My philosophy of tools / home shop

[Icu4dzs]

Hi, my name's Trim and I'm a "tool-a-holic"
(Everybody chimes in "HI Trim!)
"Well, I started out playing with my dads tools. Then he bought me a few of my own, and well then it began to get serious....
Being a SS sort of guy, I got to figure that even if I get a tool, and I drop dead, you can still sell the tool and get SOME of the money back (he said, sheepishly)
So, I started out with power tools. Got a shopsmith in 1985 along with an occasional hand tool here and there. I think I have every modification and part that shopsmith makes. Then it got to the bigger things DeWalt Table Saw, Shaper, Jointer, Band saw and the list goes on. Now I have a shop filled with darn near every tool you can name and a few you might not have heard of yet. After a while I started buying sharpening tools. I figured that blades won't cut very well without being sharp. Then I started learning to weld and got a welder or two. Now I am into really good hand tools because if the "electricity goes out" I'd still like to be able to make things and repair my house.

Finally after a few years of this my wife said if I buy any more tools she'd leave me. I undestood what she was sayingback then but you know, at times I actually miss her...


Trim sends

//BT//

 

[Joel_BC]

Fixed our fireplace-insert wood heater - probably saved at least $400 by doing handyman work this morning!

Last night, late, the blower fan & fan motor assembly on our fireplace wood stove quit running. (We were asleep.) It's part of a highly efficient fireplace insert, better than the wood-burning furnace in our basement (which is considered, in itself, to be quite efficient). So since the point we put in the fireplace unit, we've generally relied on it, unless the temp goes below zero Farenheit outside - then we use the basement furnace.

This morning, even before my coffee (ugh!) I began to open the unit up. I called the retail seller of the insert to discuss the problem and he said the part that likely needed replacing was the fan assembly, $275 - tax would have brought that to $300. If I had not had tools on hand and some handyman know-how, there would have been at least $100 disassembly and reassembly charges from a technician's visit to our home. But all I actually had to do was get the fan & motor out, do a very thorough small-brush and vacuum-cleaner job on the motor (around the windings) and the squirrel-cage fan, and then turn on the manual switch. Voila - it ran fine!

I've found it rare that a home-visiting hired technician is totally conscientious about finding the least costly route to providing results. Had I not done this job myself, the cost could easily have been have been $400, possibly more.

An example of what we've talked about in this thread.

 

[~gd]

I think with the older tools the tempering of the steel comes into play alot. Things were better made then. Folks took the time to do it right, and it makes a tremendous difference in overall quality.

Most of the old shop tools didn't use steel. The tables and such were Cast Iron.
Much of what you are complaing today is what I call the flight from Quality. Cheap tools outsell Quality because of the price. Many in the trades today buy tools for the same reason, they know that good tools often walk off on a Job site.
Now when building is in a bad slump I shop Pawn shops. When building was more normal many tradesmen would Pawn their tools between jobs, and Pawn shops would allow more for tools from people that were likely to redeem those tools for their next job, the tools were just collateral on a high interest loan. Now most places realize that they are really buying the tools and there is a oversupply of building tools. If you know tools you can find some good buys if you dicker a bit.

 

[~gd]

Hi, my name's Trim and I'm a "tool-a-holic"
(Everybody chimes in "HI Trim!)
"Well, I started out playing with my dads tools. Then he bought me a few of my own, and well then it began to get serious....
Being a SS sort of guy, I got to figure that even if I get a tool, and I drop dead, you can still sell the tool and get SOME of the money back (he said, sheepishly)
So, I started out with power tools. Got a shopsmith in 1985 along with an occasional hand tool here and there. I think I have every modification and part that shopsmith makes. Then it got to the bigger things DeWalt Table Saw, Shaper, Jointer, Band saw and the list goes on. Now I have a shop filled with darn near every tool you can name and a few you might not have heard of yet. After a while I started buying sharpening tools. I figured that blades won't cut very well without being sharp. Then I started learning to weld and got a welder or two. Now I am into really good hand tools because if the "electricity goes out" I'd still like to be able to make things and repair my house.

Finally after a few years of this my wife said if I buy any more tools she'd leave me. I undestood what she was sayingback then but you know, at times I actually miss her...


Trim sends
http://www.sufficientself.com/forum/uploads/1808_images.jpeg
//BT//

So do you still use the shopsmith? I owned one once, I found it would do many things but not well.

 

[Icu4dzs]

Hi, my name's Trim and I'm a "tool-a-holic"
(Everybody chimes in "HI Trim!)
"Well, I started out playing with my dads tools. Then he bought me a few of my own, and well then it began to get serious....
Being a SS sort of guy, I got to figure that even if I get a tool, and I drop dead, you can still sell the tool and get SOME of the money back (he said, sheepishly)
So, I started out with power tools. Got a shopsmith in 1985 along with an occasional hand tool here and there. I think I have every modification and part that shopsmith makes. Then it got to the bigger things DeWalt Table Saw, Shaper, Jointer, Band saw and the list goes on. Now I have a shop filled with darn near every tool you can name and a few you might not have heard of yet. After a while I started buying sharpening tools. I figured that blades won't cut very well without being sharp. Then I started learning to weld and got a welder or two. Now I am into really good hand tools because if the "electricity goes out" I'd still like to be able to make things and repair my house.

Finally after a few years of this my wife said if I buy any more tools she'd leave me. I undestood what she was sayingback then but you know, at times I actually miss her...


Trim sends
http://www.sufficientself.com/forum/uploads/1808_images.jpeg
//BT//

So do you still use the shopsmith? I owned one once, I found it would do many things but not well.

Yep I sure do and I still love it. Keeping it clean inside and properly adjusted is the key!
I had a friend in the navy who had one and he asked me to fix it for him.All I did was clean the speed changer and it was good as new.
Best
Trim sends
//BT//

 

[lorihadams]

I totally agree about older tools being better quality. I am trying to collect lots of hand tools for hubby and I. My 6 yr old is pretty good about going into my tool kit and getting what he needs. Last night he was banging around in his room and when hubby went in there to see what the banging was he was hammering tacks into his walls to hang his stuff on.

He has no problems getting screwdrivers and changing the batteries in his toys, even though I would prefer that none of his toys had batteries in the first place.

He loves to work in the garage with hubby and we generally give him scrap pieces of lumber to play with and he uses real tools and has his own box of nails. I cannot tell you how many pieces of scrap wood I have laying around with 40 or 50 nails in them....

My grandfather will only buy antique tractors cause he thinks a lot of the newer model stuff is just crap. I am trying to find some good woodworking tools for hubby and there is an excellent thrift store about 30-40 minutes away but I don't get to get over there much. Maybe for his birthday in a few months....