Tell us how you got into tools and such

[pain]

I guess that I will go first. I was inspired by my Grandfather. He never finished high school but he still managed to make an impression on anyone he ever met. When he was younger he opened his own service station at the age of 19. Through economic difficulties he had to shut the garage down but was able to land a job at Goodyear Aerospace where he worked until he retired. When my Grandfather retired he was one of the most well respected men in the industry. His last job title was "Plastics Engineer", he helped design the plastics that you see today. Everything from F-16 windows to Rubbermaid cups. Needless to say, he truly inspired me and everything I do today. I have always been mechanicaly inclined and he was always there to support me in every way possible. He gave me my first toolbox and it has been a great love affair with tools ever since. Some day I hope to leave a legacy and inspire my children the way he inspired me.

Thanks for reading, now it's your turn.

 

[metaleltr]

My mom read to me from the Sears industrial tool catalog because i was tired of kids books-i was about 2. The next Christmas i received a craftsman 3/8 14.4v cordless drill. It has been uphill ever since.

 

[cdd1]

My mom read to me from the Sears industrial tool catalog because i was tired of kids books-i was about 2. The next Christmas i received a craftsman 3/8 14.4v cordless drill. It has been uphill ever since.

You received a 14v cordless drill at the age of 3? Yikes!

 

[Zeke]

I think I had to go find a wrench to adjust my bicycle seat. Next thing you knew, I was taking off the wheels, fixing tires, and so on. My dad was not a mechanical kind of guy but I think he felt sorry for me. So, he bought me some tools. I'm 67 and have almost every one still. The wrenches and sockets are 50's SK.

Plus about 20K more.

 

[Mickey O]

I though this was a hair care products board?

 

[metaleltr]

You received a 14v cordless drill at the age of 3? Yikes!

Yeah and shortly afterwards I preceded to remove all but one screw from each of my dresser doors, leaving them to hang crooked, my dad put torx head scres in the hinges.

Then there was the time i used a scissors jack to lift the Bronco II to remove the right front tire. I was about 6 and my dad's friend gave me the jack. dad couldn't find me and the neighbor saw me taking off the tire, he let dad know where I was. I didn't even get in trouble.

Did my first brake job at 10 and taught myself how to wire electrical outlets about the same time.

 

[pain]

Really cool stories except for the hair cre product thing

 

[djd99]

Well my dad ran a body shop growing up and his hobby was restoring model A's and T's. I have some pictures somewhere of my dad and I when I was 3 wrenching on a model A project.

Dad gave me all his junk tools at 3 so I always had a tool in my hand using it for good and bad. He didn't like when I was straightening the fins on his brand new old stock radiator with a screw driver. Hell never let me forget that. He had to have it soldered when I was done. lol

So I've been collecting tools for 38 years now and don't really need a good reason to buy another one. It's a addiction.

And forgot to mention dad hit all the dealer salvage auctions so I bought my first car when I was 12.

 

[crewchief888]

seems like dad didt like me always taking one of his tools to fix my bicycle.
got some of my own when i was about 9 or 10 years old.
as i got older i usually had to fix whatever POS car i was driving just to get to work, so a bought a few of my own tools.
i got my dads 50's vintage SK sets when he passed away in '78, those tools got me started working on const eq in '84.
been wrenching on const eq ever since.
and tools keep multiplying

 

[slob]

We are humans. We have opposable digits. We use tools. Everything we do that is more complicated than stuffing raw grass in our mouths and defecating in the woods requires some sort of tool. The tool is the fulcrum on which mankind lifted himself up from savagery. A man who isn't interested in tools is not a man at all.

 

[Trucky]

Well it all started when I was a child...I wasn't like the other boys...

Anyways,

Grandfather was a draftsman for Westinghouse back in the day after he served. Had tons of models and drawings/supplies at his house, so of course being a history nerd I got into it. Eventually drawing things turned into wanting to MAKE the things I was drawing. That turned into machining once I got into high school. Once I had learned of all the cool machinist tools and whatnot, and that there was a ton to learn, I was hooked. I started buying things left and right (I spent over 300$ on my mics/calipers in 10th grade), and now... well now I'm here! And my addiction isn't getting any better (worse? )

I have Autocad 2012 and Mastercam for the moment, I still enjoy the numbers side once in a while.

