My philosophy of tools / home shop

Joel_BC

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When I was a real young guy and was living on land, I soon realized that having (or having access to) $100-worth of "handyman"-type tools probably saved me at least $1000 a year. I could utilize my own skills - and even expand my skills in the process - to make and re-build and repair things. You start by acquiring the basics, such as a hammer, a handsaw, pair of pliers, combination screwdriver, carpenter's level, combination square, builder's square, chalk line, drill. You can probably find all of these things, used and in decent shape, in a sizable pawn shop (or second-hand store of the type devoted to tools).

It's true that the list of desired tools can become endless - that's what can lead to becoming "a tool freak". But you can resist that. I have, for decades. You manage the urge by applying the principles of living within your means and making discriminating decisions.

My initial desire was to learn skills to be able to make and fix what I want, and to save money. And it proved out - on a small scale. When necessity led me to need and want to take on more ambitious projects, I had to expand my range of tools. These tools related to various things I needed to do, like fix electrical circuits and appliances, take care of things on our truck, build additions on buildings (and even put up buildings from scratch), maintain and fix homestead equipment. My tool collection gradually grew, but along the lines of the essential principle: figure out what you need to do, decide which tools you could borrow or rent; if you need to buy, then shop around. In general, if I can find a very well made used tool (in good condition) at a good price, I buy it in preference to a mediocre-grade new tool at the same price.

The initial $100-worth of well-selected tools could save me $1000 in a year (conservative estimate), and it was easily proven to me that tools enable a person to substitute his/her own labor for labor they'd otherwise pay for. By the same token, $1000-worth of tools can save a person a lot more money. I'm not going to say that the annual savings remains at a 10:1 ratio as your investment in tools increases, because I doubt that's true. But I will say the investment in tools, coupled with learning how to use them, enables you to do more: make, repair, and build more. So the benefit is not simply in saving money, but in improving your quality of life.

My wife and I now have a collection of homestead tools that - if we exclude items like my truck, our rototiller, etc - would have a used-equipment value of maybe $8000. Gardening tools, carpentry tools, electrical, plumbing, concrete, and stone-masonry tools. I figure having these and knowing how to use them saves us maybe $80,000 every three-to-five years. I think that's good. Plus, we've learned to enjoy doing these tasks (at least, most of the time).
 

Marianne

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Interesting take on tools, Joel. I enjoyed the read. I'd hate to try to figure out how much our tools cost vs. are worth today and how much they saved us. :D I bet all of us would say that we've saved plenty!

We aim for tools that are multi purpose, but I'm not afraid to get that one tool that only does specific jobs when it's warranted. We bought a drywall screw gun that uses straps w/ screws (more expense) even though we didn't have to get it. Hanging drywall in a 3500 sq. ft. house was pretty daunting, so it's been well worth it. Instead of buying a drywall lift, we rent it when we need it. Maybe we could have bought one, used it, then sold it and came out ahead? It didn't matter to me, it was one less thing to try to figure out where to store it while we live in a state of constant construction.

DH and I have somewhat different ways of looking at things. He'd like to have the latest and greatest, I like to live on the cutting edge of low technology. We find the middle ground. :D
 

Joel_BC

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Marianne said:
DH and I have somewhat different ways of looking at things. He'd like to have the latest and greatest, I like to live on the cutting edge of low technology. We find the middle ground. :D
Aw, yeah... marriage involves lots of compromise. :)

It's rare that I've felt I had to own the newest and best of any sort of tool. But it's long been clear to me that there can be an important difference between the poor or mediocre grades of a specific tool and the truly good grades. If I use a power tool a whole lot, then it now makes sense to me to save up and afford a professional grade-tool.

Example... I had a "homeowner" Makita 3/8" 14-volt cordless drill. It cost me about $130 (Canadian price). I liked the feel/balance of it. Used it for the job of building a sizable new deck on our house. After that, it got moderate - some chore(s) every week - kind of use, through most of the year. Lasted a bit over three years. Or, I should say, that was the length of life of the two NiCad batteries it came with. But for the last year or more, one of those two betteries wouldn't take a charge that lasted very long at all. Finally, in the last couple months the other battery got that way, too. Each battery would have cost me $87 to replace, locally - and that was after the dicount of 10% from the list price. In other words, $174 just for two new batteries! :rolleyes:

I decided against that. I replaced the drill with a Makita "pro line" 18-volt Lithium model. Not much difference in weight or balance. But from the start, the whole unit feels more solid, and "smoother" in operation. It obviously has more power, that's for sure! Its list price was $100 more than my former one, but the store did give me a $15 discount (so, $215). I expect it will last longer, but I've only owned it for about six weeks, so truthfully can't say anything from long-term usage.
 

