What Got you into Tools

[J.A.F.E.]

What got you into using (and collecting) tools?

As a kid I wanted to know how things worked and so I took them apart. My earliest ventures involved bashing things apart but I soon learned I could take them apart and put them back together with the right tools. I was taken with cars and wanted to know how they worked and to take them apart and between an old car my mother had and one a neighbor had I got started early. That of course meant I had to buy tools the tools I had access to were limited - started with a ratchet and three sockets 7/16, 1/2 and 9/16.

At about 12 or 13 I got an after school job with a local mechanic and learned what I'd need and what worked well. That's when my ideas of what I needed in a tool set really started taking shape and I started to build it. Most of those tools were stolen a few years later and so what I have now is built on the ashes of those.

Some years back I decided for some reason I no longer recall to collect one of each ratchet Snap-on made. At the time I had no idea just how many that was and how daunting a task that would be I thought it would be maybe a couple dozen. But regardless of how naive I was it got me into the collecting end as well.

[Papaw]

I have been a tool freak since 1966 when I had terrible experiences with an old Triumph motorcycle. Certain tools were required to work on that bike and others like it.

Later I began to repair motorcycles for others and had to accumulate many tools. My father was a builder and his carpentry tools were fascinating in their functionality and usage. I was always curious about vintage and antique tools, especially odd ones, so I began accumulating, collecting, and selling them. I am also interested in old cameras, scales, fans, almost anything old and unusual, so you never know what I might have.

[coolmercury]

As a kid I played with my grandfather's tools and often got whipped for it if I left them laying around.  I bought my first socket set in 1949 when I was 15, it was a Craftsman 1/2 inch drive.  At the same time I bought a set of DBE's and DOE's in the metal racks.  I needed these tools to work on my 1936 Dodge that I was rebuilding.  In 1950 my grandfather died and I got all his tools.

By 1985 I had a lot of tools as I was restoring mainly 1959 Ford retracts (steel top convertibles), that is until all the tools were stolen along with my jacks, air compressor etc.  However, insurance replaced most of them although instead of =v= Craftsman it was all -G- Craftsman witch I still have in my tool box.

When I retired in 1996 from my job of 34 years I started collecting tools and now have too many but keep collecting.

[goodfellow]

I learned to appreciate and work with tools from my dad and my grandfather. They were very close. My dad and grandpa were into fixing and restoring cars. I guess they were an early version of car flippers who chased down good cars, fixed them up and finally sold them (mostly) to folks in the neighborhood who needed a reliable car (or a second car for mom and/or the teenage kids), and couldn't afford new. My dad and grandpa did a lot of free work for people in the neighborhood who went through hard times. They often got paid in fresh veggies, baked goods, yard work, and quite often a lot of hugs.

[jabberwoki]

My friend Tony at a Portland swap meet. He asked me to keep an eye out for Plvmb tools and it`s been down hill from then on.

[bill300d]

From about 10 yrs old on I had a fascination with taking things apart to see how they worked and then trying to put therm back together again. As I got older i would add to my collection of tools whenever a need for a tool arose that i didn't have. For the past 30 yrs I have been collecting old and unusual tools when at sales and flea markets.

[Lookin4_67GalaxieConv]

I needed some tools to work on stuff because all I had was a 3/8" drive Fleet ratchet and socket set.  Joined the Craftsman club and got a good deal on a Craftsman set when I was in my mid twenties.  Then started going to the local flea market to fill in the sockets and wrenches I didn't have.  Hooked after that.

[highland512]

Grew up helping dad in the shed work on the Semi Trucks and farm equipment. With employees, dad, and myself all using tools out of the same tool box they seldom got put back the way dad demanded and somehow that was always my fault.

At around age 16 I got mad enough that I started buying my own stuff and kept it under lock and key in my own box.............Cant blame a guy whos not using your stuff!!!

Around age 18 I started buying stuff in pawn shops and stumbled into a military surplus tool dump, now I have to come here for support. 

Hello my name is Highland and I am a toolholic.

[fatfillup]

That is a good question and I have to think.  I have always worked on things mechanical around the house and then started selling and repairing pressure washers in 83.  Didn't really know what good tools were then and used anything I could get cheap.  I really didn't start buying much in the way of good tools till the mid 90's and not a lot then.  I think about 11 years ago I found GJ searching the value of some tools I had acquired with a box to resell.  Got fascinated by the variety of old tools and the quality of new tools and the general comradery among the members and got hooked. 

[bonneyman]

I got the mechanics/DIY bug from my dad at an early age. My first socket set was an SK simply because that's what dad had.
I've always been intrigued by how things worked. Would take things apart and reassemble just to learn. I'd say my bicycle was my earliest venture. Since then I've begun to realize the specialty of certain tools and started keeping an eye out for them.

Then I discovered the tool forums and....well, you all know how that story ends. lol

[Rewind]

I don't collect tools, I got into tools by necessity. At around 13 y.o. I bought my first motorcycle and not having much money I had to do the maintenance/ repairs myself so I started acquiring tools to do what I needed to do. As I grew older and got into cars and such the need for more tools became evident. Now as a (supposed) adult with multiple cars, motorcycle, house, yard, etc, tools are a part of everyday life.

I did buy one tool as a collection piece just because I was a an estate sale and it was only $5 and in brand new condition.

[J.A.F.E.]

I had that same drill I bought new at Sears.

