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Comment by kleiba | Hacker News Reader

You know, for years I have been collecting power tools without having an immediate use for them - because they were for sale, or just because, you know, they're power tools. And a lot of them ended up just sitting on my workshop shelf, some of them never made it out of the box they came in.

But then we bought a new house and I started renovating it. I think I have probably used every single tool I ever bought by now, and every time I used one for the first time, I was so happy that I didn't have to go and scout for a good deal first or drive to Home Depot to buy one right now or anything like that.

So in my case, it actually paid off in the end to have PTPA (premature tool purchase addiction).

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I counter by asking if renting them would have saved you money. It's what I do when I need tools I don't usually use

It depends on the tool. Generally, lending tools is not cheap where I live, but I once did lend a concrete sander because it was still cheaper than buying it (four digits, and likely won't ever need it again).

But what if you bought S&P instead and only liquidated when you needed power tools? Opportunity cost is real!

Disclaimer: had to expand the shed to fit all tools

I've had this happen a couple of times now. There's definitely some jobs where I looked around and realized I'd used just about every tool I have.

I think the only disappointment at the moment is my Makita rotary drywall cutter - a reciprocating multi tool is just so much easier to control and makes nice straight cuts easily.

Still waiting for the welder to have its moment though.

A welder, huh? Hm... don't have one yet... hm...

Those rotary drywall cutters are the ticket for cutting plastic. I first used one when I was a mechanic before changing careers, and we used one for trimming tough plastics like bumper covers. Takes a bit of practice to get a nice cut, since they are super aggressive, but they make a very nice, clean cut that's far better than any other tool I've tried. I've actually never used mine on drywall, I prefer one of the oscillating tools or a jab saw, but I've used it quite a bit for automotive and electronics work. You can make a front panel for a project stupidly quick with one of those, and it turns out nicer than cutting with a dremel cutoff blade.

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