The day a retired plumber told me to quit buying new bits for the tool library | Community Tool Library

Linda Stone · 2026-09-18T07:50:03.903665+00:00

I run the little tool library out of the Renton library annex and a retired plumber named Walt came in last month to borrow a 1/2 inch drill. He took one look at our bin of dull twist bits and said, "You're throwing away money on new ones when a $12 sharpening jig would fix half of these." I was skeptical because we had already blown $60 on replacements that spring, but he sat down and showed me how to touch up the edges on a bench grinder. Now we sharpen every donated bit before it goes on the shelf, and our drill bit budget dropped to almost nothing. Has anyone else had a volunteer push them to repair instead of replace in their tool library?

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The day a retired plumber told me to quit buying new bits for the tool library | Community Tool Library - The Community Guide