Good Morning Friends,

When I buy a tool I ask myself a few questions before I do buy it. How bad do I really need this tool? How long will it take me to pay myself back for the expense? If I only need it for one job wouldn't it be cheaper to rent said tool?

Or do I go on and buy it because John Doe has one?

I jokingly say "every new project requires a new tool". Sometimes that's true. I'm at the point now, I hate to buy/replace a tool, I have so many jigs/shop built accessories that are designed around what I have. It would be a real pain to have to rebuild them all.

1 hour ago, Ralph Allen Jones said:

Or do I go on and buy it because John Doe has one?

Sounds like a reasonable argument to me Ralph...I once wrote on this forum "I didn't need another router"...still pickin' the tar, feathers, briers out from that error of my ways Came close to being banned from participating here or any other woodworking site... Politics they'll forgive you for..."don't need another tool"; memories of elephants and tempers of a rabid badger...just sayin'...learned my lesson, but quick

i buy tools to solve problems.  to perform tasks that i otherwise could not accomplish efficiently or safely or quickly.  if i already have  tool that performs a task well, and a new tool comes on the market, it better be better, a lot better, than what i already have.  just buying new for the sake of buying new is dumb and wasteful.  now i have 2 tools that do the same thing, but i can only use one of them at a time.

My hobby is woodworking.  I spend money on my hobby without regrets.

John Doe is not to be emulated. 

Other than the basics, my recent tool acqisitions fall into two categories. Those that make jobs easier and those that make jobs safer.

My last major tool purchase was the I Box and hinge crafter. Sure makes box joints and wood hinges easier.

In the area of safety, I recently bought Fastcap's Ten Million Dollar Stick. It's a great tool for holding small pieces at the miter saw.

 

 

I do not care what John Doe has, but if there is a tool out there that I think would be helpful to me, then I will look into the purchase of it. It is my hobby and my money

Over the years, I have learned to take the time to think about why I want the tool. I weigh such things as improved safety, convenience, suitability for my usual work projects, cost, shop space, etc. I purposefully take the time to be objective because I have some tools I seldom use after having used them once. I want to define a specific need for the tool. I can easily get along without a tool if I have to. There is no right or wrong answer. 

 

hat

 

 

Boy, Ralph...you can really be a buzz kil! . Someone else said: for me it's a hobby and I have no regrets (except if the tool turns out to be a worthless piece of junk).

2 hours ago, Gene Howe said:

I recently bought Fastcap's Ten Million Dollar Stick. .

 

 

About $9,999,800 out of MY price range!

John

5 hours ago, Ralph Allen Jones said:

When I buy a tool I ask myself a few questions before I do buy it.

 

1st and most important, look to the company...
evaluate their CS and will they step up to the plate should there be issues...
see if they have a planned obsolesce program in force...
what will the company and their product do for me...
try to figure out if they will respect me in the morning...

no sense in buying something that can't be fixed a few years later...

next the product...
quality..
will it have a long productive life...
will it do more than I need it to....
is it a good value...
will it protect my bottom line...
will it go the extra mile...
will it go obsolete or become disposable in short order...

tools that don't cut the mustard, suffer down time, hurt production and the bottom line need to left on the store shelf...

Online reviews...
not too much...
read a few too many that my VOE said other wise...
I prefer to use and abuse different brands and evaluate them myself and I pay attention at large job sites as to who has what and what, if any, issues they are having......

the testers should eval a tool and then put it in production mode for a few years and then do another eval..

5 hours ago, Ralph Allen Jones said:

If I only need it for one job wouldn't it be cheaper to rent said tool?

that rarely works out that way short of heavy equipment...

 

5 hours ago, Ralph Allen Jones said:

Or do I go on and buy it because John Doe has one?

doesn't enter into the equation...

As any woodworker/carpenter/construction guy knows. You can't use "do I need it?" as a criteria for buying a new tool. Whether or not you'll even ever use it is besides the point! For all you confused people out there, I will give you the listed reasons for buying a new tool straight from "The Man Bible" Chapter 35 Section 72 Subsection D Paragraph 23 states:

You simply buy a new tool because:
a) It's there
You can

I hope this has cleared up any questions any of you may have for buying new tools, and hopefully relieve some of the guilty feelings you may have about purchasing that new tool with the money you should have spent on a new dishwasher for your wife.

I just call it "Spending the kids inheritance".

 

Herb

23 minutes ago, Stick486 said:

 

 

I hope this has cleared up any questions any of you may have for buying new tools, and hopefully relieve some of the guilty feelings you may have about purchasing that new tool with the money you should have spent on a new dishwasher for your wife.

No problem there. I AM the dishwasher!

John

45 minutes ago, HARO50 said:

No problem there. I AM the dishwasher!

John

Don't want to replace that one.

Herb

Well Guys,

I have several tools that I bought because they looked easy to use and reasonable to buy but, like many other things I have yet to use any of those tools and find that I end up using the same old tools that I already had. Like several of you I have a slew of jigs for the same projects that the new tool was supposed to make easier.

It is nice when you can afford a new tool that no one else has but, are they neccessary?

5 hours ago, HandyDan said:

My hobby is woodworking.  I spend money on my hobby without regrets.

As I always say, "Cheaper than golf."  

A group of guys I used to work with took off for a week in SC each year -- travel, stay in a hotel, 3 rounds of golf a day, drinks, food, greens fees, and trying out their new clubs.   My brother takes it a notch higher and belongs to a country club.

15 minutes ago, Ralph Allen Jones said:

Well Guys,

I

It is nice when you can afford a new tool that no one else has but, are they neccessary?

 

That's easy: NO! but that's not part of the consideration.

20 minutes ago, Ralph Allen Jones said:

It is nice when you can afford a new tool that no one else has but, are they neccessary

 

I wouldn't buy a tool if I didn't think I would use it.

1 hour ago, HARO50 said:

No problem there. I AM the dishwasher!

John

so you'll be stopping in at least once a week???