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#1
Posted to rec.woodworking
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OT - Neighbor borrows tools and doesn't bring back
I need a bit of advice. I recently moved into a new house with a big
garage that I've made into my workshop. My next door neighbor is a really good guy and comes over to shoot the bull every now and again and I show him some of the new things I've made (adirondack chairs and tile inlay tables). While he's there I'm sure he scopes out what I have and after a while comes to ask if he can borrow my tools for a project he's working on. I always get the "I'll bring it back in a couple of hours" statement, but it's usually the next couple of days. I've never lived anywhere where a neighbor needed any of my tools, so this loaning out of tools is new to me and I want to be neighborly. But now he has my level, palm sander, one of my two pipe clamps, and an extension cord that has now been strung across his backyard for a week in the rain. He brought back my ladder a few days ago that sat in a snow storm overnight. I just got a new cabinet saw and dust collector. Now that Christmas is over and my kids birthdays out of the way, I'm going to be working pretty hard getting my chairs made for spring-summer time, therefore, the loaning is going to come to a stop. Here's my question, is there a way to tell him I can't loan out my tools now that I'm going to be using them more without ****ing off a neighbor? I'm already going to have to ask for my other tools back since I need them now, not when he decides he can bring them back. It gets to me a bit that he always wants to borrow my tools since he works at Home Depot. I figure that some of you guys out there have gone through this. How do you keep it under control? I know I can say "no" everytime he wants to borrow something, but won't that make for bad blood? Thanks for any advice. |
#2
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OT - Neighbor borrows tools and doesn't bring back
"Darrin" wrote in message ... I need a bit of advice. I recently moved into a new house with a big garage that I've made into my workshop. My next door neighbor is a really good guy and comes over to shoot the bull every now and again and I show him some of the new things I've made (adirondack chairs and tile inlay tables). While he's there I'm sure he scopes out what I have and after a while comes to ask if he can borrow my tools for a project he's working on. I always get the "I'll bring it back in a couple of hours" statement, but it's usually the next couple of days. I've never lived anywhere where a neighbor needed any of my tools, so this loaning out of tools is new to me and I want to be neighborly. But now he has my level, palm sander, one of my two pipe clamps, and an extension cord that has now been strung across his backyard for a week in the rain. He brought back my ladder a few days ago that sat in a snow storm overnight. I just got a new cabinet saw and dust collector. Now that Christmas is over and my kids birthdays out of the way, I'm going to be working pretty hard getting my chairs made for spring-summer time, therefore, the loaning is going to come to a stop. Here's my question, is there a way to tell him I can't loan out my tools now that I'm going to be using them more without ****ing off a neighbor? I'm already going to have to ask for my other tools back since I need them now, not when he decides he can bring them back. It gets to me a bit that he always wants to borrow my tools since he works at Home Depot. I figure that some of you guys out there have gone through this. How do you keep it under control? I know I can say "no" everytime he wants to borrow something, but won't that make for bad blood? Treat him like an employee. Tell him that you are very particular with your tools and you have noticed that he leaves your tools out in the weather. Tell him that you do no mind him borrowing but he really needs to concentrate on taking better care of YOUR tools and returning them in a more timely manner. If you are using your tools tell him that they are not available. If he is not an idiot he should understand. If he is an idiot don't lend them out any more and tell him why. |
#3
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OT - Neighbor borrows tools and doesn't bring back
"Darrin" wrote in message Here's my question, is there a way to tell him I can't loan out my tools now that I'm going to be using them more without ****ing off a neighbor? I'm already going to have to ask for my other tools back since I need them now, not when he decides he can bring them back. Your mistake was that you didn't set the ground rules from the get go. All you can do at this point is to sit him down and explain that you think he's a nice guy and all, but you have a personal problem with lending out tools. Tell him that you can still lend him tools when it's necessary, but that you'll expect them back the minute he's finished with them. If he still takes advantage of you, then you're going to have to restrict tool lending even more. |
#4
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OT - Neighbor borrows tools and doesn't bring back
On Jan 22, 10:56*am, "Darrin" wrote: I need a bit of advice. * *I recently moved into a new house with a big garage that I've made into my workshop. * My next door neighbor is a really good guy and comes over to shoot the bull every now and again and I show him some of the new things I've made (adirondack chairs and tile inlay tables). snip Here's my question, is there a way to tell him I can't loan out my tools now that I'm going to be using them more without ****ing off a neighbor? * * I'm already going to have to ask for my other tools back since I need them now, not when he decides he can bring them back. * * It gets to me a bit that he always wants to borrow *my tools since he works at Home Depot. * * * * I figure that some of you guys out there have gone through this. * How do you keep it under control? * * *I know I can say "no" everytime he wants to borrow something, but won't that make for bad blood? Uh, is he worrying about ****ing you off? You're the guy getting screwed. I have a friend like that. Loan him an axe and he leaves it in the woods. Loan his wife an airless sprayer and she loses half the parts. Something on the order of 25 years ago, I said no more and meant it. We're still friends. |
#5
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OT - Neighbor borrows tools and doesn't bring back
"Darrin" wrote in message
