In a like-minded thread the question came up whether this or that person could/should be called a "collector" or a "hoarder." Yesterday I finally settled on calling myself a "user/rescuer-mostly." I just went downstairs and counted 37 sets of "pliers" in one drawer. These include fencing pliers, nail grabbers/nippers, medical forceps and dental tooth-grabbers-for-pulling. Plus, there's even more sets (maybe another 6-8) in two other toolboxes down there.
One of my pride and joys is an owner-modified set that I've had for years but never yet needed exactly that modification. A friend did, recently, and I drove down the mountain to let him use them for a specific job. Cut a piece of thick-walled, small-diameter pipe in half lengthwise — or, rather, cut two such pipes so when held together they equal one pipe without having to factor in the saw kerf — and weld maybe 3/4" of them crosswise at the end of a short, "normal" set of slip-joint pliers, perpendicular to the tool. This set (Momentary Digression: why is a set of pliers called a "set" when there's only one of them?) came in a box of "stuff" at auction in which I was "after" something/s specific that WASN'T this set of pliers.
"Collect" them? Not exactly. "Hoard" them? Nope. "Rescue" them? That's more like it. Would I trade or sell them off? Yes, but no one's asked along those lines and I'd really rather loan them out as opposed to parting them. And just think: there may come a time when I need exactly that configuration/modification, and I'm a huge fan of having the exact/proper tool for the job.
My maternal grandmother taught me to "dumpster dive" (long before there were dumpsters) for canning jars (plus we also picked up "stuff" that wasn't canning jars), and I've not allowed myself to set aside that early nudge. If "pride goeth before a fall," then I oughtta be in good shape, eh? Three years ago I "rescued" the "World's Best Pellet Rifle" from atop the smelly collection in one dumpster? You think I had to stop and think or look around to see if anyone was watching before I "rescued" it? Hah!
Anyway, in the same tool cabinet there are drawers for screwdrivers, drill bits and drill parts, saws (small enough to fit in a drawer), wood chisels (two drawers), files (two drawers), layout tools, and so on. (Sorry, it's quicker to say that than it is to go downstairs and make notes.)
I do buy and sell tools, on occasion, and I have three "sorts" of tools. #1 is Users (they go into my drawers or are offered for sale). #2 is those destined for donation to my local volunteer fire department (pipe wrenches, monkey wrenches, pliers & screw drivers, spanners…) and #3 "foreign" stuff, that I refuse to sell in the "normal" range of tools, which I give away to youngsters who are pulled along by their parents at, say, "farmers market" venues. I'm constitutionally opposed to PLASTIC hammers, pliers, screwdrivers, etc., as being "appropriate for kids." Think: "Made in China" or "Made in Taiwan." If, when I'm set up at a Farmer's Market, an adult stirs around in my "kids' gifts" pile/s and asks how much I want for thus-and-such, I tell them to just take it and Merry Early Xmas.
I guess the closest thing to a "collection" I have is those tools given to me by a very-elder former employer who once worked on a government water-shed project. He slung his head when he talked about requisitioning, say, "a" handsaw and he and his co-worker on that project being delivered a dozen of them. Dale gave me many of the tools I still own and use, all being branded Vlchek and such and all being of top quality. (Dale, incidently, sneered at Craftsman. He prefered tools that didn't break under heavy use and eschewed the idea that a broken tool was easily replaced — returning, say, a broken Craftsman wrench for replacement entailed along, long drive.) Anyway, of the dozen individual requested tools that were shipped to him and his co-worker, they kept two each and looked around for "worthy" recipients of the other ten, muttering all the while about government waste.
So: Collector, hoarder, rescuer…? I get off most on boxes or buckets containing rusty — even rusted solid — stuff like my these-days go-to S-shaped Bemis & Call 10" #48 open-end-adjustable wrench. It was once at the bottom of an "empty" roofing-tar bucket filled with rusted-tight bolts (all now "rescued") a friend/neighbor was about to haul off to the dump. Opened to full extension, it was a perfect fit when I replaced the 1-1/2" valve on one of my fire-fighting water pumps this evening. I've even grabbed it when it was a bit bigger than I needed.
Mind you, I don't in any way sneer at "collectors." In fact, it's crossed my mind to offer a Blackhawk chain hook connected to 24"+ of 3/8" OE chain to Blackhawk collectors in here — as soon as I find a similar-design-strength hook to replace it with. I think it could make a neat "border" to a "collection" (especially if the chain was longer, darn it).
In the same breath, so to speak, I dunno who I'd brand as an official "hoarder." Nor, for that matter, am I really interested in such labeling.
