# First Meeting of 'Tool Collectors Anonymous' now in Session



## 33706 (Mar 5, 2008)

Okay… I'll kick it off and see where it goes:
As I mentioned in a current thread, I had been looking to buy a Stanley 5 1/4 Junior Jack plane for quite a while. Then.. I found one, right on a shelf in my workshop! So I do get clues, my tendency to buy tools for the sake of buying them, without a clear, urgent need to acquire them. It's kinda like rescuing them, like they will have a worse fate if I don't bring every plane I see home with me. What is this strange compulsion? I mean, I'm a high-functioning person, good career and family, just this glitch in my head that spurs me on to continuously be on the lookout for tools and lumber deals. *Your Turn!*


----------



## CharlieM1958 (Nov 7, 2006)

My name is Charlie, and I'm a toolaholic.

There's just something about taking a rusty old tool and returning it to near-original condition. It's the next-best thing to discovering the fountain of youth. I can't make *me* young again, but this tool will live on.


----------



## helluvawreck (Jul 21, 2010)

I'm not sure, Poopie, but I'm the same way. I know that as far as planes go, the majority of woodworkers seem to not be able to keep their hands off of them. I think the main thing is that just feel good in your hand and we seem to love what the planes are able to do. All tools are sort of special I believe.

helluvawreck aka Charles
http://woodworkingexpo.wordpress.com


----------



## 33706 (Mar 5, 2008)

Among the stuff in my shop, bought but never, or almost never used:
Two portalign jigs. Two Router crafters. Dovetail template rigs. 2000 biscuits with Craftsman cutter. Freud aluminum miter slots. Seven hot melt glue guns. 6 Pipe wrenches. Twenty unopened 8 oz cans of polyshades, ten years old. Thousands of drill bits. hundreds of blue masonry screws. A trash can full of PVC and ABS fittings. Welding gloves, leather smock, and auto-darkening helmet. 50 sets of Blum 18" drawer runners, and 50 of other various sizes. Lengths of chain, various sizes and lengths. Enough primary wire to rewire 10 cars or 20 trailers. About 25 different wire strippers. Thousands of wire nuts and solderless connectors. Vacuum bags for vacs I don't even have anymore. Bandsaw blades that don't fit either of my saws. 12 six-foot aluminum bar clamps never used and 15 yrs old. *I'll stop here*. Nope I really don't want to sell anything. This is mostly gleaned from yard sales flea markets, Mennonite thrift stores, and Habitat for Humanity.


----------



## 33706 (Mar 5, 2008)

*@ Charlie:* Understood! My desire for old things is my way of keeping the past alive, and refurnishing an old plane makes it seem even more real. If I could, I'd turn back the clock to 1940, so I could buy a new Ford Deluxe coupe, a brand new Uni-Saw, and warn Hickam AFB about an impending attack. *Helluvawreck:* Yes, there is always a feelgood moment whenever I pick up a plane. On a flea market table, I can't set it down 'til Ive adjusted the cutter and otherwise undid the stupid things casual browsers do to perfectly good planes. I like it when I get looks, like 'you know how to operate that thing???'


----------



## ShaneA (Apr 15, 2011)

Hello my name is Shane and I am a toolaholic, and I am a woodaholic too. When does that meeting start?

If it is a "good deal" or something I might need someday, I find myself dragging it home far too often. If I had more space…it would help. Or would it hurt? Maybe I just like buying stuff? The good news is, none of it has an expiration date, and it doesnt need to be fed. So it could be worse.


----------



## bandit571 (Jan 20, 2011)

Hi, my name is Bandit, and I was ordered here. For some reason, people think I'm a tool-fanatic. Not sure where they would get that idea from…


----------



## Dennisgrosen (Nov 14, 2009)

maybee I´m a toolaholic but I stick with to say Its becourse I have had 3½ shops 
at the same in different places and is down to one now 
and the powertools is all nearly down to one of each 
but somehow drillbits and screwdrivers just ceep on drifting into the house 
so the piles grows bigger and bigger

Dennis


----------



## joebloe (Feb 13, 2012)

Toolaholic for sure.or is it a love affair,I just can't resist old tools,mainly hand tools.when ever I see them at yard sales,flea markets ,I feel that I have to rescue them,but then they are put on a shelve or mounted on the wall to live out there retirement.ShaneA I whole heartedly agree with ,The good news is, none of it has an expiration date, and it doesnt need to be fed. So it could be worse.


----------



## jjw5858 (Apr 11, 2011)

Thanks for this interesting post poopiekat. Great subject matter this tool collecting bug. Yes I as well am a toolaholic…time to admit it….lol.