keep it under control? I know I can say "no" everytime he wants to borrow something, but won't that make for bad blood? Basically, you must decide which is more important to you, his friendship, or your tools ... nothing else will work all the time. IOW, if you like the guy, and if he won't take a hint, you're gonna have to live with it. But here are a couple of dodges that work for me: "Sure you can, but I need it later, so no problem providing you can bring it back by ..." Or for the stubborn: "This are my "personal" favorite (tool)" and it's sorta like my toothbrush/wife, but you can certainly use this:" pointing to an el cheapo, or Harbor Fright version bought specifically for the purpose. I know the latter works because I routinely use it. That said, there are some folks who can borrow anything I own and I'll help load it, and there are others that I wouldn't loan a used band aid ... their friendship doesn't count anyway because it almost always has strings attached. Your decision ... good luck. -- www.e-woodshop.net Last update: 1/06/07 |
#6
Posted to rec.woodworking
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OT - Neighbor borrows tools and doesn't bring back
"Darrin" wrote in message ... I need a bit of advice. I recently moved into a new house with a big garage that I've made into my workshop. My next door neighbor is a really good guy and comes over to shoot the bull every now and again and I show him some of the new things I've made (adirondack chairs and tile inlay tables). While he's there I'm sure he scopes out what I have and after a while comes to ask if he can borrow my tools for a project he's working on. I always get the "I'll bring it back in a couple of hours" statement, but it's usually the next couple of days. I've never lived anywhere where a neighbor needed any of my tools, so this loaning out of tools is new to me and I want to be neighborly. But now he has my level, palm sander, one of my two pipe clamps, and an extension cord that has now been strung across his backyard for a week in the rain. He brought back my ladder a few days ago that sat in a snow storm overnight. I just got a new cabinet saw and dust collector. Now that Christmas is over and my kids birthdays out of the way, I'm going to be working pretty hard getting my chairs made for spring-summer time, therefore, the loaning is going to come to a stop. Here's my question, is there a way to tell him I can't loan out my tools now that I'm going to be using them more without ****ing off a neighbor? I'm already going to have to ask for my other tools back since I need them now, not when he decides he can bring them back. It gets to me a bit that he always wants to borrow my tools since he works at Home Depot. I figure that some of you guys out there have gone through this. How do you keep it under control? I know I can say "no" everytime he wants to borrow something, but won't that make for bad blood? Thanks for any advice. I don't let anybody borrow the tools I use to make a living with. I sometimes lend out lawn/gardening equipment but rarely. I become quite defensive when people want to borrow something and usually point them in the direction of a phone book or rental store. I paid for this stuff why can't they? I'm also in the habit now of not asking to borrow anything. Just makes life simpler since I usually ended up fixing what I asked to borrow before I could use it. Gary |
#7
Posted to rec.woodworking
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OT - Neighbor borrows tools and doesn't bring back
"Darrin" wrote in message ... I need a bit of advice. I recently moved into a new house with a big garage that I've made into my workshop. My next door neighbor is a really good guy and comes over to shoot the bull every now and again and I show him some of the new things I've made (adirondack chairs and tile inlay tables). While he's there I'm sure he scopes out what I have and after a while comes to ask if he can borrow my tools for a project he's working on. I always get the "I'll bring it back in a couple of hours" statement, but it's usually the next couple of days. I've never lived anywhere where a neighbor needed any of my tools, so this loaning out of tools is new to me and I want to be neighborly. But now he has my level, palm sander, one of my two pipe clamps, and an extension cord that has now been strung across his backyard for a week in the rain. He brought back my ladder a few days ago that sat in a snow storm overnight. I just got a new cabinet saw and dust collector. Now that Christmas is over and my kids birthdays out of the way, I'm going to be working pretty hard getting my chairs made for spring-summer time, therefore, the loaning is going to come to a stop. Here's my question, is there a way to tell him I can't loan out my tools now that I'm going to be using them more without ****ing off a neighbor? I'm already going to have to ask for my other tools back since I need them now, not when he decides he can bring them back. It gets to me a bit that he always wants to borrow my tools since he works at Home Depot. I figure that some of you guys out there have gone through this. How do you keep it under control? I know I can say "no" everytime he wants to borrow something, but won't that make for bad blood? Thanks for any advice. I had a friend do this once. He did not really intend to steal the tools. He just "forgot". So I waited until he had company. Went to his house, and in front of his friends, threw a fit. I yelled about how my wife got upset with me for lending tools. This was true. Then I went into hyperbole mode. I talked about calling the cops, small claims court and having to hide my gun from the wife. This was pure theatrics. But it worked. All tools were immediately gathered together and delivered to my place in a matter of minutes. And his wife forbade me from borrowing any more tools again. So that turned out well. I must admit that a couple of other cases did not turn out so well. It just depends on who it is. I have a nice neighbor now who I found out recently is a high ranking member of the local police force. She does ask to borrow things from time to time. The tools are returned within the hour except once. And that was returned the next day. Can't complain about that. You can't ask for a better neighbor. |
#8
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OT - Neighbor borrows tools and doesn't bring back
A few years ago I started getting people to sign out my tools. I can't tell