I bought an old Falcon some from some guy who had replaced the clutch and he cut the tunnel out to do it from the top side. When he hooked up the shift linkage (the old three on a tree) he hooked up the rods wrong so the shift pattern seemed backwards. He was beside himself and threw in towel. No one wanted it because they couldn't figure out to shift it. I snagged it and on the way home stopped at Sears got the drill, a pop rivet gun and a creeper to finish the job. Still have the pop rivet gun and the creeper but the drill is long gone although I still have the chuck.

Thanks for the memory!

[goodfellow]

I don't collect tools, I got into tools by necessity. At around 13 y.o. I bought my first motorcycle and not having much money I had to do the maintenance/ repairs myself so I started acquiring tools to do what I needed to do. As I grew older and got into cars and such the need for more tools became evident. Now as a (supposed) adult with multiple cars, motorcycle, house, yard, etc, tools are a part of everyday life.

I did buy one tool as a collection piece just because I was a an estate sale and it was only $5 and in brand new condition.

Beautiful!!!

[mrchuck]

My Father realized that I took apart things that were broken and fixed them perfect.
He bought me my first toolbox FULL of everything. That led me to working at service stations when in the 8th grade thru high schools.
In High school, I assembled super fast 283 Chevy motors which went into may school cars.
Did this as a sideline when in College too. BSME from Texas A&M in 1960, then Viet Nam.

[DeadNutz]

I grew up working with my dad in the summer and if he sent us out to the truck to get a tool we had to get the right one he asked for. I didn't start buying tools until high school when I had to work on the 55 Ford p/u if I didn't want to walk. My brother and I started getting Craftsman tools from the parents for Christmas around that time and I received tools as gifts for years from family members.
When I started working with the wife in her machine shop I went through another tool buying phase as then I needed to buy specialty tools and large wrenches. Now I enjoy finding old and newer tools wherever I can. If it is a specialty tool that I don't have it will come home with me even if I will never use it.

[J.A.F.E.]

... My brother and I started getting Craftsman tools from the parents for Christmas around that time and I received tools as gifts for years from family members. ...

Those were great times and it must have been quite exciting to open those presents.

In HS a guy I knew got a big set of Craftsman tools it was pretty much everything you'd need for most jobs in a big box.

[Andrewhr]

Not dissimilar to others. I had a motorbike and I got tools as needed to fix or maintain it. I like to be self sufficient having whatever tool might be required for the job.

[slip knot]

I grew up poor and if I wanted to ride or drive I had to fix it. I was stuck with cheapo Oxwall quality tools that really aggravated the repairs. I swore then, that if I ever had any money I would buy me better tools. Now its just serial upgrading. And having 10-15 1/2in. wrenches is now perfectly normal.

[Rewind]

I still remember the time I got my first "real" tool set. I had a small box of thrown together cheap no quality tools and needed to do some work on my car. I decided to go to sears and buy one set of wrenches. Walked out with a $300 Craftsman tool set and I've never regretted it!!!

[goodfellow]

... My brother and I started getting Craftsman tools from the parents for Christmas around that time and I received tools as gifts for years from family members. ...

Those were great times and it must have been quite exciting to open those presents.

In HS a guy I knew got a big set of Craftsman tools it was pretty much everything you'd need for most jobs in a big box.

It was at one time a very common "right of passage" to receive a quality set of tools in your later teen years. I and many of my friends received a proper machanic's Craftsman toolchest or cabinet when we were that age.

[highland512]

... My brother and I started getting Craftsman tools from the parents for Christmas around that time and I received tools as gifts for years from family members. ...

Those were great times and it must have been quite exciting to open those presents.

In HS a guy I knew got a big set of Craftsman tools it was pretty much everything you'd need for most jobs in a big box.

It was at one time a very common "right of passage" to receive a quality set of tools in your later teen years. I and many of my friends received a proper machanic's Craftsman toolchest or cabinet when we were that age.

I got a lump of coal 

[Andrewhr]

... My brother and I started getting Craftsman tools from the parents for Christmas around that time and I received tools as gifts for years from family members. ...

Those were great times and it must have been quite exciting to open those presents.

In HS a guy I knew got a big set of Craftsman tools it was pretty much everything you'd need for most jobs in a big box.

It was at one time a very common "right of passage" to receive a quality set of tools in your later teen years. I and many of my friends received a proper machanic's Craftsman toolchest or cabinet when we were that age.

I got a lump of coal 

With the right tool your coal can become a diamond!

[muddy]

Would have to say my father is what got me into tools. Growing up he would work on the family cars. So tools were always around.

[strik9]

Teen years I was fixing a worn out 1969 Gardenmark riding mower from MW and keeping an old bike or three alive.  Mostly with s box of rummage sale toss offs and ancient wrenches dad tossed us boys.  Later on cars became a need and I worked out of a old SK hand box with a spattering of old junk and some new Stanley from the local Ace. 

Kept a heap of old heaps somewhat alive to get me to and from work on minimal tools and less knowledge.    I took a good bunch of years later with only bikes and those related tools but in the early 2000's I took a jobin a shop.

   Tooled up to sheer overkill then weeded back to a bunch of old junk in a alu tote I made for my job.   Add a house and bike kit and a plumbing kit and a pile of ancient crusty stuff in a display case.  Then the growing piles of Oxwall and gimmicks in storage for now... 

  Still overtooled but with good focus on what makes me money, what saves me money and what is in the no resale value money pit.