Loaned out some Festools today

[Meatplow]

Nickao,

...truer words have never been spoken and funny...However, the Mrs. does use the Powermatic no problem, and the Hitachi miter saw is never an issue. But, for some very strange reason she seems to be afraid of the Festool stuff  I have no idea why...

Meatplow

 

[Kodi Crescent]

If you are fortunate enough to have someone you trust enough to lend tools too, great.  But with the stories of people lending things to one person, who lends it to another person and then won't take responsibility for its return, why even set yourself up for that hassle and aggravation?

 

[upscale]

If you are fortunate enough to have someone you trust enough to lend tools too, great.  But with the stories of people lending things to one person, who lends it to another person and then won't take responsibility for its return, why even set yourself up for that hassle and aggravation?

You're missing the point. Tools (in this case) are just the subject that precipitated this discussion about trusting people. If I used my tools to earn a living, I wouldn't be loaning them to anyone because I might need any one of them at any given point in time.

As far as setting yourself up for hassle and aggravation goes, the answer should be obvious. The benefit to you by having someone in your life that you can trust unconditionally, easily outweighs the occasional hassle and aggravation. That's the way I feel about it anyway.

 

[upscale]

Nickao,
But, for some very strange reason she seems to be afraid of the Festool stuff  I have no idea why...

Maybe she understands the love affair that many woodworkers have with their Festools and doesn't want to be using one in case it breaks. [smile]

 

[Tinker]

A good friend of mine tells the story of when he loaned a power tool (I forget the exact tool, so we'll call it a skillsaw/this was way back when skills were very popular).  When he got lonesome for the saw, he inally went back to his friend to get it.  Friend said, "Aw hell Ed, I sold that one and bought one of my own."
Tinker

 

[Kodi Crescent]

Upscale - Not missing your point.  It's great that you have people in your life you can loan stuff to.  You are fortunate enough to have been associated with better people than I.  But there are people who act irresponsibly or take your good naturedness for granted.  The problem is, you may not know who you can trust until it is too late.

This story isn't about tools, but it illustrates the point - I was having some trees cut down in my yard.  The guy felling the trees thought he would be cute and cut down a tree and aim it at another tree.  The tree smashed down on the smaller tree, and then fell into my neighbor's yard.  My neighbors came flying out of their house screaming that the contractor ruined their tree.  After much discussion with the contractor, they had him buy them a tree and plant it several feet into their yard.  I asked the contractor what happened, and he explained the situation to me.  I said "I don't think that was the neighbor's tree".  I pulled a line across the property markers, and sure enough, it was on my side.  It was my tree that was ruined.  I wasn't upset, but I was annoyed that the neighbor came flying out of the house insisting something was theirs when they weren't completely sure.  I pointed this out to the neighbor and he said "well, that tree wasn't supposed to come out anyway".  That wasn't the point.  The point was that you got something at cost to me.  You aren't apologetic about it and you have no conscience about it.  Why deal with this type of behavior after your loss?  Be proactive and prevent the loss.

 

[upscale]

No one knows ahead of time who you can trust. Believe me, I've invested time and money in  some people only to be ripped off completely. Does that mean I should give up on everybody?

Why deal with this type of behavior after your loss?  Be proactive and prevent the loss.

All I can say is that it's like looking for love. You might well get your heart torn to shreds more than once, but if you try to be proactive and stop looking completely, you might miss the best thing that ever happened to you. Inwardly, I guess I'm one of those optimistic people. I can be a real bear sometimes, but without hope, life can be pretty miserable.

 

[Tinker]

One of my very best friends while I was much younger (in my early to mid twenties) had a great story I have always remembered.  Dave was a dairy farmer, as I aspired to also be at the time.  He was the town prosecutor back then in a time when every town had its own court system.  I used to stop by several times a week to help him with his milking.  When he passed on to the great farm in the sky, i helped his family get rid of the herd and equipment.  The cattle dealer we worked with to sell the herd was very helpful to all of us.  It was not help because he was bound to make a good profit.  He had been a good friend to Dave for many years.  I suppose he made some good deals for his part, but he had made good deals for Dave also. 

Dave used to tell the story, as we swapped many a great tale while we spent a couple of hours milking his herd. It seems that a mutual acquaintance of Dave and the dealer had recently given Izzy a real hosing on a cattle deal.  Such a bad deal it bordered on the dark side of possible illegality.  Izzy was quite angry about the deal, but he kept his feelings well hidden whenever he met up with the perpetrator.  One day he had joined Dave on his daily trip to the regional milk distributor where they happened to meet up with this cheat.  Izzy went up to the guy, shook hands, patted him on the back, telling him how glad he was to see him, how was his family, and several other means of showing how glad he was to meet the man.  They spent several minutes exchanging pleasantries, shook hands and Izzy expressed that he really hoped to see him again.  They parted in most jovial attitudes towards each other.

When alone, Dave asked, " Izz, didnt't that guy give you a royal hosing a couple of months ago?"

"Ah ha! David.  That he did."

"How can you be so friendly to him after what he did to you?"

"David, so long as he may live, yet will I have my chance."

Dave is long gone now, but his stories and our experiences together live on.  I named my son after the man.
Tinker

 

[Wood_Junkie]

"David, so long as he may live, yet will I have my chance."

A la "revenge is a dish best served cold"?    [wink]

 

[spikfot]

I also have had "mixed" experiences with loaning out tools. Festools rarely get loaned out,  Luckily, my local Festool dist. is also a rental business, so when friends ask me if they can borrow something.... they get my acct. number and my discount.
I'll take this opportunity to thank my father who selflessly loaned out his tools to me when i was a teenager starting out in the world of carpentry. He bought me my first Skillsaw when I was 19 (so he could get his back)
Thanks Dad.

