Can you have too many tools?

[GTXDAN]

Think where we would be without tools. We'd still be throwing pointed sticks at wild animals and sleeping in caves.
I still remember the first tool box I got. Just before starting at the JD dealer my uncle picked me up a craftsman gray box with 6 drawers full of tools for $100. It had a mix of all different brands and they were well used. The kicker was in the bottom drawer where there was a Snap-on 3/4 drive ratchet and about a dozen sockets and extensions. Definitely got my $100 worth.

 

[RiverRaider]

No, you can never have too many tools. But when you have a lot of tools you need to have a clip board to write down who borrowed each item.

 

[6PKRTSE]

Think where we would be without tools. We'd still be throwing pointed sticks at wild animals and sleeping in caves.
I still remember the first tool box I got. Just before starting at the JD dealer my uncle picked me up a craftsman gray box with 6 drawers full of tools for $100. It had a mix of all different brands and they were well used. The kicker was in the bottom drawer where there was a Snap-on 3/4 drive ratchet and about a dozen sockets and extensions. Definitely got my $100 worth.

I still have my first original box my parents bought for me when I was like 10-11 years old. I have just added on to it over the years and everything is packed full.

 

[padam]

Does anyone actually know why 0°f is 0??
It was decided that's when some concoction of saline brine freezes.
Pretty easy to associate with well, nothing

Pretty easy to know it’s cold

 

[padam]

I think it’s a shame how many special tools a working auto mechanic needs nowadays.
You see these guys with plastic boxes stacked to the ceiling.
It’s no wonder they have trouble making money.

I’m a tool and die maker by trade (more of a manager now) and I used to buy really good tools. Starret, Interapid, Gerstner boxes. But I got sick of trying to keep them nice in crappy shops. So I sold most of my really nice stuff and just buy functional, usually used old good brands at a bargain when I need them.

 

[RemCharger]

Pretty easy to know it’s cold

yep -40 is cold, anything above is hot lol
Or 118 is hot, anything below is cold? Argh!

 

[451Mopar]

Some tools I have, but don't get alot of use. oxy/acetylene welder/torch, Dimple Dies, axle case spreader, battery load tester.
But I did use the axle spreader this summer on my friends Dana 60 front axle. Replacing the inner axle seal, have to pretty much disassemble the whole front axle.

 

[Moparfever65]

For sure, most of my tools are 50+ years old. Except for late metric tools as they became more in use. Is it strange to feel an emotional bond ? I was just a teen when my older brother-in-law ( R.I.P ) to be, gave me my first torque wrench. The beam style, which I still have and use to this day. And when I do, I think of him. An older brother that I never had.

I still have the red toolbox I got for Christmas when I was 16. 66 now. Definitely have an emotional attachment. That toolbox was the beginning of my journey.

 

[64BEL]

I still have the red toolbox I got for Christmas when I was 16. 66 now. Definitely have an emotional attachment. That toolbox was the beginning of my journey.

I bet most of us here still have our first tool box. I do.

 

[dadsbee]

I bet most of us here still have our first tool box. I do.

Yep, a small Black metal tackle box to be exact. Currently full of small parts that I probably stripped back in 76 or so.

 

[themechanic]

I bet most of us here still have our first tool box. I do.

Mine was stolen with all my tools when my 56 Chevy was broken into.

 

[bandit67]

Your kids when they have deal with all your stuff when you croak will say for sure," YES, one can have too many tools".

 

[Keith926]

