Discussion - Member to Member Sales - Research Center
Discussion - Member to Member Sales - Research Center
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Phil,
I happen to be both!
I've been a stamp collector of and on since childhood
and an auto mechanic for 27+ years.
Sooo.....bring on the stamps AND the tools! 
I do enjoy going to Harbor Freight now and then (I still love the smell of that place )
However, I am not into more ratchet sets; my latest purchase - last Monday - was a thermal imager! Way cool! And so many different uses beyond my line of work!
So far, a very fun and useful "gadget"!!
Randy
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I'll stick with my Snap-on, S-K and Craftsman tools. I've busted way too many knuckles using tools from Harbor Freight. 
WB
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WB,
you are right - some Harbor Freight tools are definitely NOT for professional use.
I as well will stick with my Snap-On, Craftsman, Mac and Matco tools 
(Never been a big fan of S-K and a few others)
I have many lesser-value tools at home for occasional use,but when its a big job - to the shop I go to get the good stuff!
Randy
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I really admire people who are good with tools. So many times I've ended up doing MORE damage rather than fixing the problem. OR ruin your stock or product! Ahrrgh! 
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Randy, the first "good" tool set I put together were S-K. I now use those as my job site tool kit and use Snap-On(and in some cases Blue Point)in the shop. I put together a set of Craftsman tools for around the house. My S-K tools are always on the truck, so they're always mobile. They have a lifetime warranty and while I haven't had many problems with them, they always stood behind them when I did.
WB
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My compete set of tools is my Swiss Army Knife..
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Harbor Freight tools are primarily used for rounding off bolt heads
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Bobgggg, for some reason, I thought you would also say a nutcracker, hehehe.
Mike
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WB,
Don't get me wrong, nothing wrong with S-K;
I have a few S-K tools, too.
However, S-K doesn't come to ME every week, therefore I prefer Snap-on, Mac or Matco.
I am very fond of Craftsman tools as well, but again - they don't come by every week.
I don't always have the time away from work to get my S-K or Craftsman broken tool replaced.
And on a side note;
Snap-On seems to be raising prices at such a rate as to price themselves right out of the market! Mac and Matco and the others are not doing this.
A career as a mechanic is a labor of love - certainly not a get rich quick plan!
Tool bills can deplete a paycheck REAL quick if you don't price shop.
That being said, I STILL prefer the feel of my Snap-On wrenches in my hands more than any other. It makes a job that much easier when the tool "fits your hand".
Lifers like me know the value in that.
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Yep Randy, I get that. The first shop I worked at had a pay as you go plan and did a lot of business with the Napa store right across the street. They carried S-K tools and offered steep discounts to the employees. Even though we had Mac and Snap-on trucks come in every week,(never saw a Matco truck) they couldn't compete with the prices I could get on the S-K tools and every penny counted back then.
Eventually it was a different city, my own business and the weekly visit from the Snap-on truck that lead to an upgrade and a need for a second set of tools. As far as Craftsman, it only seemed natural, after buying our first home, to go with them as yet another set of tools out in the garage.
As with anybody who has worked with their hands all their lives, I have tools from a lot of different companies. Thorsen, Proto, Channellock, Klien, Crescent, just to name a few. All great tools, but most of those were either specialty tools or impulse buys that I just couldn't pass up.
I don't really "collect" tools, but they do play a big role in how I make my living.
WB
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WB,
Yup - I could probably name another dozen or so toolmakers/companies I own tools from along with those you mentioned.
Being a 'jack of all trades' and master of one, I have a sometimes overwhelming amount of tools....but still buy when a good deal comes along; or am too far from home to run back and get the one I forgot to bring! (wish I had the cash from every time I've done THAT....)
But I think I STILL have more stamps than I do tools.....well, maybe...!
Randy
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"Bobgggg, for some reason, I thought you would also say a nutcracker"
Mike...actually I use my trusty pliers, on my swiss army knife, to crack nuts and bust other things.
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Mostly Craftsman, but I go to Klein for some. It may be my imagination, but Klein lineman pliers just seem to 'fit' better.
However, for the Whitworth tools for the old MG TC, the brand is (no puns, please) King Dick.
