Well ,winter is here and I decided to get my work shop cleaned up and organized. After a couple hours of work I began to realized that I had accumulated enough tools and equipment to open a retail repair shop. What happened to the good old days when I built some really nice rides with a basic set of combination wrenches, sockets assorted pliers, screw drivers, hammers and a set of Chraftsman torches.Do I really need all of this stuff or have I just have become spoiled. Does anyone else have the same problem with TOOL CREEP
We have tools and equipment I would have died for years ago and still find there are things we could use. Everytime we get a new one we wonder "How did I ever get along without this one?" I guess it is like women who have 300 pairs of shoes. Don
I knew a tool creep once. he would borrow stuff and never return it. what a creep. there is no such thing as too many tools. I guess it is like women who have 300 pairs of shoes. a better comparison might be my sisters kitchen. she's got more bowls and spoons and mixers and choppers and blenders than I would know what to do with. her cupboards are full of this stuff. 300 pairs of shoes... that's just wierd.
don't know if it's a matter of being spoiled, just having the right tool for the job makes life that much easier, no? must have bought them for a reason. shit, i know guys with tools but don't have a clue how to use them!!
Just done the big tidy up myself. The tool creep is one thing thats always happening but i'm suffering from one-shot creep. My paint collection has somehow creeped in size along with a few new Macks and a new airbrush. No wonder i'm broke!
I seem to have accumulated a large amount of screwdrivers. I only remember ever buying one set many years ago. don't know where the rest of them came from.
Tool creep is a serious problem. The only advice that I can give you is to build a larger garage, one with more space than you would ever think you could use. This will eliminate the problem. (for a little while)
Happens 2 ways at my place.Cant find what I need so it's off to get another one.Find the original 2 days later.Yes,my garage is cluttered.I disassemble more than I build. The other way is auctions.The item I want is in a box full of other stuff and if the auctioneer is a bundler the next thing you know I've bought 5 boxes of junk(with at least 1 screwdriver in each box)just to get the one thing I really wanted.
Yea I had collected way more tools than I used on a dailey basis. Some of them are specialized and when I needed them I really needed them. When I didn't they were pretty much in the way. Then I inherited the Ol' mans tools. So now I have two tool boxes both roll around and both are in the way of my oversized one car garage. The problem is that I live in fear of not having what I need when I need it so I just have to be really organized, yea like that is ever going to happen.
I don't have that problem. However there is a badass guy on the HAMB named Tuck. He recently had his shop burnt down with everything in it. They were doing a tool drive a while back and sending him out tools. Don't know if they are still doing it or not.
I've noticed the same thing in my shop......have to assume they are breeding....indiscriminately, sad to say.....the extra screw drivers I have are frequently "mongrels" Ray
I've got more tools than I probably need but I still have a list of tools that I want. I don't think I will ever stop buying because there is always something I want or need.
I've had my basic automotive tools for several years. That collection isn't too subject to creep but it seems like the simplest job finds me using damned near everything I own. If the job is outside in nice weather, I need a wheelbarrow to haul everything back inside when I'm done (all went out one piece at a time). But since I started to acquire some machine tools (Bridgeport, 13" Sheldon lathe); THAT'S where the creep started. Every week seems to require a trip to Wholesale Tool for some tool that I just can't manage without. Not necessarily big stuff-taps, mills, spotfacers, boring bars, center drills, etc., etc.
I'm only a home build guy and due to my technical abilites i only need so many tools of a reasonable standard. I have enough to get by to do most things and between club members we can tackle most jobs. However i do have plenty "Oh look 50% off and its shiny" moments. Even worse if i go over to the candy, sorry i mean pinstripe store. I could spend many hundreds in that place quite easily. No worse than women in some of their collecting habits though. My ex had over 150 pairs of vintage shoes!!!
I don't know how I end up with quadruples or more of certain tools. I think they're have sex and multiplying It has to be that way, because I know I didn't buy twelve 9/16" wrenches
I think all my 11/16" wrenches went on a diet because I used to have about 2 to 3 of each wrench size. Just like Blue I now have about a dozen 9/16" wrenches and not a single 11/16". Wtf.
.Talk about tool creep, I've been dealing with this for 50 years or more. About 8 years ago some a** hole backed his truck into my shop door and got away with only my Mac top box ,about $3000 worth, he couldn't get the bottom box over the remains of the door before the neighbor confronted him and he took off. long story short I've collected almost every tool one would ever need. I've got 3 roll aways full of hand tools , 3 mig welders, a tig welder, plasma cutter, grinders ,a mill,a lathe,sheet metal break. I'm so tooled up it's hard to find work space any more. Got to work on that soon, but at least I'm still having fun.. .......................Jack
Tool creep huh.....so that's what you call it...I knew there had to be a term. Mine are creeping alright, but I can never seem to find the one 11/32 wrench I have. Got 4 or 5 of every dang thing, but only ONE 11/32. Never can remember to get a new one. None of the tool folks really want to sell one wrench, but rather a set, so one wrench is outrageously expensive. Damnit!
I believe I have become a tool farmer as it seems I have planted a lot of them around the place in the last couple of years. I need one long undisturbed warm day to drag everything out of the one car garage and actually put some organization to it. I have discovered that if you drive to town and buy a replacement for the missing wrench or socket that you need to accomplish the project the missing one will show up just after the project is is finished and the new replacement tool is put in the tool box.
I have the same problem. I will drag a tool home from my box at work and plan on taking it back but some how it stays at the house and then i get another one for the box at work
On a certain music forum I am on we refer to this as G.A.S....or Gear Acquisition Syndrome. And there is no known cure for this...
I did the shop clean up thing after getting a big new tool box. Had tools in one big top box, all over every work bench, other small boxes, and generally scattered. Got most of it organized and found out I still need a bigger box. Like you I look at all these tools and think what I did 20 years ago with a small Craftsman box, a grinder, and a belt sander. But it sure makes life easier when you have the right tools. And enough storage and organization so you can find them when you need. If you remember that you had it.
Got at least 3 of everything.Leave one someplace and go buy another.It just gets worse every year,can't remember what I did with it.
I've never heard it called tool creep, and is it really a problem? I mean if one is good then four is better, right? For me it's auctions. I can't pass up a deal on quality tools at auction. The worse thing is buying a partial set of wrenches or a partial socket set at auction. That's followed by buying more tools to complete the set...... I needed (ok, wanted) a 3/4 drive socket set. It was a low priority so I waited until I found a bargain. I bought a nice but small SK set at an auction for $35. It was missing a couple of sockets, and I figured it would be nice to have the bigger sockets that weren't included in this small set. So I started buying sockets on ebay to complete the set. The thing is they're often sold in lots of three or four sockets. So now I've got the complete set I originally wanted, plus multiples of several sizes. My brain isn't wired to recognize the duplicates as "extra". I view them as another incomplete set.....well you can see where this is headed.
The Jalopy Journal
