Thread: I like Lee Valley but this is sacrilegious

David, I think from the concluding para in post #15 you are saying that how some other person spends their time in their 'shop' is their own business and perfectly ok whether they are building gorgeous 18thC replicas of famous pieces or simply polishing their collection of very handsome (& very expensive) hand tools. If so, I heartily agree!

There have always been, & will always be, different folks who like different strokes. The range of reasons for having a workshop is very broad indeed & whether you make valuable heirlooms or a few pens & Christmas ornaments, as long as you enjoy it & don't annoy the neighbors too much, it's all good, in my book. I like to see high quality work - it was seeing what other amateurs are capable of that inspired me to keep trying, but unless you are one of those fortunate people who can do anything without effort, it does take a while when you have all sorts of other life committments & shed time is limited, so it's hardly surprising that some don't aspire to great heights but are content to potter along.

I used to dislike tool-collectors, simply because they drove up the prices for good old tools, but have come to realise they also have an important place in the scheme of things, they have preserved lots of tools that would otherwise now be languishing in landfill, and dig up all sorts of interesting & useful historical data.

So viva les differences, I say, & long may we all flourish in our respective sheds - mine has cost me a few dollars over the years, but saved many more in psychiatrist's fees....

Cheers,

Originally Posted by IanW

I used to dislike tool-collectors, simply because they drove up the prices for good old tools, but have come to realise they also have an important place in the scheme of things, they have preserved lots of tools that would otherwise now be languishing in landfill, and dig up all sorts of interesting & useful historical data.

I once blew off steam to George Wilson that I wanted some relatively uncommon but useful tools and the collectors were bugging me in theory, because a nice user set that comes up in perfect condition is going to collectors. George pretty much said the same thing - collectors are taking the top layer off of the market and preserving it, and we stand better now to have primo older tools to look at because they were pulled into a collection and protected. I think he's right.

I have heard collectors lament, too, that when users get into the market (loosely used term, because most user purchasers are just really a different type of collector).

you're right on the first paragraph. Maybe I'm being too ponderous about all of this stuff (of course, I am), but it reminds me of things you see in the guitar market. I'll bet LV and LN get constant calls from people who have more money than time, but really enjoy having a shop even if they don't do much in it - and those calls are of the nature "ghee, I'd like to have all of your tools, but I want organized cabinets or racks to put them in so I don't have to make them myself".

If LV ends up with a big line of CNC made assembleable stuff and they sell a lot of it, that kind of proves their point. it'll get my goat a little if we get another nonsense bunch of stuff from gurus like C. Schwarz though, where Schwarz tried to convince people that buying old tools was false economy just because he's terrible at cleaning them up and adjusting them. I don't see as much of that stealth marketing from self-appointed "good guys", so to speak. Which is a good thing.