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My whole family are tool junkies. Ever since I can remember my father collected tools and
new how to use them. He was a division manager for IBM customer engineering but also was skilled in working on cars. Quite naturally me and my brother did not feel we could function without garages full of tools.
I restored primarily German classic cars and specialized in painting. My brother is still an automotive mechanic, although for several years he had a Mac tool franchise. My son and two of my nephews are certified mechanics. Except for specialty tools I have always found Craftsman to be of high quality and well priced. In 1970 I bought the biggest tool kit and cabinets Craftsman had and still have most all of them. I'm also a jeweler and have a vast array of tools for working in miniture.
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Randy wrote:
"Sooo.....bring on the stamps AND the tools! "
This is what I'm looking for! My father collects woodworking tools, largely Stanley planes, but really all sorts. He's also the one who introduced me to stamp collecting back around 1965 at the tender age of six. He periodically goes to tool collector shows in which they have displays on anything and everything to do with the hobby. I thought it would be fun to surprise him with a collection and display of "tools on stamps."
I have about a dozen, but "tools on stamps" does not seem to be a common topical. Any suggestions on where I should look to find more like these:
Thanks!
Steve
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Nice topicals Steve...i learn something new every day...i see the Italian woodworker is from Trentino in the Dolomites where my mothers people are from.
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For 26 years, I worked for a major industrial supplier here in northwest Georgia. We were a big distributor for Proto, Stanley, Armstrong and J.H.Williams tools to name just a few. The Williams line was the main line that we sold for nearly 80 years. Klein tools were our main line on the electrical side of the business.
I also have several Craftsman because my Dad worked and retired from Sears after working there 38 years.
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King Dick wrenches.
Yes, I still have a few of those Whitworth sized wrenches from my sports car days back in the 60s.
Also used them on my Triumph and Norton motorcycles.
My very first car, when I was 15 and didn't yet have my driver's license was a 1954 Austin Healey 100-4. I never got to drive it, unfortunately, because it's needed repairs were far beyond my skills at the time, and Mom said "if you are not going to fix it, get rid of it!"
Sure wish I had it now, even in the same condition.
When I learned to drive at 16 years old, it was in my brother's XK-140MC (which had King Dick wrenches in it's factory original tool kit).
They are excellent quality wrenches, but sure don't fit too much these days.
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With a name like that- they better be good
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US 2198 - 2201 shows the tools of stamp collecting. For more mainstream tools I would check DDR (East Germany).
Lars
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Steve, Any of the iron curtain countries from the 50's on up showed multitudes of workers and there tools and would be the first places I'd look to find tools on stamps.
If you look through those countries on my site you should find many to give you a starting point.
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First stamp I thought of... here's a saw, hard hat and a ladder
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I was sorting a batch of Norway and found this stamp. This has to be the perfect place for all you tool junkies to meet up and have a beer!
Linus
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Thanks all for the great suggestions. And Linus, if you want to part with that beauty, let me know! I hadn't thought of cancels. I did think of covers though, and in particular advertising covers. So much collecting... so little time...
-Steve
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Tom, I ran across that German safety series a couple years ago and at first thought the stamps were Cinderellas! Thanks for uploading the series--some of them I hadn't seen before.
-Steve
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Steve-I was an American military dependent living in Germany when this series was current. As a 13 year old, I bought the high values one at a time as I could afford them. Never mind that I could easily make one Paypal payment for the entire series today!
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My Dad was also in Germany during the early 60's. We were in Schweinfurt.
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06:23:10am
" .... J. H. Williams tools...."
I haven't seen or heard of that tool line in years.
In the early '70s the "Suffolk Tools" truck (Eastern Suffolk County of Long Island) pulled into my shop's parking lot on the regular Tuesday afternoon or evening stop. The owner had a box of Williams sockets at the front next to his seat. Gene said that he was going to take on the Mac Tool line and needed to get rid of the Williams tools to make room so if I wanted any thing in the box they were at a closeout price. I wound up taking the box to sort through till the following week.
I went through the bags and small boxes and bought complete half inch, three eighths and quarter inch sets including many of the "32nd" inch sizes, a whole range of Hex key sockets and some odd-ball things that looked curious enough to gamble on. There were six point, eight point, and twelve point both shallow and deep lengths. I am not sure if there were metrics, but if there were I took them also. I do not recall the prices or my total cost but it was a great bargain and while I do not have them with me here almost all of them are in the garage in Florida. Over the years I used them again and again.
