Old Tool Home

A drawer full of 'em

After having worked on bicycles professionally now for over 13 years, I seem to have worn out a few things. I was reminded of this just the other day when I replaced some of my work tools with new ones.

You see, I typically will use a tool until I deem that it is going to be doing a poor job. The fit is not good, it is broken, or because it is just plain worn out. Most of the time these tools get replaced well before the worn out phase, so I get the new ones and take the old ones home and use them there. That's been a good way to stock up the shop at home. Since those tools see infrequent use, it makes sense to "retire' them and make use of them until they really are worn out for good.

The thing is, cone wrenches seem to be the #1 tool that I go through more than the others. Well, that and 5mm Allen wrenches. (Come to think of it, the 2.5mm Allen wrenches usually die off pretty quickly as well.) At any rate, I have a big stash of cone wrenches, most of which will outlast my lifetime, since- ya know- 14mm cone wrenches are not used all that often these days! You can see the really old wrenches in there have handles that have "Park Greenish Blue" plasticote on them. They have faded or some such thing has occurred to make them turn a weird color.

So, there they are, in the bottom drawer of my top box at home. At this rate, I will need to start considering an addition to the Guitar Ted Old Tool Home!