Somebody on your block has to be first
It might as well be you. Every neighborhood that shares tools started with one person deciding to go first. Not a committee. Not a nonprofit. One person who said: here's what I have, borrow it.
Create Your GroupTwo people is a group
You don't need the whole block, and you don't need a workshop. The bar is much lower than it looks.
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Add a few tools
Three is plenty to start. The ladder, the good drill, the thing nobody else nearby owns.
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Invite two people
Start with the neighbor you already wave to and the friend two streets over. It grows because it works, not because you recruited anyone.
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That's the whole thing
They can see what you've listed. You can see theirs. Nobody buys a third pressure washer.
Group chats forget. Lists don't.
Neighborhood sharing doesn't fizzle because people stop caring. It fizzles because nobody remembers who has the sander. FriendsWithTools keeps the list, tracks what's out, and handles the reminder when something's due back, so nobody has to become the person nagging everyone.
Nobody becomes the librarian
Every owner keeps their own tools, approves their own requests, and sets their own terms. You're not managing anyone else's stuff and you're not on the hook when someone wants a ladder at 7am.
There isn't one
FriendsWithTools is free to join, and borrowing is always free. Paid plans and donations cover the servers. There are no ads, no ad networks, and no tracking pixels. Nothing about you is sold or shared with advertisers.
Nothing is public
Free to join. Nothing public. Your tools are visible only to friends you accept and groups you're invited into.
There's no marketplace, no public listing, and no stranger can see inside your garage. You approve every person who joins and every request that comes in.
Start your block's tool share
It takes a few minutes and costs nothing. Somebody has to be first.