oct 9, 2008)

Apparently I don't or I wouldn't have four or five speed squares, about a dozen tape measures, three hammers, three or four pry bars etc. etc. 
Probably also why there's no room for a passenger in my four door work truck.


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## raylo32 (Nov 25, 2006)

Your mower should have easily found that tiller in the picture! :=O


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## Steve2444 (Sep 28, 2020)

wrangler said:


> Apparently I don't or I wouldn't have four or five speed squares, about a dozen tape measures, three hammers, three or four pry bars etc. etc.
> Probably also why there's no room for a passenger in my four door work truck.


True so true, for some unknown reason they all seem to migrate to the same (hidden) location. Poltergeist ?


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## raylo32 (Nov 25, 2006)

I had another related thought from seeing that picture. Maybe he can't find the tiller with the mower because it seems he has also lost his mower! ;-)



raylo32 said:


> Your mower should have easily found that tiller in the picture! :=O


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## Colbyt (Jan 27, 2014)

I think it comes with age. I certainly suffer from the syndrome.


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## raylo32 (Nov 25, 2006)

Apple recently released their "Air Tags", sort of like Tiles but with a much bigger network. These might be a good idea to attach to more expensive and highly pilferable tools and can be easily hidden. Not a guarantee you will find them but you'd have a fighting chance. While I believe they are only about $25 apiece I can't see using them on garden variety non-power hand tools around the house. That would still get to be too expensive.


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## raylo32 (Nov 25, 2006)

Also age related is that we tend to accumulate more and more stuff and not get rid of any of it... and there might not be room to keep it all stored and organized properly. That's my problem. Some times doing a job in my workshop is like golf... I have to play it as it lies.



Colbyt said:


> I think it comes with age. I certainly suffer from the syndrome.


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## MTN REMODEL LLC (Sep 11, 2010)

So.....How come when I loose a tool and find it, ...

it is ALWAYS THE VERY LAST PLACE I LOOKED.???????????


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## mark sr (Jun 13, 2017)

MTN REMODEL LLC said:


> So.....How come when I loose a tool and find it, ...
> 
> it is ALWAYS THE VERY LAST PLACE I LOOKED.???????????


If you kept on looking we'd be whispering behind your back


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## raylo32 (Nov 25, 2006)

In my case it is also... RIGHT WHERE I LEFT IT!



MTN REMODEL LLC said:


> So.....How come when I loose a tool and find it, ...
> 
> it is ALWAYS THE VERY LAST PLACE I LOOKED.???????????


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## MTN REMODEL LLC (Sep 11, 2010)

Boy....It's nice to know that I'm not the dementiad Lone Ranger


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## Drachenfire (Jun 6, 2017)

I spend to much for my tools not to keep track of them and take care of them. None of my yard tools remain outside. They are used, cleaned and put away in the shed.

Craftsman Pressure washer - 20 years old and still working.
Toro push mower - 18 years old and still working.
Troy-Bilt Snow blower - 7 years old and still working.
Yard Machine edger - 20+ years old and still working.
MTD Lawn Tractor - 26 years and three houses before the transmission wore out. Engine still ran perfectly when I sold it for parts.

I have inherited tools which are literally older than I am (I am knocking on 60) and they are all in perfect working condition.


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## Domo (Nov 9, 2018)

Paint them horrid colors that are not real in nature or coveted by other workers.


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## Nik333 (Mar 1, 2015)

There is a remote tracker for car keys. It was only about $6 at Walmart. a little button. That might get expensive for all your tools.

I'd tell you how well it works but, i can't find the package.


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## Nealtw (Jun 22, 2017)

DIYers should have and use and apron.


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## lenaitch (Feb 10, 2014)

Drachenfire said:


> Sometimes lo-tech is still the best way.
> 
> I have a tool chest and a few tool bags in different sizes.
> 
> ...


I try that: grab tool A, B and C, then realize I need D, later go back for E, by the time I'm done I have schlepped just about my entire tool cart.

I also try to keep my tools in the same storage spot, but refuse to make little outlines on the pegboard like some people do.



Drachenfire said:


> I spend to much for my tools not to keep track of them and take care of them. None of my yard tools remain outside. They are used, cleaned and put away in the shed.
> 
> Craftsman Pressure washer - 20 years old and still working.
> Toro push mower - 18 years old and still working.
> ...


Same here. Part of it is taking care of your stuff, but at some point it becomes a point of pride to keep the old stuff ticking. Also, the older stuff lasts longer. My lawn tractor is a 1988 JD, push mower is a 1980 LB and the snowblower is around 1990.

