Tool Obsession

My dad seems to have had a tool obsession. When we moved him down from Seattle we could not believe how many of the same type of tool we found. Now that I have begun to go through the tool boxes he had it is apparent that he had a ridiculous obsession with tools.

We found (so far):
5 tool boxes
5 or more spools of solder
3 or 4 soldering irons
several pairs of needle nose pliers
3 complete sets of sears branded pliers and wire cutters (2 unused)
about 10 sets of drill bits
5 sets of precision screw drivers
several sets of Allen wrenches
Various and sundry pliers and wire cutters that he had when I was a kid
several small hack saws
screwdrivers up the wazzoo
dozens of large files
5 small tap holders
2 skil saws (one of which would not cut straight)
2 drills (one that is over 60 years old).
1 tap and dye set
3 small desk vices
1 electric sander
5 exacto knives
wrenches and sockets and ratchets (oh my)
hammer, hammers, and more hammers
10 wire cutter/crimpers
several hand operated drills
several miter saws
4 sets of jewelers files
coping saws

on the matter of electronic components and small parts:
Piles of various sized screws and nuts.
more zip ties than you would ever need to arrest people at an occupy protest
hundreds of left over wires and lights from train repairs
Dozens of small speakers
pile and piles of various train parts
springs galore
wire, wire, and more wire (spools)
resistors
diodes
switches
enough shrink tubing in various sizes to last me a lifetime


In addition to the normal tool boxes he had made several small boxes or tool kits for upgrading different types of trains although most of the kits had the same tools in them.

We sold, donated, or just threw out many of the crappier tools.

Up until about a year ago he was still buying tools and solder.

This does not take in to account all the tools he left in Seattle, like his lathe, drill press, band saw, and all sorts of precision tools.

This is (of course) NOTHING compared to what his ex-wife hoarded.