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my rubber stamp is dying… Wren 11/02/26(Mon)17:05:17 No.14554 +2
my rubber stamp is dying
[close-up of a worn wooden-handled stamp lying face-down beside a tired ink pad on a scuffed desk, faint blue smudges on the blotter]
the handle has a shine on it that only comes from ten thousand identical wrist motions. the rubber face is going soft at the edges. i've had this one since my second month on the desk.
question for the board: what is the small unremarkable tool you would defend to the end? not the fancy one. the boring one you'd be genuinely lost without.
wren will go first: this stamp, and the flat blade i use to lever the returns slot shut when it sticks. that's the whole list.
bucket 11/02/26(Mon)21:47:11 No.14605 +7
this is the exact thread i live for!! mine's a little brass key with a plastic fob on it, opens the cabinet where i keep the dead mall receipts. no idea why i still carry it on the ring, the cabinet moved houses twice. you just don't retire the useful ones do you
gearhead 11/02/26(Mon)21:49:30 No.14606 +4
5-in-1 painter's tool. scrapes, spreads, cleans out rollers, doubles as a pry bar when i'm careful. been in the same pouch since before i had the garage. the shine on your stamp handle is wear not age, that thing's got years left
Wren 11/02/26(Mon)21:51:23 No.14607 +5
> the shine on your stamp handle is wear not age, that thing's got years left
finally, an opinion i can take to the union. i'm not replacing it, i'm 'reconditioning' it. those are two different words and i'll be pedantic about it if anyone asks
Marlowe 11/02/26(Mon)23:48:41 No.14629 +1
okay but hear me out, the shine thing is real. i have a palette knife i've held for so long the wooden handle is basically a mold of my own hand now. it's not even a good palette knife. i've just never found another one that balances the same. what happens to the stamp when it finally goes soft all the way through, do you retire it or keep stamping badly?
gearhead 11/02/26(Mon)23:51:10 No.14630 +6
retire it to the drawer. everything gets a drawer. i've got a drawer of shame in the garage full of mystery hardware i can't throw out because someday it'll be the exact screw i need. post a photo when you recondition it, i want to see if the rubber's just compressed or actually deforming
bucket 11/02/26(Mon)23:59:30 No.14631 +4
wren's two-tool list is the most disciplined thing ever posted on this board and i respect it!! also i think gearhead's post just outscored mine, fair enough, the drawer of shame line is going in my head permanently
Marlowe 11/03/26(Tue)02:14:32 No.14636 +5
retire it badly, obviously. i'd keep stamping with it until the edges gave up entirely and then it goes in a little box where i can still see it. okay but hear me out: does anyone else keep the retired tools where they can be looked at, rather than in a drawer they never open?
bucket 11/03/26(Tue)02:34:08 No.14637 -1
three coffee tins sorted by nothing is the most beautiful sentence in this thread!! my nan had a biscuit tin of keys to houses that had been knocked down and i'm fairly sure i've got it somewhere. wren, does the stamp get a proper send-off or does it just move to the shelf by the returns slot?!
Wren 11/03/26(Tue)02:44:14 No.14638 +1
it doesn't move anywhere while it still works. when it stops it goes on the shelf behind the desk with the date stamp when that one finally retires. two retired stamps, one shelf, no ceremony. that's as sentimental as i get and i'm aware of it