It's funny how the casual mention of a name can cause so many memories to burst forth from otherwise forgotten events.
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"My Dad was also in Germany during the early 60's. We were in Schweinfurt."
I lived in Pirmasens from 1969 to 1972. The army post there was decommissioned around 2000 and put to reuse by German civilians. Many of the buildings, including my old house, are gone now.
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I've always had an intimate relationship with tools, at least those designed to make it "easy" to work with metal:
I decided to change the oil in my VW Golf. Finally took it to the garage, with my knuckles bleeding.
I decided to save money by putting my summer tires on my Golf. Easy peavy, since I had both winter and summer tires on wheel rims. Couldn't budge even one of the lug bolts. My next door neighbour, a heavy duty machine operator and mechanic, saw me sweating. Maybe heard me swearing. He said, "Wait a sec, I'll bring one of my wrenches over. He couldn't budge a single lug bolt. He stood on his wrench to apply some added torque. The wrench broke. He was not happy. I took my summer tires and wheels to a garage. If God had wanted me to change wheels, he would have given me heavy-duty wrenches rather than hands.
I get along somewhat better with woodworking tools. I can sharpen a wood chisel until it's at least as sharp as a butter knife, and works almost as well. I believe that I am adopted. Both my paternal grandfather was a machinist, and his father was a carpenter. I have a parcheesi board that my great-grandfather made; it has something like a dozen different kinds of wood inlays. I believe I'm adopted because it's clear that I don't have any tool-using genes. Since metal-working tools, especially, intimidate me, I must have tool-fearing genes.
Tools on stamps. That a cool idea!
boB
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I'm a fair handyman. In my life I've renovated homes, and always worked on my own cars. As I've gotten older and have a few more dollars, I choose not to. I no longer mow the lawn or chase my pool chemicals. It's all hired out. I have an acre, and when I heard it was only $30 a week for mowing, there was no way I was buying a tractor and spending my Saturdays on that task.
The tough part is when I hire something out and it gets screwed up. That's when I say it would've been easier to do it myself.
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Bob,
I know many people like you - those not "mechanically inclined"
However, like you, they all excel in other areas of expertise.
We can't all be the same things....nor would we want to!
Sometimes, when certain relatives/friends say - for the umpteenth time -
"can you take a look at my car?" - I ALMOST wish I was good at something different!
Randy
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""can you take a look at my car?""
Nowadays on a "modern" vehicle about the only thing you can do is look, They have jammed so much into so small a hood/bonnet space that you cannot even get to the plugs without dropping the engine or removing cross members and tilting engines.
Considering the weight differences with Ali against steel how come the MPG is so lousy, we should be getting 60mpg at least. Give me a Cortina anyday, easy to work on and even with a cast engine 30-35mpg, spares available everywhere.
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I agree with Vic; if I can't drop a tool in the engine compartment and have it fall to the ground, then I don't want to work on that car.
I once was asked by a friend to come work his old Willys truck with a fresh rebuilt flat head engine that was 'frozen'. No matter what I tried I could not get this engine to turn. I removed the oil pan and tried jacking the truck up under the crank, it wouldn't move an inch. I even tried towing this thing while in gear, it simply dragged the wheels across the ground.
I final resigned myself to pull the top end and see what the heck was going on. I had already removed five of the plugs so I pulled the last plug before starting on the head bolts. On a lark, I told the owner to try turning it over one more time. As I leaned across the fender he turned the key; the thing spun like a top and cover everything in sight with oil! With oil covering me head to toe I said "what the hell!?!"
The owner sheepishly only then let me know that he had filled all the cylinders with oil to 'preserve' the rebuild! LOL
Don
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I've always treated myself to nice new tools whenever a task within my reach has come along.
http://www.americantopicalassn.org/checklists.shtml ... The ATA does not seem to offer a checklist for "tools" or "hand tools"
http://colnect.com/en/stamps/countries/item_name/tool ... get started here?
