"Too_Many_Tools" wrote in
ups.com:

snip

Now if you were in the situation to HAVE to start over to rebuild your
shop...what would you buy, where and why?

I agree with Leon's comments, as usual.

I also believe that, were I to restock my shop, there would be maybe
two-thirds fewer tools than now reside there.

Why? I'd make fewer buying mistakes. (There would be, for example, no
Shopsmith.)

I have a better understanding of what I enjoy doing.

The economics of 'make vs. buy' are more meaningful now, and I now know
many more craftspersons, whose work I would trust.

I'd take my friends up on their offer of loaning a tool, or having them
come over to help more.

As we get older, some of us seek to lighten the load, live a simpler
life, and not try to solve every problem with a new tool.

I realize that life will still be pretty much the same, even if I never
am the proud owner of a vintage Stanley Model 45.

But most of all, a shop is just filled with stuff that enables
creativity and productivity. It was empty when I bought the place 7 or
8 years ago. If I died tomorrow, there would be one heck of a garage
sale, but that's about all that would matter, regards the stuff.

It's only a small part of life.

Patriarch