So How Did YOU Start Your Tool Collection?

[briggsguy17]

My father was a serial entrepreneur as well!! One of his ventures happened when I was about 10 years old. He became a Snap-On dealer!! I don't know if anyone here is old enough to remember but Snap-On use to sell refurbished tools. You would exchange say, a ratchet, and it would get sent back to the factory to be refurbished. The tool would then be stamped with a "E" to indicate that it was indeed a refurbished tool. These tools were usually ones that the the chrome would flake on. Anyway, when Dad was a dealer I would get "E" tools for birthday, Christmas, Easter, etc....... Still have some "E" stamped extensions. So you see, it really is my Dad's fault and I am an innocent victim......

 

[hammergodthor]

My dad has a tool for almost anything. Growing up as a kid, my brother and I always got tools for Christmas.

 

[wrenchr]

My Dad was a die setter and mechanic and after he passed my brothers and I got his tools. He was a craftsman kind of guy and remember him taking forever in sears every time we went in there looking around. Now the older I get the more I remind myself of him. He would have a field day in my garage!! But I do not think he would agree with me selling tools.

 

[pdangerp]

There were always tools laying around my house when I was a kid. They were my dad's leftovers and I used to play with them. I actually got my first tools for christmas when I was about 10. I used random tools from my collection and borrowed a lot from neighbors to work on my bikes as a kid. When I was in college, my gf at the time got me a 1/4" craftsman ratchet and socket set. Her dad said it would be the beginning of a great quality tool collection.

I still have the 1/4" set, and I have added to it through various purchases for jobs and hobby work. My greatest gains have been due to a maintenance job I had for a summer, and buying a Jeep. The Jeep led me to buying and appreciating higher quality craftsman stuff instead of Husky or random Kragen stuff.

I have a few snap-on pieces and a few Matco pieces, but the bulk of my collection is Craftsman.

 

[rustypenny]

When I was 10 or 11 years old my mother gave me a set of Stanley screw drivers (yellow and black handles) and 3/8 ratchet set (made in China). My aunt gave me a small metal tool box. I still have and use the screw drivers and the metal tool box.... The ratchet set is still around in pieces.. The stuff I have now is C-man, S-K, and a few Snap-On scattered around..... I can't afford to collect them, I just use the $h*t out of them. They don't mind!!!!

 

[DrkMtnDew]

I grew up watching Dad and Grandpa work on the farm trucks and tractors. so tools were essential. For my sixth birthday I got a small hammer, a 4 in 1 Torsen screwdriver, and a Thorsen 1/4''-3/8'' set. to this day I still have the same set with every single piece.

 

[Elroy]

My father was a serial entrepreneur as well!! One of his ventures happened when I was about 10 years old. He became a Snap-On dealer!! I don't know if anyone here is old enough to remember but Snap-On use to sell refurbished tools. You would exchange say, a ratchet, and it would get sent back to the factory to be refurbished. The tool would then be stamped with a "E" to indicate that it was indeed a refurbished tool. These tools were usually ones that the the chrome would flake on. Anyway, when Dad was a dealer I would get "E" tools for birthday, Christmas, Easter, etc....... Still have some "E" stamped extensions. So you see, it really is my Dad's fault and I am an innocent victim......

Ya mean something like this:

Here is a shot of the "Exchange" stamping on Elroy's 1/4" drive TM70B. Look close just above the glare spot on the "grip" portion just below the ID band. Only the three horizontal strikes are present, the verticle "leg" is not there. This ratchet was obtained as a warranty "exchange" off a Snappy truck along a dirt road in Muhlenburg County, Kentucky in 1983.

This is the original kit purchase new in 1971 or '72. The flex has been added and the 1/4" to 3/8 adapter and one extension are Craftsman.

And who are you calling old?

 

[blue dog]

I got my first 100 piece craftsman set in the early 80's when i was 15 and I started building a Baja bug in my garage, Here we are 2010 and i a still collecting. I am doing the same thing these days, just my Baja toys cost more as do my tools.

 

[american lockpicker]

I've had 4 tool collections.