 

[upscale]

I'll take this opportunity to thank my father who selflessly loaned out his tools to me when i was a teenager starting out in the world of carpentry. He bought me my first Skillsaw when I was 19 (so he could get his back)
Thanks Dad.

That brings back many fond memories. I remember when as child we lived in Montreal and my father had a great workshop in the basement. Some of my earlier memories involved drawing all over a new cabinet built by my father and then there were the later exploits of opening paint cans with chisels. Never once did he get angry with me for some of the things I did in his workshop. That extended to the three story clubhouse I built in the back yard that was taller than all the single story houses around it. When it came time for the family to move to Toronto, they had to carry the clubhouse away with a five ton flat bed truck. The clubhouse was so full of nails that they didn't want to cut it apart for fear of damaging their tools.

Those were the good old days and certainly account for my involvement in woodworking now. So yes, Thanks Dad!

 

[Mr. Jeff Smith]

My loaning philosophy is simple:
1. You can borrow whatever you want
2. If you fail to return it as I gave it, then don't ask again.

I tell everyone this before I give them a tool, no on e has taken it offensively.
I prefer to err on the side of being to trusting, missing the opportunities for friendship (and future favors) is to good to pass on. 

 

[Rob-GB]

I would have no second thoughts on loaning to my offspring, as my father did before me, he at least taught me how to use the tools and to respect that they were the means of getting food on the table and a roof over our heads.(We are a big family).
In the past I have loaned tools to apprentices in order to expedite a job, most of whom were respectful of my tools, lately the apprentices I have worked with are not of the same caliber and certainly not worthy of enjoying the Festool experience. (bare in mind I [normally] sub contract to a number of companies so the apprentices are not mine but my client's).

Rob.

 

[Tinker]

"I also have had "mixed" experiences with loaning out tools. Festools rarely get loaned out,  Luckily, my local Festool dist. is also a rental business, so when friends ask me if they can borrow something.... they get my acct. number and my discount.
I'll take this opportunity to thank my father who selflessly loaned out his tools to me when i was a teenager starting out in the world of carpentry. He bought me my first Skillsaw when I was 19 (so he could get his back)"

My son was interested in tools at a very early age.  When he was around 12 or 13, he found a worn out Beetle which I brought home for him.  He spent the next years, until he could get his D.L., completely dismanteling and rebuilding the car >>> with my tools.  Previously, he had dragged home a bike frame and found a used 5 hp motor to rebuild  >>> also with my tools.  When his best buddy became interested in cars, the two of them did all of their own maintenance and repairing on their cars.  By then, they had tools of their own and even did most of the repairs to my own equipment.  they did not have everything they needed, so they still borrowed my tools.  The problem was, whenever a tool was finished with, it was left lying right where it had been used.  I never said anything to complain.  When they finally had a good supply of tools and enough money to buy some of their own (most of the earlier tools had been presents from both families), i would find occasion to need to borrow some of theirs.  where did i leave the tools when I was finished?  you guessed it, RIGHT WHERE I HAD USED THEM.  It did not take long before I discovered padlocks on each of their tolboxes.  Atleast they learned SOMETHING.  Ohwell, my son now helps me when i need a hand.  He has toys that can pick up and quickly dispose of any of the toys I allowed him to operate as a young man growing up.  his toys require "WIDE LOAD" signs to transport ad his tools are appropriate to the size of his toys.  his buddy does not live near by, but I still consider him to be one of my very best friends.  recently, he rebuilt and has taken to shows, a 195? Oldsmobile convertible sedan.  I assume he used his own tools.
Tinker

 

[upscale]

I'll take this opportunity to thank my father who selflessly loaned out his tools to me when i was a teenager starting out in the world of carpentry.

That reminds me of when I was living on my own and I dropped over to visit my mother a father. This was before the battery drive tool age. Anyway, my father was working on the front porch and having a hell of a time inserting screws to fasten some of the porch steps down. Being the handy fellow I was, I grabbed the screwdriver set with ratcheting driver out of the glove box of my car.

All I heard for the next several hours was how great these those screwdriver tools were. I never had much opportunity to loan my father some of my tools, but the screwdriver loan was something that made me feel real proud. As small a loan as it was, it felt great that I could reciprocate the 'tool loaning' practice that he'd done for me all those years.

 

[Sparktrician]

When I was a wee one, I used to marvel at the skills my dad had with tools.  Years later, when I had been in the Navy and had some serious technical and safety training under my belt, I came home and revisited some of the things that my dad had done, and with the new perspective, I was horrified.  Needless to say, certain things were reworked quickly to prevent potential disaster.  He was a bit dismayed that his work no longer passed muster, but I think that he and my mother were a bit relieved that certain safety issues had been resolved quickly, and I made sure that he understood the reasoning.  A few years later, during the '74 gas crisis, I found him carrying a full 5 gallon gas can in the trunk, just in case.  He by then had experienced a mini-stroke that tweaked his personality, but not nicely.  He chose to not believe that he was carrying a time bomb in the trunk.  It took the intervention (with my help) of a fire department captain that he knew and trusted to get him to see the danger to himself and my mom.  He then dumped the gas can's contents into the tank and put the empty gas can back in the trunk.  He just would not believe me when I told him that the fumes in an empty 5 gallon can had enough explosive power to blow his big car over the house.  Again, a visit from the fire captain helped resolve the issue.  After that, he would sometimes call and ask if I had a tool to do something specific.  What he really meant was if I had a tool to do something specific, and would I bring it over and would I use it for that purpose.