I have my first toolbox still, it came on my Gramp's IH 1066 tractor he bought new in 1976, my brother and I owned it jointly 1991-94ish, I was 6-9 years old, I bought out his half eventually. My Dad gave us that box with some mismatched tools and a cheapo made in Japan socket set in 1991. My brother and I at that age used our tools taking apart small engines and cars playing in the junkyard with about 12 vehicles and some farm equipment, on our family's farm that my parent's were starting out a farm equipment repair, eventual dealership on. The junkyard didn't have any B bodies, one R body 81 Gran Fury, 76 Dart, 80 Volare, 73 New Yorker, 77 Royal Monaco, 76 Newport, 51 Windsor Deluxe, 78 LeBaron, 85 Fifth Ave, 67 D100, 74 D100, 74 D200 440, 79 D150 club cab, a burnt out 70s crewcab D300 that donated it's heavier springs and diff to the 74 D200, 75 D100, an IH Loadstar 1600 dump truck and a 79 Tradesman 300 ex school bus. The Tradesman was our shop for small engine teardowns. That cheapo socket didn't perform well enough, cleaned it up and tried to trade it back into my Dad but he had nothing to offer. It was Christmas 92 when I was 7 I asked for a good socket set, I got a Mastercraft 1/2 set, I still have it 32 years later.
If you are wild into auto repair then you can never have too many tools. Putting headers on a 2013 Charger I used every version of 3/8 and 1/4 drive 13mm socket I had and every version of 13mm wrench. I have a Matco 90 degree 1/2 drive impact, if you look up YouTube reviews most are negative, but if you do 88-98 GM C/K pickup exhaust manifolds on 4.3/5.0/5.7 it is a good tool to have, the impact action saves your life vs a broken bolt. May 2025 will be 20 years as a career professional auto mechanic, and I'm a Snap On fan for sure. The biggest downfall of other tool trucks like Mac or Matco in my rural area of Canada is keeping a consistent dealer, Snap On always has been active. Snap On ratchets are the best hands down. About 10 years ago when Snap On came out with the FDX socket it was a game changer. I never saw a benefit of Snap On chrome sockets vs cheaper brands before but the FDX is exceptional, don't bother beating it on, throw away your torches, it just grips it and goes, takes out all the exhaust manifold bolts that aren't already broken most times. Do a bunch of those jobs and it's amazing how much those FDX sockets pay off, no BS, saved me a lot of torch work vs before their time. There are still times that fancy tools can't save the day, and the 10mm hex is depleted past 9.5mm(3/8) but not close enough to 9mm to get a 9mm socket on, so you heat the head and put a 3/8 socket on it, wanna be using your generic brand socket then vs your nice one. Just like we did it it before FDX.

It is a shame how some mechanic's life collection of tools can be cast aside easily enough but that's the way she goes. I've thought about getting older and if my kids weren't interested in my tools, cars and parts, hopefully know a younger enthusiast, send it all in a few shipping containers his way.

 

[mrhemi]

I still have my original "real" tool box from when I started at an auto glass and trim shop right out of high school (circa -'79). As my tools overwhelmed the box, I upgraded a few times over the years.
A few years ago when one of my long time friends from out of town came to visit, he pulled this out of his trunk:

My original tool box from all those years ago. He had picked it up when I up-sized and had it ever since. Note, that Mancini Racing sticker is an original, not one of the recent re-pops. It now has it's proper spot as "garage art" in the shop.

 

[64BEL]

I still have my original "real" tool box from when I started at an auto glass and trim shop right out of high school (circa -'79). As my tools overwhelmed the box, I upgraded a few times over the years.
A few years ago when one of my long time friends from out of town came to visit, he pulled this out of his trunk:

View attachment 1780817View attachment 1780818View attachment 1780819

My original tool box from all those years ago. He had picked it up when I up-sized and had it ever since. Note, that Mancini Racing sticker is an original, not one of the recent re-pops. It now has it's proper spot as "garage art" in the shop.

I have that same Mopar Muscle Club Member sticker on my first tool box.

 

[ynst]

I started out building my '34 with this box in '64. I actually got it in '61 or '62 but it really came in handy when ai started building the car in the background.

I bought this Snap-On box used from the Cornwall tool dealer back in '65 when I was working at Associated GMC reconditiong deuce-and-a -halfs for the Viet Nam war. Right now, it sits behind the front seats in my '34 sedan where it's been for the 50+ years

I was an engineer at Digital Equipment Corp for 29 years after a hernia forced me off the garage floor and into college for a better paying and lighter duty job but I still messed with cars so I started filling these two Craftsman boxes. Today they hold the odd ball stuff like my 1" impact wrenches, tap & die sets, drill indexes, Whitwort spanners and sockets, offset box spanners, buffing tools , etc.

When I got down-sized from Digital in '02 I picked up a new three-tier S-K box set complete with tools and went to work in my friend's collision repair shop. Just a few months later, I traded the S-K boxes for the 60" Cornwell box on the right that my Snap-on dealer had taken it trade.

The other two box sets are Snap-On base cabinets with 2 Mac boxes and a side cabinet on the far one and a single Mack box on top of the near box. The end cabinet on the near box has a section that spans the entire width of the tool box and houses all of my torque wrenches and camshaft bushing installers. The bottom drawer on the near box has the rear section shortened to accommodate the full-width storage compartment. The side box on the upper rear Mac Box is full of micrometers running up to 9", I inherited these when my younger brother passed away in 2007.