First one was tools that belonged to my grandfather. It started when my sister was dating a drug user who liked to steal. At first he worked at a car lot and would bring home stuff from the shop everyday and eventually he was fired for incompetence. Then my dad's tools started disappearing... Wasting no time I gathered up all the old ones belonging to my grandfather and hid then. I still have most of then but I don't use them.

Second collection was a mixture of Chinese tools I had been given and some used US made tools I bought from another of my sisters boyfriends. I got rid of the chinese tools as they were **** and I had to return and dispose of the US tools as it turns out they were stolen. Returned a corded craftsman drill and threw away a bunch of nice williams and blackhawk tools.

Third collection was all American made tools from Irwin, General Tools, Channel Lock, Stanley, Craftsman, Klein, Dremel, Nicholson, etc. Started buying these as between thefts and clearing out all the Chinese tools I had nothing to work with. They were mediocre to good quality. Used them for a few years until I decided to work on my final collection...

Forth collection I decided to have the best tools I could afford so I asked around where was a good tool forum. Turns out there isn't one but there was a place called Garage Journal that has a section devoted to tools. So I spent a week reading posts from Mickey and Merkava and then I noticed this thread from some German called Monte and its like 40 pages or so full of tools from Europe. I read a few pages and signed up... After buying some European tools and noticing their superior quality I started selling off my Amercan tools. After realising you can spend money and not get what you need I've been carefully buying the best tools I can find(most have been on sale which helps) Since last Christmas I've been working on power tools next year it will be wrenches and sockets, year after that a box or 2...

 

[SpiderGearsMan]

my dad bought me a craftsman tool set for christmas in 1978
now , my toolbox cost me more than most of my neighbor's houses are worth

 

[PistolWhip]

My old man was a union cabinet maker for 35 years (now retired) and a motor head for life, so being that he was my hero growing up I pretty much had a natural affinity to hand tools my whole life. I remember when he used to come home with a bucket full of tools and I'd come running from no matter where I was in the house, dive into his arms and give him a hug, then bounce right to the bucket at his feet to see what he brought home. That was before I was even old enough to go to school, so I guess I was pretty young. I have a picture with me at about 4 with my old pedal race car upside down on the driveway and me with a big *** combo wrench goin at it.

I think I got my first "real" tool set when I was about 12 or 13. Since I started working on BMX bikes and my dad was tired of me losing and breaking all of his tools he bought me a nice Craftsman set to get me started. Since then, it's been ALL DOWN HILL!!!
The funny thing about that story though, I'm absolutely brain dead when it comes to wood working ability. I can barely read a tape measure. So here I am, the son of not only a carpenter, but a cabinet maker and I couldn't make a dog toy out of wood... LOL
I can take a car apart and put it back together blind folded, but when it comes to wood I'm completely lost...

 

[crewchief888]

seemed like i was always taking apart my bike when i was a kid, using dads tools, and forgetting to put them back where hewanted them.
one year for he bought me my own hand box and a few tools so i'd leave his alone! that pretty much worked till i bought my 1st car in '76, and needed to borrow his tools once again, to even get the thing running.
sadly 2 years later dad passed away
i still have his old sk set, most of them are "retired" now, and have been replaced by the tools are started to buy when i started wrenching on heavy eq in '83, slowly building a good working set of tools, and a 2nd set to keep in the garage.


the torture never stops....

 

[Mr.Nutcase]

I started my tool collection when I was 13 or 12,I was in 7th or 8th grade when my dad bought a Craftsman set.... 76 pc
I my first job did on car was spark plugs, then I did the power steering pump on his 83 Chevy Caprice. What a pain, I thought, At the time I did not have 3/8 SAE deep sockets.......
I had to use 1/4 drive socket to remove a 9/16 nut
I went to Murrays, bought the wrong adaptor, it was 1/2-3/8 drive
I was fresh, and did not know any better,
Now, that is different story,

 

[6530]

I started working on bikes when I was 12 or so and cars when I was 15. I used my dad's tools until I went away to college, and he then gave me a set to take with me. My first purchase on my own was this set (not as expensive then as it is now), and I just went from there. Now I've got a pretty complete set for a DIYer.

My most recent purchase was this box, which means, for the first time in 25 years, I have all my tools organized & accessible. I can't overemphasize how great that is.