Nothing sits outside. When we started up our small horse farm, the hard part was finding a used brush mower, snowblower, etc. that hadn't been rotting outside behind somebody's barn.


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## MTN REMODEL LLC (Sep 11, 2010)

Domo said:


> Paint them horrid colors that are not real in nature or coveted by other workers.


DOMO......Yes I do that for certain tools......As I often used day help on some jobs, I had my "crap" tool bag of general utility tools/hammer/speed square/pry bars/multi-tip screwdriver/channel locks etc. So I spray painted them bright florescent pink/red. Stopped a lot of loss, and no one borrowed my good sets for over ten minutes...ask me and return mine immediately.


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## Nealtw (Jun 22, 2017)

When you a looking for anything that is lost, you need to search back wards, because they are always in the last place you look.


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## chandler48 (Jun 5, 2017)

I lose a tool, who knows where. Jobsite, shop, yard, truck. Go as long as I can without it, go buy a replacement. When I get home the tool shows up magically, negating the purchase I just made. That's why I have too many tools.


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## MTN REMODEL LLC (Sep 11, 2010)

chandler48 said:


> I lose a tool, who knows where. Jobsite, shop, yard, truck. Go as long as I can without it, go buy a replacement. When I get home the tool shows up magically, negating the purchase I just made. *That's why I have too many tools.*


 I call BS.....Ya can't have too many tools. !!


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## chandler48 (Jun 5, 2017)

MTN REMODEL LLC said:


> Ya can't have too many tools.


You're right, of course.


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## Drachenfire (Jun 6, 2017)

Domo said:


> Paint them horrid colors that are not real in nature or coveted by other workers.


I knew of a woman who had a problem with neighbors borrowing her tools and forgetting to return them.

She painted all her tools pink. Mysteriously the neighbors no longer wanted to borrow her tools...

Where I am from, construction is a family affair. This caused an issue when multiple families were working together. It could become a problem with identifying whose tools like shovels and pick axes belong to whom. To resolve this, each family had a designated color that we painted the handles of the tools with (ours was green).


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## rjniles (Feb 5, 2007)

I own at least 10 tape measures, I can usually find one. Don't ask about how many reading glasses.

Sent from my Lenovo TB-X606F using Tapatalk


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## MTN REMODEL LLC (Sep 11, 2010)

rjniles said:


> I own at least 10 tape measures, I can usually find one. Don't ask about how many reading glasses.
> 
> Sent from my Lenovo TB-X606F using Tapatalk


RJ.....I've done the very same thing.....I'm lucky and just need 225 reading glasses (no prescription).

The dollar store has them for $1....so I bought 25. They do break pretty easy, but so what...I have them everywhere.


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## jbfan (Jul 1, 2004)

chandler48 said:


> I lose a tool, who knows where. Jobsite, shop, yard, truck. Go as long as I can without it, go buy a replacement. When I get home the tool shows up magically, negating the purchase I just made. That's why I have too many tools.


That is why I have several caulk guns.
I just built a new garage, and I have a tape measure on 2 walls, in my basement going out to the garage, and several in various drawers in the house, and yet, sometime I can't find one.


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## Nealtw (Jun 22, 2017)

MTN REMODEL LLC said:


> RJ.....I've done the very same thing.....I'm lucky and just need 225 reading glasses (no prescription).
> 
> The dollar store has them for $1....so I bought 25. They do break pretty easy, but so what...I have them everywhere.


It's when you have slipped them up to the top of your head and then can't find them anywhere that makes you feel foolish.


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## jbfan (Jul 1, 2004)

I was building something and need a brad nailer. I new I had some oil to put into the gun, but I just couldn't find it. I new it was somewhere, but couldn't find it. 
I went ahead and used the nailer, and went to put it back up and knock over the oil I was looking for.
If it had been a snake came to mind!


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## rjniles (Feb 5, 2007)

MTN REMODEL LLC said:


> RJ.....I've done the very same thing.....I'm lucky and just need 225 reading glasses (no prescription).
> 
> The dollar store has them for $1....so I bought 25. They do break pretty easy, but so what...I have them everywhere.


I also use non prescription readers, 3 pairs for $7.88 at Walmart. I lose them, break them or toss them after I chew the plastic off an ear piece.

Sent from my Lenovo TB-X606F using Tapatalk


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## Two Knots (Nov 12, 2011)

MTN REMODEL LLC said:


> I call BS.....Ya can't have too many tools. !!


