Lathes are cool, I can't imagine living without one. Next best thing is knowing a guy who has one, and knowing what kind of beer, whiskey or bike parts he likes, to bribe him with.

Today I needed just one of those doodads to step down a rim hole from shrader to presta, and making one was way faster than riding to the bike shop (who might not even stock them), or ordering one from the web and waiting for delivery. Last month I made an axle spacer to space a Bitex freehub out 5 mm wider, and some bearing-setting tools for working on Maxicar hubs. It's not rocket surgery, but it was fun.

That's how I justify it anyway.