O.K. so I can’t remember when I bought my Rubbermaid Step Stool Tool Box, but I know it is almost new. It can’t be more than oneĀ perhaps two decades old. I went to pick it up the other day and the handle came right out of the lid. I made the round of Home Depot, Lowes, Sears and Ace hardware stores looking for a replacement. Of all the inconsiderate blokes out there, no one stocks this particular tool box. Even the internet didn’t help. The only sites that had this particular model were salvage places that wanted to sell me lots of twenty. Of all the models I looked at, none filled the dual role as well as this one.
Eureka! The solution is to repair the original tool box. The broken handle pivots on two three eighths inch diameter stubs molded right into the plastic handle. I went to my “raw material storage unit” (scrap bin) and found a three eights inch diameter steel rod and chucked it in my metal lathe. Before you know it I have drilled and threaded two replacement stubs the same size and shape as those on the plastic handle. Presto chango and the lathe converts into a drill press. I carefully saw off the one remaining stub on the handle and smooth things up with a file. Each arm of the handle is drilled for a 10-32 machine screw and the new stubs are bolted in place. The new handle snaps in perfectly and everything is good as new.
Well there is another thing that is not old. It’s that bran-new grand daughter, Georgia. She is getting along very well, gaining weight and has already grown an inch. We have a couple more weeks to spoil her then we are going to head for Sun Valley Idaho. We will be overdosing on Dixieland Jazz and then we will begin our snow-bird flight to the arid southwest. Along the way we will be visiting relatives and friends.
As always we keep focused on our motto, “Life is a journey.” Keep tuned for more adventures.
We send our love to all, Gary and Judy