 

[shoturtle]

Working on M1A1 Abrams Tanks when I was in the CAV. Before that I only had a small craftsman set for my car. After playing on tanks for couple of years. I started really buying quality tools.

 

[keithh2oskier]

Like many - the knowledge was passed down from my dad. The old man is one cheap SOB and doesnt like to pay someone to do something he can do himself (within reason of safey and time)... I am the same way. Even if I dont know how - Ill try to learn... So basically that meant everything to fixing and maintaining things growing up. While neither of us have huge tool collections by any means I think compared to the average American - we are both pretty handy considering we have desk jobs and don't wrench for a living.

I grew up waterskiing ALOT. We easily were putting 2-300 hours a summer on our boat. Between the Bronco to tow the boat and the boat/trailer itself there was a lot of maintenace/cleaning to be done. Obviously my dad didn't want to do it all himself so he taught me to do things to help. It started as small stuff like washing and waxing the boat, to learning to change the oil and filter, to rotating tires, learning to change brake pads, to eventually having to replace the heads on the motor, etc. Each job requires tools, some of them basic, some of them specalty, and some of them just muscle... Either way it formed a bond between the things i loved to do (waterskiing) with tools. So now that I am on my own and dont water ski any more I still enjoy working with my tools (now on my dirtbike) because it keeps the passion going. While many Americans look at tools and feel that they are dirty and grungy and avoid using them, I (and many of the other GJ's) probably have some sort of fond memory that we enjoy doing stuff and not paying someone $70/hour to do a basic job.

 

[pain]

Thanks everyone for sharing. I think this is a great thread to show how all the experiance in GJ got started. Keep it up and lets hear those stories that brought you to where you are today.

 

[tribbles]

Dad gave me an assortment of Craftsman and Sears-brand tools one Christmas when I was about eight or so, including an SAE socket set, some screwdrivers and pliers, and some box-end and combo SAE wrenches. Used them on my bikes at first, then when I started driving, used them on the Bonneville and then the Firebird, sometimes borrowing tools from my dad if I needed to, then buying them on my own once I left the house.

35 years later, I've managed to have hung on to most of them. They sit along with most of the other tools I've since acquired in the 44" HF cabinet in the garage (though my electrical and electronic tools are in a separate Craftsman toolbox). Mostly Craftsman, but a smattering of other brands, from Snap-On to Harbor Freight.

 

[Steevo]

I was the son of an engineer, but not a mechanical engineer, an aerospace electronics type geek. I was introduced to circuits and electronic compoments at an early age, but was more interested in the drill we used to make the breadboard for the components, and then the soldering iron, and then I got into saws and stuff, and then I started taking stuff apart. I didn't always put it back together, but I enjoyed the dis-assembly and assembly process.
Once, when I was about 6 or 7, my mom and i were at a store, maybe a dept store or a variety store, but they had some cool stuff. I was sitting in the aisle with a screwdriver from the tool section, taking apart some kind of electric appliance, when a store employee showed up to reprimand me. Minutes later, my mom walks up, and tells the guy "relax, he'll put it back together when he's done".

I got my first paper route at 9 years old. You were supposed to be 10, but I lied. As soon as I had money, I started building a better set of tools than my dad had. I bought a set of double box-end Craftsman wrenches, a hand-impact driver, and a big file with a wooden handle (my dads files had tape wrapped around the handles).

 

[KEH]

Necessity. I was raised on a farm. The earliest cool thing I remember my daddy doing was to put coals of fire under a Fordson tractor to get the motor oil warm enough to hand crank it. A Fordson tractor was introduced in 1918 and didn't change much until production stopped sometime in the 1930s. Henry Ford was not one to waste engineering development by unnecessarily changing models. The Fordson had coils like a model T Ford and hand adjusted spark.

