The new tool test????

[Mark Singer]

Yes Bob, we may have strayed a little ...I must say I can begin to see your point....

To the original question

I buy when I need a tool to get the quality end product I want. I tend to research purchases to death and then buy the one I wanted in the first place anyway. There are so many tools that I want that I have to make due with the ones I need, at least till I get the ones I need, then I'll get all the ones I want.

[Keith Christopher]

When you are ready to buy a new tool....do you think about it for a few days...just buy it on impulse? Do you ask yourself it will improve your woodworking or just be another tool in the collection? another plane or chisel that is really redundant and just collects dust... Are you doing a new project that justifies the expense and need for the new tool? Will it add safety and health , like better dust collection to your woodworking.

Do you wish I would just mind my own business so you can continue collecting all the tools you want without the guilt?" Yeah, ..What is it his business anyway? "

"If I am hooked...it is my problem and I can seek my own help....of course when I get ready! "

"I could be spending it on wine...women...a boat..."(some interesting ideas )

I usually buy tools as a need for it arises. I do however research alot. I save and spend the money to buy better made tools but have had my fair share of "why the heck did I buy that when I could be out womanizing with the money !"

Keith

man I wish that mark singer guy would quit asking so many question. what's he writing a book or something ?

[Mark Singer]

Keith,

Life is full of difficult choices....I for one, think you have taken the right road....I am sure there are other opinions...

[Ian Barley]

The decisions become easier with time. I have a box full of dead tools which are not up to earning their living full time. I now know that brands to avoid and they are not only the hobby marketed ones.

Sometimes I will buy a tool fairly impulsively. If it is something that purports to do a unique job the only way to really find out if it will be useful is to try it. The Festool linear sander fit this category and seemed like it would do a job for me. It doesn't and will be sold soon. If it had done the job I wanted it would have paid for itself in a couple of months.

With stationary tools I have been bitten once and now work out a specification of the job I need done and give it to a trusted supplier. I then review his recommendations for the job and choose the one that seems best. That way if the tool is not up to the basic job I have a legal comeback on the supplier. This gets more important when you are talking about $10K tools.

[Alan Turner]

How do I decide to buy a tool? Heck, my basement is so full of tools that it couldn't hold another one one of any size, so I bought a new (old) building so I can fill it up.

Talk about impulse buying, I went up to Conn. to pick up a jointer and bandsaw, and tomorrow I will actually get them with a proper truck. But while I was up there last Wed., it seems I bought most of the rest of the shop. All kidding aside, I sometimes buy just becuase I have found a good tool at a great price, figuring that if I don't end up needing it, I can flip it, get my money back, and do another woodworker a favor.
In this vein, after thinking about it for a week, I called the Conn. guy and placed an "order" for one of the patternmaker's layout tables. It is about 4' by 6', and has a surface of milled steel so that when a pattern (read -- furiture or drawer) is glued up, it stays dead flat and square. I am not sure of the weight of this guy, but I know that I can't even budge one end. My only proviso was that the table did not go over the truck's weight limit. But, for $200, I think that I can get my money back if need be. I am not sure I need clamps, but bought all of his that were left anyway since most were Hartford Clamp Company brand. BTW, if any of you ever run into these, they put most modern clamps to shame in terms of "F" style clamps. Heavy, solid, strong, well made, never slip, etc. And then all of those screws, with which I could open a hardware store. The list is acutally longer.
My name is Alan, and I am a toolaholic. What are 12 steps anyway; I think they are but a perfectly valid excuse for a tool to build them.

[Steve Wargo]

The first step is admitting you have a problem.

[Harry Goodwin]

Well Larry and
Richard I agree with you. At 70 I may need it or my son will have the best tools in town. Tool collecting is fun too. I want the best as reasonable and if it's a good deal or about to go to China I buy it. Ask my wife. Harry

[Bernie Weishapl]

Mark,


I do a lot of research for my tools. Very seldom do I impulse buy. At this point I can't afford mid to high 3 or 4 figure tools. I want to learn and do woodworking so I have to buy the best tool that I can afford. Of course there is the justification you have to make to the wife who is holding the check book and always bringing up budget, budget, budget. So I told my wife when the house is paid and college is done watch out.

I will go toy crazy.........oops, oops, sorry I meant I will get some high end tools.
Bernie

[Dennis McDonaugh]

I usually buy tools as a need for it arises. I do however research alot. I save and spend the money to buy better made tools but have had my fair share of "why the heck did I buy that when I could be out womanizing with the money !"

Keith

man I wish that mark singer guy would quit asking so many question. what's he writing a book or something ?

Keith, that womanizing thing. Sounds vaguely famaliar, something from my deep past. Could you give me a reminder of what that was?

[Keith Christopher]

Keith, that womanizing thing. Sounds vaguely famaliar, something from my deep past. Could you give me a reminder of what that was?

Dennis,


dunno *shrug* spent all my money on tools. LOL


Keith

[Dave Anderson NH]

As a part time professional toolmaker/woodworker, I made a committment last year which has altered my tool buying habits. I now only buy tools from the income of the business and don't touch the funds in Sue's and my general checking account. I also look very hard and long at whether or not I have adequate space to place the new acquisition. Since I've owned most of my current equipment for a number of years, my focus now is on upgrading to equipment which will stand up to heavier and more frequent use. My lathe is a case in point. I currently have a Jet 1236 which is used for both furniture and turning all of the handles for the tools I make and sell. It will soon be upgraded to either a Jet 1642 or the Teknatool DVR 3000. I would have loved to buy a piece of realllly large old iron, but the lathe has to fit in a specific spot and 72"-96" bed old iron just won't fit.


When it comes to hand tools (my passion) I don't have too much of a problem in either spending the money if I want the item, or in finding a place to keep it. As I've said before, my power tools are modest in size and price, but I've got about 4 times as much money tied up in hand tools. My mindset has always had this funny quirk of cringing at spending $300 for something like a drill press, but having no problem in dropping $100 for a single chisel. I guess it's priorities.

[Mike Vermeil]

It seems it's most all been said about how poeple arrive at their tool buying decisions, but I'd like to echo an earlier sentiment.

I also am amazed at the amount of $$$ many amatures are willing to spend on woodworking equipment. I love woodworking, been doing it for 10 years or so; first amature, now professional. I love tools, been using them pretty earnestly since I was 8 or 9. I always try to buy the best I can afford/justify, but in reality, tools are just another expense, and any money spent on them, is less time my family and I get to spend on vacation, the fewer times we go to the movies, the smaller the Christmas present for my wife. You get the point. Now if a more expensive tool will enable me to make more money in the long run, or will help me provide a better product, well great. I'll go for it if I've got the funds.

It's kind of like when I was involved in racing. My open trailer got the race car to the track just as well as the next guy's semi-rig, and his car wasn't any faster once there because no bugs hit it on the way.

I guess what I'm trying to say is I try to put my money where it will make an impact on the actual final product, not where looks, status, etc tell me I should. This leaves me with the most possible funds for the other things in life that truely are irreplaceable.