Should I start buying tools for my son?

[Spudland_Dave]

Let him realize the value of good tools. Show him the difference between **** and quality.

I remember my first set was that $5 socket set from a gas station. Had no idea how ****** they were until I learned what a quality tool was....

+1
My son will be 5 this summer and he's been slowly acquiring my tools. He gets my old Cman tools as I upgrade to MAC/SO stuff as they come on special.
Everybody wins...I'm in a position where I can afford to wait and buy as they come on sale.

 

[Cameronl]

I started a set for my son when he was about 13. A mix of good used and decent new stuff. Definitely shadetree stuff, not pro. Used Cman RP wrenches, new Cman screwdrivers, a decent USA made Kobalt ratchet set (1/4, 3/8 & 1/2), misc. other stuff, including safety gear, all in a Husky 3-drawer toolbox. I gave it to him when he was 16 and asked to borrow a tool. He loved it.

I regretted not starting one for my daughter, too, who has since turned to theater tech work in college. I quickly put a smaller set together for her. She doesn't need as much in theater. Her go-to tools are an adjustable wrench on a bungie (don't want to drop it from the catwalk!) and a good multi-tool.

 

[Cameronl]

I'll also pass down anything when I upgrade, or add when I score something at a tag sale I already have.

 

[justanengineer]

Oh yeah, one more thing... Hide all visegrips, adjustable wrenches and do all tools, unless you want everything to have rounded off and screwed up fasteners. A new person with those tools can screw up more than you want to fix.

Someone should take away your tools for that comment. Adjustables and vise grips were among the first I learned to use, using them teaches someone to pay attention to their work and to be careful when doing even simple tasks. 20+ years later Ive NEVER rounded off a fastener despite growing up in the worst of the rust belt, wrenching professionally, and using those two probably more than any other.

 

[Fantic]

I remember it was about the late 70's and I was around 12 my grandpa started giving me tools for my birthday and Christmas. He and his brothers owned a John Deere implement store. Every tool was John Deere. I don't know who made them but they were good tools. My son has them now.

 

[woody 73]

This post has me crying...I tried every trick in the book with my two boys and nothing worked they love electronic games so much that tools have no meaning in their lives.

At a young age I tried store bought Ice cream pops along with a hardware tour, fix your bike day with candy, invite your friends over for pizza and derby day, football and shop tour with your friends day, Get back at your teacher day with how to take off their car tires for fun...

In the end they never liked tools and it just kills me so much.

Wishing you the best never give up.

 

[Dave455]

YES! YOU BET! Buy him some tools!

When I was that age, and in fact younger, I was regularly bought tools by my father and grandfather!

My grandfather often bought me woodworking tools, just one tool at a time, but halfway decent quality. He knew I'd teach myself how to use it before the next birthday and the next tool!

My Dad understood my fascination with all things mechanical, I'd grown up helping him maintain 4 vehicles in the family, together with assorted bikes, mowers and so on, and he bought me engineers tools. Unlike previous suggestions, he went for decent quality rather than quantity, but all these years on he was sooo right! He started by buying things he knew I'd use - decent smaller screwdrivers, wrenches so I could fix my own bike and so on, and built up from there!

By the time of my 16th birthday he bought me a top end 3/8 drive socket set! The thing that both my father and grandfather understood, was that sometimes, the things children appreciate the most, is being treated as an adult! I can still remember the envious glances I got from my friends when they saw the tools I got for my 12th birthday while they were still getting toys and games!

Now, here's the critical bit! I still have ALL of the tools I was given! Sure, I've outgrown some of them, such as the little plane wth simple adjustments, but I still use many! How many people can say that about presents they were given 30 plus years ago!

 

[Frank Dukes]

my dad started me with a small craftsman portable filled with craftsman tools like this for christmas when i was.. i dunno, 12? still have it, and glad to. do it. dont spend a fortune.

