Originally Posted by graywolf

Kind of a straw dog argument. I for instance use my channel lock pliers about once a week, when I bought them I was working as a mechanic and used them daily. Furthermore the pliers cost something like $20 while a decent welder is more like $500. $20 is pocket money, $500 is not, at least to me.

Then there is the point that pliers fit in the kitchen drawer (mine are in a roll around tool cabinet left over from my mechanicing days in the kitchen actually), I am not likely to keep a welder in my kitchen (I do have a drill press there so maybe I woud, but most folks wouldn't). Although I keep telling my self I ought to buy one of those little Oxy/Mapp Gas brazing torches that only cost $50 or so.

The long winded point of all this is that whether a tool is worth it depends on several things like:

Can you afford it?
Do you have some place to store it?
How much will you use it, realistically?
And do you have some place to use it (often a problem for us apartment dwellers)?

It is not a simple, "It's a tool, so it is worth it", proposition.