I saw this article on a web site (any comments?):
ON THE BOX: NORM'S A REAL DISCOVERY
Have you ever seen Workshop With Norm on the Discovery Channel? We're not sure what Norm is short for but it certainly isn't normal.
Norm has a workshop the size of Ford's, with every tool that has ever been made.
Some even have Noah's Boat Builders written on them. Norm announces that today he is going to show you how to save $2.99 by making your own picture frame.
He goes on: "All you need for this simple job is an electric mitre saw, a router, saw bench, six-speed 2000rpm lathe, a pedestal drill, a pneumatic nail gun and a diamond-tipped glass cutter." In other words, you must spend the equivalent of Senegal's national debt on tools to save $2.99.
If Norm wants to impress us, he should come around to Mickey Pugh's house and make something using his tool kit - a rusty screwdriver, a hammer with a broken handle and a saw that's been hanging on his fence for five years.
Me personally,I had a worn out "dogbone" spanner(for my pushbike) a pair of scissors and a bent blunt screwdriver. Nowadays, I have several big boxes crammed with lots of different tools, hoarded over 30 years,I rarely buy new(I go to garage sales ect. instead)

I guess I got lucky, my dad is a
machinist, and often would buy and
sell tools and toolboxes. My first
toolkit was all off-brand stuff,
but it was packed with tons of
tools, U.S. & metric. Best of all,
it didn't cost me anything!!!

I started my first tool kit with:

1 Easco hammer
1 12" Crescent adjustable wrench
1 Stanley adjustable pliers
1 14" Rigid pipe wrench
1 Set of Stanley screwdrivers
1 Stanley 25' tape measure
1 "Generic" red-painted steel toolbox

With the exception of the tape measure (I am bad to misplace them), all of the tools are still part of the coldfuse arsenal, after nearly 30 years.

I am lucky too. My dad was a machinist also. Started a business back in the seventies. I grew up in it. (O.E.M. specialized machining) It is still successful.

At the shop I have at my disposal anything related to cutting, welding, turning or milling metals. Automatically (CNC mills and lathes) or manually (Bridgeport mills and manual lathes).I am quite proficient in the use in every machine there.

At home I have a room full of Kennedy and Snap-On rollaway tool storage systems. (All full and quite organized) “Right tool for the right job” is one of my mottos.

I still remember my first tool set though. Back in the mid sixties kid’s tool sets were working mini versions of dad’s tools.

I was about four years old when I decided the kitchen table was too tall for my liking. Pulled out my trusty tool kit and went to work.

I’ll never forget mom’s face when she walked into the kitchen that day.

There I was sitting at the table eating a bowl of cereal. (The table was no higher than two feet)

She was quite upset, but dad got a kick out of it.

To this day at what seems like every family function that story comes up.
Dad was proud that I trimmed the legs evenly. No wobble at all!

being a "girl" and all, some might find it hard to believe but I LOVE TOOLS!!!! (working for a contracting company tends to feed that obsession)

I don't have and really big saws or routers yet, but I have the basics....hammer, screw driver sets, allen wrenches, socket sets...things like that. I can tell ya though...I bet I use my tape measure more (or just as much as any other tool.)

Walking through an empty lot (which is now a neighborhood), I found a perfectly good screwdiver and kept it.

Although that was probably my first tool, my first kit was given to me about 3 years ago by my dad. It held just about everything you could need, various wrenches, a powerdrill, and a coil of wire that I'm still not quite sure what is for.

I still have both which have proven quite helpful.

For the longest time all I had was a hammer, a flathead and phillips head screwdriver and a pair of piers (I lived in an apartment). Today I have all the latest power this and power that, but you know what? I can do still do anything with a hammer, a screwdriver or a pair of pliers.