Tools are the New Golf
February 13th, 2009Reason not the Need
People keep asking me why I’m not building anything with my tools. Or they ask me what it is that I plan to build. They don’t get it. I’ll provide the answer. I am building a SHOP.
Here’s what I want. When I get an idea about something I want to build or do, I want to be able to walk out into the garage and see that I have the tools I need to do it. You can never really reach this point, but you can get very close to it, unless you plan to build your own space station or make your own surface-mount circuit boards or silicon chips.
This is why I don’t know what to say when people tell me I have to have a job in mind before I can choose a tool. What I have in mind isn’t a particular job. I want to be able to handle a reasonable range of jobs. “What do you plan to do with the tool?” isn’t a smart question. What you should ask is, “What do you think you might want to do over the next thirty years?”
You can reach a point where you can make a smoker, a door, a metal fence, a table, a humidor, a steel rack for your yard tools–or any number of other handy things–without leaving the house. You can fix it so you can raise your own car and put a new exhaust system on it or replace your brake pads. I don’t think that’s much to ask from life. You can blow twenty thousand dollars, total, and be set for life, except for odds and ends. Is that really too much to spend? Let’s see what a decent fishing boat costs. Haven’t I done this before?
Okay, I pulled up a boat on Boat Trader’s site. It’s a Boston Whaler. I wouldn’t have a Boston Whaler; they ride rough. The design is obsolete, and they’re very ugly. But it’s a quality boat, and the price is representative of the class. The one I’m looking at is a 2001, and it’s 26 feet long, which is really the minimum size for fishing in Miami. Asking price? About forty thousand. Let’s check the fuel capacity. It’s 200 gallons, or $500 per fill-up (unless you find a marina that doesn’t overcharge). The electronics suck. If you don’t have a fishfinder that works reliably to 2000 feet, you bought a toy. You don’t need radar here, but you need a real (i.e. $2000) GPS and a good radio and an EPIRB. Figure four thousand to put all that together. Figure, conservatively, ten thousand for decent rods and reels and tackle. And let’s not even talk about maintenance and repairs.
You also have to store the boat. If you trailer it in your yard, you’ll never use it, and you’ll have to buy a pickup and trailering stuff. The only realistic way is to find an in-water marina. At worst, a marina with racks and a forklift. That will cost you.
Compared to fishing, tools are a bargain. And when you fish, you get nothing of concrete value in return. And the skills you learn are completely worthless. You’re not going to fish in the open ocean to feed your family; there is absolutely no way to come out ahead. You can fish from shore and catch things like grunts and snook, but on the whole, you’d be better off raising chickens. But no one ever looks at a little 26-foot open fisherman and says, “You must be CRAZY, spending all that money!”
I have a project in mind right now. I have to sort through my table saw blades. I have no idea what I have. I have to make two cuts with each, to see what the kerfs look like and check the finish they leave, and then I have to mark them and make a list of their characteristics. Then I have to get them off the Rubbermaid stool where they now live. So I plan to make a steel thing I can hang on the wall, on which I can hang the blades like weights at a gym. I figure I’ll need three or four spindles on a piece of square steel tubing. I already have the tubing. I haven’t checked the size of the arbor holes on the blades, but I may be able to use my surplus electrical conduit to make spindles. It’s more than strong enough.
Imagine trying to do this in a house with no tools. Forget it. It’s a simple task which should take two hours with my limited skills, but if you don’t have a welder and a dry cut saw or some other decent cutting tool, it would be impossible. For me, it’s a pleasant two hours. For you, if you don’t have tools, it might as well be the construction of the pyramids. You can’t do it.
People keep saying, “Gee, you can buy the thing you want to make.” Sure, and I can eat at McDonald’s three times a day instead of cooking my own food. The point isn’t to get stuff, or even to save money. The point is to be able to make stuff.
If I wanted to play golf (thank God, I don’t), would you tell me I could watch golf on TV instead? Would you tell me to pay someone else to play golf for me? Of course not. And you wouldn’t tell Tiger Woods to walk to the hole and drop his ball in the cup, just because it’s faster and cheaper. The process, not the result, is the destination.
February 14th, 2009 at 11:28 AM
Damn, Steve, you sound like you’re getting defensive! I can’t imagine any of your recent commenters thinking that you’re crazy or telling you to “just buy” something instead of making it. I for one, understand completely and agree nearly 100%. The main reason for my agreement is that I’ve been doing exactly as you write about, building my shop for literally 40 years. Almost no reasonable project is beyond my reach anymore. Some are beyond my desire, so are farmed out. Also, it’s silly to own a bulldozer for rare use; I can rent one if I prefer to DIY instead of hiring the work done.
The most important thing for you, IMO, is to move so you have some room. Then, you need to erect a building of at least 40′ X 60′, divided into 3 parts: metal shop, wood shop, and auto shop. Although I didn’t really plan it that way, that’s exactly the setup I have and can’t really imagine much improvement.
February 14th, 2009 at 11:30 AM
I’m not defensive! YOU’RE the one who’s defensive!!!
