Things like files, chisels and hammers no matter how many you have? Good hammers are rare in my area so I pick up every one I run across..Same with good chisels, which I usually find cheap at the local flea markets..Files, I buy just about every old black diamond and nicholson file I come across at the flea markets..Seems like you cant have to many :D

My weakness seems to be that I have become a collector of odd junk pieces. I keep thinking that I am going to do some art pieces soon, but I never have time!!! My junk pile just keeps growing - it like the blob, it keeps getting bigger and bigger and my wife keeps getting more and more angry with me!

Anything that is remotely hammer shaped and has a hole through it is worth at least a buck.

Don't find as many good old files as you used to.

I keep buying jackhammer bits.

I think it is a universal problem with metal workers of various ilk. I see a punch or chisel at a yard sale for a quarter, dime or nickle and of course I get it, it can always be re-purposed or given to a smith starting out. I see a hunk of metal sticking out of a pile of uncontained trash out for collection and I just know it needs my saving grace and who knows it might even be useful, I could even make a sculpture out of it, like water heaters and yard furniture. Last spring, 2008, when the price of metal was so high I thinned my pile down by a ton and a half, it almost paid to load it and drive over to scrap dealer but my wife was a lot happier.:rolleyes:

Of course we keep buying
I personally am trying for a two day or longer estate sale after I pack it in.
I even keep buying power hammers that I dont need.
They might have to have an auction just to get rid of enough stuff to find the rest.

I have become more selective of what I purchase. Funds and storage space have become more limited. I have even, gasp, taken stuff to blacksmithing events to reduce the piles.

I used to purchase any blacksmithing equipment I came across and taken it to blacksmithing meetings in order to keep it out of the landfills. However, it was a pain to drag the stuff around, and I was loosing too much money. Now I just tell people what I found and where it is.

I keep buying because you *can* drain a local area of the good stuff and then need to work off your stash until it re-fills.

Also I teach and so can go through a lot of old ballpeins for hawks in a short ammount of time.

I used to live in the "blacksmiths' happy hunting grounds" and piled up a lot of stuff that now that I live in the "blacksmith's desert" I'm happy to have.

I have a "buy point" for items I use on a regular basis that if I see them at that price or cheaper I will buy them; but I won't pay a penny more (pre-nicholson black diamond files, ball peen hammer heads, socket chisels, Post Vises, etc). If it's a particularly nice example and the price is close I might ask the seller if they will sell at my buy point; but I'm not upset if they say no.

I get an "allowance" for my hobby and by sticking to it have had a lot of fun getting stuff over the decades and never have had a negative impact on the family finances.

I o just the same files and hammers /hammer heads the old and not sharp files i make knifes from and the hammers odd shape hammers for forging or just keep em as they are, and some i even make small axes from if it have time / need

DC

I have doubles, triples and quadruples of some things and if I see more and have the $ on me I'd probably buy more of those same things, you just can never have enough or too many tools.

welder19

if its worth it and i have the money i buy .... never know when you will need it for tradeing stock if nothing else...

don't be like this guy, Anvils

Yes I do , guilty as charged....

he who dies with the most tools wins..........i guess that means i cant help myself and the answer is yes