LOng Term View of tool collecting

[skipskip]

I started collecting Toy Trains in the mid 60's, there was no internet, very little written

info, most knowledge was word of mouth.

You learned by talking to others and seeing and remembering.

Now the internet will give you very detailed info and prices on any train you see.

I sense that the tool collecting hobby is still in the early stages.

We have Alloy artifacts, and eBay and Tooltalk, and those great, but expensive,

books about wrenches, and some auction results.

But every day I learn something new about the hobby.

To me, that's what exciting about it.

On any given day , I can find a gem at a garage sale, or at an auction.

Or enjoy the fact that YOU found one.

Skip

spending his 2 cents early today

[dimwittedmoose51]

Amen and AMEN!!!

DM&FS

[john k]

Enjoy the fact that you found one!!  Exactly, lots of enjoyment for little $$.   Enjoyed many hobbies, but so many get so pricey so fast.   With this one, a pawn shop, antique shop, flea market, or just a neighborhood garage sale can put a smile on my face.   And being on the mature side, just finding something that I'd never seen or even dreamed up before is exciting.   I know, I got a dull life, but am having fun!

[scottg]

 We are the pioneers with old mechanic tools.
   All antiques go through the same pattern.
From unwanted to hot property over time, and sometimes dipping back down in popularity for a while, only to come back strong again. 

Once upon a time, woodworking tools were hardly collected. You could still find them all over the place, and little competition. Sometimes the price asked was high, but you simply laughed since someone else would have one for a buck further down the road.
I have screwed up many times though, thinking a cheaper one would come. Sometimes they never did and now I can hardly even have the common stuff.

Someday there will be mechanic tool collecting clubs and specialty auction houses where the most desirable tools will sell for astonishingly high prices.
In fact, if you ever wanted to go into the auction business, now is the time. Right now!
The first one in can often establish a lead nobody else can ever catch.

I remember when Ebay started. There have been 1000 online auction companies start up since. All have failed.    Nobody will ever catch what Maurice started on his kitchen table.
Nobody will ever catch Antique Trader.
Nobody will ever catch many other specialty firms that were the first ones going.

The first mechanic tool auctioneer will struggle for the first years, no telling how many or how hard the struggle,
but will command the field in the end.
     yours Scott
 
 

[Branson]

>"Or enjoy the fact that YOU found one."

This attitude is one of the reasons I enjoy Tool Talk.  Other lists are informative, but the good fellowship I find here is wonderful. 

[Papaw]

We do seem to get as much satisfaction out of others' finds as we do our own, don't we?

I find this attribute of the membership here to be very satisfying!

[Ken W.]

In 25 years will we be thrilled to find a Craftsman wrench made now that was made in the USA ? Just like if we find a an old Velchek or socket made in the 20's ?

[bonneyman]

Tools are good for me in many ways. It's fun, it's affordable, it's interesting and challenging to learn and remember, and it's therapeutic. The doctor says I need to calm down, mellow out, and reduce stress. Well, going to yard sales and thrift stores does that for me. I may go a month or two and find nothing. Doesn't matter. The joy is in the journey. And when I do find an old gem - especially and American one - I'm set up for at least a week of satisfaction.
Then I get to share with all you guys, and you enjoy with me. Priceless!

[EVILDR235]

I started buying tools about 42 years out of need. I had got my first car in 1966 from a friends sister. In 1970 i started working in a bakery, My boss had a brother who was a milkman and always had boxes of tools on his milk truck. He told me he got the tools at garage sales. From him i bought a 1/2 drive inch Plomb torque wrench, a 1/2 inch drive set of S K Wayne  tools and a Yale & Towne  1/4 ton chain hoist. I still have the chain hoist, the other stuff is gone. I started buying more and more tools over the years. So something that started out as a need, grew into a hobby.

EvilDr235

[clovis]

One thing that should be noted is that decent tools are getting harder and harder to find.

Just a few years ago, Stanley 4 and 5 planes were common and to seemed to be available at every auction. At a local barn one night, I bought 7 planes from two estates. These days, I haven't seen a #4 or #5 in quite some time.

When I was a teen, the junkyards had row after row of Volkswagen Bugs. Those who drove VW's thought they would never run out of parts. You'd be hard pressed to find a vintage VW in a normal parts yard these days.

I do think we've turned the corner on antique tool availability, but we also need new blood and fresh money in this hobby.

While this might sound silly to most of you, if I am working outside, and one of the neighborhood kids want to help, I am always kind and open, even if I am letting them turn screws with a Chinese made nut driver, or pound #8 nails with a 14 ounce hammer. These are the kids that might grow up to love tools as much as I do. 

[Branson]

Haven't run out of 4's and 4's in Northern California yet, and the prices haven't gone through the roof either.  I picked up a #4 in great condition,  even most of the decal was still on the tote -- for $7.  I didn't bother to haggle.  Have a 5 and a 5C that came away from a garage sale for a dollar each.

[clovis]

Haven't run out of 4's and 4's in Northern California yet, and the prices haven't gone through the roof either.  I picked up a #4 in great condition,  even most of the decal was still on the tote -- for $7.  I didn't bother to haggle.  Have a 5 and a 5C that came away from a garage sale for a dollar each.

Prices are not high here either for common stuff, but finding it is getting harder and harder, when it used to be everywhere.

I haven't seen an all wood coffin plane in a l-o-n-g time...at least a year or more, and I used to buy those on a monthly basis.