I'll leave it for the next guy

[Hickory n Steel]

Aside from  junk , stuff that's all used up, or things you just have enough of...etc are there any kinds of tools you just aren't typically interested in bringing home ?


For the most part my tool accumulation is primarily driven by practicality.
Cool tools of good quality in a useful condition which I'd enjoy using if I was to use them so there are definitely tools I may pass up that many here wouldn't
Because of this one of the biggies that I rarely pick up are random old screwdrivers with acetate etc handles unless it's in excellent condition , obviously there's the stink but in general these various types of " plastic " handles don't age gracefully and rehabbing them is just too much work for me.
Wood handles however age nicely and are easy to refresh, so I will pick them up.
Since realizing that there's no perfect screwdriver set, I no longer have a problem owning a singular orphan screwdriver with a handle I really like and would enjoy using.
Before that I only ever wanted complete sets.


I can't recall ever bringing home any  random orphan wrenches and don't plan to, I already have a small box full of random wrenches from my grandfather and I like matching complete sets. I also don't bring home random orphan sockets either, again I want socket sets and have little use for a bunch of random sockets like I already have from my grandfather who obviously didn't feel the same way I do.

[Muddy]

Anymore I'm not a collector. So if it won't see use I'm not buying it. Now if it's free......

[Uncle Buck]

I will always be a bit of a random collector. All of my 1/2" drive SAE chrome swivels were aquired that way. In fact a huge amount of the tools I own came to me that way. Sets are great and I have a lot of those too. Wrenches, pliers,  chisels, screwdrivers of all types, materials,  styles and sizes are likely additions for me. My very comprehensive set of 3/4" is mismatched brands. I don't have $200 in the whole set including the box. Every last piece USA made including both Williams and Snap-on ratchet. Odd pieces most folks don't have in that drive like a u joint and ratchet adapter I have in my set. Chrome means little to me. Quality brands, condition and price mean everything to me. All that said, I don't add many stry sockets and have not for years. My exceptions would be USA draglink sockets impact swivels and weather head sockets found cheap.

I still consider and buy too many odds and ends to deny doing so, especially wrenches for 25 cents each. 😆

[TexasT]

If it is made in USA and reasonably or bargain priced, I'M IN! If I can use it ALL the better, and that might have me pay more then it is worth. I do love me an estate sale. We spend way too much when we go to them.

[Highland512]

If I run across a good deal on some quality USA produced stuff I pick it up. My boy will be able to work on his own stuff with his own tools (aka not lose mine). Many of the old brands can be picked up for little to nothing, just the other day I bought a Industro 3/8 socket set on a rail and the 9/16 was the only one that been used. For $5 its perfect for his toolbox.

   

[Hickory n Steel]

I am the same way picking up most good American made tools I find in good useful condition.

I just have the few things I tend to pass on.

[bmwrd0]

Like Uncle Buck, I am a collector by nature, and my tools are about 90% found at sales. That said, I am starting to downsize as my shop is so small, 11'x13' and I just don't need that many screw drivers, very little metric, and so on.

So, right now I am trying to leave EVERYTHING behind.

[Uncle Buck]

Like Uncle Buck, I am a collector by nature, and my tools are about 90% found at sales. That said, I am starting to downsize as my shop is so small, 11'x13' and I just don't need that many screw drivers, very little metric, and so on.

So, right now I am trying to leave EVERYTHING behind.

I consider myself more of a user than a collector. I have never bought any tool I couldn't see putting to use or giving my son to put to use, including the old stuff.

[bmwrd0]

Well, I am very much a collector, of crap usually! But I have a hard time seeing something I find interesting, or beautiful in its own way, and leaving it behind. I have enough projects to last me two lifetimes, and an old house to boot.

I use a lot of stuff, but an old set of Mossberg sockets aren't getting pulled out anytime soon.

[Uncle Buck]

Well, I am very much a collector, of crap usually! But I have a hard time seeing something I find interesting, or beautiful in its own way, and leaving it behind. I have enough projects to last me two lifetimes, and an old house to boot.

I use a lot of stuff, but an old set of Mossberg sockets aren't getting pulled out anytime soon.

I inherited a full set of those  in a fitted wood box that somewhere along the way my dad aquired.  Cool looking, but far too old to use. I know pop got them for nothing, or near nothing. Pop was not one to collect tools. Tons of other crap I never understood,  but not tools.

[Uncle Buck]

I am always on the lookout for oddball tools I have never seen. No interest in junk, just the good stuff! LOL

[Hickory n Steel]

I am always on the lookout for oddball tools I have never seen. No interest in junk, just the good stuff! LOL

I also like buying interesting stuff I've never seen as long as it's good quality.
If it's a cheap novelty that some kid saddled their dad with on fathers day I'm not buying it no matter how interesting it may be,  but an interesting tool I think I could use or want to identify I'll buy it cheap enough.

[Uncle Buck]

Agreed H & S. There older I have gotten the less run of the mill stuff I need because I likely already have several of those items and that just leaves oddball and unique stuff that I may or may not ever use or have need for.
The most gimmick tools I never have interest in. I am only drawn to quality unique tools that I know are in line with my interests and if I ever get the opportunity to use will work without failing me.

[Uncle Buck]

I did buy one item last fall for $12 that I knew for sure I would never use, but it was just too damned cool to pass up for the price. I bought an old adjustable all steel monkey wrench roughly 22" long. Damned thing is heavy as hell way too much for any old duffer to put to use. Fully functional and certainly would get the job done for anyone man enough to put it to use! At one time I could have used it if need be, but for me those days are gone. In researching it I do believe it to be an old railroad wrench. Not terribly abused, and easily restored to presentable condition. I intend to knock off any mushroomed edges on the hammer side and the jaws and cold blue it then hang it on the wall from a couple of stout brackets. Rarely have I ever bought a tool intending to use it as a wall hanger, but it was just so unique to find something like this dirt cheap in KS, or MO which was where I found it. Huge, but oddly a thing of beauty from a bygone era deserving of display on a shop wall.