Cheers,
/s/ ikeyPikey
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Every once in a while, my wife used to call me and say,"the shower is leaking or something similiar and ask me to take a look at it". My response has always been "before or after I call the plumber". I have a working arrangement with my plumber that says I don't do plumbing and he doesn't draft wills. I have the same arrangement with most craftsmen.
If I can't afford to have it fixed, I don't need to own it.
atampmanjack
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Jack,
I think I'm just the opposite of that statement;
"If I can't figure out how to fix it, I don't need to own it!"
Randy
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I am an engineer, I buy things just to take them apart!
Don
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"I have one tool a Dewalt sawzall !"
The only tool you'll ever need! Add the nail cutting blade and it's the saw equivalent of a machine gun.
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When my IBM job went away in 92 i got a job on a labor crew completely gutting a 4 story brick building on a private boys school in Pawling, New York. It was built in the days of wooden beams..as we got to the 4th floor you could feel the brick shell swaying in the breeze...what a great job...no stress..if you stepped on a nail you pulled your foot up fast before it went deep. Amazing what you can do with an axe and a crowbar ! That school must have been loaded with money...we spent months gutting and then they had to replace everything..pipes,wiring, everything but the bricks ! 
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The way i am a stamp collector..the guys i hang out with at the "Y" are tool junkies. They love to take field trips to Harbor Freight in Albany...i mean you can not have too many ratchet wrench sets...one for the car,one for the truck, one for the house, one for the garage. They can not help it that they are not stamp collectors.
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re: A stamp collector among the tool junkies
Phil,
I happen to be both!
I've been a stamp collector of and on since childhood
and an auto mechanic for 27+ years.
Sooo.....bring on the stamps AND the tools!
I do enjoy going to Harbor Freight now and then (I still love the smell of that place )
However, I am not into more ratchet sets; my latest purchase - last Monday - was a thermal imager! Way cool! And so many different uses beyond my line of work!
So far, a very fun and useful "gadget"!!
Randy
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re: A stamp collector among the tool junkies
I'll stick with my Snap-on, S-K and Craftsman tools. I've busted way too many knuckles using tools from Harbor Freight.
WB
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re: A stamp collector among the tool junkies
WB,
you are right - some Harbor Freight tools are definitely NOT for professional use.
I as well will stick with my Snap-On, Craftsman, Mac and Matco tools
(Never been a big fan of S-K and a few others)
I have many lesser-value tools at home for occasional use,but when its a big job - to the shop I go to get the good stuff!
Randy
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re: A stamp collector among the tool junkies
I really admire people who are good with tools. So many times I've ended up doing MORE damage rather than fixing the problem. OR ruin your stock or product! Ahrrgh!
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re: A stamp collector among the tool junkies
Randy, the first "good" tool set I put together were S-K. I now use those as my job site tool kit and use Snap-On(and in some cases Blue Point)in the shop. I put together a set of Craftsman tools for around the house. My S-K tools are always on the truck, so they're always mobile. They have a lifetime warranty and while I haven't had many problems with them, they always stood behind them when I did.
WB
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05:44:21pm
re: A stamp collector among the tool junkies
My compete set of tools is my Swiss Army Knife..
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re: A stamp collector among the tool junkies
Harbor Freight tools are primarily used for rounding off bolt heads
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re: A stamp collector among the tool junkies
Bobgggg, for some reason, I thought you would also say a nutcracker, hehehe.
Mike
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re: A stamp collector among the tool junkies
WB,
Don't get me wrong, nothing wrong with S-K;
I have a few S-K tools, too.
However, S-K doesn't come to ME every week, therefore I prefer Snap-on, Mac or Matco.
I am very fond of Craftsman tools as well, but again - they don't come by every week.
I don't always have the time away from work to get my S-K or Craftsman broken tool replaced.
And on a side note;
Snap-On seems to be raising prices at such a rate as to price themselves right out of the market! Mac and Matco and the others are not doing this.
A career as a mechanic is a labor of love - certainly not a get rich quick plan!
Tool bills can deplete a paycheck REAL quick if you don't price shop.
That being said, I STILL prefer the feel of my Snap-On wrenches in my hands more than any other. It makes a job that much easier when the tool "fits your hand".
Lifers like me know the value in that.
