Collecting tools for the sake of having them

[luvmytoolz]

As you may guess from my username I absolutely love using and owning tools of all kinds. Growing up in a very poor family we learnt to do everything ourselves, so my interests span everything from ceramics and electronics to metalworking, woodworking and more. Consequently given the opportunity I have built up a collection of tools and items relevant to each hobby that some may consider excessive.

The last big item I bought was a 10" stroke metal shaper made by Lock and Co in Australia, something I absolutely do not need, or even have the room for, but have desperately wanted for many years!

I love using tools, I love looking at them, I love collecting them, I love repairing them, I just love tools!

I also tend to buy matching consumables in large quantities as I hate being caught short handed for materials. I'm still using stickfix sandpaper for my RO1E Rotex I bought 40 years ago!

And like Kevins other half, and Max, the wife and I also are avid readers and book collectors so totally I get his partner wanting a massive book collection! I'll put some pics up later of some of my books. I love mythology and historical books mainly, with a book on Greek myths from 1737 being the oldest one I own.

 

[Muttley000]

I tend to buy capability for the future.  Often when in the middle of a project I realize it would be easier if I had something, then I’ll buy it, not waiting for the next time to come around.  There are a few things in my shop I haven’t used, but mostly inexpensive gadgets that caught my eye instead of things I would call tools.  The one exception is the porter cable detail sander I bought 20 or so years ago, I’ve never used it once lol.

 

[Michael Kellough]

I tend to buy capability for the future.  Often when in the middle of a project I realize it would be easier if I had something, then I’ll buy it, not waiting for the next time to come around.  There are a few things in my shop I haven’t used, but mostly inexpensive gadgets that caught my eye instead of things I would call tools.  The one exception is the porter cable detail sander I bought 20 or so years ago, I’ve never used it once lol.

Don’t worry about that, it doesn’t work very well anyway. Oddly enough the 1/8” stroke isn’t very effective…but the rubber profiles are useful for hand sanding.

 

[JINRO]

I started with CT15 last year and now I own most of the Festool lol. What I thought I will need in future turned out using it regularly

 

[jeffinsgf]

I'll bet half of your shop is red...  ;D ;D.

I've been woodworking for 40+ years and working at Woodpeckers for about 7, so..."half" would be overstating the "redness". Let's go 25ish.  [big grin]

 

[woodbutcherbower]

[member=7266]jeffinsgf[/member] I feel your pain. But I also feel your joy. I've posted photos of this 9ft wide x 8ft high Gothic break-front dresser before (top part and bottom part, member projects section), but I thought you'd appreciate the fact that all of the mouldings (huge 2-piece crowns, 9" baseboards, drawer and panel trims, pilaster bases etc etc etc) were all done on my spindle moulder which is an original-version Wadkin BER2 built in 1963. It still works as well as the day it left the factory - solid, dependable and totally accurate. It cost me more to get the 3-phase installed than it did to buy the moulder. It was delivered on a massive flatbed which had an onboard Hiab crane to offload it, the driver then brought it into my workshop on a Moffet Mounty forkift mounted on the back end of the truck. The combined weight of the forklift and the cast-iron machine left wheel-sized trenches in my newly block-paved driveway which are still there to this very day

Fun fact = the original business partner of company founder Joseph Wadkin was a guy called Densil Jarvis, according to company records posted in 1900. The partnership suddenly ended when Jarvis died in 1912 en route to North America - a promotional trip to promote the company's machinery to potential customers.

He sailed over as a passenger on a brand-new, state-of-the-art ship called 'Titanic'.

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[woodferret]

Hrm, I've got more pairs of shoes that are unworn than I do tools that haven't been used....

 

[jeffinsgf]

but I thought you'd appreciate the fact that all of the mouldings (huge 2-piece crowns, 9" baseboards, drawer and panel trims, pilaster bases etc etc etc) were all done on my spindle moulder which is an original-version Wadkin BER2 built in 1963. It still works as well as the day it left the factory - solid, dependable and totally accurate.

My spindle moulder is a tiny thing...part of a KITY K-5 combination machine. Not even in the same class as your Wadkin, yet when I use it I am always amazed at how much smoother and more powerful it is than a router table. I can only imagine working with a beast like yours.

 

[sancho57]

I usually buy tools for need.
Sometimes I may need them once and not again for a long time. I do try to make sure they are versatile to use on various projects but there are some that sit there and wait for the need to arise again.

 

[nclemmons]

My own experience is that Woodpeckers and Bridge City were the fuel to buy tools I didn't need immediately, but 'might need.'  The idea of 'scarcity' through limited time offers for one-time tools fed the frenzy.  I'd say prior to that, deals at woodworking shows could also feed the desire, if not the need!