The Cornwell box houses my go-to tools.

This one's just for extra metric spanners and sockets some air tools in need of reconditioning, and my metal buffing supplies

Since most of my tool boxes had become dedicated to specific content, I bought a new Snap-On box when I left Altec after 12 years and started at CMG wiring police cars and municipal vehicles. I had already brought the 60 " Cornwell box home because Altec switched over to company-provided tools a couple of years before I left due to the liability of someone getting injured using Harbor Freight tools on 100 foot aerial trucks so we all had to take our tools home. By the time I went to CMG, the Cornwell box had become land-locked in the garage.
I quit CMG in August after management screwed with the flat rates and cut everyone's pay so now my newest tool box wound up in my garage and, due to space constraints, is the easiest one to reach in a hurry for the common tools.

 

[Keith926]

View attachment 1781617

I started out building my '34 with this box in '64. I actually got it in '61 or '62 but it really came in handy when ai started building the car in the background.
View attachment 1781618
I bought this Snap-On box used from the Cornwall tool dealer back in '65 when I was working at Associated GMC reconditiong deuce-and-a -halfs for the Viet Nam war. Right now, it sits behind the front seats in my '34 sedan where it's been for the 50+ yearsView attachment 1781621
I was an engineer at Dital Equipment Corp for 29 years after a hernia forced me off the garage floor and into college for a better paying and lighter duty job but I still messed with cars so I started filling these two Craftsman boxes. Today they hold the odd ball stuff like my 1" impact wrenches, tap & die sets, drill indexes, Whitwort spanners and sockets, offset box spanners, buffing tools , etc.

View attachment 1781622

When I got down-sized from Digitral in '02 I picked up a new three-tirer S-K box set complete with tools and went to work in my friend's collision repair shop. Just a few months later, I traded the S-K boxes for the 60" Cornwall box on the right that my Snap-on dealer had taken it trade.

THe other two box sets are Snap-On base cabinets with 2 Mac boxes and a side cabinet on the far one and a single Mack box on top of the near box. The end cabinet on the near box has a section that spans the entire width of the tool box and houses alll of my torque wrenches and camshaft bushing installers. The side box on the upper rear Mac Box is full od micrometers running up to 9", I inherited these when my younger brother passed away in 2007.

The Cornwell box houses my go-to tools.
View attachment 1781633View attachment 1781635

View attachment 1781649


This one's just for extra metric spanners and sockets some air tools in need of reconditioning, and my metal buffing supplies
View attachment 1781637

Since most of my tool boxes had become dedicated to specific content, I bought a new Snap-On box when I left Altec after 12 years and started at CMG wiring police cars and municipal vehicles. I had already brought the 60 " Cornwell box home because Altec switched over to company-provided tools a couple of years before I left due to the liaability of someone getting injured using Harbor Freight tools on 100 foot aerial trucks so we all had to take our tools home. By the time I went to GMG, the Cornwell box had become land-locked in the garage.
I quit CMG in August after management screwed with the flat rates and cut everyone's pay so now my newest tool box wound up in my garage and, due to space constraints, is the easiest one to reach in a hurry for the common tools.

View attachment 1781645

View attachment 1781641

Impressive!!!

My socket drawer

 

[ynst]

With the advent of blow-molded cases, storage has become an issue so I've elected to put up more shelving.

Below are some older shots of the Snap-On and Mac box drawers.

Pullers and smaller torque wrenches

This drawer has been cleaned up since the picture was taken. The pipe wrenches and adjustable wrenches are now located tin the buffing supply box neatly placed in Tool Box Widget large wrench holders. The rest of the combination wrenches remain in this drawer but neatly placed in similar Tool Box Widget large wrench holders.

This is the truncated drawer that leaves room for the cam bearing installer across the back of the box.

SAE & Metric re-threaders

Soap stone markers, cutting handles and tips, helmet lenses, etc.

Cut-off wheels

 

[ynst]

Carbide burrs

anyone need a chuck key? It's amazing how many varieties of these exist

Spare universals and universal SAE sockets

Spare impact universal sockets

hole saws, SEM caulking guns, butane torch kit

The incomplete Snap-On long combination wrench set is, now, complete and neatly laid out in Tool Box Widget wrench holders.

Strut spring compressors, tubing benders and spare impact sockets

I'll try and shoot some updated pictures of the drawers after the installation of the wrench holders.