 

[pauls_workshop]

I got a 3 year old boy who is already playing with toy tools and loves them. With all parenting, it is about what you do as parents that the kids learn from. If you want them to be mechanical, then do mechanical things. They will follow your lead and naturally try to be like you and learn from you. You can't tell them anything or make them be interested in anything. But you can show them by doing it yourself. Parents want hard working well behaved polite kids? Be a hard working, well behaved, poilite adult! I don't want to force anything on my boy, but let him do what he wants to go into later on. But I can work on my own behaviour as an example for him--this is the greatest challenge to being a good parent for me! I'm working on it! I am going to give him a nice set of older US made quality tools when he is older. Not snap-on, but US made. Older US made with little wear can be had for not much more than new China if you shop around (Craigslist, local garage sales, real auctions, or ebay auctions, etc.). Keep in mind too that none of us acutally live forever. When we do pass on, the kids can get whatever we have then or the grandkids. - Paul

 

[Spudland_Dave]

I got a 3 year old boy who is already playing with toy tools and loves them. With all parenting, it is about what you do as parents that the kids learn from. If you want them to be mechanical, then do mechanical things. They will follow your lead and naturally try to be like you and learn from you. You can't tell them anything or make them be interested in anything. But you can show them by doing it yourself. Parents want hard working well behaved polite kids? Be a hard working, well behaved, poilite adult! I don't want to force anything on my boy, but let him do what he wants to go into later on.

VERY VERY VERY True right there...there was a post here a week or so ago about people being "Born Mechanically Inclined or not" I kinda agreed, but I think it has to do with the ENVIROMENT more then anything. My son is going on 5 and one of his favorite shows is "How its Made", loves anything tool, mechanical, agricultural...This spring with NO provocation from us (other then my wife mentioning to me we need to sit down and order our seeds for the year) his one desire for the summer is to plant a wheat field (My wife and I are big gardeners)...so he got my dad to get him a 50lb bag of Wheat...and WE Will be prepping out a small 10'x20' "Wheat Field" out back. He's on cloud 9...but the moral here is even before you think they pay attention they are. He's now shopping my Truck Trader mag for a Peterbilt Grain truck for the fall harvest

As a child, I NEVER liked sports, or any other school/extra-curricular activities, never joined any and always thought they were silly, stupid and waste of time in the big picture. Hindsight being 20/20 has proven me right. While others were getting baseball trophies, I was being Dad's shadow, doing metal fab work, plumbing, electrical, carpentry, mechanics, etc.. Today I do it all myself, saving me a metric boatload of $$ in the process. ROI in pure $$ and cents is 100x of what those trophies paid, and the time I spent with my dad in the process is priceless.

I can see the same in my almost 5 year old...he MUCH rather hop in the tractor with me and go do anything, or be out in the shop fixing/building things.

 

[jobo1004]

If you want to and have the means to do so, by all means buy nice tools for your son. My grandparents got me a fairly complete Taiwan made set in a blow mold case that had one ratchet, 3/8 and 1/4 drive metric and SAE sockets, an adjustable wrench, needle nose pliers, screwdrivers, and the most common combination wrenches for metric and SAE. I used those tools for the last 15 years until I found this website and I've been adding and upgrading my tools ever since. With that simple set I was able to make loads of repairs to my cars over the years.

 

[AldeanFan]

My parents started me with a tool box and some basic tools, screw drivers and pliers when I was about 10. When I was 13 I mowed lawns and shovelled snow for extra money, and my dad would encourage me to buy tools with it. I learned to take take care of my tools so they were ready when I needed them, I learned the value of money, and I learned to save up my money for things I really wanted. I also learned to fix things. My bike was always in tiptop shape!

 

[Parrothead]

My parents bought me some tools when I bought my own car 1 year after high school. Until then I just borrowed Dad's tools, per his instruction. About the only tool I ever bought prior to that was when I lost something of his. Good thing he didn't care about matching sets.

That tool set wasn't much, a 40pc Great Neck socket and ratchet set, some Craftsman screwdrivers and some off brand pliers. It was to help me start fixing my car. Truthfully, they were fine for what they were, though the ratchet was a POS. Unfortunately, I got them stolen off the roof of my car when I went into work to make a phone call, because ironically I couldn't fix the car and it wouldn't start. I thought I was safe because I was parked out in front of the store and you could clearly see the car from inside. I was wrong, as soon as I walked to the store they were gone.

If it were me (I don't have kids), I'd buy some decent stuff, but nothing too expensive, and nothing you're too attached to either. It's likely to get lost or stolen, or.... Craftsman screwdrivers, Husky pliers, Kobalt sockets and ratchets, and that sort of thing. I had tools to be handy, not necessarily mechanical. Sure I could do some minor things with the car, but I could change out a wig wag on my used washing machine in my first apartment because of some basic tools.