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re: A stamp collector among the tool junkies
Yep Randy, I get that. The first shop I worked at had a pay as you go plan and did a lot of business with the Napa store right across the street. They carried S-K tools and offered steep discounts to the employees. Even though we had Mac and Snap-on trucks come in every week,(never saw a Matco truck) they couldn't compete with the prices I could get on the S-K tools and every penny counted back then.
Eventually it was a different city, my own business and the weekly visit from the Snap-on truck that lead to an upgrade and a need for a second set of tools. As far as Craftsman, it only seemed natural, after buying our first home, to go with them as yet another set of tools out in the garage.
As with anybody who has worked with their hands all their lives, I have tools from a lot of different companies. Thorsen, Proto, Channellock, Klien, Crescent, just to name a few. All great tools, but most of those were either specialty tools or impulse buys that I just couldn't pass up.
I don't really "collect" tools, but they do play a big role in how I make my living.
WB
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re: A stamp collector among the tool junkies
WB,
Yup - I could probably name another dozen or so toolmakers/companies I own tools from along with those you mentioned.
Being a 'jack of all trades' and master of one, I have a sometimes overwhelming amount of tools....but still buy when a good deal comes along; or am too far from home to run back and get the one I forgot to bring! (wish I had the cash from every time I've done THAT....)
But I think I STILL have more stamps than I do tools.....well, maybe...!
Randy
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08:21:36pm
re: A stamp collector among the tool junkies
"Bobgggg, for some reason, I thought you would also say a nutcracker"
Mike...actually I use my trusty pliers, on my swiss army knife, to crack nuts and bust other things.
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05:42:59pm
re: A stamp collector among the tool junkies
Mostly Craftsman, but I go to Klein for some. It may be my imagination, but Klein lineman pliers just seem to 'fit' better.
However, for the Whitworth tools for the old MG TC, the brand is (no puns, please) King Dick.
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re: A stamp collector among the tool junkies
My whole family are tool junkies. Ever since I can remember my father collected tools and
new how to use them. He was a division manager for IBM customer engineering but also was skilled in working on cars. Quite naturally me and my brother did not feel we could function without garages full of tools.
I restored primarily German classic cars and specialized in painting. My brother is still an automotive mechanic, although for several years he had a Mac tool franchise. My son and two of my nephews are certified mechanics. Except for specialty tools I have always found Craftsman to be of high quality and well priced. In 1970 I bought the biggest tool kit and cabinets Craftsman had and still have most all of them. I'm also a jeweler and have a vast array of tools for working in miniture.
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re: A stamp collector among the tool junkies
Randy wrote:
"Sooo.....bring on the stamps AND the tools! "
This is what I'm looking for! My father collects woodworking tools, largely Stanley planes, but really all sorts. He's also the one who introduced me to stamp collecting back around 1965 at the tender age of six. He periodically goes to tool collector shows in which they have displays on anything and everything to do with the hobby. I thought it would be fun to surprise him with a collection and display of "tools on stamps."
I have about a dozen, but "tools on stamps" does not seem to be a common topical. Any suggestions on where I should look to find more like these:
Thanks!
Steve
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re: A stamp collector among the tool junkies
Nice topicals Steve...i learn something new every day...i see the Italian woodworker is from Trentino in the Dolomites where my mothers people are from.
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10:23:16am
re: A stamp collector among the tool junkies
For 26 years, I worked for a major industrial supplier here in northwest Georgia. We were a big distributor for Proto, Stanley, Armstrong and J.H.Williams tools to name just a few. The Williams line was the main line that we sold for nearly 80 years. Klein tools were our main line on the electrical side of the business.
I also have several Craftsman because my Dad worked and retired from Sears after working there 38 years.
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10:39:28am
re: A stamp collector among the tool junkies
King Dick wrenches.
Yes, I still have a few of those Whitworth sized wrenches from my sports car days back in the 60s.
Also used them on my Triumph and Norton motorcycles.
My very first car, when I was 15 and didn't yet have my driver's license was a 1954 Austin Healey 100-4. I never got to drive it, unfortunately, because it's needed repairs were far beyond my skills at the time, and Mom said "if you are not going to fix it, get rid of it!"
