Using Less and Less Tools

[ephotrod]

Has anyone else noticed that the older you get and more experience you have, that amount of tools used on a job has greatly decreased. When i first started working on stuff I had to have a brake spring tool to take them on and a installer to put them on, a radiator hose pick to loosen hoses baked on. Has anyone else noticed this trend when working?
Josh

 

[Provincial]

I suppose you guys that work on new stuff think cotter pin pullers should be in a muesum with the buggy whips! I just used a cotter pin puller and a radiator hose pick to coax a rubber gasket/channel for a forklift window into position. The "rope trick" worked pretty well, but needed a little assistance in a couple of spots, especially around the corners.

 

[Outlawmws]

Nope, because I now have a lot of the tools I did not have when younger. I "made do" for a lot of things, (like using pliers for removing and installing said brake springs. I don't miss that at all...)

 

[Vvmvbb]

Im not a pro, but sadly no, I am going the other way. As I acquire more and more 'right tools for the job', I want to use that right tool and don't make do like I used to. Looks like a tool bomb went off every time I do something.

 

[franzdom]

Im not a pro, but sadly no, I am going the other way. As I acquire more and more 'right tools for the job', I want to use that right tool and don't make do like I used to. Looks like a tool bomb went off every time I do something.

 

[MarkH]

Wish it was less and less, but with changing designs it is more and more causing me to have to get more and more. When I started an open end set, box end set, 1/2 in SAE socket set, a couple adjustables, screwdrivers, and few other tools covered it all.

Now I need 1/4, 3/8, 1/2 SAE and Metric, torx, torx plus, etorx, hex just in sockets. The same has happened in the other tools. Unless a designer deliberately designed something to come apart and go back together with one tool. The tool explosion for each job has just gotten worse. New tools have replaced some that used to be used frequently so the wall and tool boxes are even worse holding both the old needs and the new ones.

 

[jmm]

Granted, I'm not so old, but the inverse is true of me. I don't use a bare bones set improperly to get jobs done anymore (usually). I use the tool for the job and, nine times outta ten, that saves me breaking them.

 

[JKady]

There are some areas where that is the case, but they're very very few. I like having the right tool for the job when I can, it just makes life a lot easier.

I do find myself making more and more tools though. I've got a drawer full of cheap wrenches that fall prey to the chop saw and grinder when I need a wrench for "x" job. Cheap chicom 3/8 extension ground down to fit the square plug in suzuki automatic transaxles. An extra Craftsman 36T ratchet turned stubby. Subaru power steering pump turned into an air-ratchet powered fluid transfer pump since there was simply no way I was going to justify the $100 for the store bought version of the same idea, just cost me some time and a couple fittings I had in my toolbox.

Toolmaking is a fun way for me to use up down time at work, and I get some satisfaction in having a tool made the way I want it to be.

 

[jw80]

I use as many tools as a job requires. I could get by with less but theres no fun in that.

 

[fflintstone]

The older I get and more experience I have the more I appreciate having the right tool for the job. I enjoy using the right tool.

 

[criitter7]

I noticed the new cars are using more of the same fasteners and aren't seizing as much, so I'm not using as much. I hardly get into my big box anymore, just use the basics in my cart.

 

[RV77]

They redesign auto industry constantly and you just arent using the same stuff that much i.e. the distribitor wrench....they will only be had by owners of older vehicles and they are not a big seller on ebay/craigslist.

I always look thru my toolbox every few months and see what I need to get rid of before its useless.I hate the thought of having a couple drawers full of expensive unwanted tools.

 

[kiatech]

Im only 22 and I cant seem to stop making excuses to buy new tools.

 

[sberry]

There are the occasions the right tool certainly makes sense, I bought a set of gear wrenches on sale a while back I didn't have but don't have and don't buy every type of wrench set ever invented, to some extent I agree with the op. My MIL was watching me demo a piece a while back and I had a pair of no 9 Klein's, after a couple minutes she says, that one pair of pliers does a lot of things, she would have had a half a dozen tools out. I do a lot of pit stop type of stuff and am lost without a pair of Channeloks, probably the most frequent tool I use anymore.