you how many times I started to hunt for a tool, couldn't find it and had to start calling around. I've have one guy that's had my mitre saw for a year now, good thing it's not my only one otherwise I'd be ****ed. I just can't bother to drive the 1/2 hour to go get it. I find that when people sign them out they normally return them faster and if not it gives me a reason to go through my list and follow up. I usually make the "friends" pay with coffee or work off the loan. Remember most of us have a lot of money tied up in tools. What do you think it would cost him to rent them or hire you to do the work??? Same goes at my metal shop, you can use the shop and tools but nothings free. I have power, heat and consumables tied up in the shop it's not free to me....... |
#9
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OT - Neighbor borrows tools and doesn't bring back
Thanks for the suggestions. I did tell him when he needed my level that
I was using it and couldn't loan it out, he said he would wait on his project until I was done with mine. There's nothing like taking turns with my own tools. He has made the comment that when I'm working on a chair it's a good time to borrow my fish tape, and wire stripping tools as he knows then I won't be using them. But to me my tools are like my toothbrush, some I got from my grandfather who was a master carpenter, some from my Dad, some as birthday/father's day/Christmas gifts. I don't like loaning out gifts, which is what my ladder was, only to see it out in a snow storm. I think I've been trying to be more friendly than practical. I'm still learning my skills and sometimes not exactly sure which tool I might end up needing, especially when I screw something up and need to fix it. Thanks guys. "Darrin" wrote in message ... I need a bit of advice. I recently moved into a new house with a big garage that I've made into my workshop. My next door neighbor is a really good guy and comes over to shoot the bull every now and again and I show him some of the new things I've made (adirondack chairs and tile inlay tables). While he's there I'm sure he scopes out what I have and after a while comes to ask if he can borrow my tools for a project he's working on. I always get the "I'll bring it back in a couple of hours" statement, but it's usually the next couple of days. I've never lived anywhere where a neighbor needed any of my tools, so this loaning out of tools is new to me and I want to be neighborly. But now he has my level, palm sander, one of my two pipe clamps, and an extension cord that has now been strung across his backyard for a week in the rain. He brought back my ladder a few days ago that sat in a snow storm overnight. I just got a new cabinet saw and dust collector. Now that Christmas is over and my kids birthdays out of the way, I'm going to be working pretty hard getting my chairs made for spring-summer time, therefore, the loaning is going to come to a stop. Here's my question, is there a way to tell him I can't loan out my tools now that I'm going to be using them more without ****ing off a neighbor? I'm already going to have to ask for my other tools back since I need them now, not when he decides he can bring them back. It gets to me a bit that he always wants to borrow my tools since he works at Home Depot. I figure that some of you guys out there have gone through this. How do you keep it under control? I know I can say "no" everytime he wants to borrow something, but won't that make for bad blood? Thanks for any advice. |
#10
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OT - Neighbor borrows tools and doesn't bring back
Darrin wrote: therefore, the loaning is going to come to a stop. Tell him that you'll lend him the money to go rent a tool and, to make sure neither one of you will forget (with busy lives and all), he can leave you a post-dated cheque. You are suggesting this to circumvent the possibility of him feeling bad if he accidentally breaks one of your tools, which could leave you in a lurch. He wouldn't want that to happen would he? Being friends-and-all.... I have never minded lending a helping hand, but I thoroughly despise free-loaders. Sometimes that is a very blurred line. r |
#11
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OT - Neighbor borrows tools and doesn't bring back
The problem of the neighbor who borrows tools is ubiquitous, and a
losing situation for the lender, for all the reasons mentioned by other posters. The borrower puts the lender in the awkward position of having to create white lies and feel guilty for asking for his own property to be returned. I have no sure fire way to protect ones tools against borrowers but saying no at the beginning might be the least frustrating when all is said and done. Joe G Darrin wrote: I need a bit of advice. I recently moved into a new house with a big garage that I've made into my workshop. My next door neighbor is a really good guy and comes over to shoot the bull every now and again and I show him some of the new things I've made (adirondack chairs and tile inlay tables). While he's there I'm sure he scopes out what I have and after a while comes to ask if he can borrow my tools for a project he's working on. I always get the "I'll bring it back in a couple of hours" statement, but it's usually the next couple of days. I've never lived anywhere where a neighbor needed any of my tools, so this loaning out of tools is new to me and I want to be neighborly. But now he has my level, palm sander, one of my two pipe clamps, and an extension cord that has now been strung across his backyard for a week in the rain. He brought back my ladder a few days ago that sat in a snow storm overnight. I just got a new cabinet saw and dust collector. Now that Christmas is over and my kids birthdays out of the way, I'm going to be working pretty hard getting my chairs made for spring-summer time, therefore, the loaning is going to come to a stop. Here's my question, is there a way to tell him I can't loan out my tools now that I'm going to be using them more without ****ing off a neighbor? I'm already going to have to ask for my other tools back since I need them now, not when he decides he can bring them back. It gets to me a bit that he always wants to borrow my tools since he works at Home Depot. I figure that some of you guys out there have gone through this. How do you keep it under control? I know I can say "no" everytime he wants to borrow something, but won't that make for bad blood? Thanks for any advice. |
#12
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OT - Neighbor borrows tools and doesn't bring back
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#13
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OT - Neighbor borrows tools and doesn't bring back
Stop lending tools.