When I moved states and redid my workshop a couple of years ago, I went through ALL my tools and got rid of a lot of those BC and WW tools (and a couple of Festools) via eBay and on WW forums. I don't recall any of them returning their original prices, even at 'limited time pricing' special deals.  But I recouped probably 80 to 85% of their value.

I was very glad to get rid of a lot of tools that I 'might' need but had used very infrequently.  The money raised out of those tools did allow me to upgrade my tablesaw and my jointer/planer and still have some extra cash. 

 

[twistsol1]

I usually don't buy a tool until I absolutely need it and just can't do without it anymore or the workarounds to not having it are too painful. The one time I made an exception to that rule was with the Shaper Origin. I paid for it in the first preorder round, a year and a half before it shipped and paid less than half price for it. I don't know how long it has been in the shop, but it has never been turned on.

 

[Cheese]

I usually don't buy a tool until I absolutely need it and just can't do without it anymore or the workarounds to not having it are too painful. The one time I made an exception to that rule was with the Shaper Origin. I paid for it in the first preorder round, a year and a half before it shipped and paid less than half price for it. I don't know how long it has been in the shop, but it has never been turned on.

Whoo hoo...you really don't know how happy you've made me...my position has been vindicated, well not really but misery does love company.  [big grin]

But the Lord knows, you purchased yours at preorder so at a better price-point than I did.  [smile]

 

[Crazyraceguy]

Having to replace everything I had at the shop after 15 years of accumulating the tools gave me quite an insight into the things I really needed. I had some things that I thought would be more useful than they turned out to be, so I didn't replace them. It gave me a more directed focus to expand the most needed tools. Total investment wise, I am in way deeper than I was before, but much more efficient too.

As far as the Shaper Origin goes, it wasn't really a work related purchase, though I do use it there occasionally. I bought it just for the curiosity of it. I have access to full sized CNC machines, but there are cases where it is more capable.  I was working my way into InkScape, but not really having time to stick to it has made it slow.
Shaper Studio has really helped me out. It is far easier to use and video tutorials to get you started.
I did a handhold opening for a pull-out in about 10 minutes, at home on my laptop. Then the next morning at work downloaded it into the machine and cut it out. 4 quick overlapping circles and a rectangle to block the top, a few seconds with the "shapeshifter" tool.

 

[rst]

I had to nail 1/2 x 1/2 wood stops on a sidelite replacement, it was so irritating experience that I searched for I good price on Milwaukee M12 23ga pinner, got one from EBag for $50.00 less then the $200.00.  I can keep in the van instead of of my M18 compressor and Grex pinner.

 

[woodferret]

Oh yea, my Makita compressor's has been collecting dust when I moved to the 23G Milwaukee too.  That was the last gun I hadn't found a suitable cordless replacement until that came out.  I guess on that note, I didn't _need_ the M12 stapler, but I said why the heck not.

 

[rst]

I bought the M12 stapler some years ago when the arthritis in my thumbs first flared, so much better than the squeeze

 

[Cheese]

I did a handhold opening for a pull-out in about 10 minutes, at home on my laptop. Then the next morning at work downloaded it into the machine and cut it out. 4 quick overlapping circles and a rectangle to block the top, a few seconds with the "shapeshifter" tool.

I like that, working on a similar project right now.  [smile]

Curious what diameter bit you used for the opening and what bit you used for the chamfers?

 

[Michael Kellough]

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One of the most brilliant features of the Shaper Origin is that you can make something like this with the onboard geometry generation. No computer required. This is just a series of holes and a rectangle.

You still have to change bits to get the roundover.

 

[Crazyraceguy]

Yes, it could have been done with the on-board, but it can't be "saved" that way. On-board is a one-time situation as needed. This way I can reproduce it at any time in the future.
The round-overs were done with a separate trim router, just because it seemed quicker. I do have a pointed (bearingless) round-over bit, so I could have done it that way with an on-the-line cut. That is fine on the top surface, but aligning it again on the other side takes more time. Since one of my many trim routers is already set-up with an 1/8" round-over, no question that was the way to go.
The pre-written download is also scalable. Then, as in this case, if you decide its a little too small, you can enlarge it easily. You could increase it some with the bit off-set, but I have never experimented with how far that can actually go?

 

[Stan Tillinghast]

jeffinsgf: Thanks for mentioning your using the shaper on the Kity K-5. I bought a K-5 years ago, used it in a garage workshop at a vacation home which we have since sold. I still have the K-5 but in storage. The jointer and planer are limited in size but work quite well; the shaper is smooth as you noted.
I may take the K-5 out of storage to use if we get another vacation house.
Then there's the Inca jointer/planer I bought from a neighbor but have never used even once....