Jim Bode Antique Tools Profile
In his own words:
I have always been a woodworker. My dresser in my bedroom at age 6 had a vise mounted on it. It held the drawer open and my socks always had sawdust in them.
Over the years I accumulated some tools. Most were given to me by my father and grandfather or picked up at yard sales.
My brother-in-law took me to the CRAFTS picnic and then the Crane's auction in Nashua in the fall of 1998, where I was exposed to a quantity and quality of tools beyond a tool collector's wildest dreams.
I joined all the tool clubs and was exposed to ten times more tools.
I bought so many tools that I needed an outlet for my old tools. I could see now that I had no business hanging on to those old yard sale tools when I could buy any tool I could dream of... provided I had the cash. We discovered eBay as a source for the cash and more tools. And so the 2LShark (pronounced Tool Shark) was born.
We took the hobby of tool collecting as far as a hobby could go, and it was time to quit of my real job. I'd been the sales manager at a large Nissan dealership for 20 years and 11 days. My wife Trish and I became full time tool dealers in October 2006, changing the name of the now huge website to jimbodetools.com.
I now travel all over the country and the world buying tools. We list approximately 20 fresh tools on our what's new page every day.
...and I still have that vise.
