I love cheap tools do you?

[Troy Sr]

I used to buy Craftsman tools back before Sears shut down. I still buy them some times. I have changed my pliers to Channellock, and specialty tools are Lisle. I do have some special tools from Snap-on and MAC. Sometimes I buy tools at Harbor Freight but mostly tools that I'm not going to use often. My favorite tool that I have is My dad's original Craftsman Rollaway tool box and upper box from the early '60's. He bought it from Sears when he was a beginning mechanic there!! This tool box is almost my age!! Everytime I grab a tool out of it I smile thinking about when he was a mechanic. He's been a Mechanic, Shop Foreman and Service Writer for his whole life most at Mcnevin Cadillac in Berkeley Ca. He still tries to give me his tools, and I tell him when he's gone I take them all and pass them on to my son!! Hopefully it's awhile before it happens!!!

[Steeveedee]

Originally Posted by 72c20customcamper

Blew the rear brake from the master to the distribution block on the frame of my 85 this morning . Stopped at autozone because I had no line wrenches . Well I still didn’t have a set . Notice something wrong ? Must be for the elusive round fitting .

That's to keep the line from spinning.

[Rubbertiredtramp]

I like good tools, I have a lot of Mac only a few Snap on some Craftsman and Westward. I got a little ticked at Mac a few years ago I bought an expensive Mac screwdriver set only to find they were made in Taiwan. So no more tool trucks. I have a PLOMB ratchet and sockets, and some Tiger Tools my dad bought back in the 30s, all clearly marked made in USA, they work perfectly. I have a Craftsman table saw from the 60s it is a very accurate well built tool. I had some Craftsman power tools from the 80s they were junk. My tool collection took a lifetime to collect most are good most are USA or Canadian, some aren't. But I see it this way years ago when everything was made domestically the average shade tree mechanic didn’t have a lot of tools. It was the importation of cheap Asian made tools that has enabled the average guy to own more than just a basic tool set.

[dmjlambert]

Originally Posted by 72c20customcamper

Blew the rear brake from the master to the distribution block on the frame of my 85 this morning . Stopped at autozone because I had no line wrenches . Well I still didn’t have a set . Notice something wrong ? Must be for the elusive round fitting .

I like that round fitting wrench, that is amusing. I wish I had a whole set of those in all sizes, it could be the set I lend out!

[Steeveedee]

Originally Posted by dmjlambert

I like that round fitting wrench, that is amusing. I wish I had a whole set of those in all sizes, it could be the set I lend out!

The people who borrow them still wouldn't bring them back!

[LONGHAIR]

In general, I do not.
My mechanic's tools are a jumbled mess of stuff that I have accumulated over the years. However, my focus has not been in that direction for many years.
Most of what I do is woodworking/cabinetmaking related.
I buy high end tools for that, because it's what I do for a living and I depend on them. I even have several multiples of the most necessary things, simply for speed and convenience.
The low-level import cheap does have its place though, for at least two things.
They have quite a variety of dead-blow mallets. These are less than half the price of the typical box-store units and they work fine. It's not much more than a couple of pieces of pipe with some kind of plastic that is injection molded around it. Quality? "good enough" I'm just hitting wood or something like a chisel handle and they last forever doing that.
The other one, for me, is spray guns. The cheap (purple) HVLP guns are perfectly adequate for primer and color coats on furniture/cabinetry. Then I do the final top coat with an airless sprayer that belongs to the company.
I had some nicer spray guns, before the shop fire, just never replaced them.
The thing I depend on HF for is the siphon-feed spray guns, mostly because they are cheap enough to abuse. I spray contact cement through one, sometimes multiple gallons a day. I never clean them internally, even though the stickers on the cup say that you "must after every use". The outside looks brand new, I keep it nice looking, but just disconnect it from the airline and store it under the table where I spray. These things will stand-up to that for long periods of time, as long as you never let it suck air. If you re-fill it at the very first sputter and it never gets "dry" in the pick-up tube, they do fine. Letting that glue even start to set-up is bad. It clogs the internals and is very difficult to clean out. The solvent makes this stuff get clumpy when it first starts to dissolve, making it worse. As cheap as these guns are, it makes them effectively disposable. Years of figuring out how to make them last has slowed down mu consumption though. The one I am using now, has been going for over two years. I have a back-up under the bench, but it is still in the box.

[LockDoc]

-
I let the smoke out of one of my HF grinders yesterday. It has served me well for about 7 or 8 years with a lot of use. I have a couple of others so I will buy another one as soon as get a chance. My closest HF is 70 miles away.....

LockDoc
.

[FleetsidePaul]

I buy the cheapo bristle paint brushes for basting food when I barbeque. No need to clean them. I just throw them away like paper towels. I hate cleaning paint brushes.

[Axle]

Originally Posted by LONGHAIR

As cheap as these guns are, it makes them effectively disposable. .

That is a big part of the cheap tools, disposability. As much as I hate tossing stuff needlessly, fact is, buying cleaners/solvents, rags/papertowels, the cleanup waste, and whatever else to properly service something after use to make sure it lasts costs more than just replacing as needed.

[FleetsidePaul]

Originally Posted by Axle

That is a big part of the cheap tools, disposability. As much as I hate tossing stuff needlessly, fact is, buying cleaners/solvents, rags/papertowels, the cleanup waste, and whatever else to properly service something after use to make sure it lasts costs more than just replacing as needed.

I don't think anyone likes to just throw away stuff needlessly. I know that I don't. I don't like to see cars get junked. But I've sent some to the scrapper. They weren't worth fixing. The repairs would have been at least twice what the car was worth. TV's are the same thing. Junk it and get another for less money.

Cheap tools give you the freedom of not having to worry about them. For instance I have 2 Really expensive Rolex watches and a $50 fake one. I almost never wear the expensive ones. I always wear the phony because I don't have to worry about anything happening to it and it works just fine. It's actually my favorite and it's a cheap knock off.

Reminds me of when I saw a Pontiac Fiero with Ferrari badges on it. I wondered how many chicks that guy scammed saying he had a Ferrari.

[LONGHAIR]

Originally Posted by Axle

That is a big part of the cheap tools, disposability. As much as I hate tossing stuff needlessly, fact is, buying cleaners/solvents, rags/papertowels, the cleanup waste, and whatever else to properly service something after use to make sure it lasts costs more than just replacing as needed.

I figure that the time and solvent saved is well worth it, especially since I have learned how to make the interval much longer than they did before.
When you get more than two years out of a $25 tool, that you use nearly every day in a commercial environment, all good.

[franken]

Regarding the first pic it looks like the bolts were maybe misused and regardless, are disposable.
The fuller body and threaded part are holding up fine.
Crappy tools are ok if you expect them to do what little they cost.

[Axle]

I wonder if the cheap bolts, (besides being cheap that is) is considered to be a sheer bolt of sorts. destroy the bolt instead of destroying the wheel hub--for those ham fisted people who should not be anywhere near tools...