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## FirebirdHank (Jan 31, 2021)

I don't cut glass a lot but one day I needed my glass cutter. I searched for a while but thought that for a couple of bucks it was easier to just buy a new one. Bought one, used it and thought OK where should I put this so I will remember where it is. The best place seemed to be top of the tool box right in front under the lip. Set the new one in there and-you guessed it- right on top of the one I couldn't find.
Also, while cleaning gutters this spring, I found a putty knife that I didn't know was missing laying in the gutter.


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## rjniles (Feb 5, 2007)

I have bins of plumbing and electrical supplies in my workshop, leftovers from other jobs. When I do to do a new job I say to myself "Self, you have the supplies you need in 1 of those bins". I search for a while, get teed off and go buy new. When that job is done I toss the leftover parts (I always have leftovers) into 1 of the bins and that's when I see the parts I was originally looking for. I should remember where they are for next time. NOT! Hey, I'M old.


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## Old Thomas (Nov 28, 2019)

I was doing repairs on my son’s rental houses and I put the tools I thought I needed in a bucket to make them easy to carry and to reduce trips to the van. Then I got a bucket tool organizer at HF and put it in my bucket so I could keep the most common tools in it all the time. I have a tape measure, pliers, screwdrivers, utility knife, chisels, electric testers, pencils, sharpies, snips, adjustable square, hammer, pry bar, headlight, and several other tools in it. When doing a repair, I grab the bucket. Depending on the job I might toss in a few extra tools. Usually it has what I need (occasionally everything except what I need). If I strip wires or remove nails I toss the scraps in the bucket, then once in a while I clean it out. If I am installing lock sets, I sit on the bucket. In my younger days I wore a tool belt, now I carry a tool bucket/seat.


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## Two Knots (Nov 12, 2011)

Do you guys realize how sexy you look with a tool belt on ?


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## Fix'n it (Mar 12, 2012)

when i can't find something, i just stop looking for it and go about my business. when i am not looking for it, is when i find it.


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## Oso954 (Jun 23, 2012)

I use an outdoor type doormat as a tool rest spot when working outside. Any hand tool gets laid down on the mat. I will also use one working indoors if using more than one or two tools. It can take a while to train yourself to always lay them on the mat, but it really is a tremendous time saver versus looking around for that tool you just laid down a minute ago.

Small tools used primarily outdoors get the day glo orange paint if they don’t come with a bright color handle. Some larger tools like pry bars also get the paint.

In a grassy (or weed) area, its a good idea to cut/mow the work space before starting a job. If that immediate area gets clipped short, makes finding tools or small parts a lot easier.


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## Old Thomas (Nov 28, 2019)

When I put a tool away I usually put it in the first place I think of. Then when I need it again it is generally in the first place I think of.


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## gthomson (Nov 13, 2016)

Found my tape measure after about 1/2 hour of looking for it, but I'm glad I'm not alone on this...


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## Fix'n it (Mar 12, 2012)

gthomson said:


> but I'm glad I'm not alone on this...
> 
> 
> .


your not the only one. now, lets start a thread on "organization", lol


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## rjniles (Feb 5, 2007)

gthomson said:


> Found my tape measure after about 1/2 hour of looking for it, but I'm glad I'm not alone on this...
> 
> 
> View attachment 662327


I found it immediately, it is on top of the step ladder.

Sent from my Lenovo TB-X606F using Tapatalk


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## ChuckTin (Nov 17, 2014)

The technique I find most helpful is to assign a place for a tool and stay with that. For instance - a tape measure is worth putting into your pocket until you bang it on the wall, the floor, the ladder, etc. So it's best stored in or on a leather tool belt. Of, lacking that, a specific area of my current "work table".
Speaking of work tables - for a number of years I used a folding plastic table from a box store, to set up for my honey-dos. Wifie laughed at that until she let her horse group "borrow" it and it never came back. Now I have a 1/3 sheet of plywood with folding legs. But guess who's forever hunting for that elusive tape measure. And taint me.

Sent from my Pixel 4a using Tapatalk


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## schreib (Apr 30, 2020)

mark sr said:


> I don't have any technological ways of finding lost tools but I do fuss at myself often for misplacing tools. Between being blind in one eye and not having the memory I once had - it happens a LOT more than I like!
> Putting tools where they belong isn't the problem, it's from setting them down while using them


Yep, that goes for me too. There is no fix really. This morning I brought out a hand saw and _anticipated_ I would lose track of it right after using it so I placed it on a piece of sheet metal and physically pointed at it and silently told myself to REMEMBER WHERE IT IS! That worked within the next 30 minutes or so but God help me if I leave it there overnight!

