When did you start buying tools

[toytech40]

How old were you when you started purchasing your own tools?

For me it was like most guys when i got my first car at age 14, and started doing my own work on said car. Yea I used my dad's tools too, but his were never organised well and lots of holes from lost tools. Stilll have some of my first tools and my first tool box also tools from my dad and my FIL. Come along way from there.

 

[bobadame]

I still have the first hammer I bought when I was about 16. That was 47 years ago. Been buying and building tools ever since.

 

[930dreamer]

High School 1980.

 

[mrholeshot]

I was in single digets. still buying after 50 years (although not much new tools lately)

 

[canuckian]

1990 so that would be 19. Before that I used my father's stuff.

 

[byoungblood]

I had my first "real" job when I was 16, which happened to be in a local mall that had a Sears. More than a few of my paychecks were spent there.

I had been helping my father work on cars at least since I was 10-11 years old, so I've always had a small set of tools ever since then. My fractional/metric combination wrenches I still use today (and I'm 33) were given to me by one of my grandfathers when I turned 13-14.

 

[tatra]

when i started to work on my own bikes at age 8..........

 

[american lockpicker]

Well besides the occasional cheap multitool or knockoff swiss army knife I would say I started really buying tools when I was 14 or 15. I would get files, rasps, and hacksaw blades from a local hardware shop for sawing down guns. It wasn't I got interested in locksmithing in 2007 that I went and started really buying them though. I found a list of things to buy in a training book and I went to all the stores in my area and bought a tool box and most of the items on the list. At the time I only bought USA made so it was a challenge to find certain items like powertools(I could only find a dremel and soldering iron.)

 

[jeffmoss26]

People were giving me tools at the age of 4, lol. Can't pinpoint when I bought one with my own money though. All my birthday gifts growing up were tools, or money for tools

 

[littletoes]

Crazy Question!

Started tearing bikes apart when I was 9, using Dad's tools then. Started as an apprentice carpenter when I was 12, and purchased my first tape measure, tri-square, hammer, etc. with my first pay check. The guys on the job set me up with some old nail bags and belt. Funny as hell thinking back on that, but what a bunch of great guys to do that.

Guess my fate was sealed after that.

Dad had been doing mechanical work on all our rigs/farm equipment, and I've helped him as far back as I can remember. Bought my first Thorsen/Allied socket set when I was 12 from Coast-to-Coast Hardware. CHEAP stuff, but still looks like new....guess thats because it never gets used! I always grab the Snappy stuff first, wouldn't you???

 

[scott37300]

My grandpa gave my a cheap socket set, one of those 1/4 and 3/8 sets in a metal case. They also bought me a ratcheting screw driver with about 50 bits in it and a few pliers when they were on sale. This was enough for me to take things apart and "fix" them when I was about 12. When I was 16 I had broke enough of the import sockets that I saved up and bought a craftsman 241 piece set. Ever since then it's been a long and expensive road! But I see how much I have saved in repair bills, if I need a tool I buy it. Even if I only use it once it usually pays for itself that one time.

 

[Jim C.]

I was about 23. My dad bought me a good set from Sears in the early 80s, when I was about 19, and I started adding on to that set after I got a full time job and could afford, or almost afford, to buy more tools. Now it's just a weekly event. I probably buy one, new or used, hand tool every week. Sometimes more if I'm really motivated.

Jim C.

 

[PCO6]

I was 14 in 1966 when I bought my first tool kit from Canadian Tire. It was a small box with "184" or whatever pieces. The label said something like ... "Everything a Mechanic Needs". I knew from the way they were packed that after the first time I took all of the pieces out of the box I'd never get them all back in. I think they knew that too. The next tool I bought whether it was a hammer, pliers, screw drivers, etc. triggered the need for a larger box and that was fine with me. I still have some of those tools (SWT brand) and although I'll never use them again I'll never get rid of them either.

