Tool obsessions

[drsportster]

What tools do you have a boat load of ? I have a drawer full of all types of real vise grips .Many pairs ,I have a load of c clamps mounted by the garage door frame . And I have approximately 170 hammers A whole pegboard of auto body hammers in every style you can imagine . Four auto body slappers each unique.Bunch of dollies.It pays to hit the garage sales as I also have bought an auto body masking machine that tapes the edge of masking paper for 20 bucks .Not to mention spray equipment .as well.

 

[Ted in NE-OH]

I have a whole drawer full of pliers

 

[tomturkey]

I must be obsessed with losing tools as the ten mm sockets and wrenches seem to disappear, used to be half inch wrenches. lol gobble

 

[SkipperII]

Tools in general A full journeyman set(from my career) setting in my garage. Another full set that I have built up, at the farm shop of my buddies, where I repair his tractors and equipment. Another that used to be considered an apprentice set, that I throw into my pickup when I need to do field repairs. Plus a set I built up for my daughter and son-in-law, and another for my granddaughter and her husband. When the farm shop where I drive semi for was broken into and all the tools stolen, I was able to provide them with the tools to keep going until the insurance company finally paid off. I guess tools are my guilty pleasure!!!

 

[Janicholson]

What tools do you have a boat load of ? I have a drawer full of all types of real vise grips .Many pairs ,I have a load of c clamps mounted by the garage door frame . And I have approximately 170 hammers A whole pegboard of auto body hammers in every style you can imagine . Four auto body slappers each unique.Bunch of dollies.It pays to hit the garage sales as I also have bought an auto body masking machine that tapes the edge of masking paper for 20 bucks .Not to mention spray equipment .as well.

Screwdrivers!!! From Clutch head, to spline, to Posidrive, and Hollow pointed security drivers. Probably 70 not counting Hex drive bits. Jim

 

[M-MAN]

All of the oddball stuff you don't use often and can't find when you need it. After I croak the kids are going to wonder why I have 20 combination squares, 20 claw hammers, and 60 nail sets. I don't even count the regular tools since there's a little variation in most of them.

 

[T.R.K.]

For a while I bought all the cheap used vice grips I could find. I also collected used slip-joint pliers that looked like they were in good shape, but I use them all the time where I work and i have lost several of them. I probably left them on somebody's mower. Most customers consider them "free tools." In the last 15 years, I can count on the fingers of one hand the number of times a customer found one of my tools and brought it back to me.

 

[Welding man]

What tools do you have a boat load of ? I have a drawer full of all types of real vise grips .Many pairs ,I have a load of c clamps mounted by the garage door frame . And I have approximately 170 hammers A whole pegboard of auto body hammers in every style you can imagine . Four auto body slappers each unique.Bunch of dollies.It pays to hit the garage sales as I also have bought an auto body masking machine that tapes the edge of masking paper for 20 bucks .Not to mention spray equipment .as well.

I don't know if you call a drill bit a tool or not but I probably have at least 5000 and that could be a conservative number. From number to letter, to reduced shank and all the way up to 11/2 in tapered shank. I have them in drawers, boxes , bins, laying on tables, carts and in my service truck. Some are new, some old, some broken or dull, you name it. Seems I never throw one away just buy more and more.

 

[chvet73]

I don’t have many duplicates. But over the years have tried to upgrade to bigger, better and more power with my tools.
Good example would be my table saw. When I was about 12 I started with an AMT saw out of the back of a Popular Mechanics magazine. Built the wooden cabinet for it. I’m sure many of you remember those ads. It was replaced by a contractors saw from over there. Worked pretty good. Added a Biesmier fence to it. When the motor fried I was able to move up to buy a Unisaw.
Now that I can afford it I do buy anything that will help me to do a job easier and better.

 

[Charles in Aus.]

I don't know if you call a drill bit a tool or not but I probably have at least 5000 and that could be a conservative number. From number to letter, to reduced shank and all the way up to 11/2 in tapered shank. I have them in drawers, boxes , bins, laying on tables, carts and in my service truck. Some are new, some old, some broken or dull, you name it. Seems I never throw one away just buy more and more.

I had a cull of mine just today . Nowhere near as many as yours though . I managed to get the count down to 300 , all good sharp ones .

