A Love for Tools

I believe that I inherited my love for tools from my father. I do know, at least, that he taught me and my brother what each tool he would use was. He did this because, when he would work on our car or something in our house, he would ask for the tools by name as he needed them. “Hand me the pliers, a 3/8 drive socket, a ratchet, a phillips screwdriver”. You get the picture. We knew that we better hand over the correct tool, or be prepared for getting chewed out. Sometimes, we would anticipate what tool was needed and hand it over before he even asked. I guess one could say we were like surgical nurses, and Dad was the surgeon.

As I got older, I started accumulating tools as I would come to need them. These times were usually when my pick-up truck broke down, needed an oil change or a tire rotation. For me, there is no greater feeling of accomplishment than succeeding in fixing a problem with a car or any mechanical ‘thing’. Having tools to do the job is a necessity. Everyone, men or women, should have a basic tool set so that they are able to do basic repairs, install screws, hammer nails etc.

A ‘basic’ tool set, if you ask my opinion, would depend the project(s) you might be using it for. For overall basic home repairs, one would need a claw hammer, straight edge screwdriver, Phillips screwdriver, a hand saw, adjustable crescent wrench, a pipe wrench and water pump pliers. Although they aren’t a ‘necessity’, socket sets (1/4 to 9/16 deep and shallow) and ratchet set (1/4″ drive) can be very helpful. Now a days, if you buy an item that has to be assembled, get a set of Allen/Hex wrenches. One can also work on their car using some of the same tools. As time passes, add more tools to your set as you gain experience. Buying good quality tools is a good idea and an even better investment. Nothing is worse than having a cheap tool that breaks when you really need it.

I’ve been accumulating tools for 30+ years and now have a pretty large set for home repairs, car and motorcycle repairs and maintenance. As technology has progressed however, newer cars are more sophisticated and require even more special tools and electrical test equipment, should you choose to ‘do-it-yourself’.