A necessary job learned was doing brakes on a 1955 Buick. I was coming home for the weekend from college and a tire blew out. One rear brake was rubbing the drum, generated heat, blew out tire. I took the drum off, took off old shoe, got one new one, put it on without turning drum, it lasted until I sold the car, I had never done brakes before. Later the car had starter trouble. I bought an 1/2 x 9/16 obstruction wrench to take starter off, my first experience with using specialized tools, and I've never needed that wrench since. Starter problem was selenoid switch which on those Delco starters has a copper disc which is pulled into contact with 2 copper bolts, completing a circuit. One side of the bolts was burned too much to make goos contact. Instead of buying a new switch, I turned the bolts to the unburned part, put everything back together and went on my way. On later cars I would get a manual and go by it, like doing the head on a 90s DOHC Mazda.

Like I said, necessity.

KEH

 

[rkevins]

when I was about 1 dad was helping my uncle ( his brother) build there house mom worked on saturdays so he took me with him, so I got to hammer well bend nails in all the scraps I could find, they would take me on the roof when they were roofing, got my first tape measure at around 5, still have it stanley 12', don't rember when I got my first hammer

 

[rsanter]

Back in the day my family had a vineyard that had been in the family for like 100 years, my dad grew up learning how to fix and make things but didn't have the farmer gene in him ( and neither do I ) so he went a different direction. But he always knew how to make or fix almost anything, I guess he is one of those now rare jack of all trades.
So as you can guess I learned a lot from my dad and then learned a bunch of stuff on my own after that.
I learned to do machine work from a friend of my dad that made parts for the original mars probe (70s)' I learned woodworking and welding from my dad, I helped my dad build the house he lives in currently. I learned metal working/metal shaping partly on my own and more from a friend that has forgotten more about it than I will ever know.

Bob

 

[jeffmoss26]

I've been obsessed with tools my whole life...I had my first real tools at the age of four (I still have some of them today). My uncle was a plumber so I got a lot of knowledge from him. I've always tinkered with things, mechanical, electronic, and otherwise. Nothing was safe from me attempting to take it apart. I would follow the maintenance guy at my mom's work around, 'helping' him fix things. He's still a good friend of mine to this day, only now I actually DO help him!
This curiosity led naturally into my career in IT. I mostly work on computer hardware, networks, and phone systems, including cabling. I worked at a couple hardware stores through HS and college,where I continued to learn more.
I love tools and have the basement to prove it!

 

[pain]

Hey Guy's, Are you recognizing a trend here. All of us had some one who basically mentored us. That is a great thing. Who are you mentoring to take your place in this computer aged world. Are we mentoring real craftsman? Where would the future be without people that can get there hands dirty and make a difference? All of you Guy's are awesome in your own right and that is what makes Garage Journal such a great place to interact with like minded people. Thanks and I look forward to reading more stories about how everyonecut there teeth in the TOOL WORLD.

 

[Trucky]

Hey Guy's, Are you recognizing a trend here. All of us had some one who basically mentored us. That is a great thing. Who are you mentoring to take your place in this computer aged world. Are we mentoring real craftsman? Where would the future be without people that can get there hands dirty and make a difference? All of you Guy's are awesome in your own right and that is what makes Garage Journal such a great place to interact with like minded people. Thanks and I look forward to reading more stories about how everyonecut there teeth in the TOOL WORLD.

Quit thinking so much.

Anyways, I hope to do that someday.. however, I'm 20 and I don't plan on kids for a good while (If I even have any), but I do take it upon myself to influence the next generation in a very positive light.

 

[pain]

Quit thinking so much.

Anyways, I hope to do that someday.. however, I'm 20 and I don't plan on kids for a good while (If I even have any), but I do take it upon myself to influence the next generation in a very positive light.

your funny. Great attitude for a 20 year old

 

[Outlawmws]

My first recollection of hands on mechanical take it apart and put it back together was Mr. Machine (Marx? Ideal? ). The original one, not the **** imitations they re-issued. Full of gears and arms and legs that "moved" the head bobbed and the mouth opened and closed. and you could take it completely apart and put it back together. Id guess 30-40 parts in the thing...

I can also remember helping my dad swap a Studebaker V8 into a Willys panel Jeep; Our first 4X4. I was in the 2nd grade... Bikes, inside out all though childhood, made a "go cart" out of the boards from an old picnic bench, and a Horizontal shaft lawnmower engine. (Yuo could run faster than it would go, but we had fun with it...

