Don’t underestimate the usefulness of a well rounded hand tool collection. In times of power outages or more extreme disasters, your collection of hand tools could mean the difference in your survival. Start putting together your hand tool collection now. There are a lot of great bargains for older carpentry tools. Many of these old tools were built so rugged that the surface rust that the seller thinks is the end of the tool, is just the thing that allows us to get a great deal.
When putting together your collection, think about the main tasks, drilling, cutting, planning, hammering. Then fill in with the other tools like screwdrivers, squares, chisels.
Hand planes are a great garage sale find or if your lucky past down from generations. Again, these go cheap at most garage sales. With a little work and some sharpening you’ve got a great tool.
I threw this in, it’s an adjustable wrench of sorts. I liked the style. It was given to me by a fellow worker. Covered in rust and inoperable. With a few hours of oil, sanding, wire brushing and it was almost as good as new.
The bit brace drill and yankee screw driver are must haves. Working with these tools bring back a time when projects weren’t rushed. A great satisfaction comes from using hand tools.
Build yourself a tool box or two. I use two carpenter type boxes. I try and keep trim tools and everyday tools in one box. The other I try and keep heavier type tools like concrete chisels, heavy hammers, concrete bits, chalk boxes etc… in a few months I have to sit and reorganize because these tools make there way across the boxes due to lazy tool placement.
The wood boxes I find add a bit of traditional tool working and they always get some attention when I bring them on the job. These were built about 25 years ago, out of plywood and I stained them. They’ve held up well and hold and protect all of my hand tools. God bless.