 

[Tim Cowan]

When I was twelve(1957) I started buying European import tools at the "House of Bargins" in JAX.FL. Not long after, I bought from Sears catalog and local dist. for S-K tools and got a used Rimline 6 drawer box form the Cornwell man. All my tools were stolen from the garage when 16. Started all over with new Cornwell 6 drawer box and now have 10 different boxes of tools, but I find myself still buying at 66. My son(28), only knows a hammer, screwdriver, and a pair of pliers. He'll have a great inhertance to pass on to a future grandkid.

 

[Super Sport]

I inherited a bunch of tools when I was 15. At that point I decided I needed a decent box along with some more tools. Soon after I had my own car and needed even more tools. I've been buying ever since!

Before I really got into tools my mom bought me a cheap Alltrade tool set that I had used for a couple of years for little tasks around the house. That was probably when I was around 13 or so...

 

[magnusk750]

I bought my first set of wrenches 10- 19 mm by mail order when I was 11 and just had bought my first motorcycle. They've been surprisingly good, moist of are still there. Some have been lost but I haven't broken any of them in thirty years, and they are not clumsy either. Still remember that they cost 55 swedish kronor + postage 11 kronor, (about 10 $)

 

[pl_silverado]

13-14 craftsman
16-17 got a snap on truck acct.

All downhill from there.

 

[jeffmoss26]

I still have and use the Channellock 420s and Crescent 10" that my dad's mechanic gave me when I was 4 years old...I will hold onto them forever!

 

[cp8737]

must of been when i was about 14 - 15 still buying to this day at 25, i remeber the first tools i bought were a snap on 3/8" ratchet extensions and sockets, still using them every day

 

[TheGrooveking]

I started buying SK when I was 10 with my paper route money, then I learned what that Snap On truck parked in my neighbors driveway was, it was all downhill from there and then once I found a Matco truck and got an account running it was like a run-away train.

TheGrooveking

 

[colt zantop]

I was asking for tools for my b-day at around 16-17 and started buying my own shortly after that.

 

[ndoran]

started buying and asking for tools for birthday's and Christmas around the age of 12 in 1972.

I got some of my grandfathers tools and I even have a rip saw from my great grandfather. I have inherited some of my father's tools he lost many over the years this is quite unfortunate because they used to make tools as part of their apprenticeship including hammers, wrenches, cold chisels, punches and screwdrivers. They had a forge with steam drop hammers, lathes etc and high quality steel. Of course nothing was plated. I still have a cold chisel made by my father and the steel is superb.

I still use these tools - every time I pick one up I remember how it came to me.

I now have an extensive collection of tools of all types and consider many of nthem to be friends.

 

[Straightgrain]

When I was 16 (mid 70's), I was going to a 5 year trade school for auto mechanics. My mom happened to work for an auto parts distributor, so she helped me make my first purchase which was a 1/2 drive S-K socket set. I still have the set.

 

[pcgold]

I must have been around 12. I lived with my mom and two sisters and they couldn't do anything around the house so I had to "survive" on my own that way.

I now have lots of tools but want to make sure my two teenage boys have what they need to start out. Right now they can use whatever I have, but lately I've started to buy tools for them. Whenever I see a really good sale (Craftsman, Crappy Tire, etc) I go buy two of each. Right now I have two decent socket and screwdriver sets and two really good tape measures.

I am hoping to have a relatively complete took kit to give to each of my boys when they are ready to move out. It will be the present I wish my dad had given me when I was young.

 

[Kev442]

Around the age of 8 I got some kiddy toy tools, except they were "real". When I bought my first tool box at 16, those kiddy tools went in the bottom. Long story short, that box sat when I started buying real tools, so I still have some of those stamped wrenches and the tiny hammer and the saw with interchangeable blades! I am now 48.

 

[jethro29]

i started at 12 and have never stopped.lol

 

[poprockcrusher]

1978 , but slowed way down

 

[Altec]

I used my Dad's hand tools, and power tools as a little kid. My first tools were probably a Dremel, ore a soldering iron. Probably was about 12 at the time.

