From: Bill Paxton<wmp4@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: RE: Tool Sources
To: "1962to1965mopars@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx"<1962to1965mopars@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Wednesday, August 24, 2011, 12:17 PM
I learned abouy
craftsman as a boy from my dad. He was a die maker by trade.
He had a huge, about 4 foot long pipe wrench that was broke
at work. Snapped the head off it with a cheater bar and two
or three guys hanging on it to break loose a metal shear.
The salesman didn't bat an eye, just went in the back and
brought out a new one. Been buying them ever since
-----Original Message-----
From: 1962to1965mopars@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:1962to1965mopars@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]
On Behalf Of Ray Henry
Sent: Wednesday, August 24, 2011 11:00 AM
To: 1962to1965mopars@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: RE: Tool Sources
Years back, right out of school, when I started swinging
wrenches for a
living, I went to work at a dealership. I rolled in with
Craftsman tools.
The largest tool box they had at the time. I had two of
each of all the
basic tools. Wrenches, ratchets, sockets, screwdrivers,
etc. Everything
duplicated. The older mechanics had a good chuckle over my
"cheap" tools.
Interestingly enough, as time passed, they would come to me
to borrow stuff.
My theory was that when something broke, I could just use
the other one, and
replace it on the way home (I had to pass a Sears). So
while my tools DID
break more often than their Mac and Snap-On, they had to
wait for the truck
to stop by, often leaving them without that tool for a few
days. As time
passed, I did replace a number of my tools with more
expensive stuff.
Ultimately, I lent out more of my Craftsman tools than I
had to borrow
"professional" tools. My investment was, at the time,
probably under $4,000.
I made $35,000 that first year with those tools. That was
decent money in
the mid-80's.
After I decided that twisting wrenches for a living took
too much fun away
from doing it only on my own cars, I went out to make real
money in an
unrelated field. It was while I was away that I had my
garage broken into,
and all my tools stolen. I decide that since I was only
using them for my
own pleasure, I wasn't going to replace them with Craftsman
or better unless
I needed to. So I made a trip to Princess Auto here (our
local version of
something like Harbor Freight or Northern Hydraulics) and
bought everything
at next to nothing. My theory then was that when I broke
something, I would
hit Sears or Canadian Tire and replace the broken tool with
Craftsman or
Mastercraft. And that's exactly what I've done.
I am now in possession of 3 toolboxes, more than I had when
I was using them
for a living. Those are the full cabinets, top&
bottoms. Go through them,
you will still see a lot of Power Fist (Princess Auto China
junk) scattered
throughout that still has yet to break after more than 15
years. I've been
slowly moving some of that cheap stuff to my "yard box", a
tool kit I take
to the wrecking yards when I am scavenging parts. Or lend
out to friends
that I have concerns may "forget" to return something.
Amazing how no-name
tools always get returned when brand name stuff doesn't.
Sure, the cheap stuff has an ungainly look& feel.
Sure, it's not as
comfortable to use. But, for the most part, it does the
same job. At least
when one is not using them day in and day out.
So I never laugh at anyone's choice of tools. You buy
what's in your budget,
or what makes economical sense. If you need it only once
every 5 years,
there's probably something that is made in China that will
do the job at a
tenth of the price of the professional tools. So I have
everything from
Power Fist to Snap-On. And yes, I still have 2 (or more) of
each socket,
wrench, screwdriver, etc.
Recently my wife was complaining about the number of tools
I owned. She
failed to comprehend why I needed "two of everything". So I
spent the time
to make her aware of every time I needed two 1/2 inch
wrenches at the same
time. Or two 7/8 inch sockets on 1/2 inch wrenches at the
same time. I would
even phone her from the wrecking yard whenever something
like that happened.
Or send her a text when she was at work and that happened.
She has decided to stop complaining about my tool
collection. In fact, when
she sees tools on sale, she brings the sale to my
attention, and asks if I'm
sure I already have two of them. Life doesn't get much
better..... :)
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person -- directly to that person. That is, send parts/car
transactions and negotiations as well as other personal
messages only to the intended recipient, not to the
Clubhouse public address. This practice will protect your
privacy, reduce the total volume of mail and fine tune the
content signal to Mopar topic. Thanks!
1962 to 1965 Mopar Clubhouse Discussion Guidelines:
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http://www.1962to1965mopar.ornocar.com/general_disclaimer.html.
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