Clem's Massive Hoarding Problem - All Comments

RE: make magic magnetic devices yourself by learnign from the Hoard! - Clems massive hoarding problem

DAB — Tue, 21 May 2024 19:57:11 GMT

Nice post Clem.

It is always fun to play with magnets.

By the way, did I ever tell you how my new theory explains how permanent magnets work?

RE: make magic magnetic devices yourself by learnign from the Hoard! - Clems massive hoarding problem

kmikemoo — Mon, 20 May 2024 02:54:34 GMT

I usually take things apart before I throw them away. Sometimes it helps with the recycling but most of the time, it's just my curiousity. [emoticon:1435ff2429184e17bc948e4f19178e1e]

RE: that piece of wood your dad kept in the garage | Clems massive hoarding problem

kmikemoo — Wed, 03 Apr 2024 20:22:51 GMT

[mention:c1a817edc53a434fb85a9f592f23c825:e9ed411860ed4f2ba0265705b8793d05] for the "WIN". It feels like... VICTORY!!!

My Dad was a woodworker. When it came time to clean out his house, there was wood EVERYWHERE (no lie). Scraps of every shape, size and type of wood. In his mind, he had gotten rid of most of it. THANK YOU, DAD. [emoticon:ed61750c19dc48c690f9ab33eb8d59de] I hauled away over 2,500 pounds of it. Ever see a gross of wooden yardsticks at someone's house? How about a 1 foot diameter bundle of 1/4" dowels? Just because... maybe. Fortunately, I was able to give the dowels and yardsticks away to another woodworker.
My son will probably say the same thing of me.

Yes, I have more than one piece of wood - but I have a whole lot less than I used to. AND... I'm way more apt to make "that piece" fit what I need it to fit than I used to be.

RE: that piece of wood your dad kept in the garage | Clems massive hoarding problem

genebren — Tue, 02 Apr 2024 22:43:10 GMT

Well done! You never know when you will need anything. You usually find out shortly after you throw it away.

I have been cleaning my shop up, hoping to finish up some of the long-delayed project in there. I decided to buy a couple of 35-gallon trash cans to hold odd board ends. When my granddaughter came over the other day, she was over the moon with the wood scrapes in the cans, she asked if she could have some of the wood. She ended up finding a nearly perfect cube that she decorated and took home. One man's trash ............

RE: that piece of wood your dad kept in the garage | Clems massive hoarding problem

DAB — Tue, 02 Apr 2024 19:36:18 GMT

I know what you mean.

When I installed my two monitor VESA mount, I needed a piece of wood to set the clamp so it would tighten.

Luckily I had a piece just the right size.

Hoarding is its own reward.

RE: Exploiting Barcodes to organize the hoard! | Clems massive hoarding problem!

DAB — Tue, 13 Feb 2024 20:15:07 GMT

I know the problem well.

Sometimes I know I have the part somewhere, but can't find it so I end up ordering it again.

RE: Exploiting Barcodes to organize the hoard! | Clems massive hoarding problem!

misaz — Tue, 13 Feb 2024 20:08:37 GMT

Do you use any WMS (Warehouse Management System)? I am running self-hosted open-source Part-DB. I have evidence about every single resistor in my inventory. Counting and entering all parts took me hundrets of hours, but it worth it.

https://github.com/Part-DB/Part-DB-server

https://demo.part-db.de/en/

RE: Exploiting Barcodes to organize the hoard! | Clems massive hoarding problem!

genebren — Tue, 13 Feb 2024 15:08:29 GMT

Managing inventory is a huge problem. I try to manage my inventory from the top down. I choose to reuse a lot of my designs, allowing me to have a small core of parts that are used on multiple products/projects. I only introduce new parts when they are absolutely needed for a design and when doing so, I weigh the potential for the part to be used in other designs.

I maintain a database (Excel spreadsheet) to track the inventory, so I know when to reorder, and then based on volume of a part, what quantity to order. By floating inventory, I was able to survive the massive shortages and supply chain issues that occurred with only a few emergencies (resorting to gray markets or massive markups).

RE: Exploiting Barcodes to organize the hoard! | Clems massive hoarding problem!

shabaz — Tue, 13 Feb 2024 14:10:07 GMT

One thing I guess you've also come across, the bar codes from Farnell fade! : (

I'm forced to manually re-write the part value, on every item. Really annoying.

RE: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle | Clem's massive Hoarding Problem

genebren — Wed, 24 Jan 2024 16:28:56 GMT

Waste not, want not.

RE: Many Vintage Parts Create Weird Projects!

DAB — Sat, 18 Nov 2023 20:14:49 GMT

Hi Clem, I always like to look at your stash of parts.

My prize piece is the seeker module for a laser guided bomb.

It is a one of a kind experimental unit with a hologram lens.

RE: Many Vintage Parts Create Weird Projects!

genebren — Sat, 18 Nov 2023 16:26:50 GMT

Boy does this ever play with my memories of my early days of engineering. My first job was with a military electronics company, where I was tasked with designing and maintaining custom electronics driven by minicomputers (military ruggedized computer). I would write 'drivers' and diagnostic software in assembly language using paper tape readers and teletypes. This was an exciting time for me, as I was constantly faced with steep learning curves and no mentors to guide me. I was learning as I was creating.

For years I have wanted to recreate an environment like this, cloning a similar minicomputer from a microprocessor or FPGA to allow me to step back in time and rediscover the joy of this simpler time.

Have fun with your project! I look forward to seeing what you come up with.

RE: The Benefits of Hoarding: One Practical Example.

DAB — Tue, 07 Nov 2023 20:39:45 GMT

Hoarding is its own reward.

RE: The Benefits of Hoarding: One Practical Example.

kmikemoo — Tue, 07 Nov 2023 19:41:07 GMT

A few years back, our kitchen TV started losing volume - as in "drive to zero and stay there". The wife wanted a new TV so... done. I took apart the old TV. Replaced the Volume Down button with a PCB pushbutton that I had bought 20 of - because it costs almost the same for 20 as it does for 5 - and Voila! Now I have a 32" TV that works fine but I don't need. [emoticon:d6dd260102fd406884fc96b8bc59760b][emoticon:752f32bcc91d4a448db162742a877a4a]

RE: The Benefits of Hoarding: One Practical Example.

dougw — Mon, 06 Nov 2023 02:38:01 GMT

I have a large repository of "stuff" that I utilize whenever needed and I save "stuff" that might be useful in the future, as long as I have enough space to do so. Just like I keep a lot of data, documents, photos etc on various storage media. I only purge it when I run out of space. My collection of "stuff" is a physical analogy. I don't want to recreate data or repurchase "stuff" if I can avoid it by keeping it in accessible storage. I don't think of it as hoarding since I give any of it away to anyone who needs it.