My First "motorcycle" was a sting ray 5 speed bike with a similar B&S lawnmower engine literally strapped to the frame. (Dad would not hear og me having a MC, and when I asked if I could build one he said "NO! besides it will never work!"

"If I can make it work, can I ride it?"

He laughed and said have at it, (figuring I'd be out of his hair for a while...)

He admitted later He was stunned when I got it going, and kept his word, I was allowed to ride my "murdercycle" Rode the wheels off that and it went through many iterations for a year or so. jsut a bike with wheels, a chopper several different ways, a "cafe racer" with a pair of high rise handle bars chopped and turned upside down, a "dirt bike"...

Had a lot of fun with that thing...

 

[bobadame]

I've been busy making things for as long as I can remember. For that you need tools. Adaquate tools are good enough for me. They are just a means to an end, they're just tools.

 

[ihredo4]

My dad was always working on snowmobiles in the winter. I was out in the shop watching and learning. When I took over the mowing I had to learn to repair. Unfortunately dad wasn't too concerned with tools. He would leave them wherever he used them last. I am still finding tools around here. Anywho I bought my own box and tools so I knew where the hell what I needed was. Now to keep him out is the challenge. LOL Now I restore old IH tractors and put a Cummins in a Ford so always am fixing something.

 

[Bernie Mac]

I can't remember not wrenching on something but my dad always had junk tools as he considered them a necessary evil. I was about 12 when instead of mowing the lawn as dad wanted, I took the B&S lawn mower motor off the reel mower and put it in the frame of a 28" bicycle. For years before dad passed he would tell the story of looking for me to see why the lawn wasn't mowed only to hear an unusual noise behind the house and to see me riding in the field in a B&S powered bike!
My first set of "good" tools came my way while I was working as labor helping remove burnt wood from a garage fire. As I was removing the charred wood I came upon some shiny stuff in the ashes. Turned out to be a couple of SK socket sets in 1/4 & 3/8. I collected all I could find and asked if they were any good. Being told that after going through the fire they would be junk so I could keep them if I wanted. Well I've kept them for 45 yrs. and they still work (and have been worked alot) fine!
That opened the flood gates for my addiction for hand tools which now fills two very large tool cabinets.

 

[96GT226410]

My father would do some small work on cars, and when I got my license my first car was what I could afford (a piece of ****). It would break down and my father would try to help me fix it. I started getting into cars because I wanted to know how they worked. I went to a trade school, got a degree in Automotive Technology, and started turning wrenches for ten years. Now I have a pretty nice set of tools, a big tool box and matching service cart, and since I don't turn wrenches for a living anymore I actually enjoy working on cars now. I don't need all of the Snap On I have, but I'll never get rid of them. My 4-year-old son loves "helping" me and "fixing" his own toy cars, so it looks like he'll be interested in how things work, too.

 

[nit2wn]

I have just been around them for as long as I could remember. Dad worked on appliances, hvac work, ice makers, you name it. I'd tag along even at 4-5 yrs old. My job was to simply keep up with the tools or fetch them out of the truck. Our only transportation for a long time was a 65 Ford with a toolbody on it from the phone company days of service. It was rare for us not to have the right tools and usually the part on the truck to fix it then and there. I never picked up the love for appliances, but a family friend was one hell of a shade tree mechanic. He could tell stories of the old days of hotrodding cars and what combination of parts would do this or that. He could tell you how to rebuild an A model engine. I developed my love of cars watching him work our truck from time to time. I'd changed the oil and plugs in it because it always seemed dad never had time. That was the good old days. Sit on the inner fender and just prop your feet on the motor mount and change and gap them. Have most of his tools, and a ton more that I bought. I still want a pickup with a toolbody on it, just for the nostalgia sake.

 

[Bob-B]

Dad was a tool & die maker who also was trained in cabinet making. He did everything around the house as well as basic auto repairs. Dad had a shop with some small machines (lathe, drill press, table saw, etc.) in the basement, and was the go-to guy in the family. He did everything from car/boat repairs to house remodeling for both his and mom's side of the family. I caught the bug from being his helper. My younger boy, 19 and studying Mechanical / Aero Engineering, appears to be the one who will carry on after me.