I guess what I am saying is get him/her enough to get going and do simple things, either at home, or on the car. Let him/her decide what direction it goes.

*I now have so many tools I have a lateral file cabinet full, a chest of drawers full, about every 18v DeWalt tool they made and a 26" stack and a 44" HF full to the brim. They'll find there own path. My brother barely owns screwdrivers and sees no use for tools.

 

[Southernbuild]

I spent like $350 and he got , sockets, extensions, ratchets, pliers, bits, etc. He now wants a tool box but I told him to wait until he has his own place, because I am not having a tool box in his bedroom..

Having a tool box in a bedroom isn't as bad as it sounds. I had one in my bedroom throughout college, and now have a tool cart in my room; it's nice to have some basic, and hobby tools in the house.

Back to the OP's Question:

Based on my experiences growing up, I would suggest giving quality tools over time. If he gets all he needs at once, it might mean as much. Ie, wrench set on one occasion, pliers on another, etc. I would also be encouraging him to buy himself some of the tools he wants. And, I would avoid cordless power tools, since he can use yours for a while, and by the time he leaves home, the tools would likely be obsolete, with dead batteries.

Ever since I was maybe 6, I've been buying tools, and requesting them as gifts. It's a fun, though expensive journey. Enjoy these years with your son

Enjoy the journey

 

[Southernbuild]

Some of my first tools were: 4 piece Stanley screwdriver set, 25' Green Stanley Leverlock tape measure, 12 oz. Popular Mechanics hammer, 6" Fuller (I think) adjustable wrench, medium pair of needle nose pliers.

This type of stuff is great generic starter tool stuff that everyone will need, even if they don't catch the tool bug.

These were acquired over a few years, and I still have them all!

 

[Jeremy77]

My son is young, just turned 5, but he does have an old Klein handheld box that i sanded and repainted. As of now, its mostly full of off brand imported sockets, pliers etc.As he gets older and more responsible I will begin to purchase better tools for him. I figure that he will one day end up with all of my tools so when I purchase something new, I usually try to buy the best quality that I can afford. I still have and use good U.S. made Crescents, Vise Grips etc. that my dad and grand dad gave me growing up and want him to have the same when he gets grown. So to answer your question....in my opinion, it'd be great to start your son a collection of tools. At his age, hes old enough to value them so the higher quality the tools the better.

 

[tatra]

Haven't read the whole thread but i would suggest a kit that has a good assortment of metric and standard in a blowmolded case so that if something is missing he [read that as you ] can see right away.Iif the kit is missing something then you can encourage him to go buy individually from second hand to new. Dont know how kids are with fractions but the sae sizes will be written on the case and he can familiarize himself with their order that way.

 

[kngelv]

My boy just turned 8. For the last two years I have been picking up tools for him. I check the Hot Deals section frequently and if there is something good I buy one for me and one for him. When Menards closed out a bunch of their Masterforce Made in the USA stuff I got him a bunch of sockets, screwdrivers and ratchets. He has Channelock, Klein and even a few Proto items. When Lowe's switched to Southwire garbage for their electrical tools I grabbed a bunch of, Knipex, Ideal and Greenlee stuff for him and I. By the time he get's his first car he should have a pretty good set of tools. He uses the stuff he has now on his bike and RC cars.

James

 

[NY_treeguy]

About 3 years ago I outfitted my son (now 27) with a top box. Sockets, ratchets, wrenches, screwdrivers, etc. A good little box, mostly Craftsman and SK stuff. I did this to keep him out of my box at home. 3 years later, box is nearly empty, and he can't find any of it.

My 11 year old asked for screwdrivers a few years ago. She wanted the "tiny ones" to change batteries in various toys and devices. Got her a 10ish piece set of husky. She still has them all and knows EXACTLY where they are and what they fit. She will be getting my work box when I no longer need it.

You know your son the best and it all depends on his personality. Will he use them, take care of them, and appreciate them? If you think so, go for it. If he isn't ready, buy him a cheap set. It will let him show that he can be responsible and he will value the better tools that much more.