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#14
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OT - Neighbor borrows tools and doesn't bring back
Hello Darrin,
One way I have found that works to get your tools back real fast is to ask for a cash deposit, maybe of one third to one half of the value of the tools. This may be a problem for the more expesive tools, so you may have to negociate something different. I figure that if I lend someone a tool for free, that same person can lend me some money in return. And should the tool be returned damaged, you already have to money to get it fixed. Just make sure you have the borrower sign for what he borrows and the amount of deposit left, so the deposit is not considered to be the selling price of the tool. Too bad to have to resort to such methods, but the lender is not the person who should suffer from his gracious deeds. Andre |
#15
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OT - Neighbor borrows tools and doesn't bring back
andypack wrote:
Hello Darrin, One way I have found that works to get your tools back real fast is to ask for a cash deposit, maybe of one third to one half of the value of the tools. This may be a problem for the more expesive tools, so you may have to negociate something different. I figure that if I lend someone a tool for free, that same person can lend me some money in return. And should the tool be returned damaged, you already have to money to get it fixed. Just make sure you have the borrower sign for what he borrows and the amount of deposit left, so the deposit is not considered to be the selling price of the tool. Too bad to have to resort to such methods, but the lender is not the person who should suffer from his gracious deeds. Andre How many times has the borrower had the tools that long,that he swears blind that he owns them ?????ive had them for years ???. my neighbour borrowed my jig saw on 4/1/ he keeps saying he will bring it back .He wont be bringing anymore tools back co's i wont be lending him any more . just Me. |
#16
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OT - Neighbor borrows tools and doesn't bring back
"Darrin" wrote I need a bit of advice. Here's my question, is there a way to tell him I can't loan out my tools now that I'm going to be using them more without ****ing off a neighbor? Thanks for any advice. I have a sign posted on the wall in my shop. It reads: LOAN POLICY FOR TOOLS 1. I have invested a considerable amount of money in my tools. It has been necessary to justify to my wife the need for these tools. Loaning them out would negate the justification. 2. I am not certain that any particular borrower of my tools is sufficiently skilled in their use to rule out accidents. I would feel terrible if an accident happened that could have been prevented. 3. I have just enough friends who might be in need of borrowing tools that, if I didn't say "no", a major portion of my tools would be on loan at any given time. 4. I have experienced certain periods of frustration when I didn't have a needed tool at a certain time in the progress of a project. As a result , I have invested heavily in providing myself with a wide variety of tools. (see # 1.) If any given tool happens to be "on loan", you can imagine the even worse frustration. With the above in mind, please be assured that if you are in dire need of a tool for a particular operation, you may use said tool IN MY SHOP, UNDER MY SUPERVISION. |
#17
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OT - Neighbor borrows tools and doesn't bring back
Here's my question, is there a way to tell him I can't loan out my tools now that I'm going to be using them more without ****ing off a neighbor? I'm already going to have to ask for my other tools back since I need them now, not when he decides he can bring them back. It gets to me a bit that he always wants to borrow my tools since he works at Home Depot. I figure that some of you guys out there have gone through this. How do you keep it under control? I know I can say "no" everytime he wants to borrow something, but won't that make for bad blood? I loaned a circular saw to a relative once. Even put on a fresh carbide blade for him. It came back covered in tarry stuff and the blade semi melted. Seems he was cutting holes in his roof from the top side and right through the shingles. When he handed my saw back in that condition, I invited him to come to the tool store with me. I picked up a new saw (BD same as mine and about $40.) and at the check out told him to pay for it please seeing as how he ****ed mine up. I said this loudly in the crowded checkout line. Whether he paid up because of a sense of remorse or because I embarassed him, I don't know and I don't care. He owns a a tarry saw with a buggered blade that maybe you can come and loan from him one day. If you see him, say you need it for a boat anchor. Was I mean to him? Quite likely. But then sometimes you have to be mean to the thoughtless inconsiderate stupids walking the earth. Your neighbour works at a place that sells materials and tools? Why are you not getting hime to buy you materials with his employee discount. Or drill bits, saw blades, and other consumable tools. Why not wait until the next time he asks to borrow something and tell him you in the middle of using it right now, but if he wouldn't mind picking up some oak boards and pay for it with his employee discount. Be interesting to hear his response. The best answer you got here was to point out the you have noticed that your stuff is being abused. Do that again and the lending stops. Pere |
#18