 

[CoconutPete]

Cool stories! Mine started before I was even born....

My grandparents were married during the German occupation of Denmark during WWII, even if you had money (which you didn't) it didn't mean you could buy something ... so ... if it broke - you fixed it.

They had 3 daughters ... my grandpa was bummed.

Their oldest daughter got pregnant... he was psyched ... she had a daughter .. awww.

Then my mom got pregnant - My grandpa named me Peter after her first doctors appointment ....... before she knew she was having a boy!

The earliest memories I have of my grandfather was from his workshop, he taught me about electricity and how to use tools etc. I still have his toolbox in my house now, I take out a tool and use it every once in a while, but not that much, that little toolbox is the most precious thing I own - The cars, the house, computers, tv etc. It's all insured, that toolbox is what matters. After he died I packed it up and checked it as a suitcase and brought it back to Connecticut.

I have a daughter .... we are going for at least one more. I hope I end up with a son or my wife is going to be cursing up a storm when I bring my daughter in from the garage/yard all covered in dirt & oil. My children WILL know how to fix stuff... boys or girls.

 

[mscribellito]

When I got my first car it needed a lot of TLC. Eventually put a new motor and trans into it. I remember I started out with a small 16" stack on toolbox and a ~50 piece Cman socket set. Now I have about $10k in tools

 

[Hobbit]

I was dads tool gofer monkey as far back as I can remember. He always gave me a piece of wood with nails or screws to wrestle with while helping him. When I turned 18 my first credit card was from Sears. I orded a roller, chest, 200 pc. mech,set and havn't looked back.

 

[zmotorsports]

I was born/raised on a farm and learned at a fairly early age that keeping the farm equipment running and not abusing them was important. My parents were far from rich and believed in taking care of things as well as doing everything yourself. That is where I got it.

My dad was very smart and had one of those minds that always was going and thinking. He could look at something and figure out how it worked, that always intrigued me. However, on the tool side he had the very basic tools and nothing more. Many jobs he figured he could do with a crescent wrench, pliers, pipe wrench and/or hammer. He also had tools just dumped into his Craftsman top box sitting on the workbench in the barn. It bothered me to no end whenever I needed a wrench or socket to have to "dig" through the drawers to find the correct one.

I started fixing lawn mowers, tillers and other small engines for neighbors and family members around 13/14 years old. I slowly bought some "cheapy" basic hand tools just so I didn't have to dig through my dad's tools, and more importantly not get blamed when he couldn't find one when he was looking for something.

As I grew older I started fixing my buddies vehicles and even did some racing at the local race track.

When I was 19 years old I was hired as an apprentice mechanic and I made it a point to learn everything I possibly could. I was fortunate enough to have two great mentors that I looked up to. They both had nicely equiped home shops that they worked on things and did side jobs. After visiting them I realized that I wanted something similar at my home when I got married and had a home.

It took a while but now after 23 years of marriage I finally have a fully equiped shop with tools and equipment that we don't even have at my full-time job.

I guess you could say I am a bit of a tool *****.

Mike.

 

[Man Cave]

When I was 7 my parents split up. My dad had a whole shop full of tools and I just started working on my bikes and anything else that I thought needed it. I built my own go cart at 8 with what was left of an old self propelled rotary mower and wood frame. When it was time to drill holes with the drill press I just went ahead and did it and I'm lucky I still have all my fingers 50 years later. Later I was mentored by A&P mechanics that were employed by my dad. By then I was skilled enough to work on airplanes. You learn fast when you have to make do with what you have.

 

[jvitez]

We are humans. We have opposable digits. We use tools. Everything we do that is more complicated than stuffing raw grass in our mouths and defecating in the woods requires some sort of tool. The tool is the fulcrum on which mankind lifted himself up from savagery. A man who isn't interested in tools is not a man at all.

For a guy named Slob, you certainly demonstrate clarity in thinking, forthrightness, and humour. And, you are absolutely correct! Sad commentary on the state of men in this modern age, however.

