`Tool Man': His `Home' Memories Are Everywhere

BURBANK, Calif. - If Tim Allen were a tool, he would probably be a vise.

Allen doesn't let go of things easily, and that includes his recently ended "Home Improvement" sitcom.

Unlike many actors who desperately try to shed their character's persona when a series ends, Allen remains firmly clamped to his role as Tim "The Tool Man" Taylor, using it to promote a signature line of hammers, drills and other hardware equipment.

He even stores a huge chunk of the "Home Improvement" set at his Burbank office.

"I don't like throwing stuff out," Allen said. "I have so much memorabilia from `Home Improvement,' that eventually I'll just have to have a yard sale."

Letting go of "Home Improvement," which aired its final episode May 25, was difficult for the 46-year-old actor, who talks wistfully about the cast and crew as though they were high school chums rather than co-workers.

"I even gave everybody class rings, and the staff gave everybody yearbooks," he said. "So it looks like we all graduated. I think of it like that. . . . like an alma mater."

The elaborate collection of wooden walls, worktables and swinging garage-style doors from the show's fictional "Tool Time" do-it-yourself program stands near his fleet of vintage cars in the garage portion of his office building.

"I couldn't get enough of it," he said. "I don't wallow in my memories, but the show was such a wonderful memory that I want to hold onto the experience. And all I have left is this material."

The nearly 40-foot set's plywood backing bears the signatures of some of the show's crew, and notable props hang on the front, such as a calendar featuring "Tool Time's" buxom spokesmodel and a cutout reindeer head with a Rudolph-style taillight nose.

He said his role as a hapless space captain in the upcoming sci-fi comedy "Galaxy Quest" keeps him from dwelling on the end of "Home Improvement," although he misses the ABC-TV show around this time of year because other programs have started shooting episodes for next season.

"But I'm on fire now," he said of his busy schedule. "I'll probably miss the show more in the fall when things quiet down."

Besides appearing in "Galaxy Quest," a futuristic movie about a group of sci-fi actors who are mistaken for real heroes, Allen is also reprising his role as the voice of spaceman doll Buzz Lightyear in the upcoming "Toy Story" sequel with Tom Hanks.

In the meantime, he tinkers in the design process of Tim Allen Signature Tools which he actively promoted for Father's Day last month.

The company, which donates its profits to children's charities, produces hammers, power drills, screwdrivers, utility knives and outdoor equipment like leaf-blowers and hedge-trimmers.

Allen said he prefers to keep the tools as collector's items, even though they come with a tag imploring buyers to "Please use it!"

He would rather use his grandfather's old tools for household work, he said, like the "greasy screwdrivers with the clear, yellow plastic handles."

Does Allen love fixing things?

Instead of buying a new table, he repaired a broken leg on one dumped on him by his mother-in-law.

"There is something wonderful about taking the effort - and it's physical effort, my energy - to recycle components of our lives," he said.