NEVER the right tool!

I think metal working places first in the number of tools needed to get a project done, followed by woodworking. In all the different metal working trades, machining has the most **I gotta have it** categories of tools and gadgets, with what it holds and what it is held by coming in first.
 
I'm about to turn 56, and I inherited all of my Dad's tools, and he was a mechanic as a kid and continued to do all of his own auto work and carpentry until he died. On top of all my own tools, I still have to buy more. My wife slowly learned the value of having the right tool for the job, and she doesn't even question it anymore. :)

edit: Mini rant here. And all his old Craftsman tools are high quality and still going strong while most of the craftsman tools I bought are barely worth using. :mad:
 
Finster said:
I'm pushing 50. I've been a tinkerer, a mechanic, a machinist, wood worker and handyman all of my life. As an educated guess, I probably have between 50 and 60 thousand dollars worth of equipment and tooling for just about everything you could think of. Why is it that every time I try and do a project I never have what I need? :confused: Is it me? Who else suffers from this affliction?
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Hmmm could it be projects are an excuse to buy tools?:grin:

Edit: I obviously posted this before I read the rest of the thread!:oops:
 
Last year, my neighbor needed to borrow a jig saw to make an unanticipated cut on some plywood sub-flooring to finish his bathroom remodel. He calls me up and I tell him where to look in you shop. Said, "Iam not home today, just go on in and look around on the lower left shelf under my work bench.

He called back an hour latter to tell me he made the cut and returned the tool. He then says: "Holly Smokes, you have tools in there most men have never seen in their life."

Thats when I realized why machining was so fun.

Glenn
 
ACHiPo said:
Hmmm could it be projects are an excuse to buy tools?:grin:

Edit: I obviously posted this before I read the rest of the thread!:oops:
Click to expand...

I think validating the validation is a symptom of the addiction and you saw the cause and cure instantaneously on reading the comment. You walk by the metal rack and see a piece of 12" X 12" X .750" HSS and think,,,,,"I need a bigger band saw or a bigger welder.":grin: Do they have meetings for this addiction?
 
Hi, I'm Mike...
i suffer badly from being a toolaholic.
i don't sleep well at night, i dream about taking .025" cuts per side , conventional milling and the whine of the RPC
when i get home, i wanna hide in the garage
i think of playing hookie from my payin' work, just so i can scrape the table of a project- for free
i name my equipment with female names
i'd rather hear parting chatter than sit behind a desk
i like the smell of aluminum being machined
i'd rather spend $150 bucks and a week of sweat- than buy something inferior for $15
i judge parallelism and square of everyday objects, i find i want to scrape things that are not flat
i got a whole bunch of woodworking tools, thinkin' i'll grow into them :grin big:
yeah, i got issues too Finster
 
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Same goes for fasteners. I must have 500 lbs. of fasteners, all sorted and in bins by type and size yet for some reason I never have the one I need. :confused: I hate buying small quantities so if I can I will buy a box even though I may never have a use for that size again.
 
Certified toolaholic here... and I also buy hardware by the box...

If I need an odd tool for 'just one job', I'll borrow it if I can... the second time I need it, I'll buy it... even if its 10 years later.

Tools are an investment... and I have discovered that the tool that you said for years that you had no use for ends up being used a lot once you acquire one... if you have it, you will find uses for it.
 
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