How old were you when you first bought 'expensive' tools?

[Two Door]

Age - early to mid twenties, years 1975-80. I can remember three things that seemed rather expensive at around $50 and therefore a bit of a splurge:

A ten drawer Craftsman tool chest -

A Sears Penske Timing Light

A top of the line Montgomery Wards variable speed 3/8 drill

The tool chest was stolen from my parents house where I had left it for "safekeeping" while I was at college.

The drill worked great until a few years ago when it abruptly died. I thought about trying to have it repaired, due to possible cool factor, but finally just threw it away.

I still have the timing light, and it works, but how often do you need one anymore?

And, on a philosophical note - it seems there are two modes in which you buy tools. The early part of your life, where they are expensive because you buy them as soon as you can, and the later part of your life, where they are cheap because you put off buying them as long as you can....

 

[dr_clyde]

I started buying tools in earnest in high school. I've always had what my dad calls "expensive taste". I dunno. I just like nice quality stuff I guess. Call it what you like. Either way, I bought my first Snap-on tools at age 16 or so. My first purchase that I remember was my toolbox. A used Snap-on top chest on a Craftsman roller. I don't remember what I paid, maybe $250 or $300. But it was a lot of money for a kid who worked part time after school at the hot rod shop.

My old boss would let me buy equipment and keep it at his shop. So at age 19 or so I bought my first welder. Lincoln Invertec V300 Pro with LN-7 feeder. My boss loaned me the money and let me work it off. Still have it and use it.

I had a pretty decent setup of tools by age 21 or thereabouts.

 

[thinman]

Bought a used 1965 Harley Sportster when I was in high school (1969). And so it began. Started off with SK stuff from the local auto parts store, then escalated to Snap-on when I got out of high school. I still have all the Snap-on and some of the SK from back then. Mostly I still buy Snap-on and SK when I need something. Snap-on has always been expensive but they've never let me down. SK is a very close second choice.

 

[stercorarius]

Bought my first proto torque wrench when I was fifteen with a student discount. Loved proto ever since. Bought first and only snap on stuff when I was seventeen and started working on semis and heavier equipment. I liked the same as cash payment plans. Not because I didn't have the money as I worked well over 80 hour weeks, but was hoping to build some kind of credit history.

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[stercorarius]

I Was 28 years old. My first bought and expensive tools dis sender.There square measure many alternative craft tools on the market, and once you begin doing a serious craft, you’ll understand why. Having many gears takes up plenty of areas, though, that is why many of us like combination tools. Belt disc sanders square measure one amongst that must-have merchandise. The disc permits you to try to additional precise sanding and edge work whereas the belt allows you to quickly free giant, flat surfaces. However, there’s plenty additional to belt disc sanders than that, therefore we’ve done the analysis for you and picked 10 wonderful models. Let’s quickly cowl our purchasing tips then jump right into the belt drum sander.

Either I am on something right now, or you get a gold star. Hell you get a gold star either way.

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[Mikeske]

1972, My older brother and father bought me a 120 piece Craftsman set with a gray hand carried toolbox. Fast forward ten years and I have been in the Air Force for 8 years and I decided to buy a set of tools. Hit up the Snap-on guy for a basic set he was $2,900.00 he gives a quote. See the Matco dealer he is $2,500.00 for the same setup, Mac guy could not be bothered, Bonney dealer gives me around $1,200-1,500 for the same basic setup.

I bought the Bonney set and then it sat at my home for another 5 years while I finished my enlistment. I still had my Craftsman set and used it on part time jobs in various tire shops around the Air Force base. I get a job offer from Boeing in 1987 to work for them and they required a basic toolset and sent me the list. I had to buy one additional tool and my Bonney toolset with a Bonney labeled Waterloo roller with top box last my entire career at Boeing and I took the set home when I retired in April.

 

[L.Cheapo]

When I was 15 I bought a Snap on ratcheting screwdriver and F936 ratchet. 23 years later, still my two most used tools.

 

[Tonyuk]

I bought my first decent quality tools at 17. I was starting at college and needed a coupe of basics so got a 200 piece Halfords professional tool set to start me off, as well as a couple of pliers and screwdrivers.

Still use most of it now, i use the screwdrivers every day as well as the chrome sockets. All covered by a lifetime guarantee if any of it goes wrong, i've replaced the screwdrivers and pliers a few times.

 

[zoomieport]

20, when I started my apprenticeship.