 

[dsmnickk90]

Im only 22 and I cant seem to stop making excuses to buy new tools.

same here. past few months and I've made over $3000 worth of reasons.

 

[d_rock]

I wouldn't say I use less tools. Just different ones.

 

[Need4racin]

I won't buy a vehicle that will cause me to buy new tools.

 

[fortson]

Nope, because I now have a lot of the tools I did not ave when younger. I "made do" for a lot of things, (like using pliers for removing and installing said brake springs. I don't miss that at all...)

what he said when i was younger and still had kids at home i had to prioritize. i havent bought anything from the snap on guy since 1982 because i couldnt afford to. i bought cheaper stuff or made do with what i had. i'm about 5 years from retirement now, back on the snap on truck and will buy anything i think will make my job just a little bit easier no matter the cost. im tired of not having the right tool for the job.

 

[Akfrostbyte]

I agree with fortson, having the right tool for the job is more important than anything else.

 

[Provincial]

I keep adding tools. I have timber property in two locations about 20 miles apart. One is where I live, and the other has a rental house and a shop on it. I have outgrown my shop at home and built a bigger one, but still use the old one regularly. I have a pickup with a service body and have a Craftsman 8-drawer toolbox built in to one of the compartments. It is my everyday rig. I have a F450 service truck with a 5000 lb. Autocrane, 250 amp welder/generator, 10 hp. gas air compressor, and oxyacetelyne torch set on it that is my rig for serious work truck.

I used to travel a lot flying and maintaining aircraft, so I have many of my tools distributed in boxes, each of which I can lift by myself. I have some roll aways where I keep stuff I use less often, and a large steel cabinet with shelves that comes in handy for this sort of stuff. I'm just starting to outfit the new shop. I got my nut & bolt bins set up last week. I'm looking for some lateral files to store power tools in, and just picked up a Kennedy box/cabinet set at a garage sale which will be a start for the new shop.

I'm having to put together a set of tools for each of the two shops at home, one for the pickup and one for the service truck. I have the pickup covered and the old shop at home covered. I am part way to equipping the service truck and just starting to equip the new shop.

I don't have to have a really complete set of tools in each home shop, as they are just 30 feet apart. I really have to have a complete set in the service truck as it will be going to the remote property to repair broken logging equipment there.

I've found lots of good buys in the used market like pawn shops, flea markets, garage sales, etc. I have enough tools now to do the jobs I need if I take items from one of my existing tool kits, but it is easy to forget to return them where they belong and end up short then I need them again. The 20 mile one-way distance can make for a ruined day.

 

[Jim C.]

The older I get and more experience I have the more I appreciate having the right tool for the job. I enjoy using the right tool.

Yes, and as I get older and I'm more able to afford "the right tool for the job" instead of just making due, the jobs usually go smoother, and the end results are generally better. Like many here, gathering a good set of tools has been a lifetime endeavor. It didn't happen over night, so when I encounter projects that require tools to complete them, I appreciate having the "right ones." So, I don't think I use fewer tools, I think I'm more frequently using the right tools.

Jim C.

 

[speed bump]

Yeah, the number of tools I get out has decreased because I have gotten better at judging the tools I need for the job.

 

[NUTTSGT]

Currently, I have using less and less tools because I haven't been doing much in the garage, mechanical wise. But, I have the tools and they are paid for.

Every time I use them, they pay for themselves again and again, which justifies me buying new tools because I want them. I'm at the point if I want a tool or need one for a job, I go buy it. If I need it one more time in my life, IMHO, it justifies the purchase to me.

 

[RECox286]

Taking trouble calls at our customers' homes, finds me with at least

half the tools I carry in the truck on the floor in the house (or so it seems).

Then at home, keeping the truck fleet on the road finds me with at least

half of the roll around out in the driveway (or so it seems).

No matter if it is changing a lightbulb, or doing an engine rebuild, I too

look at the array of tools, and equipment, and think to myself;

Wow, a bomb just went off in my toolbox, and it all landed.... !

I guess that is one of the rules, like Murphys' Law, and Peters'

Principal.