 

[Cumminst100]

Well I always worked on my bikes when I was a kid. Then I bought my first car in 96' a 88 pontiac fiero. The first time I drove it home to Toronto from Missouri, my aunt bought me a craftsman tool set because everyone kept saying how bad the fiero was. It has almost 300,000 on it now so must not have been that bad. Any way my uncle always had nice tools so when he retired from gm and he started helping me fix up my explorer and i got to use his tools, oh boy the disease started. Now I own like 9 or 10 vehicles and need tool sets for each, or at least thats my excuse

 

[RLRRLRLL]

Like many of you, growing up i helped my dad with fixing thing. He drove (still does) a 18 wheeler, and of course i'd be out there helping work on it..aka...id get tools for him haha. Then of course i had to grease it, and stuff like that. I always hated greasing it, but it was for my own good i guess haha. I also worked on my bikes and such with his tools, which included a no name sae wrench set, basic screwdrivers, matco impact sockets (sae deep), and cheap ratchets haha. When i was younger i would always leave tools all around the garage and such, but now that my parents split up like 7 or 8 years ago, he left his box here with the tools. I have every impact socket, and every wrench exept for the 1/2" but while cleaning out some old junk i found a snap on 1/2". But then i also have around 300 sockets now, couple hundred wrenches, numerous ratchets, lots of screwdrivers, hammers, ect. I have the old box he left at school now, and my hf cart for my home use. And tools piled on the workbench waiting for me to get another tool box. It just dont stop....

 

[littlekillertoad]

I didn't get my first car until I was 22.
The first thing I did after that was buy a 53 pc mechanic's set on sale from Sears. Soon after, I discovered alloy artifacts and fell in love with old tools. I've been picking through rusty piles ever since.

 

[istephen]

My first tool was a dogbone type wrench. Made in china out of radio active lead. Used it to do an engine swap on my tricycle.

Next up was a set of china sockets and a bag of wrenches from my Uncle. I think I dumped the sockets out and used the metal box to house my rock collection.

Finally, my dad bought me real tools when I was 14 or so. Craftsman top box and a large socket set. A few of the sockets have been replaced over the years, but I still use that box and those Texas made round head ratchets 25 years later. (The 3/8ths wore out, but I got another one recently and used it last weekend on the truck.)

 

[briggsguy17]

Ya mean something like this:




And who are you calling old?

Yep, that's exactly what I mean. Old???? did I say old??? I meant for those of us of "collectible age"........

 

[BerBer5985]

My grandfather was a machinist by trade who also sold heavy machinery later in life. I don't remember him well, but I got a lot of his old tools, plus my dad who also is a tool addict like me and he's left me quite a few of his own. My grandfather and my father are craftsman loyalists as I always was until recently when they seemed to making chinese craftsman tools. I think we've been buying each other tools for every gift giving holiday since I was born. My parents have a picture of me when I was real young with a hammer in hand. My nephew is the exact same way. His favorite toys are his toy tools. Must run in the blood. It's expensive and addictive and wives just don't get it. She buys a pair of shoes, I buy a new tool. Who needs to buy shoes if you've got enough tools to make them??

 

[chopper1]

Growing up my step dad was always working on something and the garage was full of tools. When I got out of the service and bought my first car he gave me a complete Wright socket set and a set of Fairmount combination wrenches. When he passed I got all of his tools and sold a lot of them off, keeping enough that I thought I'd have a need for wrenching on my daily drivers and hot rod. After all, who would need more than (1) 1/4" and (2) 3/8" and 1/2" ratchets?
I found this site when looking to reorganize my garage and the addiction [obsession] started. Since then I've picked up a Kobalt stainless 42" double stack, an old Mac top box, a Huot top box and a Mac side box to go with my old Husky double stack and the tools are jammed in them. The pics I posted on the show your tool box thread don't compare with the way they look now.

 

[meissen]

Just starting my tool collection. I've always lived at home with my parents and my dad's collection was free to use. Now that I'm out on my own I got a lot of his hand-me-downs like Craftsman socket wrenches with bad gears and such. Still have to take them back for replacements sometime. The tools that I have bought have been inspired by threads on here or bought from this site's classifieds.