 

[Autoguy]

I was 19 years old when I bought my first tool box it was PROTO (used)

My first sets 1/4 ,3/8, and 1/2 inch were also PROTO my age was 23 yrs old.

My first Snap-on set I bought it my when my age was 32 yrs

 

[cliftonbros89]

I didn't have any of my tools til my early 20's. At that time it was all Craftman. One reason being cuz it was all still U.S. made at the time. Second being cuz Craftsman was really all I knew. It was all I grew up with besides SK and I didn't know where to get any SK.

But a few years after that I started picking up some Snap On stuff. Then some SK stuff. Then I found GJ.


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[Heavy Metal Doctor]

25, after I left the military and started a regular job as a mechanic.

 

[Empty Pockets]

I was in high school when I bought my first 2 sets of Wright combo wrenches and a 1/2" drive Wright socket set.

 

[turnthewrench]

'Bout 47 y/o. Proto sockets.

 

[ChaseDE]

I don't think I have yet at 35. My dad bought me some basic stuff "biggest" thing is probably a 1.5hp 26gal craftsman vertical compressor.

My dad gave me his old troy-bilt pony tractor when he upgraded to a john deere.

I inherited my grandfathers large collection of snap-on all ASE. I bought a 220ish piece crasftman ase and metric kit many years ago i still mainly use for the most part.

 

[scooterGA]

15, Snap On Truck at my dad's Auto Electric Shop. It was my real first purchase. Had been building alternators for him that summer and made enough to buy my first tools. Snap On general service 1/4 drive set in metal box. Standard sizes. Came with ratchet, 2 extensions and a universal. I am 50 now and I still have this set. I think it was 129.00 new when I bought it back then. I remember thinking how expensive it was. Now a days its 3 times that. Identical to the one in picture except inside of my tray was metal not plastic.

 

[2level]

I don't think I have yet at 35. My dad bought me some basic stuff "biggest" thing is probably a 1.5hp 26gal craftsman vertical compressor.

My dad gave me his old troy-bilt pony tractor when he upgraded to a john deere.

I inherited my grandfathers large collection of snap-on all ASE. I bought a 220ish piece crasftman ase and metric kit many years ago i still mainly use for the most part.

There is something special about using the tools that were once gripped by your grandfathers' hands. I can't tell you how many times memories have come flooding back when I open a drawer on my grandpas' old tool cabinet, or when I pick up the 1/2" Craftsman breaker bar that he had used on one of his dump trucks.

 

[bobcatdan]

Bought my first brand new snap on roll cab, a kra4107 the day before I turn 17 off the truck. Had already bought enough tools with a good payment history the dealer let me put it on truck account, yeah I had one when I was 16.

 

[pi_guy]

Bought my first Snap On box in 79 a taco box.
Purchased a new Miller dialarc 250 with cooler running gear and tank the same year.
Was given a craftsman set in the 60's had snagged most of my dads better craftsman tools by the time I was 18.

 

[MikeF2316]

When I was 13 or 14, my dad "suggested" I buy a good carpenter hammer to help him build a storage platform in the garage. I bought a Craftsman 16 oz hammer with an orange fiberglass handle and rubber grip, as I recall it was 3-4 times more expensive than their cheapest hammers. 45 years later, I still use it. The only other carpenter hammer I have is a 20 oz framing hammer, that one is too heavy for me to use for any more than 10-15 minutes, so the old Craftsman is the one that gets major use.

 

[AJO]

At 14 years of age I bought a Snap On 10" adjustable wrench and 16 oz. ball peen hammer. After 38 years I still have them and use every day.

 

[nes999]

I was 14. I was making good money at the time working for cash for a shady construction company. Around that time my dad switched from buying craftsman and Similer quality tools to the absolute cheapest he could find and trust me harbor freight would have seemed like snap on in comparison. I broke a ratchet and ended up hurting myself and vowed never to borrow a damn tool from him again. I bought good quality tools as I needed them for various stuff ever since.

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[Woz]

The first expensive tool I purchased was a Craftsman tool set and two drawer tool box when I was a 19 year old college student. I was living at home and needed to keep our old car running to commute to school. I do not remember the price but that purchase was a major one for my budget.

I still have that tool box and tools including most of the screwdrivers. My tool needs have been meet with Craftsman so I have not been upgrading. However, GJ has influenced me to start buying better screwdrivers and I just purchased a Mayhew punch set. GJ's powerful effect to make you purchase expensive tools is beginning to effect me also.