Uncle Bob

 

[bobemmerich]

im not a pro, but sadly no, i am going the other way. As i acquire more and more 'right tools for the job', i want to use that right tool and don't make do like i used to. Looks like a tool bomb went off every time i do something.

^^this^^

 

[Matt018]

Nope, I use tools for everything these days, It just makes life so much easier.

 

[richfinn]

I think as you get more experienced (with cars at least) you do tend to know whats going to work first time (particularly with diagnostic work) and you work more logically.

I also found that I tended to get certain jobs that no one else wanted and if I,m honest was able to avoid the more tedious jobs I didn,t really enjoy doing anymore (servicing work).

I used to clear old tools out of my toolbox regularly when I found they weren,t making me money anymore (SAE Tools/special tools/old scan tools) and I was just hauling them about for the sake of it. I keep old stuff at home just in case.

 

[Fishey]

It all depends on the car type I think.

The European cars have stayed about the same since 1999 or so but before that were in my opinion pretty simple (BMW/Porsche/Audi/Volvo) were there was 5 main sizes of bolts/nuts 8mm/10mm/13mm/17mm/19mm and that was it. That is no longer the case for a single job I might have to break out every wrench and socket just to take stuff off including 12pt, Etorx and tripple square. Also, the body fasteners and interior fasteners are usually a mixture of just about every type of hex/torx 5 and 6 pt, security and non/allen/ phillips/flathead. All of this of course in the same job. It takes time to get the tools out and organized. Its the reason I keep such good organization. However, in all honesty designers need to get there heads out of there asses at the manufactures and come up with some standardization because if someone came to me with a design that mixed 4 types of fasteners to take off a fender liner I would tell them to pack there **** from there desk and get the hell out. Its absurd the way they are designing things but I guess maybe the designers brother in laws all own bolt companies. The Clip and wiring situation is not much better with VW/Audi leading the way in designs that are not going to ever come apart without breaking and the special tools for pins/etc..etc.. not to mention why the hell do I need electronic rear brakes for my Emergency brakes and a scanner to change them? Do like BMW did and use the ABS pump.

/Rant

 

[wmartin]

As a hobbyist with mediocre mechanical skills, I own way too many tools, but when you tend to drive older US-built high performance exotica, there's usually some sort of job that needs doing.

Since I own the same cars over and over, I'll bet I could melt down what is really needed into a hand carry box filled with uber tools that really didn't cost all that much. I should look through a factory assembly manual, write down the fastener sizes, and just buy individual pieces all at once. Most everything else could go on eBay.

 

[kc-steve]

After reading post #2, 3, 4 . . . my faith in humanity has been restored.

Steve

 

[signcrafter]

I am the opposite way. When I was younger I got by with what I had, a small 3 drawer craftsman carry box with a few screwdrivers, pliers, sockets, wrenches, a hammer, and some other various tools in it. I did a lot with those tools but I also struggled and caused a lot of extra work because I didn't have the right tools to get the job done. Today I have a nice collection of tools and am always buying more. Had to do a radiator a while back, used that as an excuse to buy a cable opperated hose clamp pliers. I probably could have used a channel locks to get the hose clamps off but this tool made the job much easier. So I guess I use more tools to make the job go smoother. Experience a lot less broken bolts and scraped knuckles the older I get.

Another thing is that new cars are coming out with all sorts of new things that require you to buy new tools and use more tools. Examples are e-torx, torx plus, oxygen sensor sockets, special pullers, etc.

Also, the older I get the more experience I get and the more things I do myself. Which usually means new tools to do the job.

 

[Heavy Metal Doctor]

I think it's a toss-up -- I have more and more tools and will grab the new "special" tool I just bought for a specific job along with all the other tools I "got by" with for that job previously which can mean more individual tools taken outta the box for a given job....But, there plenty of other jobs which I have done so many times that I grab a select few tools to to the job and get it done without another visit to the tool box 'till it's time to clean up -- the same job in the past would have ended with the shop cart loaded with dozens of tools, many of which I barely used for the job.

 

[tribbles]

The older I get, the less tolerant of improvising with a basic set of hand tools I become.