Does anyone else have trouble keeping focused on what they collect ? Photo shows some 6 inch pipe wrenchs I have (accumulated). I don't think I collect them but at one point I coudn't resist them. I have recovered to the point that I hardly twitch when one comes up at auction. writing ( I collect farm implement wrenchs) 1000 times might help but then something else would come up. I think getting thru these fads as fast as possible is the best solution since will power comes and goes.
Keeping focus is kinda like what Mark Twain said about quitting smoking: "It's easy to quit smoking; any experienced smoker can tell you he's done it hundreds of times."
My focus is limited. Or was limited. I find that things just pop up and catch my fancy. They might not be what my focus wants, but there they are, at a price I can afford. Like, I have my grandfather's Disston saw. Great tool that I've used since I was a kid. Honestly, I have a lot of saws. But then I find a vintage Sanvik sitting in a barrel, ready to rust away. It's a solid wood handle. I already have a Sanvik, but it's a later saw with a plywood handle. Can I leave it there? No. To most people, it's just an old rusty saw, cheap enough to use and throw away. I can't let that happen to a noble tool. When I asked the price (usually about $5) the guy said, "Just take it." When I got it home, it turned out to actually be sharp. (Yes, Scott, actually a sharp saw!) Did I need it? Was it on my focus list? No, and no.
I think a lot like Amertrac does. Who has held this tool before? What life did it belong to? How did it get here to where I find it?
I just bought an old pocket knife. It's an Imperial with bone handles. Kinda rusty. It has three blades like a stockman pattern, but the main blade is a spear point. Somebody loved it. Part of one of the scales broke off, and somebody filled in the break with some soft metal like pewter.
I don't have as many pipe wrenches as you do, but a number have found their way into my tool boxes. Just Saturday the kitchen sink backed up and I reached into the plumbing box and pulled out the first wrench I found -- a nice 18 inch Plomb that I can't remember getting.
Maybe the focus is old, good tools, and Thorsen or Blackhawk are only sub categories. In that case, I always keep my focus.