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OT - Neighbor borrows tools and doesn't bring back
"Darrin" writes:
Here's my question, is there a way to tell him I can't loan out my tools now that I'm going to be using them more without ****ing off a neighbor? Here's an approach. Tell him that another friend borrowed a tool, and returned it in terrible shape. (or lost it, or never returned it). It was a valuable tool, and very hard to replace. But the problem is you, being a good guy, had a hard time saying "No." It was just to hard for you to say "yes" to some people and "no" to others. It would only cause hurt feelings. It seems that no matter what you do, someone will get upset. And if those that asked every found out about the others, you would just get more grief. Say this bothered you for a long time. Say that you therefore decided to make it a policy to never lend tools to ANYONE. Say "I'm are sorry to have to say that, but I hope you will understand my position." -- Sending unsolicited commercial e-mail to this account incurs a fee of $500 per message, and acknowledges the legality of this contract. |
#19
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OT - Neighbor borrows tools and doesn't bring back
This is kinda related - I seldom loan my tools. Not because I'm a
jerk to anyone, almost no one asks. One of my closest friends does sometimes ask, and when he does borrow something, it's returned in as good of condition as when it went out. He's even had the blade sharpened on my miter saw. Now for the OT part - this is a good reason (for me) to keep my shop in the basement. No one in my neighborhood knows what I have. It isn't the top reason. Heck, that isn't even in the top 5 reasons, but it sure don't hurt. |
#20
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OT - Neighbor borrows tools and doesn't bring back
In article ,
Darrin wrote: ...snipped... and I want to be neighborly. But now he has my level, palm sander, one of my two pipe clamps, and an extension cord that has now been strung across his backyard for a week in the rain. He brought back my ladder a few days ago that sat in a snow storm overnight. ...snipped... Loaning out tools is always a tough call. I've turned down requests with the simple statement that I needed to use the tool myself and couldn't loan it out right now. If you have a Harbor Freight in your area, you might try mentioning to your neighbor how cheap inexpensive their tools are, maybe even accompany him on a trip there. -- For every complicated, difficult problem, there is a simple, easy solution that does not work. Larry Wasserman - Baltimore Maryland - lwasserm(a)sdf.lonestar.org |
#21
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OT - Neighbor borrows tools and doesn't bring back
Darrin wrote: ....neighbor ..... borrow my tools..... keep the shop door closed. |
#22
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OT - Neighbor borrows tools and doesn't bring back
First shoot him and then use the tablesaw to cut him into small bits
and then mix the mulch with your wood dust. They will never find him . .. . On 22 Jan, 15:56, "Darrin" wrote: I need a bit of advice. I recently moved into a new house with a big garage that I've made into my workshop. My next door neighbor is a really |
#23
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OT - Neighbor borrows tools and doesn't bring back
"Connor Aston" wrote in message First shoot him and then use the tablesaw to cut him into small bits and then mix the mulch with your wood dust. They will never find him . Been watching Fargo again? |
#24
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OT - Neighbor borrows tools and doesn't bring back
On Mon, 22 Jan 2007 10:56:07 -0500, "Darrin"
wrote: I need a bit of advice. I recently moved into a new house with a big garage that I've made into my workshop. My next door neighbor is a really good guy and comes over to shoot the bull every now and again and I show him some of the new things I've made (adirondack chairs and tile inlay tables). While he's there I'm sure he scopes out what I have and after a while comes to ask if he can borrow my tools for a project he's working on. I always get the "I'll bring it back in a couple of hours" statement, but it's usually the next couple of days. I've never lived anywhere where a neighbor needed any of my tools, so this loaning out of tools is new to me and I want to be neighborly. But now he has my level, palm sander, one of my two pipe clamps, and an extension cord that has now been strung across his backyard for a week in the rain. He brought back my ladder a few days ago that sat in a snow storm overnight. I just got a new cabinet saw and dust collector. Now that Christmas is over and my kids birthdays out of the way, I'm going to be working pretty hard getting my chairs made for spring-summer time, therefore, the loaning is going to come to a stop. Here's my question, is there a way to tell him I can't loan out my tools now that I'm going to be using them more without ****ing off a neighbor? I'm already going to have to ask for my other tools back since I need them now, not when he decides he can bring them back. It gets to me a bit that he always wants to borrow my tools since he works at Home Depot. I figure that some of you guys out there have gone through this. How do you keep it under control? I know I can say "no" everytime he wants to borrow something, but won't that make for bad blood? Thanks for any advice. My father painted tools pink and kept them (the good ones) out of sight. I tell people that I never loan out my tools; however I'm glad to help them with the job using my personal tools. |