 

[Indy_500]

I'm still a kid, but ever since i was little, i had a knack for taking things apart. At first i just took them apart and threw them away. Then i started taking stuff apart and putting it back together. Mostly remote control cars and stuff. Then, i started tinkering with bikes and now it is onto snowmobiles. My dad has a small amount of tools, not enough for me to do everything on a snowmobile. So, for my b-day in March my parents said they wanted to get me a toolbox but they couldn't decide and figured it'd be best i decided. At this time, i knew NOTHING about tools. They took me all over and i tried out all the toolboxes. I liked the Harbor Freight one the most because of how the drawers opened and closed, and soon after that, the whole thing was filled up! (i haven't bought many tools lately cuz i have NOWHERE to go with them, i'm waiting for x-mas hoping i'll get the top box.

 

[Paco Pena]

A Craftsman socket set about 30 years ago. Still have it less one lost socket.

Paco

 

[DARKSCOPE001]

My first tools started when I used to race rc cars. My grandma bought me a hex driver set for one year (a real nice set probably costing 60-80 for 7 drivers) I raced rc from about the age of 14 to 18 then I went to college for mechanical engineering.

I started drooling over all the tools I would "probably" use when I became a mech engineere. Then I found out that being a mech engineere basicly means you sit and design stuff on cad. So I started looking on my summer off. And found an AMT school.

Took the introductory tour and was hooked I had to go. I was handed a tool list and was told that I needed to have everything on that tool list by 3rd quarter. My family gave me tons of sears gift cards the following . (probably totaling about 500) I bought a 302pc starter set. some breaker bars and probably a few other ods and ends. I added slowly. Grew from a 26" 4 drawer top chest to a 26" roller with the top sitting on it and its pretty much filled. With little room left to grow and i still want more new toys

THANKS
Sean Scott

 

[ericedelman]

My grandfather was a machinist, and when he retired, he bought a service station in the 1960's. My father and uncle both worked there part-time while they were in school. There were always tools around, most of the hand tools were S-K brand, I don't think the tool trucks had as big of a market in Brooklyn back then.

When I got a license in 1986, they put together a basic box of tools for me to work on my car/motorcycles on. I tinkered with cars and bikes off and on most of my life, but stopped around 10 years due to graduate school, work, etc....

Like a lot of people, I got annoyed with a quoted $1000 brake job, so I decided to start working on cars again. I also go interested in auto racing, and started taking cars to road courses some weekends. Most of my old tools were in pretty rough shape at this time. I sheared off a 3/8" extension using only a ratchet, and that sharp end came very close to my eye. My friend/neighbor who runs a taxi company, brought me home a long snap-on extension so I could finish what I was working on, and I was hooked. Now I've got a nice shiny KRL filled with snap-on tools that I tinker around with on the weekends. My next project is going to probably be a pole barn with a lift - it'll give me an opportunity to work on larger projects like my race car without having to farm out work I not only can do myself, but happen to enjoy doing as well.

 

[BigMike782]

The biggest favor my Dad ever did for me was not trusting me to use his tools so I decided I didn't need his tools I would buy my own.
I ended up with most of his hand tools and woodworking machines anyway.

My favorite tool isn't actually a tool but my Grandfathers machinist tool box and all the treasures it holds.....lots of it handmade by him.

 

[dede2897234]

Up to my early 20s, I watched my father make repairs to his home and cars. His tool collection was made up of moderately priced, U.S. brands such as Vise Grip, Craftsman, SK, Easco, and others. I learned from him that saving money; enhancing your self-confidence and pride; developing your mechanical skills; and gaining satisfaction from hard work can be obtained by being a DIYer.

After purchasing my home in 2003, I started building my tool collection with Craftsman and other moderately priced, U.S. tool brands. My goal was to make the repairs on my home and cars to save money.

After joining this tool forum in early 2008, I read many tool postings. I learned about all kinds of automotive tools which I did not own. I also learned about many of the premium U.S., German, and Japanese tool brands. As soon as I bought my first automotive and premium hand tools, I became a tool addict! In the last 2 plus years, I have spent between $15,000 to $20,000 on tools.

I sold my home in early April and moved to an apartment. Due to my gracious grandmother, I continue to maintain my daily driver with my sweet tools at her home!


Dave