 

[archirelic]

I bought my first set of tools when I was 18 and moved off to college. Up until then, I got by using either my Step-dad's tools or my Grandfather's tools. I've been on a tool-buying frenzy ever since! [I'm 29, going on 30]

I'm also blessed with a wife that actively encourages me to purchase tools if we both agree that a need for them exists or would arise in the future!

 

[AZ_Catskinner]

I was 7 or 8 the first time I bought anything with my own money - a 3 piece set of Ward's Powr-Kraft open end wrenches (with this awesome metal clip thing that requires an engineering degree to get on and off). I've still got them sitting at my Mom's house, waiting to be passed down to my son.

 

[Hammer1963]

I bought a cheap set of unplated 1/4" drive sockets from a Super X Drug store when I was 9. I was suppose to be buying Christmas presents for my siblings, but just couldn't pass these up. Boy were they cheap. Made in Hong Kong and they may even be made of Pot metal. No ratchet, just a breaker bar. They are still hanging around to this day. They now reside in a My Buddy tackle box for safe keeping.

 

[Johnsons Garage]

Started buying tools with gift money at about 8 years old. Told my parents all I wanted was tools or money for tools for B'days and Christmas. Got my first job at 13 and spent all my money on tools, motorcycles and control line airplanes (not much radio control back then). Still buying tools 40+ years later. Most people think I'm nuts but who cares. I LOVE TOOLS

 

[Rossco]

I never Bought ANY tool's until the third year of my Apprentership .. I was around 19 as my old man bought me a draper expert kit so never needed or had the money to buy Pro grade handtools, The first tool's I ever bought: SO Hard handle Screwdriver set in Red ..

When I was younger I was more interested in Sweetys and buying computer Games ..

 

[Indy_500]

When I was 13 (16 now). I like to say I have a rather large amount of tools for my age, but it's only because my dads tools are so basic. He bought about half my tools so I could work on his and mine snowmobiles and now I have a truck to wrench on. Yes, tools cost too much, but you buy it and you own it forever.

 

[saturdaymechanic]

When I moved out and realized I couldn't always borrow my father's tools.

I was also fortunate, my father gave me tools for my birthday/Christmas etc when I was growing up...I still have the CMan screwdrivers I got when I was 16 (a couple have been warrantied). The 1/4 clear handle I still use for some of my toughest jobs.

 

[JC23]

I wuz 15 and workin' at a friend's Dad's gas station. When I got on the books at another, I would go to the bank to cash that check. Across the street from the bank was a Sears store. I would cash me check and go buys some tools.

Nowadays, I'm buying up USA Cman tools to match my existing set so I'll have spares. The idea of exchanging one of my old Cman tools that has broken for offshore stuff galls my ****.

 

[Alchymist]

1954ish. (I'm 39 now, and holding). Still have most of them, and do regret the few that I have sold.

 

[JWink]

I had just failed out of college and confessed to my parents that all I had a desire to do was become and auto tech. Surprisingly to me they were completely supportive. Helped me pay for my schooling and took me to a few auctions and bought me my first few tools.

Today my father helped me move my new-to-me tool box to work. He bought me a big cabinet from his work for cheap. We started to move tools from my old box and I finally stopped and looked at him and said "Where the hell did all this come from?"

I guess the tool bug will never leave me. I just keep buying and buying and buying. Somedays I wonder where everything came from. I will always thank my parents for getting me on the right track.

 

[BigAl62]

A long time ago (in a galaxy far, far away - sorry I had to do it!). 30 years and I bought some today (don't tell my wife!). I started with Craftsman (my parents bought me my first set for Christmas and they followed my grandfather's advice) then graduated to Snap On, Mac, Matco, Cornwell, Vulcan (anyone remember them, they went out of business in the early to mid 80s), SK, Gearwrench, Harbor Freight (don't start now!), Duralast (today's buy - ratchets), plus others I can't remember now.

 

[T56 Impala]

1972. I still have that Craftsman socket set. I was about 9 at the time.