I have often said: "It is good I don't do this stuff for a living because I would go broke building stuff!"

I am a Mechanical Engineer-- retired. OK. Stop laughing.


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## lenaitch (Feb 10, 2014)

It sounds like a problem we all have, to varying degrees. When I was framing up a shed, I used to leave all sorts of stuff on the top plate, then spend the next half hour looking for it. I'm particularly partial to leaving stuff on the top of the stepladder then finding it - with my head - when I go to fold it up. Often it's small bits like screws, wire nuts, etc. but the occasional tape measure or set of pliers - they hurt. What I need is a better tool belt. That way I can take it off and lose everything in the same place.


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## raylo32 (Nov 25, 2006)

Yes, mid-job disorganization is a real problem. When I get going on something I just go... one step or operation to the next not taking time to store or rerack the tools. By the time I am done my workbench will be piled with tools, materials, whatever... and I lose stuff in plain sight. Would be better served to slow down and pay more attention to keeping the bench clear and ready for the next step. But I can't. Never could. IDK why??🤷‍♂️ Same thing happens away from the bench on projects around the house. Except then the tool losing field is broader and so then they are even harder to find.


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## lenaitch (Feb 10, 2014)

raylo32 said:


> Yes, mid-job disorganization is a real problem. When I get going on something I just go... one step or operation to the next not taking time to store or rerack the tools. By the time I am done my workbench will be piled with tools, materials, whatever... and I lose stuff in plain sight. Would be better served to slow down and pay more attention to keeping the bench clear and ready for the next step. But I can't. Never could. IDK why??🤷‍♂️ Same thing happens away from the bench on projects around the house. Except then the tool losing field is broader and so then they are even harder to find.


Same. I usually save a major workshop project for the winter, and last year I found I have to take an hour or so every few days to 'clean up' just so I could find stuff. Is it on the bench? At the chop saw? Band saw? Table saw?


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## ArtT (Jul 17, 2021)

My technique to find a lost tool is buy another and the lost one miraculously appears 🙄.


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## chandler48 (Jun 5, 2017)

AS long as we are on the "disorganization" train...My Ram 3500 flat bed is in the shop with transmission trouble. Now it has 4 side tool bays and a Jobox on the back, with varied stuff secured to the bed. Very organized. I know where everything is.

While it is incapacitated, I am having to drive my Ram 1500 sissy truck. It's nice, comfortable, but absolutely no place to put tools. Back has a cover so that's cool. Front seat and floorboard are crammed with smaller tools. I can't find anything, and don't know if I have left a needed tool at the shop or not until it is called for. Grrrrrr.


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## mark sr (Jun 13, 2017)

chandler48 said:


> My Ram 3500 flat bed is in the shop with transmission trouble. Now it has 4 side tool bays and a Jobox on the back, with varied stuff secured to the bed. Very organized. I know where everything is.


I know what you mean! For many of us a work truck is an extension of our shop. When you have to change vehicles for a short period, no matter how well you think it out there will be something you forgot.

Hope they get your work truck fixed in short order!


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## chandler48 (Jun 5, 2017)

Still waiting on the transmission from the rebuilder. Hopefully in the next few days.


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## Fix'n it (Mar 12, 2012)

chandler48 said:


> Still waiting on the transmission from the rebuilder. Hopefully in the next few days.


you R&R yourself ?


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## chandler48 (Jun 5, 2017)

Nope, my diesel mechanic has the truck. Found out today it was shipped from Minnesota on Tuesday and should be here tomorrow or Monday...Yay.


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## Fix'n it (Mar 12, 2012)

ok. ask him how he flushes the lines. if he doesn't say with solvent, or some other purpose cleaner, fire him.


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## chandler48 (Jun 5, 2017)

No lines. It's an NV4500 5 speed for a Cummins


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## KaseyW (Nov 23, 2012)

I'm late to the party here, but I'm another one with periodically invisible tools. It isn't a foolproof solution but, for the ones that seem to disappear the most, I have nail polish, duct tape and plastic streamers (used for marking paths in the woods) all in fluorescent orange. I use the one best suited to the size of the item to provide a spot of a color that I can depend on not to fade into the surrounding background. It's a lot easier than trying to remember both where I saw something last AND what color it is.


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