 

[Superbolide]

I bought and was gifted Craftsman USA hand tools from the mid-90s to around 2002. Decent quality stuff that has served me well over the years working on my cars and motorcycles. In July of this year (that would make me 41), I bought what I consider my first expensive tools: a Cornwell stubby combo wrench set. Now I'm hooked!

BTW, my Cornwell set was missing the 10mm wrench. If anyone has a line on one (model CW10XS), please drop me a message.

 

[itylerstewart]

I was 25

 

[BB70Chevelle]

I'm really just now (27) getting started on buying new more expensive tools. When I moved out of my parents house a few years ago my dad gave me a lot of his duplicate items he owned multiples of which got me by for awhile and now that I've been at my current job for a few years I'm starting to look at what tools I use almost daily and slowly upgrading them and adding stuff that would come in handy around the house.

 

[John in OH]

My Dad never wanted to spend much on tools so he had a collection of pretty low end stuff ..... Monkey Wards, Globemaster, etc., you know, that grade of tool. During high school I began building a set of my own tools, but they were about as junky as Dad's stuff. I'd go into the local supply store that sold to the local mines and I'd drool over the Proto and SK tools, but they were priced way beyond what I could afford.

When I graduated from college in 1972 at 22 yrs old and got a "real" job, I started to slowly buy my first "good" tools .... pretty much all Craftsman which I thought were a great upgrade from my high school stuff. Since I didn't work as a mechanic, and had recently married, the Proto and SK tools still remained beyond what I thought I could justify.

Only since I retired (at 60) have I begun to replace many of the Cman tools with Wright, Proto, Armstrong, and Channelock combos, sockets, ratchets, and pliers. The Cmans were still fine, I just wanted something different.

 

[Ferrari1904]

Remind me of this I used my first pay to buy fuel regulator since we have a broken bike 1969 Husqvarna 360/400 - 360/400 cross real classic. My dad gave it to me then next tool that I buy is fuel sensor since there's a constant leak on the fuel tank and We can't figure it out. I remember dad bought it online https://www.abestmeter.com/ultrasonic-fuel-level-sensor/. It's funny to go back on those days and spend your first dollar on something that special to you.

 

[BoganBox]

I was 16 and a first year apprentice, blew more than a month's wages on Britool spanners and ratchets, Elliot Lucas pliers, Bahco shifters, Gedore spanners and sockets et al. Little did I know those Britool spanners were in their final year or so of British production. About a year later I found out the factory had closed down and thereafter the spanners, which are nice but admittedly nothing amazing, became ornamental. I still have virtually all of those tools.

 

[driftpin]

My parents had bought a 1962 VW beetle cabriolet, "body by Karmann" brand-new, for a second car in the family. My mom drove it to work. A few months after they bought it, she came out of the office to find that a salesman had run-through the lot, putting his business card under everyones' windshield wipers, offering them a trade-in value. His card on her brand-new VW said, "I will give you up-to $650 towards the purchase of a new car from me!" The VW sedan at the time was about $1700, and the cabriolet was a significant amount above that, they had paid $2250 from the VW dealership by Lake Ontario (western NYS).

My brother closest in age to me and I both learned how to drive in that convertible. One winter, he slid on an icy road, hit a curb, and broke the front suspension, along with a crumpled rear fender. My dad was very unhappy, and said, "I'm not fixing the car, it can sit broken!" And, so it did. I was about to get my learner's permit, and I wanted to have a car to use, I told him, "buy me a set of combination wrenches and a set of 3/8" sockets, and I'll fix the car!" This was perhaps a bit optimistic as I had no background in automotive work, being 15 years of age, and had no real exposure to much of anything mechanical besides taking care of my prized Raleigh with a Sturmey-Archer 3-speed rear hub.

By this time, the car had been sitting awhile, and I got my first toolset, a Wright 3/8" drive metric set, and a set of their combination wrenches. True to my word, I did what I could to replace the broken VW parts, and my parents had the work checked, and an alignment, the body work was done, and the VW cabriolet was back on the road.

I still have my Wright set, I've managed to break one or two of the sockets, and I recently replaced the ratchet 'guts' but upon disassembly, it really just needed a good cleaning. I've used it frequently for the past fifty years, and when I work on anything metric, I still pick-up my venerable Wright 'Tootsie-Roll' ratchet, and get to work.

 

[TommyK]

19. Was working at a motorcycle dealership. Saw all the nice stuff the mechanics there had. Bought Snap On stuff off the truck for the next 4-5 years. Still have it all.