As some may know/recall we lost my FIL to cancer back in November.

Since then we have been helping MIL "find her footing" and dealing with all the paperwork/details.

Now that that is settling down I have been asked to clean out garage/office and pretty much be told keep it/scrap it/sell it. My FIL was by best description a pack rat and threw nothing away...some of the highlights so far have been:

15 old PC towers - I pulled HD's, destroyed them and recycled the rest.

1957 "Motor" shop manual - Could not toss it because it was interesting but will probably work to find good home

Craftsman Table Saw - I have zero need or room for this but might sell it and use money to buy smaller sliding mitre saw, which i could use.

8mm Projector and boxes of film - very carefully looking at this to see if we can watch witout harm to film

Ham Radio Gear - A metric fuck ton of working and parts. Once I get my head around it I will probably sell and or donate to local club

AOPA Magazines - Every flipping issue from the 70's on!

Misc - 2 spark plug wires, a broken timing light, cheap torque wrench, enough golf balls to stock a driving range and 2 dozen bottles of half filled yard and auto chemicals

Thats just one room...this is like going on a twisted treasure hunt!

quote:

8mm Projector and boxes of film - very carefully looking at this to see if we can watch witout harm to film

Might be some gems worth converting to digital

My parents moved last year to a new place and even with my dad cleaning out "junk" in the garage, barn, shop, and 2 sheds...they still had to buy 2 shipping containers in addition to the shop & shed at their new place

Good luck!

quote:

Originally posted by tatortodd:

quote:

8mm Projector and boxes of film - very carefully looking at this to see if we can watch witout harm to film

Might be some gems worth converting to digital

I have no doubt but my fear is, as the film has been roasting in the AZ heat for a long time, it is so fragile it will fall apart. I am looking for a roll that I can do a test run with

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Originally posted by Kevmo:
8mm Projector and boxes of film - very carefully looking at this to see if we can watch witout harm to film

If any of that film smells the least bit of vinegar, put it back. That means it's beginning to break down.

Best thing to do is get it all digitized right away.

My parents had to deal with this when my Grandmother passed 2 years ago.

It spurred them to move into a single story condo and get rid of a ton of their old shit, so they don't do that to us in 1-30 years when it's their time.

I had to help my mom clean out so much of my dad’s stuff after he passed almost two years ago. I hope you don’t have to deal with something I did. When cleaning out the garage, I came across a box with chemicals in it. There was sulfur, aluminum powder, potassium chlorate, and two full size mayo size jars with what I suspected to be a mixture of aluminum powder and potassium chlorate. Of course the mixture would be flash powder and an older unstable combination compared to potassium perchlorate. My mom said she recalled my brother putting the box in the garage over 20 years ago but didn’t know what was in it; my brother denied it and said it was my dad’s.

The chemicals by themselves were harmless but if the jars contained flash powder, there was enough to blow up a car. I have heard stories of old powder like this exploding just from friction. I tested a very small amount of the powder and sure enough it was flash powder. I ended up calling the bomb squad to come take care of it. They were very cool and took care of it, but the neighbors were pretty freaked out as a crap load of blacked out SUVs showed up along with multiple ambulances and fire trucks. They took the box to a local quarry and blew it up with explosives.

Just moved my wife's step mother into assisted living after her 4th husband died.
Full to overflowing 12 yd roll off with JUNK. Gave all the furniture and knick knacks to anyone who wanted them.
Lists dating back to the 70s, in envelopes, with everyone that sent her a Christmas card that year. Just to name a few of the items we had to dispose of.

Kevmo, Before you do anything with that ham gear you might want to go to the Antique Radio Forum.
Some of that stuff especially if Hammarlund or National may be worth some bucks.

You can easily join and you will not be flamed if you post early "for sale" ads, just explain what and why you are doing it. Two big no-no's there, no politics (no fun) and anything for sale must have a price on it. Ebay will be your friend once you figure out what you have.

I'm also there, as "shovelhead too". If I was closer I would try to assist you. If you email me I can try to be some help, don't know how much though.

quote:

Originally posted by shovelhead:
Kevmo, Before you do anything with that ham gear you might want to go to the Antique Radio Forum.
Some of that stuff especially if Hammarlund or National may be worth some bucks.

You can easily join and you will not be flamed if you post early "for sale" ads, just explain what and why you are doing it. Two big no-no's there, no politics (no fun) and anything for sale must have a price on it. Ebay will be your friend once you figure out what you have.

I'm also there, as "shovelhead too". If I was closer I would try to assist you. If you email me I can try to be some help, don't know how much though.

Don't forget about Heath kit and Knight kit and Collins and if it is Collins it could be worth some real bucks and, don't forget about Vibroplex keys some of those are worth real bucks too. Forgot Hallicrafters.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: SIG 229R,

If you find any NOS RCA 845 output tubes, please let me know. I'll pay market value. They are worth a lot and often they are found in HAM radio collections. I use them in tube stereo amplifiers.

I know little about "boatanchors", I have dabbled in some consoles and have one 1957 RCA New Orthophonic Hi-Fi set.

If there is an Eico tube tester I might be interested....

Thanks for the input on the HAM gear and the tube post was noted...once I get a handle on it all I will post here as I know there are a lot of enthusiast on this forum

Just had to do through this after my Mother in law passed away. Fun to find old photographs but it brought back memories.

I recall sitting in my first academy class when the instructor was talking about unstable dynamite. He mentioned what to look for when dynamite ages. The guy sitting next to me turned white, jumped up and hurriedly left class. Everyone thought it was another planned exercise requiring us to write reports.

Turned out his family ranch in northern AZ had boxes of old dynamite stored in a barn. Over the years the stuff crystallized (nitro?) and was exactly what the instructor warned about. The bomb squad had to remove several boxes of highly unstable dynamite.