Rehd,
YEah, Im a yard sale tool nut too. and your just as likely to find me diving a dumpster for some piece of treasure I have found on any given weekend. Heck I have made a life on building stuff out of odds and ends and things others tossed out. Got a pressure washer out of a barn today. I'll thumb on it all summer and have it blowing better then it does now.

When it comes to hand tools I often think the older the better. I have a taste for old German steel which is good . It still is the stuff in the 25 cent pile in the yard sales.

Yeah, I like the old heavy never break stuff. (pre 70's) You'd love my father-in-laws two-man chainsaw. The old stuff (before planed obsolecence) just keeps going... Longer then I can usually carry it I also like some of the new stuff that has that affordable quality thing designed in.

My grandfather had a saying "Don't buy toys buy tools." And I think he meant that lesson to sink in a couple of differnt ways. For me I have found, as he did if ya buy good tools you can make more tools and some really neat toys too. In fact the think becomes self perpetuating . A good tool makes other good tools which bgats others etc....

For all of that I am also one of those guys on the board who recommends the contractor grade stuff. But I do so with the caveate if you want to build more then one project. Its been my expereince often that I bought one tool and then bought it again and again. I built bunks lofts and study stations in college off of a trip to the Sears tool crib. Kept myself in food and books for 4 years doing so. and it was great way to meet folks. But the tools I bought.....none off it lasted more then 2 years. I made a killing on those tools. But I was buying them 2 and 3 times in 4 years. I didn't have the bucks to buy one good set. I kept burning them out. Bakelight gearing kept stripping. Motors burned out. Off I went out to shell out a few more cheeseburgers and gallons of gas. The problem was I was getting the toss aways. They were very functional. No bells and whistles and not the smoothest, but they worked well enough. Its not a sob story either. The good news is I could afford toss aways, and they kept me in steady work for four years. I think the same is true of hobbists, woodworkers and boat builders. Get what you can afford and buy what you will use.

Me I love dewalt driver drills l but more then 14 volts and a ladder my bicept is on strike by the end of the day. Worm drives are great, but the big ones on a ladder can sail me into tommorow at 4 o clock. Iknow others on the board have the muscle to finesse thes beasts. I say get what feels right what you know you can handle all day. For me an inertial balanced ROS is such a beast.

In the end I have put out more dollars long term for tools that I might have just bought once. I could have a wall on jig saws and sanders that didn't hold up on me. I think it comes down to liquidity. If you can afford to buy once its the better option.If not buy the stuff that will get you through a few projects.

PArt of my recommendations come down to the frustration I remember of having a tool break on me midproject and bugger up what I was working on. At the same time the cost of contractor grade has come down a good deal in the last 5 years. If I could talk to that college kid I used to be I'd tell him to eat tight for a month and spend a month's profits on the good stuff.

Having said that, At the same time the Wall Street Journal ran an artical a few years back about the run on contractor grade tools by weekend warriors. Folks that were buying more tool then they ever got use out of. Its not the wear its the function of the tools that were not being fully utilized. Its the anlogy of buying the swiss army knife with 482 tools that is too big to fit in your pocket, instead of the one with the 8 tools you realy use.They interviewed folks that wer buying multiples of the same thing just to have it. Gear freaks we used to call them in the guiding community. Folks that buy stuff to hang on the wall and collect and admire rhater then use.

I guess my sense is that most of the folks I read on this board and have met in wooden boat get togethers have a long list of projects on the I'd rather build one plan. Its a definate user coomunity. Yeah its a generalization, but speaking in averages. This board gets read in a lot of very sawdust filled residences.

One of the the pieces to recommending Contractor grade I think is luxery. And usually an affordable one. A tool that fits in your hand and works is just cool. I've used so much equipment that lurched on start up that the new smooth starting stuff in the Contractor grade lines is just too neat. The cost of contractor grade has come down a good deal. So its closer to possiilbe for the guys out here building bunks and lofts today.

Yeah I'm still messing with my German steel sharps, my 80's Makita circular saw, My sear s router mounted in a dumpster table saw body. (Router table) and of course I'm still thuming on a from the 40's table saw.. But when it comes to an driver drill an ROS or Jig saw etc. I'll jump up a notch.

I guess its like taking a GPS unit to the BWCA. For myself I can't see needing much more then an old sunto compass. When most will be bringing the best in digital space age stuff. The GPs adds absolutes in digital on stuff I'm like doing on anolog and art. Sure its better. Its jsut not for me. However in some water off hte coast. ll pull the Garmin out. Same for tools how much function do I need. I was driving today behind a Ford Expidition that said "quilter" I found myself wondering if he or she ever got full function out of her massive truck? Did the driver really need that tool? Answer: I don't know.

Your point I think is sage. In the end "Qajaks" have been made out of driftwood and leather with metiorite tools teeth and bits of bone longer then they have been made with power equipment. It doesn't take a pattern shop to make a boat. On the other hand some tools add to the experience.

Rehd, Given the look of your wood working. I'm guessing you wouldn't need much more then a bit of beach and switch and a knife to whittle with to come out with something to ply the waters. As for using your dining room Heck if I had that sitting in my dining room I'd call it an artistic piece.

!RUSS