#25
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OT - Neighbor borrows tools and doesn't bring back
Walking that line between being a good neighbor and being an
abused neighbor can be tricky. Asking "helpful" questions like "What are you going to do with this tool?" can short circuit its abuse. In the cutting through comp shingles example, you could then point out that a circular saw is the wrong tool for the job and that a sawz all/ bayonet saw would be the tool for the job - with the right blade of course. Then you can offer to go with him to buy one - along with the proper bladeS - plural - for the job he's got in mind. Now you're in Helpful Advisor mode rather than the less desireable Lender mode. Also make a point of asking how long he'll need the tool. Explain that you often do things very early in the morning and late at night and you'd hate to wake him up to get your tool when you need it. So stress that you need your tool(s) back by sundown. Now you're the Helpful Neighbor who is also the Considerate Neighbor. It also make him schedule things for a week end. I HAD a brother in law living acrossed the street and two doors down. His wife wanted to remodel their house and he, being an auto mechanic, had few tools for that type of work. In no time at all he had - my pick up truck with the bed full of 2x4s - my worm drive circular saw, with blades - my sawz all with blades - two of my electric hand drills with bits - my crow bars - two or three of my hammers (ball peen hammers are useless on remodels) - a couple of my extension cords (the ones his sister hadn't "modified" - with the hedge trimmer!) - my framing square and regular square - my palm nailer (he had a compressor) - my 6 and 8 foot ladders : : : If I needed one of my tools back it'd take days to "borrow it back" and this went on for over a month. Things came to a head after a couple of weeks when I heard my skill saw cutting something - at 10:30 at night. Our neighborhood gets quiet after about nine pm and folks call the cops after that. Now knowing that this guy had a problem with "authority figures" (he'd chased his father around the back yard with a baseball bat when he was a teen, and tried to back his bug eyed Sprite over a county sheriff in his early twenties) I went over to suggest he knock off work for the night and offered to give him a hand when he got home from work the next day. That lead to a lot of yelling on his part and me demanding my truck and tools back. When he was about to THROW my skill saw into the bed of MY truck - from his porch - things got a bit testy. That incident ended with him pulling a knife on me and my 6' 6" neighbor, who'd come out of no where, taking the knife away in a less than gentle manner. Needless to say, I became a little tighter with my tools. Fortunately, he lost the house, but only after I, being the husband of his sister, had to deal with sheriffs and bail bondsmen and one of his ex-wives/girl friends and a sheriff, on a cold rainy morning around 6 am. NEVER LOAN TOOLS TO IN LAWS. Recapping Ask helpful questions Offer helpful suggestions - like lets go over to The Borg and get you the tools you're gonna need Need the tool(s) back by sundown - the OR ELSE can be implied as subtly or as forcefully as you feel necessary. charlie b who just got his four, four foot bessys back from his eldest and his youngest still has his hammer drill and masonry bits. |
#26
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OT - Neighbor borrows tools and doesn't bring back
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#27
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OT - Neighbor borrows tools and doesn't bring back
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#28
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OT - Neighbor borrows tools and doesn't bring back
I have HAD the problem, but no more. The next time I was asked to loan
tools, I simply stated that I had recently loaned some tools that didn't return (when promised -or- in my case functional) and when I needed to use them they weren't available to me. Therefore, UNFORTUNATELY I have had to take a "I DON'T LOAN TOOLS" stand. BTW, when I purchased my roll-around Craftsman tool chest(s), I also purchased for $10.00 a decal pack of assorted Craftsman decals of which one reads: I DON'T LOAN TOOLS. I have it conspicuously located upon entering my work area... but a sign generated in MS WORD will work as well. The great thing is, you can invite the neighbor over to just chat for a few minutes while you linger Under the sign (Why wait to be put on the spot?) DJ Darrin wrote: I need a bit of advice. I recently moved into a new house with a big garage that I've made into my workshop. My next door neighbor is a really good guy and comes over to shoot the bull every now and again and I show him some of the new things I've made (adirondack chairs and tile inlay tables). While he's there I'm sure he scopes out what I have and after a while comes to ask if he can borrow my tools for a project he's working on. I always get the "I'll bring it back in a couple of hours" statement, but it's usually the next couple of days. I've never lived anywhere where a neighbor needed any of my tools, so this loaning out of tools is new to me and I want to be neighborly. But now he has my level, palm sander, one of my two pipe clamps, and an extension cord that has now been strung across his backyard for a week in the rain. He brought back my ladder a few days ago that sat in a snow storm overnight. I just got a new cabinet saw and dust collector. Now that Christmas is over and my kids birthdays out of the way, I'm going to be working pretty hard getting my chairs made for spring-summer time, therefore, the loaning is going to come to a stop. Here's my question, is there a way to tell him I can't loan out my tools now that I'm going to be using them more without ****ing off a neighbor? I'm already going to have to ask for my other tools back since I need them now, not when he decides he can bring them back. It gets to me a bit that he always wants to borrow my tools since he works at Home Depot. I figure that some of you guys out there have gone through this. How do you keep it under control? I know I can say "no" everytime he wants to borrow something, but won't that make for bad blood? Thanks for any advice. |
