The Christmas I Became a Tool Whore

Each family has that one person who is impossible to buy presents for. Apparently… I am that person 😆

Most people ask for perfume… a nice jumper… a cook book they’ll never open…

Me?

One Christmas, I asked my husband for a professional jeweler’s apprentice toolkit from Rio Grande. Oh, and a polishing motor as my stocking stuffer.

The toolkit alone was about a thousand dollars, which was a lot of money twenty years ago (and still is today!) To make matters slightly more ridiculous, I’d only done a handful of jewelry classes at this point, and while I was about to start jewelry school, I certainly didn’t need a full professional toolkit sitting in my spare room before I left!

But I’d already made up my mind:

IMG 1 If I was going to learn jewelry making

If I was going to learn jewelry making, I was going to do it properly.

I’ve always been a bit like that… you won’t find me dipping my toes into anything. I much prefer to cannonball naked in the deep end after a few too many proseccos.

So, was my Christmas wish sensible? Questionable… But was it exciting? Abso-freeking-lutely.

So the toolkit arrived a few weeks before Christmas and sat under the tree waiting to be opened. I don't think I've ever been so excited for Christmas morning in my adult life.

Not because I was getting expensive presents.

Because every single tool in that box represented the life I hoped I was about to build.

I'd spent months poring over Rio Grande catalog, circling tools I barely understood, reading descriptions that may as well have been written in another language, and convincing myself that owning them somehow brought me one step closer to becoming a jeweler.

It was wonderfully naïve.

I think I believed that once I had "proper" tools… I'd somehow become a proper jeweler.

If only it worked like that! I also thought a gym membership would magically give me abs, but it turns out both require a bit more effort than handing over your credit card.

IMG 2 The Christmas morning that felt like

The Christmas morning that felt like… well, Christmas morning!

On Christmas morning, I made a bee line straight for that box. I ripped the wrapping paper off and started unpacking what felt like hundreds of little treasures. Every tool came wrapped in paper, tucked into its own little spot in the box, and I was determined to inspect every single one of them.

Some of them I recognized straight away, like needle files, pliers and a saw frame…

Others I hadn’t the faintest clue what they did 😅

There were burnishers, random measurement implements, punches, scribes, things with names I'd never heard before, and one little gadget called a prong lifter that I was convinced was going to become one of the most useful tools I'd ever own.

Twenty years later, I can confidently tell you that poor little prong lifter has lived an incredibly relaxing life.

I think I've tried to use it about three times.

It's basically been on permanent paid leave.

That's the funny thing about buying a professional toolkit before you really know what you're doing. Every tool feels equally exciting because you don't yet know which ones will become extensions of your hands and which ones will spend the next two decades judging you from the back of a drawer.

I carried on unpacking everything, happily admiring my growing collection, until I noticed something that was... well... slightly alarming.

Every tool was FILTHY. Not dusty or scratched, just covered in this sticky, brown, oily gunk. Turns out, the “gunk” wasn’t dirt at all, it was a protective oil that coats steel tools to stop them rusting while they’re sitting in a warehouse or traveling halfway around the world.

So while everyone else was happily eating Christmas turkey, I spent a good chunk of the day sitting cross legged on the floor with a roll of kitchen towel, wiping every sticky tool clean.

It was the day I discovered the smell of tool oil. But every time I catch that smell now, I'm instantly transported back to being a kid in my dad's garage or my uncle's workshop. They were always tinkering with something... fixing an engine, sharpening a blade, making something work again. The smell of oil, steel and old timber was just part of the background.

The skills didn’t come in the kit

Looking back, I think I loved those tools in exactly the same way someone loves a new puppy. I just wanted to pick them all up, look at them and imagine everything I was going to make with them.

The funny thing is, I had absolutely no idea how to use half of them properly.

At the time, I thought buying the tools was the hard part. I thought once I owned the right equipment, I'd be well on my way to becoming a jeweler. I couldn't have been more wrong.

The tools weren't what made me a jeweler. Learning how to use them did.

I still think buying a proper starter toolkit was the right decision. I still own and use many of those tools today.

So the mistake wasn't buying good tools… The mistake was thinking I needed every tool before I'd even learned the basics.

This is a trap I see beginners fall into all the time

Everyone does it when they’re learning a new hobby. Cyclists buy carbon fiber everything. Photographers convince themselves the next lens will transform their photos.

And jewelers? We're an absolute menace! Buying tools feels like progress.

You spend hours researching them, the parcel arrives, you find the perfect spot for it on your bench, and suddenly you feel like you've had a productive day...

Even if you haven't actually made a thing.

Learning to use those tools isn't nearly as exciting in the moment, but that's where the real progress happens.

Making the wonky saw cuts… soldering those joins… making (and remaking) that bezel… filing that ring into oblivion…

Those are the moments that actually turn you into a jeweler!

IMG 5 If I could go back and give my younger self one piece of advice

If I could go back and give my younger self one piece of advice, it would be this:

Buy good tools. Just don't feel like you have to buy them all at once.

Your skills should always grow faster than your tool collection 😉

Learn what each tool does, why it matters, and when it's actually worth adding to your bench.

Your bank account will thank you.

And if you ever find yourself sitting on the floor on Christmas Day, lovingly wiping protective oil off a brand-new pair of pliers while everyone else is eating pudding...

Congratulations.

You may have become a tool whore too (and you're in very good company).

If you'd like a roadmap that helps you build your skills first... and your tool collection second... that's exactly what we do inside the Metalsmith Academy. I'd love to help you spend your money on the right tools at the right time, instead of learning the expensive way like I did.

Find out more about the Roadmap here

About The Author

Lucy Walker
Lucy Walker is the Founder of Lucy Walker Jewelry & the Metalsmith Academy, she’s a self-proclaimed crossfit box champ, dog mum, and wearer of a bunch of other hats. With over 17 years in the jewelry industry and 7 years empowering jewelry makers globally, Lucy has created world-class online training designed to take you from absolute beginner to jewelry-making pro! Whether you’re looking to build a business, or create beautiful pieces to wear and share with loved ones, Lucy has created the best community to help you do it.