I think the fascination with it is definitely getting in touch with a time far past. For me being a younger handtool wood worker and tool addict I think it also is nice to break away from the sometimes dissapointing realities of the modern world. There is something very real and worthy of working with old handtools. Cleaning, restoring and working with them. I also feel we see a crafstmenship in their stucture as well as a purpose that pleasantly reminds us of a strength and pride our country and others had in the past.

With all the flea markets, ebay bids or whatever it may come down to…...I am sure everyone on here would admit….the tools your grandfather, father or family member left behind that you use now…..have a soul and a tie to your heart and that is as good as it ever gets. May everyone on here share that same joy and continue to enjoy finding the rusty gold! I have a cool handsaw to clean after dinner….I hope to post later. Thanks for the interesting ideas friends.

Joe…..TOOLAHOLIC!!!!!!.....LOL


----------



## renners (Apr 9, 2010)

Don't beat yourself up about it Poopie. People have much worse addictions. 
Sex, Drugs, Alcohol, Gambling - to name but four, all of which are probably quite a lot of fun in the short term but no help whatsoever if you have cabinets to make and fences to mend.
(See, I'm trying to justify it to myself here as well).


----------



## 33706 (Mar 5, 2008)

Ok, members… the word for the day is *"transference*" 
That's the name of the alternate compulsive behaviors that you adopt, when you give up gambling, drinking, smoking, heroin, or serial buttocks fondling in public. you don't just give up your pet behaviors, you channel them into something less detrimental to yourself and others. Like innocent tool collecting, for example.
So… (grins)... what compulsive behavior did YOU give up when you became a tool junkie? If you were somehow unable to buy tools, what new obsessive behavior would you adopt? How do you explain the concept of 'Higher Power" to a galoot?
Does anybody DARE step forward with suggestions for a 12 step program?


----------



## donwilwol (May 16, 2011)

i can quit any time i want. really.


----------



## DaveHuber (Nov 12, 2009)

I prefer to think of myself not as a tool hoarder, but as a curator.

Seriously, I view the buying, fondling and keeping of tools as one of the least expensive, least fattening and least self destructive outlets for the stresses, slings and arrows life brings.

I point out that the $200 you might spend on an absolutely epic binge at the Sunday Flea Market wound get you very far at a pro baseball, basketball or football arena. Or in a tavern, for that matter.

Think if it on the D.P.S. yardstick:

Dollars Per Smile

Cheap at any price, IMO

And sometimes, once in a while, I build, fix or salvage something useful, beautiful or priceless.

BTW, I think it our solemn duty to save serviceable handsaws from the atrocity of the antique mall saw painters of the world..

Dave


----------



## donwilwol (May 16, 2011)

where is Andy when you need him?

"I like Vintage tools. It's what I do to forget about what I do when I need to forget about what I do. Saws, planes, chisels, hammers, it doesn't matter."


----------



## HamS (Nov 10, 2011)

I don't have any problem. No really, I am perfectly normal. No, you can't go into my shop and look around. I will have to build a new barn probably next spring, I just don't have enough room for my tools. What are you talking about tool collectors anonymous. that is just crazy talk, we are just simple woodworkers with jobs to do.


----------



## 33706 (Mar 5, 2008)

Dave Huber: *A curator?* Why of course! That's it! Hey, I see somebody has thought about this much longer than I have. In the meantime, I might, I just might make a cooper's barrel, and I'd NEED my #113 for it! But now, thanks to you, Huber, I now have to go look at every craft-shop handsaw with the decorated acrylic farm scenes to see if it's a rare umm Richardson or Disston or something! :-^


----------



## donwilwol (May 16, 2011)

it was probably made with my coopers plane.


----------



## 33706 (Mar 5, 2008)

Jeez, Don! did that come from the tree where they tunneled a roadway thru the trunk? Yikes. I saw one sweet jointer plane, never used and probably 75-100 yrs old. but it was probably only 28 or 30 inches, not like the leviathan you got there!


----------



## jjw5858 (Apr 11, 2011)

Wow…..the coopers plane is awesome Don.


----------



## woodworker59 (May 16, 2012)

I can stop when ever I want, I can stop whenever I want, I can stop whenever I want…..I just don't want to.. 
My only problem is not having enough money to buy all the old tools I want. but I can stop whenever I want..


