mike wrote:
On 12/30/2014 8:12 PM, Cydrome Leader wrote:
Arfa Daily wrote:
In my workshop, I have four four-drawer filing cabinets absolutely
jam-packed with service manuals that I have collected over more than 40
years in the business. The thing is, that I almost never go to them any
more. My first stop is almost always the archive of downloaded manuals on
the computer, and if the one I want is not there, then online to one of the
excellent archives to be found there, to download it. And if I can't find
one, then the item is probably not worth the fixing time anyway.

So, even though it's been a bit heart-wrenching, I've started ditching all
the old paper manuals, with a view to getting rid of three of those
cabinets, and winning back the space. As well as doing this, I have also
been sorting out the many many cabinets of small spares, and been seriously
rationalising what is kept. It's really hard, and I keep thinking "I'm gonna
need that next week" as something else goes in the bin. But at the same
time, it is also sort of 'invigorating' to be restoring some order and
tidiness to the workshop.

Has anyone else been through this process and felt better for it at the end,
or am I just going to regret doing it for years to come ... ?

I run out of space and toss stuff, but never think "I'm so glad I threw
that away" years later. With no doubt many publications have not and will
not be scanned, or if they are many are just unusable due to poor quality.

Good quality manuals are fun too read too. I think I still have the plain
manual for a Franklin apple ][ clone that had a well presented and full
schematic- it was standard docs that shipped with the machine. Apple never
bothered with this.

One problem is that some manuals were never converted to PDF and are simply
not available anywhere. I wanted to program a GAL20V8. There was no
information available anywhere. Fortunately, I saved the original databook.

In 2010, I replaced my carpets with wood flooring.
I had to remove everything from the rooms. When I put it back,
I sorted/compacted/organized the stuff.
It's 2015 and the family room still looks like a hoarders fantasy
with piles of stuff that I'm gonna throw out...I promise...
Yes, I live alone ;-)

After marathon trips to the thrift store and/or the dump,
it usually takes me about a week to realize that the thing I
really, really need today was in the last purge.
The opposite side of that coin is that if I hadn't purged it,
I probably wouldn't be able to find it anyway.

I have most of what I need on one Anthro Cart in front of my
easy chair. But I still have to move something to make a space
to put down a coffee cup.
If I threw away everything I haven't touched in a decade,
the place would be barren.

I like "stuff" so the last project was putting up tall shelving along some
walls. It beats stacks of boxes and Akro-bins. Some stuff just doesn't fit
and most projects live on fiberglass cafeteria type trays, which can't be
stacked so they take up table tops. Like gas, I can fill any amount of
space presented with no problem.