It started innocently enough, with the purchase of a couple of Allen wrench sets -- one in metric and one in imperial, because I'd just gotten into guns and I couldn't tell which one to use for securing my bipod to my .22 rifle, so I got both.
Then I got my Mosin-Nagant, and I needed one of those tools to adjust the windage of the front globe sight.
I knew things were getting serious when I acquired a Dremel tool for fitting the Tinmey trigger into my ATI stock. After that, it just kind of snowballed: a six-piece punch set. A universal bench block. A 5-in-1 dual interchangeable head hammer. A sillcock key.
Now I find myself cruising Amazon and shopping for calipers with a depth gauge, and I find myself wondering, How did this happen?
How did I, of all people, become... a tool owner?
Wednesday, January 15, 2014
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Allen Wrenches are gateways to Tool Ownership. You get one little set of hexagonal doohickeys, the next thing you know you've got an entire workstation loaded with tools you cannot even describe to people who've never used them.
ReplyDeleteIt's bad enough I have to use those things at work every day - so far I've managed to stay tool-free at home. I dread the day I slip up... I'll wake up one morning with everything still disassembled from last night, and have this terrible urge to reassemble everything... after making it fit better.
It happens. Trust me! Need a seat belt bolt tool for first generation Ford Mustang? I haz it. It gets worse.
ReplyDeleteNow for a big red toolbox. And a 2oz. ball peen. And then...
ReplyDeleteYou're one of us
Wait until you start buying meters and other specialty niche tools. Need a gear/steering wheel/brake drum puller? I'm your guy. I really need a dwell/tach, but those don't come cheap. I'm probably more money into tools than I am into guns, even.
ReplyDeleteIt's not red, but I have one of these.
ReplyDeleteHumans are tool using apes. Tool using implies tool owning. Your genes betrayed you is all. Blame the 98% of your genes you share with chimpanzees because they use tools as well.
ReplyDeleteHow did I, of all people, become... a tool owner?
ReplyDeleteBecause you became a toy owner....and all toys need accessories.
Well you haven't started making your own tools like I have so there is time still to get yourself into rehab. Once you start building forges and buying welders you have probably hit the point of no return.
ReplyDeleteYou bought a gun. That was your first tool.
ReplyDeleteAre going full out Tam K ? That's hefting a tool in the store saying "Wow, you could really f$%& someone up with this ..."
ReplyDeleteGuns lead to accessories.
ReplyDeleteAccessories lead to Allen Wrenches.
Allen Wrenches lead to more tools....
I've done that a few times, yes.
ReplyDeleteForge, check. MIG welder, check. Lathe, check, Drill press, check, Saws, files, and grinders, check. Stockpile of scrap metal, check. Woodworking tools, all manual (very few power tools). Buckets, bins and drawers full of fasteners, check. Soldering station and bins of parts, yeah I need to upgrade to SMT someday. 3D scanner and printer on order, should be delivered in the next month or two.
ReplyDeleteThere's not much I can't fix mechanically. People are another matter.
Don't get really worried until you catch yourself looking for a copy of The Machinist's Handbook on Amazon. There's so much information in there that you'll never need that it'll make your head hurt trying to figure out what it all means.
Fun fact: Last century, I took some machinist courses at the local college. I've forgotten most of it, but I know tools from dies and mills from lathes...
ReplyDelete