Page 1 of 3 123 LastLast
Results 1 to 15 of 31

Thread: Are you a tool hoarder?

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jan 2006
    Location
    Grand Forks, ND
    Posts
    2,336

    Are you a tool hoarder?

    I watched the hoarders tv show the other night, wow!! I felt really bad for some of the people on the show....then I got to thinking, and looking around my shop. I'm in the same boat to a point, I can't seem to part with any tools. My shop is very functional, but I have a LOT of tools I just dont use. I just can't seem to part with them though, must be a sickness

    Where do you stand, hoarder or non-hoarder?
    A bus station is where a bus stops. A train station is where a train stops. My desk is a work station.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    May 2007
    Location
    Fort Smith, Arkansas
    Posts
    1,985
    Don't think it's sickness. We are hoarders by instinct and evolution. I'm in between I guess as I never stop wanting to accumulate new things but can apply enough rationalization to avoid over the top extremes.
    My three favorite things are the Oxford comma, irony and missed opportunities

    The problem with humanity is: we have paleolithic emotions; medieval institutions; and God-like technology. Edward O. Wilson

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Oct 2006
    Location
    Mid Michigan
    Posts
    3,559
    Depending on who you are asking in my household. SWMBO will agree that I am a major hoarder, but she doesn't complain when she needs something fixed quickly and I go to my shop and find the repair part on a shelf waiting for years to be used. I have too many work spaces and I usually have duplicate tools in each one of the areas. Three drill presses, one in my basement, two in my pole building sitting next to a small tool room mill that can be used as a drill press. I do have a lot of things I need to get rid of but every time I think about it I get a knot in my stomach and put it off to another day in the future. Yup, I am definitely a hoarder.
    David B

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Jul 2010
    Location
    Middle Tennessee
    Posts
    710
    David B.,
    Same here. I say no, but my family says yes. I just chalk it up to a lack of understanding the need for the right tools for the job. Any real craftsman knows you need a power planer, a power jointer, and about 20 hand planes to true a board.
    Last edited by Gary Hodgin; 11-15-2011 at 1:23 PM.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Mar 2009
    Location
    Seabrook, TX (south of Houston)
    Posts
    3,093
    Blog Entries
    3
    I'm not really a hoarder; I just don't know how to sell what I've got. I shy away from Craig's List because I don't want weirdos showing up at my house. I don't really know how to estimate shipping for eBay but I guess I'll have to learn. What I have learned lately (about myself) is that I have purchased some tools that looked like a neat idea but then I never use it so I am going to be more discriminating in the future.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Jan 2004
    Location
    Lewiston, Idaho
    Posts
    28,504
    I'm not a tool hoarder.....I plan a project that requires a new tool to add to my collection......
    Ken

    So much to learn, so little time.....

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Mar 2003
    Location
    Monroe, MI
    Posts
    11,896
    They say the first step is to admit you have a problem. I don't...


  8. #8
    Join Date
    May 2009
    Location
    Boston
    Posts
    1,740
    I will say no. I don't go out and just buy anything thinking I may need it someday unless its a great deal. This mostly goes for flea markets, yard sales and C-list. I also can throw things out when I get new ones if they cannot serve another purpose.

    Ex, I got a new ROS since my old one was slowing down. I did keep the old one to work on metal, rust so I can keep my new one strickly for wood.

    Don

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Aug 2011
    Location
    New York, NY
    Posts
    2,203
    In case anyone missed this: http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthre...-is-a-workshop!!!

    Now feel free to feel better about yourself.

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Nov 2009
    Location
    Northern Utah
    Posts
    396

  11. #11
    Join Date
    Oct 2006
    Location
    Mid Michigan
    Posts
    3,559
    Peter K,
    I am feeling better about myself already but his hoard is well organized but mine is dangerous to navigate through.
    David B

  12. #12
    Join Date
    May 2009
    Location
    N.W. Missouri
    Posts
    1,564
    I wish I knew a young person wanting / needing some tools to learn with. I would be very happy to set them up with both hand and some power tools. I seem to have multiples of many of my tools that I would never miss the spares. Finding a young person with interests beyond cell phones, computers and facebook is hard to come by.

    John

  13. #13
    Join Date
    Dec 2008
    Location
    Northern Michigan
    Posts
    4,973
    Lets see.......

    4 tablesaws
    2 shapers
    2 jointers
    2 drill presses
    3 planers
    9 Miter saws
    27 routers
    12 circular saws
    2 band saws
    1 rabbiting machine
    I radial arm saw
    and only 1 lathe

    See, I'm ok, I only have one lathe, one radial arm and one rabbiting machine......

    Larry

  14. #14
    Join Date
    Jan 2006
    Location
    Grand Forks, ND
    Posts
    2,336
    Quote Originally Posted by Larry Edgerton View Post
    Lets see.......

    4 tablesaws
    2 shapers
    2 jointers
    2 drill presses
    3 planers
    9 Miter saws
    27 routers
    12 circular saws
    2 band saws
    1 rabbiting machine
    I radial arm saw
    and only 1 lathe

    See, I'm ok, I only have one lathe, one radial arm and one rabbiting machine......

    Larry
    Larry, thanks a millioin, I feel a lot better now. I think we have a winner!
    A bus station is where a bus stops. A train station is where a train stops. My desk is a work station.

  15. #15
    Join Date
    Apr 2011
    Location
    north, OR
    Posts
    1,160
    lol @larry - 27 routers and 12 circular saws!! heh nice! The rest of that list looks exceptionally reasonable (numbers to aspire to anyway )

    The line between hoarder, collector and "that fellow who's handy to know cause he always has just what you need" is very fine indeed. I think the line of hoarder is crossed when you are unwilling to get rid of things that are clearly trash. Scrap metal, random offcuts and tools that just need a little more fixing are clearly not trash (reduce, reuse and recyle - most people forget about the first two).

    I reckon I'm not yet a hoarder because I actually got rid of a bunch of junk this year (story and sticking to it).

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •