"He who dies with the most tools wins." Nuff said...
Shade Tree Mechanics & Tools
- Thread starter Donald
- Start date
Collecting, in this context, is when you buy tools that you have no intention of using. I have bought a lot of tools. Every one of them was intended to help me do work. They are bought to be used.
Even the antique vises, which could be considered collector’s items, get used for their intended purpose. They are bought, then used.
In other pursuits, collecting is buying something you don’t need, just to have it. I do collect other things. Just got a Swedish M38 Mauser. I will use it, and enjoy it, but I bought it just to have it, not because I needed it to hunt, or even compete in shooting matches.
That is clearly collecting.
Even the antique vises, which could be considered collector’s items, get used for their intended purpose. They are bought, then used.
In other pursuits, collecting is buying something you don’t need, just to have it. I do collect other things. Just got a Swedish M38 Mauser. I will use it, and enjoy it, but I bought it just to have it, not because I needed it to hunt, or even compete in shooting matches.
That is clearly collecting.
- Joined
- Dec 28, 2011
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I have a large tool chest packed full of goodies. I haven't had to buy anything new in about 5-7 years. I wait until I need a specific tool I don't have and then will buy it. I'm no pro and a lot of my tools are from the Craftsman days. Back in the day, mid 80's to about 2000 I carried wires and a decent set of tools in my vehicle just in case I needed to do something roadside. I was also traveling to Northern NH, VT, and ME often in places that even as a kid I knew you were on your own!
I'd rather collect bikes and guns than tools!!
I'd rather collect bikes and guns than tools!!
My tool collection is eclectic with many older items. The tool boxes are beat-up Snap On from when I worked for VW decades ago. When I need something I don't have, I borrow it from my friend who is also a vintage Volvo buff. He sometimes borrows from me.
FWIW, my opinion is buying the tools need is often cheaper than paying someone to do the job. I have used this for my entire life for reasoning to buy tools and need and some tools I want. It has served me well. That said I have a significant collection of tools and do work on 4 family owned vehicles and several neighbors OPE and cars as they ask.
Just my $0.02
Just my $0.02
I got too many tools because I have a hard time closing the toolbox drawers. Screw driver drawers, socket drawers, pliers drawers. They are all over flowing. I can't buy a new tool box because I don't have room in the garage. Someone in this forum keep enticing me to buy new tools. You know who you are.....from CA.
I don't have a full set of thin wrenches. But I do have several thin, made in Taiwan wrenches of various sizes and a bench grinder. 
Owen Lucas
$100 Site Donor 2023
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I agree with this statement. I have a lot of duplicate tools I picked up at Lowes for pennies on the dollar and ended up building separate mobile tool bags for plumbing, electrical, and mechanical for when I have to help out a family member. I picked up those tool bags on discount as well.
I have pretty much everything I need, anymore and then I'll have to buy another tool box, which I do not have space for.
Talking about unused tools, a body shop I was stationed at, the owner bought her husband a $100k (IIRC at the time) Harley Davidson Snap On tool box. Top and bottom chests, with a Harley air brushed on it. Looked amazing but it sat in the body shop covered in dust, he wasn't a mechanic either lol. Great people though!
I guess I could be both a collector and an on need basis purchaser. 43 years ago I was into the Snap-On man for conservatively 25K in tools for my budding motorcycle mechanics career. Career didn't work out but still have all those tools. You name it, and I probably have it in a Snap-On version from that initial purchase. Along the years I've picked up something that I've needed to complete a job/project as things became more complicated or specialized with the expectation of not touching them again. Case in point was the fuel injector remover/installer kit I purchased along with the full walnut blasting kit for a carbon removal project on my VW. Thought, heck, I'll never use this again. But after a very successful outcome, and bragging to friends about it, I've now lined up 3 future intake jobs for local VWers and will pay for the tools a couple times over. It's for this that I never get rid of tools, plus you KNOW you will need a certain tool once you get rid of it. Large 2 car garage that has everything tool-wise I own in it and still get 2 cars in there along with 2 large rolling cart/top boxes that are 5' high and a Quick Jack. Barely. Full mobile bag set-up for travel and basic sets in all 3 cars. Unfortunately my son did not pick up the desire to work on/build his own stuff so he will probably sell everything off (except for a couple screwdrivers maybe) once I'm gone and pass them onto him. Watch the For Sale forum .
.My grandfather was kind of the same way, and I remember him buying many tools and things because he couldn't find the ones he already had.
I buy a lot of things from yard sales, estates, and auctions for selling on ebay. I've bought a lot of tools with the intention of selling them, and then I end up keeping them.
Adjustable wrench for tightening trailer hitch ball? For the nut I often use a 3/4" drive 6pt socket and I am pulling on the handle with both hands.Men have an innate instinct to fix things. The mere thought of "whoa I can do that with THAT??" makes it irresistible, either pleasing yourself or someone else.
I thought I had a too many tools problem, but then figured out I needed THREE sets of tools. Not necessarily complete, but two locations, plus a mobile set.
I got rid of old duplicate tools easy by inviting my cousin over and saying "you can have whatever you want but some things I might like, so ask before taking." 98% of the time it was "take it." He filled his trunk to the brim, and a bit in the back seat. It was a win-win because I have more space now.
Yesterday I bought a 2 5/8 OTC Wheel bearing locknut socket, a 1/2 to 3/4 adapter, and ANOTHER adjustable wrench to tighten a 10k hitch ball. Maybe I could have done it with two adjustable wrenches, but I left them all at the other location.
An adjustable wrench is the 2nd to last thing I use. Channellock is last. 6pt box end wrench and sockets come first.
I know where my main tools are. It's the blow moulded case of some special tool that I use infrequently and might forget about.
I was at Home Depot a couple years ago and they had the 12pt wrench for Hitch nut size on clearance for about $2. I used it 2-3 times since then.
I bungled that one up, re-ordered a 1 7/8 socket. the adjustable wrench is to only hold the other end until the locknut takes over.
That was my mindset since I first started driving. I learned how to work on my own cars and did most of my own work. What I would do is calculate the savings on the job I did, divide it in half and bought tools with half the savings. The other half went in the bank or got spent. You can amass quite a tool collection using that math over the years.
I would still prefer a 6 pt.
I know what you mean. In most cases I can get it tightened by holding the ball with my hand in a glove and a 6 pt wrench on the nut.
I recently bought a huge adjustable wrench that will handle some nylon nut on a toilet tank that I could not get off by hand. It's heavy just to pick up.
I'm a DIY'er when it comes to repairs, both home and automotive and I have a lot of tools. I like tools and they make my life easier when I'm fixing things. I also have a ton of diagnostic and specialty automotive tools to help fix those more complicated jobs.
JHZR2
Staff member
I have duplicates. Ratchets, sockets, etc. When I started buying impact tools then everything more or less doubled naturally. I buy US or first world stuff to the maximum extent possible, even if the “I’ll use this once” issue pops up. I have no interest in financing the Chinese war machine.
I generally look at the cost of a tool as an offset on the savings of doing diy.
I generally look at the cost of a tool as an offset on the savings of doing diy.
I only have enough tools to do basic maintenance, and I buy new tools only as needed. I have no desire to collect stuff I don't need or will likely never use.
