Boys and Girls,
We all like to brag about our achievements and sweep our failures under the carpet… well, my carpet has run out of space so I’ve decided to group my failures and mistakes under Stupid Ideas/Buys of the past (so far)….
Walking through my local toolie shop, the first thought that crossed my mind was the trouble I had operating pop rivet guns with insufficient reach of my small hand… my turmoil is portrayed in my review
Pop Rivet gun for small hands.
When I first saw this drill driven pop riveter, 
my second thought was the ability to balance on a ladder while holding on with my left hand, and popping a rivet with the driver in my right,
at the time I was putting a new roof on my workshop(s) in Richmond and popping more rivets than champagne corks in my life.
No one told me to read the instructions, which in typical insurance policy small print practice, mentioned that you needed a minimum of two hands to operate.
Needless to say, it has never had any use other than me demonstrating its function while trying to unsuccessfully give it away to any of my workshop visitors…
Stupidity is not for buying it, maybe even not reading the packaging, or for holding onto it for 13 years occupying valuable workshop space… but rather for not growing a 3rd. hand so I can use it on a ladder while holding on.
It was disposed of with green waste as the recycle bin spat it out.
-- If your first cut is too short... Take the second cut from the longer end... LBD
8 comments so far
HokieKen
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12002 posts in 1745 days
#1 posted 01-10-2020 06:00 PM
Okay, fine, I see the need to use one hand to hang onto the ladder whilst popping your rivets. But, do you really need BOTH feet on it? Take a shoe off and make one foot assist. Toes are lazy little bastards anyway. It’s time we make them earn their keep and quit watching the fingers do all the work.
-- Kenny, SW VA, Go Hokies!!!
LittleBlackDuck
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3427 posts in 1427 days
#2 posted 01-10-2020 08:09 PM
That’s a tad presumptious of you Hokie’... how dare you assume I haven’t had my toes cut of by the debt collectors for my local loan-shark?
Mine earned their keep… they paid off a $365 debt ($17 each toe)... In case you ask, toes are cheap in Churchill!
-- If your first cut is too short... Take the second cut from the longer end... LBD
HokieKen
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12002 posts in 1745 days
#3 posted 01-10-2020 08:16 PM
Ahhh, you only prove my point LBD. Had you owed a debt of more than $1000, they would have taken the fingers as they’re worth significantly more than LBTs (Little Bastard Toes).
-- Kenny, SW VA, Go Hokies!!!
pottz
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7696 posts in 1591 days
#4 posted 01-10-2020 08:31 PM
i though ducks had webbed feet? you some sort of anomaly.
-- sawdust the bigger the pile the bigger my smile-larry,so cal.
LittleBlackDuck
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3427 posts in 1427 days
#5 posted 01-10-2020 09:43 PM
Aha… they also took some fingers… that’s why in my math’s book $365 ÷ 10 = $17... if they took my manhood, I’d be further out!
I grew feet to outrun German foxes while still in my egg.
-- If your first cut is too short... Take the second cut from the longer end... LBD
mafe
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12312 posts in 3696 days
#6 posted 01-12-2020 01:10 PM
:-D
-- MAD F, the fanatical rhykenologist and vintage architect. Democraticwoodworking.
splintergroup
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3207 posts in 1829 days
#7 posted 01-12-2020 03:16 PM
Back in the olden days, families were large, lots of kids. Supposed reasoning was more free labor for the farm, but in reality all those farmers were also eyeing your pop riveter with envy and devised the solution! Plenty of small hands (in pairs!) that could be suspended from various apparatus to be of use when installing roofing and other “ladder required” assets.
LittleBlackDuck
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3427 posts in 1427 days
#8 posted 01-12-2020 08:29 PM
And in modern days, families are large, lots of kids… some not so many kids (but still large)... however, video games blank out DOD (Dear Old Dad) hanging by his fingernails while the dog is nipping at his heels and SWMBO yelling on the intercom for you to take out the rubbish!
-- If your first cut is too short... Take the second cut from the longer end... LBD
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