----------



## hooky (Apr 25, 2009)

i am the son and grandson of tool hoarders. they have both recently past away and now i have to incorporate there collections into mine and i am fast running out of space. I cant possibly give them up as they hold so many memories of working with them both (well thats my justification of it) so i don't see what the problem is here (except that i need a bigger shed

Hooky


----------



## Roger Clark aka Rex (Dec 30, 2008)

I am a tools, accessory and parts HOARDER, not to be confused with a toolaholic whose objective is to search for related and unrelated tools of yesteryear that are candidates for restoration, then put back into some working condition or lned up and dislpayed as visual collection.
I don't collect old restoration projects, but I do seem to collect tools and related items that are in working condition, but for which I have no immediate use for. You never know if or when you may be needing that tool, so I figure it is better to have it than not to have it, even if it is never used. All this is conditional to an absolute bargain purchase or a freebee.


----------



## ShipWreck (Feb 16, 2008)

I used to think you guys were nuts having all these planes and saws in your shops.

Doh!


----------



## terryR (Jan 30, 2012)

Hi, my name is Terry, and I'm a toolaholic…but I can stop anytime…

Biggest problem with stopping…my restored tools talk to me and say thanks for rescuing them from another rustic restaurant display…and they amuse me with funny stories of things they've seen while I'm working in the shop…sometimes they beg to be used for the heck of it just for a minute on that ugly pine 2x…or they ask to sit on the work surface and watch what I'm working on…and they always purr when I rub them with wax and oil…

I don't see any problems…


----------



## LukieB (Jan 8, 2012)

My name is Lucas, and I'm a toolaholoic.

Love the responses on this thread. Laughed out loud a number of times.

Good to see so many addicts like me, makes you fell like you're not so crazy….. or if you are, at least you're not alone.

Showed this to my wife this morning, just to be like "See, these guys are just like me! The other day, this guy just admitted that he counted 98 metal body planes" Thanks for the excuse to justify some more purchases DonW!!!


----------



## 33706 (Mar 5, 2008)

Thanks, Lucas! We're always willing to set a precedent, so that others can easily develop some wiggle room with the love of their lives. But I can hear it now… "*If Don W jumped in the lake, would you too?" *Heck, I'm just preparing an Estate so that others can fight over my stuff like vultures when I check out someday. That's just freakin' awesome. *Thanks for all the kool replies!*


----------



## sixstring (Apr 4, 2012)

Ha. In the music world, we call is GAS. Gear Acquisition Syndrome. Cant say I left that world behind, but I've shifted from collecting musical gear to woodworking tools. The obsession began when I lucked out and bought a Powermatic TS for a song. Ripping a glueline wasnt as smooth as I had hoped so then I needed a jointer which quickly turned into needing a planer. I'd like to resaw thicker/taller material so apparently I now need a large bandsaw as it's gotten dicey with the TS.

The difference in woodworking is that I immediately get results from the new tools and frankly, they are not as expensive as musical equipment (recording and performing.) I can build a table and can potentially sell it to cover the costs of the new tool. Easier to sell a nice piece of furniture than a "would-be hit song." So in the end, I find woodworking to be a more rewarding investment as the tools will last a lifetime and havea lifetime of use. Plus I've gotten to the point where if I need something, I'll try to build one first, and you cant put a price on that kind of ability.


----------



## venicewoodworker (Mar 15, 2011)

Hi, my name is Jim and I am a tool-a-holic. I got started at a young age when I worked at a "Full Service Gas Station". So we pumped gas and actually fixed cars. I was happy at that job, until one day the "Snap-On" guy stopped by. He said " Hi, my name is Steve….I'm here to serve your tool needs…..Do you need any tools today?" My response….."I dunno".... He replied…"You need to come onto the truck!" After that, it was all downhill. I buy tools that I don't have, don't need and probably won't use. I am Tim Allen on Coke. But they all look good in my shop. BTW Poopiekat…....I got the 1941 Unisaw. Picked it up last year at a garage sale for $150. Sweet piece of machinery.


----------



## venicewoodworker (Mar 15, 2011)

Let me add this also….Being a contractor/Crapenter, I am always in the hunt for the "Perfect Framing Hammer"....That collection is stupid. I have at least 20 hammers (Barely Used) just to find the one that fits my hand, swing and can sink a 16d nail in no time, yet at the end of the day, I grab my Paslode nail gun, or my airless Paslode nail gun and never use the hammer. I know, I'm not right. My wife is going to check me into the "Stanley Chevrolet" clinic. For tool addicts of both wood and automotive. (Ford is a four letter word in our household.)
Help me…..


----------



## 33706 (Mar 5, 2008)

Thanks for responding, venicewoodworker! I have an entire rollaway filled with ridge reamers, cylinder hone, piston ring expanders, ring compressors, and a whole bunch of suspension tools, torque wrenches and countless other automotive stuff… and yet, for the last 30 years I won't even do my own oil changes! But that tie-rod pickle fork might be the very next tool I need to fix something, so I'd never part with it….Good snag on that 1941 Unisaw….built when tools were tools!!!!