 

[chuck machinist]

I must be obsessed with losing tools as the ten mm sockets and wrenches seem to disappear, used to be half inch wrenches. lol gobble

You can never have enough 10mm sockets Tom! CM

 

[chuck machinist]

I have collected too many tool boxes I'm afraid. On the plus side, every tool has a place to lay. Yall know what I'm talking about HEE HEE!CM

 

[Deere Mark]

What tools do you have a boat load of ? I have a drawer full of all types of real vise grips .Many pairs ,I have a load of c clamps mounted by the garage door frame . And I have approximately 170 hammers A whole pegboard of auto body hammers in every style you can imagine . Four auto body slappers each unique.Bunch of dollies.It pays to hit the garage sales as I also have bought an auto body masking machine that tapes the edge of masking paper for 20 bucks .Not to mention spray equipment .as well.

Have a few hammers too. About 20 here and maybe 10 more. Also five pipe wrenches, five detachable chain link tools, and five bolt cutters.

 

[Brian G. NY]

Like you, I buy all the "real" Vice-Grips that I find that are priced reasonably.
I also collect "real" Ridgid pipe wrenches; I have about all the sizes from 6" to 4' including many duplicates. Only one aluminum one tho; 18". Paid 6 bucks for it.
I have bought tons of brand name tools in my many years of "garage sale" shopping.
I have a good collection of stud extractors, square sockets, "easy-outs" and a vast collection of brand name snap-ring pliers.
I have dozens of taps and dies; I once bought a like new brand name 1-1/4" pipe tap for 50 cents as well as a 3/4" Jacobs chuck for the same price.
Crazy, what you run across for almost nothing! At 82, my wife and daughter are beginning to worry what to do with all the stuff I've collected. LOL

 

[tom upton]

I like to think I am on the road to recovery from my tool addiction, but the wife thinks I am still a full blown addict, especialy when it comes to meausuring tools. I dont think there is a lot i dont have multiples of. Here are a few examples of my addiction.

 

[Tony in SD]

I have dedicated tools and tool boxes. I have a full set of Craftsman mechanics tools that I bought new in 1975. Those tools never leave the shop. Full set of Klein electrical tools. A minor set of plumbing tools. A well equipped set of woodworking tools both power & hand. An Xcelite set of electronics hand tools. An electronics lab with several VOMs, several oscilloscopes, spectrum analyzer, signal generators, variable power supply and much more. Then there is the out of the shop mechanics tool box, the boat tool box, the RV to box, the barn tool box, the house tool box and my hand tool set at the ammo reloading bench. Fence fixing tool box. And lastly my wall of old tools pictured below.

 

[caterpillar guy]

I feel left out. I accumulated some tools over the years with most of all the better brands like Mac, Proto, Snap-on and such. Lately I have been buying Ratchets since I only had a couple of each size. Sockets and Combination wrenches have become an issue of shortage in metric sizes since the combine My brother bought is about all that. I had some from working on a harvest crew in the late 80's and early 90's . Bought pawnshops of them back then and they set around used little till now. And now it seems I find I need more of them and in duplicates so both of us can work at the same time on things like changing sections and guards. My other brother was like tommy lasarda about tools never saw one he didn't like.

 

[Fixingfarmer]

ratchets. I believe over 20 in 3/8 a lot of the sets of sockets I had came with various brands of the short ones I only ever use the 3 snap on ones. The rest just sit in the pail not unlike the hammers in the photo above. Don’t ever seem to loose the 150 dollar ratchet but the sockets!! I swear 3rd day I pull one out of my pocket at home. The last 10 years have been better than the previous 10 with 1 exception. Sears closed and no more individual craftsman sockets in our town. Napa does seem to supply them

 

[Geo-TH,In]

You can never have enough 10mm sockets Tom! CM

A woman must have invented the term Tool Obsession, because I don't think there is such a thing as having too many tools.
The man who dies with the most tools and tractors is the winner. lol

 

[560Dennis]

You got me hooked now , looking for USA odd ( lesser known) manufacturers Of hand tools
Started ,I went to the 11worth antique store and pawed over a box full of dollar wrenches got these usa orphans.
So top 7/16 forged in USA , no idea who made it , good enough quality .
Sparta ? No ideas about it either , never heard of Sparta tools USA
BON(crest)NEY open end ,to me the big score was this one .