As you'll see in the pix I bought this shear in May of 2007; 13 years ago. It had never been out of the box until last week. The box had never even been opened. It still had straps around it that hadn't been cut. I remember that I bought it at a car show, I think NSRA Springfield, MO. It shows a shipping date but they actually had it right there. FWIW 5/29/07 just happened to be my 56th birthday. Maybe I was just buying myself a birthday present. I've known exactly where I had it stored on a shelf all these years and knew that "someday" I'd need it. Last week I started cutting rusted spots out of Clarence (avatar) and used this shear to cut out patch panels. WOW; this thing works really well. It has 4 mounting holes and in the pic I had two bolts and one clamp holding it to my 1" thick welding table. It was just a coincidence that two of the mounting holes lined up with two of the holes around the perimeter of the welding table. I put another clamp on it before I used it. One of these days when I build another work bench and drill 4 holes in it so the shear can be mounted/demounted any time I need it. I know it's not a Beverly but for me it's perfect. Besides I couldn't afford even a worn out Beverly. So "someday" eventually came for me. Anyone else buy a tool because they knew (thought?) that it would come in handy "someday"?
no, but I've gotten some of those still in the box tools and parts from the families of friends who died....
Years ago, one of the local "Home Improvement" stores had a close out on air tools; the prices were unbelievably low. Since I had just gotten my new 5 HP 220 volt air compressor, I bought one of just about everything they offered, I knew they were cheapo tools and would probably wear out quickly, but I told myself I would learn something about air tools. Now, over 40 years later, I still have some of the tools that I used that didn't wear out or self-destruct. Some wore out or broke early on, and were replaced with higher quality versions from reputable manufacturers, and there are a few just sitting in the bottom drawer of one of my tool chests, waiting patiently for their turn.
Guilty, Guilty, Guilty and then some. My one car garage looks like a 10 lb box with 50 lbs of tools in it. The "It's on sale and I want one for my shop" The shop that still isn't built. Odd part, is that back when I was actually working as a mechanic I only bought tools that I actually needed then and there and had a self imposed policy that If I had to borrow one from someone else in the shop twice in a short period of time I needed to buy one. I bought a few tools more to use on hot rods at home but they pretty well got used a lot.
1986 working a temporary job at Fort Sill, OK. Came by a "Chinese-tool-tent" sale on Saturday and bought a small disc sander (not dual action). Returned home and promptly got divorced. Never took the shrink wrap off the box. Threw it out last year because I needed space in the air tool drawers.
Let me get this straight; you got divorced because you bought a cheap disc sander? What kind of tools did your ex-wife have, Snap-On?
Oh did I ever! Retired machinist, but about ten years into my career and flush with overtime money I had the bright idea of having a backyard machine shop. Bought a new 18x80" gap bed lathe, 10 hp, taper attachment, etc and all the top USA made support tooling, then I blew out my shoulder at work, the lathe had a total of 45 billed hours on it so after the next couple of shoulder surgeries (right and left) the righting was on the wall. Sold everything to the first guy that called after advertising it.
Yup, but I'm obviously not alone. About 5 or 6 years ago I was helping a friend pack up his shop because he was moving. I ran across a brand new in box metal bending tool. I said I have exactly the same thing in my shop at home, still in the box and never used. As we were talking someone else there said he did too. I'm not sure what gets into us that makes us buy stuff we don't know if we'll ever use.
I still have Snap On , Craftsman and Cornwell still in original packaging I bought from two decades ago. Just because .
I bought a Beugler striping tool from my friend Harry who had never used it. Now years later when I want to try it out, I can't find it. Sent from my SM-T350 using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
I collect vintage Craftsman and Proto tools. I’m also the guy that will buy a tool for a one time job because I hate people that want to borrow my tools because “I only need it once for this job”. There is a large sign on my box at work that says “ NO TOOLS LOANED”. Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
I bought one of those Henrob torches 20 years ago and only used it enough to figure out how it works. never used it on a project. those things are pretty amazing, you can cut a slice off a thick piece of metal like a 16th of an inch thick... even my entire oxy acetalyne set up I only used to cut up a car one time ... got that for free though.
bought a slide hammer pilot bushing remover back in the 80's since at the time I just knew I'd be doing more clutches in the future.. only used it the one time.