----------



## 33706 (Mar 5, 2008)

Figures ol' Roger Clark would respond here, but the subject is old workshop tools, not a discussion about "Old Tools" but thanks for sharing with us!! Aww That was mean, to this day I still wince over that "Cinco de Mayo" story every time I see your image, or that of Alfred E Newman!! Good one, old top! Hope you're well these days.


----------



## Roger Clark aka Rex (Dec 30, 2008)

But of course Poopie. Fond memories, happy times.
Currently I'm on #10 chemo treatment of a 12 treatment program. The side effects do a number on the body, so I'm looking forward to a short break. 
Gosh we have had some fun, I still laugh about some of the antics, good medicine.
How are you and the folks in Winnipeg, run into my aunt yet?
Sorry, Poopie for butting in on this thread but due to failing eyesight I misread the tilte as Old Workshop Fools, so I thought we both fitted in nicely.
Take care.


----------



## ITnerd (Apr 14, 2011)

My name is Chris, I'm a toolaholic, and it has been 7 days since I bought a plane… bidding and losing doesn't count, right?

Poopiekat, thanks for starting this thread - I got a good laugh at many of the responses, and especially the transference comment. I guess I should start thinking about giving up some of those vices, although heroin and hand tools - thats just chicken soup for the soul.

As a warning to other, ahem … Curators. I tried to use the 'Poopiekat says I can transfer my tool buying energy to your buttocks, honey' approach, but that just got me a very strange look and some couch-time. Ok, alot of couch-time.

In terms of knowing whether I'd jump in the lake if Don W did, approximately how many restored planes is he carrying, and is one of them that telephone pole masquerading as a Coopers plane?

I have nightmares about the old lady and that coopers plane going over a waterfall, and only being able to save one. I would miss that woman terrible.

Until our next meeting,


----------



## 33706 (Mar 5, 2008)

good one,* ITnerd*! Yup, you're certifiable! Indeed, woodworking is the opiate of the Lumberjock masses. Ah, yess, about understood about prioritizing what to save once going over the falls. I have an ex that I miss terribly… but my aim is getting better! 
hey,* Venicewoodworker*: Was it a simple typo, or a Freudian slip when you referred to yourself as a" *Contractor/Crapenter"??*
*Roger Clark*: I understand that chemo does a great job of antiquing wood….got any to spare, you old bodger? When can you post some pics of that garden gate you've been working on?


----------



## venicewoodworker (Mar 15, 2011)

No, I am a Contractor, but not a pencil pushing one. I actually perform the carpentry tasks and do not sub it out to someone. No one can do it as good as I can. Just remember, its not braggin if you can prove it. LOL


----------



## venicewoodworker (Mar 15, 2011)

Tell you what…keep posted on the stuff I bought this week "just in caase" I might need it. If I can find some time this weekend, I will post pictures with excusses, er reason why I made the purchase…..


----------



## Roger Clark aka Rex (Dec 30, 2008)

Poopie, I don't know about chemo antiquing wood, but it certainly antiques humans pretty good.
The last project I worked on a while ago was http://lumberjocks.com/utrbc001/blog/26038 and I still have the wheel bearings to fit.
Cheno every 21 days and the side effects in between have not let me go to the shop, but soon I will have a break from the treatments and be able to have some good shop time.
In the meantime, I lurk, smirk and try to be my obnoxious self, providing entertainment.


----------



## venicewoodworker (Mar 15, 2011)

Roger….Keep up the fight…..you are in my prayers. Get better so you can get back to the shop. There are piles of hardwood awaiting your guidance.


----------



## schloemoe (May 10, 2010)

I'm sorry but I'm not giving up Sex, Cigarettes and Tool collecting all in 1 life time…............ Schloemoe


----------



## OnlyJustME (Nov 22, 2011)

Hello I am only just me and i'm a toolaholic. 
I think it's the finding of and getting a good deal on the tool that keeps me buying them. Not sure as to why it's old tools and not something else but maybe doing woodworking with my father when i was little has something to do with it. Having to raise 5 kids and not any space for a decent work shop he used mostly hand tools for everything.

As to if Don jumped into a lake would i? Heck no, i'd be running to his wood shop to buy up what i can…oh wait… he's still alive?... i didnt think he could swim.


----------



## rodman40 (Jan 11, 2012)

Well all I can say is I'm in great company here. Need to get back on some of my restoration projects. I like to label myself as A Compulsive Shopper ya!


