Tools and more Tools

[charlese]

Couldn't help but read recent posts about how good and useful some newer tools are. --And couldn't help to prevent my mind from refering back to a fairly recent article in "Fine Woodworking" magazine. It was written by the late, great Andy Rooney.

A recent letter to the Editor of that magazine is worth repeating verbatim.

More thoughts on Andy Rooney
"The wonderful piece from the late Andy Rooney (Looking Back FWW #255) ought to be required reading for every woodworking class in the country. It's chockfull of useful observations that many a long time woodworker knows to be true, but never dared admit (eg. the money I put into my tools greatly exceeds the value of what I've produced with them.)
This wonderful American got it. Please don't wait another 25 years before repeating his priceless contribution again.
BRUCE KINSEY, Shenandoah Valley, Va."

[nuhobby]

This is so true! I enjoyed that article. Tools, whether buying, restoring, or tweaking, are a quicker "fix" than a real wood project which can drag out quite a while. I'm a tool junkie who occasionally issues a real project....

Chris

[garys]

I'm kind of the opposite. I'm not a tool junkie. I'm a wood project junkie. I like to build furniture projects non-stop in the winter with as few tools as possible. I enjoy getting my projects done with the tools I have in my shop, and my shop isn't nearly as tool heavy as most people equip their shops.

[skou]

Who was it that gave Andy Rooney a Model 10?

Yes, Andy had been running Shopsmiths, since
they were made out of Cast Iron!

(Lover, you KNEW I would post this!)

steve

[Gene Howe]

Other than hand tools (with which, I am sorely lacking in proficiency), how many more tools does one need if you have a Shopsmith or four.

[Ed in Tampa]

We all realize we have limitations. When an ad says this tool will overcome those limitations we jump on it. Sadly we often find the ad was not true, but by then we have a new tool. Our hunt for the perfect tool to make our lives easier and our craftsmanship better continues, the cycle repeats.

Pitchmen know this and they carefully word their ad to say easier, better, faster, more precise, accurate, closer tolerance, all the busswords that trigger us to reach for our money.

Who doesn't want a machine that makes projects easier, better, faster, more precise, more professional? Buy on America!

[reible]

"It's chockfull of useful observations that many a long time woodworker knows to be true, but never dared admit (eg. the money I put into my tools greatly exceeds the value of what I've produced with them."

Take out the words woodworker and tools and put in any other hobby you have and the same is true.

ie photography, camera(s), hiking and boots, bird watching and field glasses, old cars and parts, reading and books........... I think we may have come to the root of all evil and it is hobbies.

I guess we should have all stayed working in the garden. Speaking of which it would almost always cheaper to buy then to grow if it were just a money thing.

Ed

[BuckeyeDennis]

Ah, but in the original post, Rooney was quoted out of context. The full sentence, and paragraph, reads: "It is certain that the tools I own exceed the total value of anything I have ever made with them, but the satisfaction they have given me simply by their presence is priceless."

Thanks for posting, Chuck, it's a great essay. I never even knew that Rooney was a woodworker.

I'm torn about sharing that essay with my wife. On the one hand, it might give her a better appreciation and understanding of how we guys relate to our tools. But on the other hand, she just might never again believe a perfectly rational tool-cost justification.

[robinson46176]

I tell my wife "I would really like to have this (new whats-it) but I won't buy it right now".
I consider that planting the seed of thought and smoothing the sharp edge of an approaching expense. That gives her the chance to get used to the idea.
While I have been slower in recent years (but currently improving) I have done enough over the years to justify all of my shop expenses.
I have done this stuff all of my life and in a diverse farm environment there are numerous opportunities.
I can do about anything I need to related to most any trade skill and have often said that shop work has long been the most profitable part of my income. Not really in cash but in many thousands of dollars that I have not had to shell out because of it. Sometimes the best money you can make is the money you don't have to spend... Money you go out and work and earn to spend has a lot of cost like taxes, commuting cost etc... With money you don't have to spend you get to keep all of it.
I just never liked the idea of working for $20 an hour to pay someone else $50 and hour to do something for me.
20 and 50 are pretty loose numbers depending on the time period you are talking about.
As far as being a tool junkie goes I'm afraid that my condition is worse than those words... On the other hand I do combine our love of yard/garage sales, flea markets and auctions in with my other hobbies and I can often acquire my tool wants at very reasonable cost.


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[garys]

I guess we should have all stayed working in the garden. Speaking of which it would almost always cheaper to buy then to grow if it were just a money thing.

Ed

I question that statement. In addition to my garden vegetables, I'm getting around 1500# of fruit out of my back yard this year. I'm ending up with around 30 gallons of apple cider plus all the apples, pears, peaches, and plums we can consume in the next year. We don't buy fruit in my house. We grow our own. Organic apple cider sells for $12 a gallon in my local grocery stores. We have as much as we can consume all the time. The trees cost me $40 about 15 years ago and have paid for themselves many times over.
Vegetables are the same thing. Everything is organic because we have excellent soil that requires no artificial fertilizers. Things just grow and produce if you give them a chance.
And, I don't have to worry about all the food recalls due to poisonous substances in the commercial food.