It takes two?

There have been a couple of comments recently to the effect that when you buy a new tool, you should buy two. The logic being that the thing is going to crap out on you and it will do so at the worst possible moment.

I get this. I have a box of non-functional palm sanders in various states of disassembly. Whenever I need a new one, I always try to buy the same one so that I can cannibalize the dead ones for parts to fix the next one that quits. The problem is that, more often than not, it's the same part that fails first. So my box of dead sanders just gets bigger.

Should we accept this as part of "the cost of doing business?” Probably. But it's a sad day.

I have routers and sanders and drills made in the 1950s that have seen almost continuous use and are still working fine. They are big and heavy. They only have one speed and only turn in one direction. But they still work.

It never used to occur to me that I should buy two of anything unless I had more than one person needing to use the same tool at the same time.

D.D.