----------



## donwilwol (May 16, 2011)

Sounds like I better stay away from the water parks.


----------



## 33706 (Mar 5, 2008)

Whoa… I just missed out on a beauty of a Record #4, complete with what appeared to be a VERY nice home-made chute board! I don't even own a Record #4… ouchie! I want to have one #4 from every plane maker, and every iteration since the Iron Age…. Don… here's a tip… if you DO deciide to jump in the lake, a wooden molding plane or two in each pocket will surely keep you afloat! And that crazy cooper plane… You could clamp a Minn-Kota on it and go for a cruise….


----------



## donwilwol (May 16, 2011)

start a new phrase, up a creek without your coopers plane.


----------



## Johnnyblot (Mar 2, 2012)

Hi
I once read somewhere about a guy who was asked why he liked Harley's? The answer was simple, I've never forgot it- "if you have to ask, then you just don't know!
Cheers
John


----------



## 33706 (Mar 5, 2008)

That's an interesting theory, Johnnyblot!
However…Harleys? I'm not so impressed… Back in 1984 or so, I had two honda 750s, first a 1970 that would really run hard, and then a 1974 with fairing windshield and saddlebags… and not so much of a performer. I wanted either a new Gold Wing, or an FLTCH, couldn't decide… so one last time at the Honda dealer, and the price was jacked up by $700 dollars. There was a brand new tarriff on Japanese bikes over 700 cc!

I protested, saying that THIS very bike was already in their showroom 2 months, why the tarriff surcharge? Their answer? Don't like it? go to your Harley dealer then! So, I did. Imagine, the very bike I had my eye on was now ALSO $700 higher!!!! since the Japanese bikes were bumped, Harley dealers bumped their prices as well…sheesh. On the way home, an old man ran a stopsign in my neighborhood, and I went down. Nothing serious, just the typical smashed lenses and mirrors, but… that was my last ride. turns out the Senator from Wisconsin pushed that tarriff protection bill through Congress.

Anyhoo… you own a Harley, OR a Honda and there's no end of jerk-assed comments, no matter how nice it is. I was sick of it. People who have seen my planes and woodworking tool collection never gave forth a single bad comment. That's why I love tools…bikes, not so much.


----------



## cutworm (Oct 2, 2010)

For me it's all about justification. "If I only had this tool I could do that."


----------



## Johnnyblot (Mar 2, 2012)

Hi Poopie. I hear ya! I've done that, got the T shirt ( some scars too). Nobody seems to be uptight about my shiny chisels & planes. 
I've owned a few bikes. I have fond memories of all of them. The least favourite was a 650 Bonneville, the most favourite a 750cc Bonneville. I also had a Suzuki GS 750 that I was convinced wanted to kill me ( I'm not superstitious ). In '86 I lost a good friend. The fact is the roads here are far too busy, so for now I'll content myself with taking my L-N 5 1/2 for a thrash every now and then 
Cheers
John


----------



## reedwood (Jan 27, 2011)

My name is Mark, and I'm a sentimental old tool - aholic.

For some reason, I stopped at a garage sale last week on the way to work.

I found this old three ft. long handmade carpenter's tool box - Full of well used and maintained woodworking tools. Two curved claw wooden hammers, three jack planes, two hand planes, a rabbit plane, two Disston hand saws, a set of wood handled chizels, a brace and bits, plumb bobs, small wooden levels, bevel squares, rasps and files with old handles, his name on a punch stamp and numerous antique small hand tools. The planes were still razor sharp!

It was like a 100 yr old time capsule.

The 50+ yr. old owner said it belonged to his grandfather and he didn't know much about it. So sad - I thought.

I intend to restore the box and most of the tools and keep it together as a tribute to his grandfather and all the woodworkers who built incredible things without electricity.

BTW - I paid 50 bucks for it. Probably worth around 3 - 500.00!


----------



## Smitty_Cabinetshop (Mar 26, 2011)

Mark, that's incredible!! Pics, please!


----------



## Milo (Apr 24, 2009)

Hey, just because I have boxes and boxes of unopened tools from my last move, and can't find my jigsaw, and still have my scroll saw and oscillating spindle sand in the box, and no room to put it anywhere, hey, that doesn't mean I have a problem!!!


----------



## SamuelP (Feb 26, 2011)

Yes.


----------



## bandit571 (Jan 20, 2011)

selling a few planes in order to buy more planes? Going out and finding a dozen old handsaws, refurb them to almost new, sell most of them off to ( wait for it) but some more handplanes. Yes, I CAN STOP ANY TIME I WANT TO ( just having too much fun to quit)


----------

