[brailsafe]

> Unless it's for a one-time job where I just buy whatever's cheapest (within reason). Not surprisingly, I have had to use such tools multiple times shortly after that "first and only" job was done. Yet surprisingly, the cheap tool usually does the job.

This tends to be how I approach tool investments, especially on the hobby side side of things. If I'm trying out a new interest, I'll get something on the cheaper end, and if I find myself continually pursuing the hobby, then I'll upgrade. Same for work, I'll use the minimum viable tool until it starts getting in my way, or I know I'd just enjoy the process more by spending more. Growing up poor makes every actual investment quite painful.

Last year, I reached my breaking point with my old computer; running Docker containers was just not serviceable anymore, so I upgraded substantially.

Right now, I know I need to get a bike stand and a wheel truing stand. Technically I don't actually need them, I could do it some other way or pay a professional (what I normally do), but the set of good tools will encourage me to keep trying it myself.

[iamalizard]

For the tools, I had a friend years ago who worked part time as a repairman and he said he always buys cheap as even expensive tools break. He viewed his tools as consumables, almost as disposables. He had a few of each type and said he didn't care when one broke. Not your philosophy or mine (buy expensive when you need to use it a lot) but it seemed to work for him.

I tried to DIY a bike stand. I wanted to make a truing wheel, too. I made something a very basic bike stand with spare materials lying around in less than an hour - just 2 metal desk legs bolted onto a piece of wood, as well as a couple of smaller pieces of wood to hold the front wheel in place (and a few smaller pieces where needed). It works for my bike only because of the geometry and it's definitely not great but it does the job! I watched some videos on how to make a good stand and it seems possible to DIY something really great for a fraction of the price. Sure, your time and labor costs money, but it would be satisfying to make something good yourself. I'm thinking of making another stand in a couple of months.