I bought a 1/4" drive 2" black extension for 10 cents yesterday at a yard sale. Didn't really need another short 1/4" drive extension. Already have several in both the upper and lower garage but for 10 cents I couldn't pass it up.
Everytime I find a craftsman spin ratchet at a second hand sale I buy one. I have small collection only because they are stupid expensive on eBay and most people wouldn’t give them a second look. I also have a bunch of the original aluminum frame black and decker adjustable benches. The benches are handy and I do use them often unlike the spin ratchets.
Guilty. I've bought tools at garage sales that the seller had to tell me what they were for. And usually within that decade I end up using them.
When I'm in a second-hand store or something similar, I always check the odd wrenches and buy just about every 1/2" combination wrench I find. I tend to lose them.
Of course ... who could pass up an unused C-P 1/2'' air gun for $4, or a 3/8'' air drill for 99 cents ? This stuff ends up in thrift stores, priced by people who should be doing something else ...
I had a friend of mine have that happen to him but it was only because his wife found that there were better tools out there than him .
Sold my My Myford ML7 lathe and replaced it with this South Bend. I dont use a lathe all that often, but when this came up I couldn't resist. Price was right and it also came with extra chucks, drills and so on.
Two things that came back to bite me , depending on how you look at . First I had tools for work and tools for home. Moved across country and left home tools with my Dad. So , sometime need to bring back to Oregon. Second , on moving here I had to buy boxes and tools for home . Now have work tools and home tools in my garage at home. I have to push boxes “ring around the roses” now to work.
I buy a used tools, yard sales, auction, good brands that may be old or beat up. Between a shop and home garage, I have them both stocked with car tools, carpentry tools, yard and maintenance etc. Funny at times, I have a $5 used circular saw, screams from worn bearings, surprisingly it cuts straight, works the one time a year I need it at that shop. My buddy hates it, he'll bring his saw just so he doesnt have to see it. He ripped OSB with a sawzall one day to avoid using it.
On a few occasions when I’ve visited the local Eastwood I leave with something I “ May need this someday” air tool. Last time was a right angle air drill, the price was right and still haven’t used it.......but I have it! As I’ve gotten olderI have a mantra of “Treat Yourself Good” I’m guilty of having a few replacement parts I carry on our longer road trips also..... that’s a whole other “ be prepared” complex.
When I retired I built a new shop. The lot slopes so its 2 story. The lower unit is my shop with tools, compressor, and welder, etc. Mama has part of the upper unit and the other part is for parking my p/u or side by side when it looks like rain. Problem was I was always walking down to the lower shop whenever I needed a screw driver or whatever for an upstairs project. So that meant a new set of boxes and tools to fill them, usually from yard sales or Black Friday specials. I tell my wife that the upper boxes are for my son when he wants them but in reality he has zero interest in other than basic tools. Either way, he'll get to deal them when I'm pushing up daises.
My oldest son knows nothing about tools but will buy to flip on Ebay. This week he comes in with a Snap-on ratchet that has a flex head, bent handle with rubber grip on end. He said that he talked the seller down by $2 because the handle was bent. I explained that it was made that way and told him that was a great deal for the $3 he paid. Some what off topic but I just had to tell someone.
My Dad never passes up an American made C clamp. Those Craftsman spin ratchets are stupid expensive on the bay of E. They start off around $50 and usually end up over $150. Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
I bought a decibel meter when I was fooling around trying to quiet my air compressor. It was used 5 or 6 times over the course of a week and has not been used since. I think I bought it in 2014.
The Jalopy Journal