#29
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OT - Neighbor borrows tools and doesn't bring back
"Me" wrote in message
retired tool and die maker; he knows what it means to have good tools. I'm honored to be one of the people that he allows to borrow *his* tools, and even more honored to be one of the few people to whom he has *given* some of his tools. Want a good deal? Loan a tool to me ... _IF_ you can get me to ask, that is. I learned at an early age to return tools that "we borrowed in better shape than they were before we borrowed them. I can't tell you how many tractor box blades I painted after "we" (Dad) borrowed it, or how many shovels I cleaned and oiled, how many hay cutter blades were sharpened and oiled, how many horse trailers were polished to a show room shine, tools with edges sharpened, etc., ad infinitum, before they were returned. Not only that, if a tool broke when it was under loan to us, we fixed it, had it fixed, or bought the loaner a new one. I borrowed a riding lawn mower from my Dad at one point and the transmission went out before I finished the job ... you can bet your sweet ass it had a new transmission when it was returned to him. It's one of the reasons I rarely borrow a tool. AAMOF, on a job site I'll walk out to my truck to get a screwdriver instead of borrowing one from a worker that is standing right next to me, just to tighten a screw on a receptacle. Not a bad way to be raised, and although I didn't always appreciate it when "we" were doing the cleanup/sharpening/painting, I thoroughly appreciate the response it instilled with regards to borrowing tools ... Thanks, Dad! -- www.e-woodshop.net Last update: 1/06/07 |
#30
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OT - Neighbor borrows tools and doesn't bring back
Like the old saying..."neither a borrower nor a lender be."
Your Dad sound a lot like mine, Swingman. I have a neighbor who has offered more than once to let me use his old planer (he rarely uses it himself), but I know with my luck the thing would give up the ghost while I was using it. Then my conscience would force me to spend my money on a new planer for HIM when I could have spent it on a new planer for ME in the first place. Swingman wrote: Want a good deal? Loan a tool to me ... _IF_ you can get me to ask, that is. I learned at an early age to return tools that "we borrowed in better shape than they were before we borrowed them. I can't tell you how many tractor box blades I painted after "we" (Dad) borrowed it, or how many shovels I cleaned and oiled, how many hay cutter blades were sharpened and oiled, how many horse trailers were polished to a show room shine, tools with edges sharpened, etc., ad infinitum, before they were returned. Not only that, if a tool broke when it was under loan to us, we fixed it, had it fixed, or bought the loaner a new one. I borrowed a riding lawn mower from my Dad at one point and the transmission went out before I finished the job ... you can bet your sweet ass it had a new transmission when it was returned to him. It's one of the reasons I rarely borrow a tool. AAMOF, on a job site I'll walk out to my truck to get a screwdriver instead of borrowing one from a worker that is standing right next to me, just to tighten a screw on a receptacle. Not a bad way to be raised, and although I didn't always appreciate it when "we" were doing the cleanup/sharpening/painting, I thoroughly appreciate the response it instilled with regards to borrowing tools ... Thanks, Dad! |
#31
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OT - Neighbor borrows tools and doesn't bring back
Connor Aston wrote:
First shoot him and then use the tablesaw to cut him into small bits and then mix the mulch with your wood dust. They will never find him . . . On 22 Jan, 15:56, "Darrin" wrote: I need a bit of advice. I recently moved into a new house with a big garage that I've made into my workshop. My next door neighbor is a really Be sure you put the blade on backwards first:-) Joe |
#32
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OT - Neighbor borrows tools and doesn't bring back
"Swingman" wrote in message ... Not a bad way to be raised, and although I didn't always appreciate it when "we" were doing the cleanup/sharpening/painting, I thoroughly appreciate the response it instilled with regards to borrowing tools ... Thanks, Dad! I had to start buying my own tools as a young adult to understand why my dad would get so ****ed when me or my mother or one of my brothers failed to put one of his tools back. Unless he found it rusting in the backyard, he never discovered it until he had need for that particular tool. For years now I've been fighting the same battle with my wife and my 21 year old (who I [often] think doesn't know which end of a screwdriver to hold. Paybacks are hell. -- NuWave Dave in Houston |