Me? My dad was a power electrician, immigrated to Canada from Europe 7 years before I was born with literally the clothes on his back and nothing else. Made a life for himself and our family with brains and determination. On summer vacation he would bring his toolbox home. As a kid I loved playing with the interesting and somewhat strange tools he had in this box. I could easily identify ball-pein hammers, sockets, ratchets, nutdrivers, etc., but oddly shaped cable knives and huge fuse pullers incited even more curiosity. I would take out all the tools and clean up this box for him, just because. As a teenager it was getting pretty well "used," so I sanded it down and spray painted it for him. He used it like this until he died 2 years before retirement.

My Dad was also a Mr. Fixit. His philosophy was if it's already broken I can't make it worse, so he always tried to fix anything. If it didn't work, then he's call someone. As a teenager I remember helping him rewire an old house for a family friend, and helping him finish our basement. He built the first bedroom with nothing but a handsaw, hammer, and nails. He got a circular saw for Christmas that year.

I got a new bike when I was 11 or 12. It was the most precious thing I owned. Every spring I could hardly wait to get riding waiting for the snow to melt. I'd take apart the bearings, regrease them, lube the chain, tighten everything just waiting for good weather. Other friends of mine had fathers who didn't know which end of a screwdriver was which, so I'm very glad I grew up seeing what a man can do with curiosity, determination, and a few tools.

 

[pain]

For a guy named Slob, you certainly demonstrate clarity in thinking, forthrightness, and humour. And, you are absolutely correct! Sad commentary on the state of men in this modern age, however.

Me? My dad was a power electrician, immigrated to Canada from Europe 7 years before I was born with literally the clothes on his back and nothing else. Made a life for himself and our family with brains and determination. On summer vacation he would bring his toolbox home. As a kid I loved playing with the interesting and somewhat strange tools he had in this box. I could easily identify ball-pein hammers, sockets, ratchets, nutdrivers, etc., but oddly shaped cable knives and huge fuse pullers incited even more curiosity. I would take out all the tools and clean up this box for him, just because. As a teenager it was getting pretty well "used," so I sanded it down and spray painted it for him. He used it like this until he died 2 years before retirement.

My Dad was also a Mr. Fixit. His philosophy was if it's already broken I can't make it worse, so he always tried to fix anything. If it didn't work, then he's call someone. As a teenager I remember helping him rewire an old house for a family friend, and helping him finish our basement. He built the first bedroom with nothing but a handsaw, hammer, and nails. He got a circular saw for Christmas that year.

I got a new bike when I was 11 or 12. It was the most precious thing I owned. Every spring I could hardly wait to get riding waiting for the snow to melt. I'd take apart the bearings, regrease them, lube the chain, tighten everything just waiting for good weather. Other friends of mine had fathers who didn't know which end of a screwdriver was which, so I'm very glad I grew up seeing what a man can do with curiosity, determination, and a few tools.

Do you still have your fathers tool box?

 

[Jeff Ivers]

I remember at about 5 or 6 asking if I could take apart a broken toy to see if I could fix it/see how it was put together. Borrowed some of Dad's limited tools. Then it was taking apart old wagons and pedal cars to build a crude downhill racer. Later it was fixing cars and building a hydorplane.... Used to love going to sites where my Grandad was building houses and watching when I was real little.

 

[1930artdeco]

I am a third generation back yard mech. My grandfathers (w/o anything higher than a h.s. ed.) worked on farms, planes and spacecraft. My father worked on cars and planes and I a work on planes, cars and my house.

So I over the years I have used tools and just started buying them for my cars. Then I bought my house and it went down hill from there. I have bought more tools because of my house in the last couple of years than probably I have bought my whole life. Oh well, I will just have to suffer through this disease.

Mike

 

[widerberg]

My father was never very interested in working with his hands. He fixed things around the house, and even built a camper out of an old full size van back in the early '80s, but it was always a means to an end, not because he was especially into tools or projects. The idea of fixing stuff and working with tools got planted there, but was never really nurtured because he just wasn't into it "for fun." My father-in-law was very big into American tools and classic cars, and I'd have to say I developed my real and lasting love of tools through him. A co-worker in one of my first jobs was very, very big on classics cars, too, especially Mustangs, and having someone in my own peer group into that sort of thing, wrenching on old cars, really sealed the deal.

So, I'd have to say my FIL (now deceased) and an old buddy from work did it for me.