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Maybe I measured the coffee wrong again this morning…
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: )
February 14th, 2009 at 11:55 AM
You are describing my new tool buying tactics exactly. My old way was sub-optimal:. I got a DeWalt portable saw (cheap-new with stand < $300), too small for any real projects, but just right for my handyman job. So I got a ShopSmith (used with lots of stuff for $500), really nice but a PITA to swirch between tools. I wish I got the Powermatic table saw for not much more. Compressor, $100 cheap POS from Costco, OK for finishing nailer. Then I got a 2 1/2 HP Porter Cable, great for framing nailer, but won’t drive the impact wrench. Now I am looking at something bigger.
The moral? NEVER BUY ANYTHING SMALL!
February 14th, 2009 at 12:17 PM
I have a slightly different approach since money and space are more limited for me. I happen to have more time so taking a little longer to do something around the house doesn’t really bother me. If, however there is a tool that I need to accomplish a given task (and I cannot find an alternate way with those I have) I will buy one that can do more than what I need, but is still of good quality. As I have more space and expertise and money I will upgrade.
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Of course your thinking is sound too because you have the resources to plan ahead and in most cases bypass the upgrade stage. I find that to be very cool. I get to read about a normal (although I guess that might be in dispute) guy learning the tools I will eventually get BEFORE shelling out the cash.
February 14th, 2009 at 2:00 PM
I have blade holders in my shop. They’re called 16d nails 😉
February 14th, 2009 at 2:01 PM
My guess is that you don’t have cinderblock walls.
February 14th, 2009 at 2:57 PM
There is nothing wrong with tools for tools sake. I would do it more, but with only one kid through college, and two more coming up, I can’t always justify it,
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As for having the right tool available, I second the methodogy whole-heartedly. I just spent a few evenings in the past week designing, machining and fabricating a new shower-knob out of aluminum stock. Was it worth the time and materials invested compared to buying a replacement knob from the hardware store…uh, no.
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But when compared to the fact that the OEM knob kept breaking every other year and the fact that I was darn tired of replacing the stupid thing, it’s priceless. The average tool-less guy would have to just keep replacing the knob, or worse yet, have a plumber replace the whole fixture.
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Tools give you options, so I’m behind you 100%, Steve. I only wish I had the time, space, and funds to setup a shop like yours (a goal for the future, perhaps).
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BTW, the shower-knob is now in the vibratory tumbler (for about 24-hours) to take off the machining marks. I’d hand-buff it, but I’m taking Barb out for Steak for Valentine’s.
February 14th, 2009 at 8:53 PM
Hmmmm. I seem to recall somone who shall remain nameless *cough* steve *cough* snapping at me that he was NOT building a shop. I knew at the time is was mere denial, and I’m happy to be able to say “I told ya so!” (and you still haven’t gotten the EDM machine) Only a matter of time.
February 14th, 2009 at 9:31 PM
I think jdunmyer hit the nail on the head when he mentioned the thing about…more space…three shops…etc. The only thing to add to that is you will need four spaces in your shop building since you will want somewhere to put the Bobcat under cover. I think the D 8 and the backhoe will be alright outside but the Bobcat is too easy for someone to steal if you’re not around for a long weekend or something.
February 14th, 2009 at 9:41 PM
Oh Yeah, which reminds me. If you think being sweaty and saw dusty and stuff is manly wait until you are all of those things plus being covered with a fine coat of dust about an inch thick and everything you own smells like diesel. Then watch your friends as you get in your car and evertime you raise your electric windows you automatically tromp the gas a little thinking to “speed up the hydraulics”.
Steve…. that is the summit of manly coolness. You then will truly be awesome with a hat of awesomeness.
February 15th, 2009 at 1:30 AM
Steve
Do whatever you want with your money man. Its yours. Now if you dont ride your motorcycles for over one year in a row you have to give them to someone who will. Thats a rule man. LOL
Get yourself a great shop tool selection, prepare for your move to the country and enjoy the heck out of life. God didnt put us here to be unhappy. You or I or anyone cant help Gods children when we are unhappy.
I do have one tool that I think you will just love.
Kreg joinery tools. They use thorsen drive (square) screws but really it is a awesome system. I used it in all the giant aquarim stands and canopies I built, and book shelves, and basicly everything I can. Its a nice system.
February 15th, 2009 at 2:18 PM
Forget the Boston Whaler…Try an old Grady White for the same money with a better, dryer ride in less than optimum conditions.
February 15th, 2009 at 4:07 PM
I like Intrepids. Grady-Whites look like geezer boats.
February 17th, 2009 at 5:13 PM
You did couch your reasons from the beginning by explaining specific reasons for buying tools, not for the purpose of building a shop.
My father has many many tools so I never really built a workshop as I’d probably just get rid of mine when my father no longer had use for his and passed them on. I was pretty old before I realized it was unusual for someone to buy sheet metal and bend their own gutters. None of my friends could even figure out how to add additional cable outlets in their apartments, either.
Anyway, I’m not faulting your reasons, just that, well, you have guns and you don’t just put up pictures of guns do you? You put up targets and show what you can do with them. That’s the interesting part, at least to me it is.
February 17th, 2009 at 5:28 PM
You are trying to mess with my head. I just dug up an old 2006 post where I talked about building a shop.