I think I’ve written before about tools you want or think you need. We all know that sensation, when walking through the hardware store or looking at tools online: I could do X so much easier if I only had Y. And so you start to want Y until you even forget the reason you wanted it. You get it home, take it out of the box, look at it and wonder what you should do with it.

But I’m starting to think about the tools I don’t need. There are the obvious ones, of course, such as my collection of worn out cordless drills and their equally expired rechargeable batteries. Most of those found their way out of the workshop last year, though.

Less obvious would be tools like my portable table saw, which has not been plugged in for five years. I thought I would set it up with a dado set or some such thing, something dedicated, and always have it ready. But it turns out I don’t want to cut dados on that. It turns out I don’t want to do anything with that. But I won’t get rid of it.

The same goes for my 8-inch compound miter saw. I thought that would be useful as a very portable miter saw. And, of course, it has not moved from my shelf since I bought it.

Then there is the collection of hand saws I’ve purchased used over the years. Hard to pass up a deal on a good classic saw that has all its teeth in decent shape and hasn’t been used to scrape mud off the floor. But it turns out I’d get more use out of it as a scraper than as a saw. Those things have no place for the battery to go.

What made me think about these poor underutilized tools? I was in the workshop yesterday trying to get something done. The room is always a mess, even after I clean it out. So, after tripping on a spare motor I have stored in the middle of the floor, I thought maybe some of the things that are not garbage should just go somewhere else.

So I looked around. There’s no place to put anything.

Prime example: my lathe, which I bought over a year ago, is still on the floor where I left it when I brought it in. A bit dustier, now, though.

And the best one of all, which was sitting on my table saw when I went in there yesterday, is a draw knife. I don’t know why I bothered to get that one. Perhaps I thought I’d like to strip down some logs or maybe start hand-carving big columns for my imaginary Doric-inspired portico.

I know from whence this clutter stems. I have always had a bit of a collector’s fascination with things. So, I like something and then just want to get more or it. But I really think collecting tools is not such a good idea. Collect the tools you need to use to make what you want to make. Collecting tools that not only are of no real use but also have no place to go doesn’t really do any good.

I do, however, always justify redundancy in my assortment of tools by noting the fact that at any particular time many of my tools might be somewhere else where I need to do work. So, it’s good to have two working cordless drills, a few sets of bits, two or more hammers, several circular saws, stationary and portable table and miter saws, four mini grinders, three jig saws, plus an uncountable number of chisels, screwdrivers, planes, measuring tapes, and caulking guns.

Hand tools reproduce on their own.

Don’t ask me how.