Progress on 'the new me'.

[Rick Potter]

I have always been a sucker for a really good deal. As such I ended up being quite the tool collector, especially a decade back with the last recession when tools were being sold at real bargains.

Anyway, yesterday I came along a CL ad for a decent looking Craftsman 12" band saw...runs good, just needs new blade. $25, and it is within a mile of me. The old me would have had it home by now. That is why I have 30 routers right now.

Proudly announcing that I never even made the call. After all I own three bandsaws anyway.

I know how trivial this sounds, but to me it is progress.

Then again, maybe it's because I don't own a truck anymore........nah.

[Chris Schoenthal]

Tiny steps Rick, tiny steps.
Next you'll have to work on not looking through CL for old tools in the first place.

[Frederick Skelly]

Good job Rick. Keep going.

[Alan Lightstone]

Let's back up a step. 30 routers????? Really?

[Jim Becker]

A 12 step program for GAS...

(Gear Acquisition Syndrome)

[glenn bradley]

Well done. One day at a time ;-)

[Brian Runau]

Withdrawal is a slow process.

[Bernie Kopfer]

Not accumulating stuff is un-American. Getting and keeping stuff you don’t need keeps our consumerist economy going. Do you really want to be labeled as being unpatriotic?

[Paul Wunder]

Where does your support group meet?

[Randy Viellenave]

I wish you were my neighbor, I could just borrow your extra tools instead of buying my own

[Michael Schuch]

Let's back up a step. 30 routers????? Really?

I am not up to Rick's level but I have about 20 routers. Mostly older models but still several newer models. When you see a PC 690 or Bosch 1650 for $40 how are supposed to pass that up? My justification is how much time I am saving on bit changes!

[Rick Potter]

Most of them I picked up used. Before the new style compact routers were fashionable I picked up four small B&D routers about that size. They are really neat, but cheapo. They look like a Bosch Colt with two D handles, which makes them really nice to hold safely. I bought them separately for $20, two $10 and a $5. They each have a small round over or laminate trim bit...ready to go.

Some I got with table saws I bought and turned over. I remember getting a barely used Bosch kit with plunge and standard bases...the one with the wooden handles. The lady advertised it for $125, I think. Offered her $100 and she refused. Couple weeks later it is advertised at $80 and I bought it. I didn't tell her I had offered more earlier.

Got a DeWalt 621 at Lowes at closeout of $40. Display model missing a collet and another part. Called DeWalt to buy the parts and they sent them free. Another I could not pass up was a new PC 690 from Lowes for $40 NIB.

I could go on, but I don't want to sound like a tool collector.

On the other hand, I have a few router tables, which will be found in the classifieds someday. My first one cost 50 cents.

[Alex Zeller]

It's hard. A few years ago one of the on-line auction houses had a commercial Rockwell radial arm saw (the one built like a tank) about 5 miles from my house. Nobody bid on it until the last few minutes. It received just one bid and sold for $25. Of course who knows how high they would have gone but I was so tempted to buy it. I have no use for one and just moving it (I think they said it weighed over 500lbs) would have been a pain. I even tried to talk myself into thinking I would sell it on Craig's list. But I resisted and have one less tool cluttering up my shop. Baby steps.

[Carl Beckett]

Well done. But be kind to yourself going forward because there is a high chance of a relapse.

I recently wanted to cleanup a bbq grill and restore it. Saw one like it for free that I could rob parts off. Then found another that had some different parts that were a bit better. So on and so forth. I now have 6 BBQ grills sitting in my workshop in various stages of disassembly. I gotta get these things out of here to make room for woodworking again...

Be strong my friend.

[Alan Lightstone]

I'm not immune by any stretch. I think I personally keep Woodpeckers in business. One day I might use one of the 4 edge rules I bought, and haven't used once yet. All hanging on the wall in a nice rack.

3 bandsaw tension gauges. Who needs 3???

Much less the Leigh FMT Pro with accessories whose box I haven't even opened yet.

So I guess I go for variety, not quantity.

Where is this support group meeting again???