On Saturday, April 29, 2017 at 8:27:39 AM UTC-5, Sonny wrote:

Sometimes, I don't think of how my comments are taken, as I think of them, at the spur of the writing moment. And probably the effect of my long term salvage/recycle (and maybe improvise) mindset, also. This isn't the first time I've thought of a way to do something, only to realize there is a better, more simple way. Oftentimes, my first thoughts, this way, amounts to creating more work, for myself, than is required.

I do that as well. On occasion I do make things harder than they need to be, especially when trying to salvage a tool, salvage materials, etc.

I don't do it now, but I would sit and work on a 20 year old drill for an hour taking it apart to replace brushes and bearings and trigger. I had to get them out of the drill as I couldn't order parts for it without the numbers on the part since the drill had been out of production for so long. Cost of trigger: $48. Cost of brushes: $15. Cost of bearings: $30. New parts: $93. Plus an hour to take it apart, 2 hours total with travel to the Milwaukee service center, and an hour or more (depending on the bearing install) to complete the task. Cost of a new Milwaukee with a warranty, new motor and no muss, no fuss: about $100.

Years ago I was also prone to use whatever I had on hand to work on projects, salvage being part of that. Sometimes working around defects in material is just too time consuming to be worthwhile. It seems like you should be saving money, and as Depression Era parents taught me, you are doing the right thing. I just doesn't always work that way, though. In hindsight, is seems to rarely work well for me.

Robert