The Ultimate Tool Collection

any pictures?

-- http://www.furnituremann.ca/

will your friend let you use the tools? it seams a waste for nice tools to sit around and not be used

-- Sean Buffalo, New York

Ok, you just can’t tease us like that, and not take pictures. You are hereby instructed to return at earliest convenience and take no fewer than six (6) pictures of the shop, containing every possible angle and tool within said pictures.

-- "That which has in itself the greatest use, possesses the greatest beauty." - Unknown Shaker

No I have no pics. The shop itself is not large but the amount of tools in that space is staggering. He also collected magazines. He has for instance the complete Fine Woodworking from #1 up to the present. I saw some of these Stanley elaborate planes complete in the original box.
He has 3 lathes and the array of turning chisels some of these are hand made in England. There is a 4×8 section of one wall that is hung with every micrometer, caliper ruler and gauge known to man. He has a collection of wood from all over the world. This is stored in a seperate building. One of the supporting posts in the shop is hung with hammers maybe 50 or more and no 2 the same.

He collected all types of tools from woodworking to carpentry to boat building. There are for instance 2 large handled adz hanging from the ceiling. The collection of axes is impressive to say the least.

I would say the router bit collection would fill a 5 gal pail and we all know what they cost. He has a 5 hp shaper and the tooling for that fillls another cabinet. 3 bandsaws an 8” General Jointer 7 routers. The woodworking clamps would fill a pickup half full. He collected sometimes 2 of things. For instance there are 2 wormdrive skill saws one by Milwalkee and one by Skil Saw. It goes without saying he also has 2 regular skil saws also.

There is a collection of minature electric tools. I have never seen any like it. They are old models and maybe 1/4 the size of regular tools.

Those little finger planes that one uses to make music instruments. He has a drawer full of all different types.

I can assure that any woodworker that saw this collection would walk away with his her mouth open in disbelief

Quebecnewf

Did the pilot do any woodworking himself or did he just collect the tools? Was it his plan to start building projects upon retirement?

It might make an interesting story for a magazine. FWW, Popular Woodworking, or the like.

-- Todd A. Clippinger, Montana, http://amcraftsman.com

What are the friends plans for the tools? Is he to going to just keep them, or will he sell them eventually?

-- Mike. mwurm13@yahoo.com

Some pics would be interesting. Curious though, why someone would collect so many nice tools and never use them!?

-- Steve, New Zealand, www.steveracz.com

He did some woodworking but not a great lot. His main interest was turning. I remember he would come to our small store sometimes. I don’t ever remember him leaving without buying a tool maybe a saw blade or somesuch thing.
My friend cannot bear to see the collection broken but he also like me would like to see the tools used. I do believe there is a good human interest story in that collection for one of the wood mags.

I will in the future try to get some pics. Pics of course will not do the collection justice as so much of it is stored in hundreds of homebuilt drawers.

Quebecnewf

There’s a moral here:-)) Don’t wait to retire to do things!!

-- Debt is nothing more than the 21st Century's form of slavery.

Quebecnewf,

I wonder if this guy (look under Collectable Tools, March 20, 2009 auction) was related to your friend’s friend? He doesn’t seem to have as much variety in tools as your friend, but he has hundeds of collectible hand tools, most of which are planes. It’s pretty unlikely he used very many of them either.

-- "But godliness with contentment is great gain." 1 Timothy 6:6