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Old tools are good tools

The side cutters and pliers pictured were made long before I was born, and by the time I was old enough to start getting interested in tools they had been packed up, moved around, and separated from one another as newer, cheaper and shinier (but not better) tools were purchased to replace them. They sat in crates in the back of the family garage waiting for me to return them to their former glory.

The thing about these tools which you notice when you compare them to newer but inferior substitutes is the quality of the steel they are made from. They have a firm closing action and tightly fitting jaws. The side-cutters snip hard stock cleanly and easily. Bought new, they would be quite expensive, and thus most mainstream hardware stores wouldn`t bother stocking them (not when they can import cheap sets offering 10 different pliers for $30).

Some ideas about finding quality tools at outrageously low prices:

1) Some people may be happy for their tools simply to go to a good home
Talking to people about tools and gently lamenting the fact that they don`t make them like they used to may encourage others to bestow their now unneeded tools on you. If you can provide them with the care and respect they deserve, tools will start to find their way to you.

2) Don`t be put off by a bit of rust
A bit of rust or surface staining is par for the course on old tools, and generally will in no way affect useability. Products like "ballistol" in my experience do a good job of cleaning up steel tools quickly and easily and will often make the manufacturer markings on the tool readable again (as well as lubricating the tool and preventing further corrosion). I also like this product as it claims to also protect and preserve wood, leather and rubber, and I have yet to see evidence to the contrary. Garage sales, fleamarkets and council cleanups are a good source of items that have a bit of rust but are otherwise in great condition.

3) Quality is worth paying for
You may be lucky enough to have tools your grandparents used. Will your grand-children be able to say the same? We have become conditioned towards buying cheaper and inferior quality products when in fact the "last a lifetime" tools can still be purchased either new or secondhand (albeit at a "remember for a lifetime" price). Sometimes its nice to save up for something that you really will be able to pass on to the next generation.

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