Sure wish I had it now, even in the same condition.
When I learned to drive at 16 years old, it was in my brother's XK-140MC (which had King Dick wrenches in it's factory original tool kit).
They are excellent quality wrenches, but sure don't fit too much these days.
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re: A stamp collector among the tool junkies
With a name like that- they better be good
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re: A stamp collector among the tool junkies
US 2198 - 2201 shows the tools of stamp collecting. For more mainstream tools I would check DDR (East Germany).
Lars
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re: A stamp collector among the tool junkies
Steve, Any of the iron curtain countries from the 50's on up showed multitudes of workers and there tools and would be the first places I'd look to find tools on stamps.
If you look through those countries on my site you should find many to give you a starting point.
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re: A stamp collector among the tool junkies
First stamp I thought of... here's a saw, hard hat and a ladder
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re: A stamp collector among the tool junkies
I was sorting a batch of Norway and found this stamp. This has to be the perfect place for all you tool junkies to meet up and have a beer!
Linus
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re: A stamp collector among the tool junkies
Thanks all for the great suggestions. And Linus, if you want to part with that beauty, let me know! I hadn't thought of cancels. I did think of covers though, and in particular advertising covers. So much collecting... so little time...
-Steve
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re: A stamp collector among the tool junkies
Tom, I ran across that German safety series a couple years ago and at first thought the stamps were Cinderellas! Thanks for uploading the series--some of them I hadn't seen before.
-Steve
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re: A stamp collector among the tool junkies
Steve-I was an American military dependent living in Germany when this series was current. As a 13 year old, I bought the high values one at a time as I could afford them. Never mind that I could easily make one Paypal payment for the entire series today!
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re: A stamp collector among the tool junkies
My Dad was also in Germany during the early 60's. We were in Schweinfurt.
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Silence in the face of adversity is the father of complicity and collusion, the first cousins of conspiracy..
15 Apr 2017
06:23:10am
re: A stamp collector among the tool junkies
" .... J. H. Williams tools...."
I haven't seen or heard of that tool line in years.
In the early '70s the "Suffolk Tools" truck (Eastern Suffolk County of Long Island) pulled into my shop's parking lot on the regular Tuesday afternoon or evening stop. The owner had a box of Williams sockets at the front next to his seat. Gene said that he was going to take on the Mac Tool line and needed to get rid of the Williams tools to make room so if I wanted any thing in the box they were at a closeout price. I wound up taking the box to sort through till the following week.
I went through the bags and small boxes and bought complete half inch, three eighths and quarter inch sets including many of the "32nd" inch sizes, a whole range of Hex key sockets and some odd-ball things that looked curious enough to gamble on. There were six point, eight point, and twelve point both shallow and deep lengths. I am not sure if there were metrics, but if there were I took them also. I do not recall the prices or my total cost but it was a great bargain and while I do not have them with me here almost all of them are in the garage in Florida. Over the years I used them again and again.
It's funny how the casual mention of a name can cause so many memories to burst forth from otherwise forgotten events.
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re: A stamp collector among the tool junkies
"My Dad was also in Germany during the early 60's. We were in Schweinfurt."
I lived in Pirmasens from 1969 to 1972. The army post there was decommissioned around 2000 and put to reuse by German civilians. Many of the buildings, including my old house, are gone now.
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re: A stamp collector among the tool junkies
I've always had an intimate relationship with tools, at least those designed to make it "easy" to work with metal:
I decided to change the oil in my VW Golf. Finally took it to the garage, with my knuckles bleeding.
I decided to save money by putting my summer tires on my Golf. Easy peavy, since I had both winter and summer tires on wheel rims. Couldn't budge even one of the lug bolts. My next door neighbour, a heavy duty machine operator and mechanic, saw me sweating. Maybe heard me swearing. He said, "Wait a sec, I'll bring one of my wrenches over. He couldn't budge a single lug bolt. He stood on his wrench to apply some added torque. The wrench broke. He was not happy. I took my summer tires and wheels to a garage. If God had wanted me to change wheels, he would have given me heavy-duty wrenches rather than hands.