lighthawk

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I bought a cordless drill some years ago. I will never buy another cordless tool. Both batteries were shot in less than two years.
Instead I bought a generator and a 100 foot extension cord. I still have and use regurlarily the electric drill I bought 30 years ago.
Problem today is determining what tool to purchase. I came into a windfall a couple of years ago and decided it was time to buy the pneumatic nailers, sawzall and hammer drill that I have wanted for years. ( I was building my shed and chicken coop) I searched all the big box stores, the local hardware stores, and two industrial supply houses. I could not find anything made in America. Black and Decker, Porter Cable. Bostich, DeWalt, many Japanese brands such as Minkota, even Milwaukee. They were all labled "Made in China".
I am not disparaging Chinese workmanship but tools purchased years ago seemed to last forever. Not so today.
My philosiphy has always been " If you are going to purchase a tool, purchase one that will last a lifetime". The Campbell Housefield roughing nailer I bought at the local hardware store jammed irreparibly before I got through one stack of nails. The hardware store replaced it but a year later the store was asking me to bring in the reciept as Campbell Housefield had still not honored their warranty.
I was in a Menards store recently looking at their table saws, ( I got mine from my dad when he passed and I fear it is on it's last leg) on the new saw the gears to raise and lower the blade were made of PLASTIC the display model already had the gears worn to the point they wouldn't function. . C'mon how long is that going to last.
Buyer Beware.
:old
 

Marianne

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I know what you mean about the batteries. Twice we ended up buying a little car vac for $34, just to have the battery! It was a lot cheaper than the battery alone, same size, etc.
I'm not totally sold on battery tools, but they sure come in handy sometimes. If we need plenty of power, we grab the plug in ones and an extension cord.

DH's dad was a professional carpenter, my dad did a lot of carpentry work, so we both have sawdust in our veins. We learned early on that cheap tools were a waste of money in the long run. I almost cringe when we have to buy something new. Anymore, it's a crap shoot.
 

Wannabefree

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I'm a tool freak, so is hubs. We have a collection of low tech tools though. Most were given to us by his dad, and things I requested for Mother's Day/birthday/Christmas for myself. I'm pitiful :lol: I have found a few in the woods, at garage sales, and flea markets. I LOVE power tools, but for work actually prefer the simplicity of manual tools. The only thing remotely hi tech I use is the various saws and cordless drills. Being from a family of construction workers, and then marrying into one..I can't get away from tools. I drool over heavy equipment, and still haven't gotten my trackhoe I requested two years ago. :/

If we can't build it, around here, it doesn't get built. We mostly repurpose used materials too.
 

Joel_BC

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About drills: It's true that the corded (plug-in) drills have more torque. I was one of those guys who, in the early '90s, resisted buying a cordless for the longest time. In certain situations, though, a cord is plain awkward, and a real nuisance. I've got both corded and cordless types, but I don't own any other cordless tools.

Here's what I think... In general, older tools were made better - better motors, better bearings, better casings. I've got a 45-year old Rockwell drill press, for instance, that is a good example of that. Bought it used, of course, and it shows no signs of wearing out. The old tools were very often made better, but had fewer features. With the modern tools you often get more features. The old tools were heavier, generally. With floor-standing tools, like my drill press, this seems to be an asset, as it increases durability. But, with hand-held tools the extra weight can be tiring.

There are some good brand names: Milwaukee, Bosch, Makita, for instance. They may make their tools in China now, but if - a) they do good quality control (supervision), and b) we're talking about their professional-level tool models, in the first place - then the tool can be good, durable one.

Best thing when buying is to get a recommendation from a professional tradesman. Next best is to get the salesperson at the store to tell you what models tradesmen are buying.
 

Wannabefree

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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.
 

THEFAN

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Dewalt man myself. Bought my first set 6 yrs ago. The batteries are finally not holding a good charge and the 18volt drill is haveing torque problems. Since I updated to inpact guns the new set had 2 new batteries that work with my old set. :) The sawzaw is the battery killer for sure. I have bult a few houses and many projects over the past 6 yrs now and I love using cordless sets. Time saver in my book. Pasloads are a must too. Yes the nails and gas are expensive but the convience and speed makes up for it in the long run. IMHO :) Plus I don't have to listen to a compressor going off every 5-10 minutes. The toper for me is all my tools are write off for work. :) Old stuff gets recycled into the house tool box.
 

Beekissed

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I'm a DeWalt fan myself.... :D Makita would be my second choice.

Joel, great post on tools! I happen to agree 100%.
 

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