#33
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OT - Neighbor borrows tools and doesn't bring back
I would have to say that I agree with L. Loaning tools really is a
tough call and I don't normally loan them out to neighbors unless there a friend and I've known them a long time. With a neighbor, I'll offer to bring the tool over and help him myself and I use the tool or ask him if it is something that can wait till I can help if I can't immediately. I would think that my labor would be more valuable than the tool and more often appreciated by the neighbor. This way I have the opportunity to get to know them and decide if they're a friend as well as a neigbor. Otherwise, I have to view it as there's not much I can do to help this time. Loaning isn't something I usually do unless its a friend I've known a very long time (many years) or a family member. As far as getting it back, I'd simply go to the neighbor and ask him how it went and say that I needed the tool back. If this caused a problem with the neighbor, at least then you'd know what kind of neighbor you have and whether you'd be loaning them any more tools. I suppose I'd also seek some legal advice just in case before I went over there. |
#34
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OT - Neighbor borrows tools and doesn't bring back
Swingman wrote: [snipo] Not a bad way to be raised, and although I didn't always appreciate it when "we" were doing the cleanup/sharpening/painting, I thoroughly appreciate the response it instilled with regards to borrowing tools ... Thanks, Dad! It was 'teary' moment when my oldest daughter admitted to me that she had adopted my catch-phrase "think of others, you are not on this planet by yourself" When she goes camping, you would never know she had been on that spot after she left. Her bathroom mirror is full of Stik-Um notes, all of which seem to deal with 'other people.' My youngest still believes that she is the centre of the universe....she's 13 and is starting to watch how I handle my fork and knife when I eat, so there is hope. LOL. My parents made me take dance lessons 'cuz "you never know". Both parents taught me about accountability and to stop and smell the roses. (That one has been the most difficult as I suffer fromk work-a-holism.) I think I just figured out why Swingman's views (and others') mesh with mine as much as they do. Good dads go a long way, right Watson? (What makes thing difficult is when you're a dyed-in-the-wool conservative but know that Bush is an asshole. Just watch the motherfarker squirm at the SOTU tonight.) Never shy, I remain, r |
#35
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OT - Neighbor borrows tools and doesn't bring back
"Robatoy" wrote in message
I think I just figured out why Swingman's views (and others') mesh with mine as much as they do. Good dads go a long way, right Watson? (What makes thing difficult is when you're a dyed-in-the-wool conservative but know that Bush is an asshole. Just watch the motherfarker squirm at the SOTU tonight.) Never shy, I remain, LOL. Even if you did let a fat girl take you, sometimes you gotta dance with who brung you! Besides, I would just a cheerfully jail a politician on general principles as to look at him ... ANY politician. -- www.e-woodshop.net Last update: 1/06/07 |
#36
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OT - Neighbor borrows tools and doesn't bring back
On Jan 23, 3:03*pm, "Swingman" wrote: "Robatoy" wrote in message I think I just figured out why Swingman's views (and others') mesh with mine as much as they do. Good dads go a long way, right Watson? (What makes thing difficult is when you're a dyed-in-the-wool conservative but know that Bush is an asshole. Just watch the motherfarker squirm at the SOTU tonight.) Never shy, I remain,LOL. Even if you did let a fat girl take you, sometimes you gotta dance with who brung you! Besides, I would just a cheerfully jail a politician on general principles as to look at him ... ANY politician. I may start a movement: all politicians, once elected, immediately serve a prison sentence, the length and severity of said sentence depending on the damage the position allows them to do. A minimum of three months (local office), maximum of 15 years, say, though that sounds a touch low for the damage some presidents do. |
#37
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OT - Neighbor borrows tools and doesn't bring back
"L" wrote in message ... In article , Darrin wrote: I can think of two solutions.... 1. Don't loan any out. 2. Go and get them. |
#38
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OT - Neighbor borrows tools and doesn't bring back
On Tue, 23 Jan 2007 15:24:32 GMT, Me wrote:
It seems like this problem is world wide and i bet it goes back to the cave man days . |
#39
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OT - Neighbor borrows tools and doesn't bring back
George Max wrote:
On Tue, 23 Jan 2007 15:24:32 GMT, Me wrote: It seems like this problem is world wide and i bet it goes back to the cave man days . Clubs...spears.....wives..... |
#40
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OT - Neighbor borrows tools and doesn't bring back
"Robatoy" wrote in message
(What makes thing difficult is when you're a dyed-in-the-wool conservative but know that Bush is an asshole. Just watch the motherfarker squirm at the SOTU tonight.) Remember the political cartoon after the 2004 election showing a picture of Uncle Sam with the caption below. "Elect him once, shame on me" "Elect him twice, shame on you" Lew |
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