I get along somewhat better with woodworking tools. I can sharpen a wood chisel until it's at least as sharp as a butter knife, and works almost as well. I believe that I am adopted. Both my paternal grandfather was a machinist, and his father was a carpenter. I have a parcheesi board that my great-grandfather made; it has something like a dozen different kinds of wood inlays. I believe I'm adopted because it's clear that I don't have any tool-using genes. Since metal-working tools, especially, intimidate me, I must have tool-fearing genes.
Tools on stamps. That a cool idea!
boB
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re: A stamp collector among the tool junkies
I'm a fair handyman. In my life I've renovated homes, and always worked on my own cars. As I've gotten older and have a few more dollars, I choose not to. I no longer mow the lawn or chase my pool chemicals. It's all hired out. I have an acre, and when I heard it was only $30 a week for mowing, there was no way I was buying a tractor and spending my Saturdays on that task.
The tough part is when I hire something out and it gets screwed up. That's when I say it would've been easier to do it myself.
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re: A stamp collector among the tool junkies
Bob,
I know many people like you - those not "mechanically inclined"
However, like you, they all excel in other areas of expertise.
We can't all be the same things....nor would we want to!
Sometimes, when certain relatives/friends say - for the umpteenth time -
"can you take a look at my car?" - I ALMOST wish I was good at something different!
Randy
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re: A stamp collector among the tool junkies
""can you take a look at my car?""
Nowadays on a "modern" vehicle about the only thing you can do is look, They have jammed so much into so small a hood/bonnet space that you cannot even get to the plugs without dropping the engine or removing cross members and tilting engines.
Considering the weight differences with Ali against steel how come the MPG is so lousy, we should be getting 60mpg at least. Give me a Cortina anyday, easy to work on and even with a cast engine 30-35mpg, spares available everywhere.
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re: A stamp collector among the tool junkies
I agree with Vic; if I can't drop a tool in the engine compartment and have it fall to the ground, then I don't want to work on that car.
I once was asked by a friend to come work his old Willys truck with a fresh rebuilt flat head engine that was 'frozen'. No matter what I tried I could not get this engine to turn. I removed the oil pan and tried jacking the truck up under the crank, it wouldn't move an inch. I even tried towing this thing while in gear, it simply dragged the wheels across the ground.
I final resigned myself to pull the top end and see what the heck was going on. I had already removed five of the plugs so I pulled the last plug before starting on the head bolts. On a lark, I told the owner to try turning it over one more time. As I leaned across the fender he turned the key; the thing spun like a top and cover everything in sight with oil! With oil covering me head to toe I said "what the hell!?!"
The owner sheepishly only then let me know that he had filled all the cylinders with oil to 'preserve' the rebuild! LOL
Don
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re: A stamp collector among the tool junkies
I've always treated myself to nice new tools whenever a task within my reach has come along.
http://www.americantopicalassn.org/checklists.shtml ... The ATA does not seem to offer a checklist for "tools" or "hand tools"
http://colnect.com/en/stamps/countries/item_name/tool ... get started here?
Cheers,
/s/ ikeyPikey
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02:20:23am
re: A stamp collector among the tool junkies
Every once in a while, my wife used to call me and say,"the shower is leaking or something similiar and ask me to take a look at it". My response has always been "before or after I call the plumber". I have a working arrangement with my plumber that says I don't do plumbing and he doesn't draft wills. I have the same arrangement with most craftsmen.
If I can't afford to have it fixed, I don't need to own it.
atampmanjack
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Jack,
I think I'm just the opposite of that statement;
"If I can't figure out how to fix it, I don't need to own it!"
Randy
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I am an engineer, I buy things just to take them apart!
Don
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"I have one tool a Dewalt sawzall !"
The only tool you'll ever need! Add the nail cutting blade and it's the saw equivalent of a machine gun.
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re: A stamp collector among the tool junkies
When my IBM job went away in 92 i got a job on a labor crew completely gutting a 4 story brick building on a private boys school in Pawling, New York. It was built in the days of wooden beams..as we got to the 4th floor you could feel the brick shell swaying in the breeze...what a great job...no stress..if you stepped on a nail you pulled your foot up fast before it went deep. Amazing what you can do with an axe and a crowbar ! That school must have been loaded with money...we spent months gutting and then they had to replace everything..pipes,wiring, everything but the bricks !
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