What tools did you buy today?

[dwasifar]

32 minutes ago, JimboS1ice said:

 

Especially when it comes from a guy that trashes his tools and buys shit tools ?

 

 

That was my dad. He would buy stuff like 29¢ screwdrivers from the bin on the hardware store counter. Of course the tools wouldn't last long; the screwdriver tips would round off, the saw blades would go dull, the cheap flashlights would come apart. But he kept doing it, and my whole childhood I thought there was something wrong with me that I couldn't get decent results using his tools for anything. "It's a poor workman who blames his tools," he would tell me, and it took a few years after I was out on my own to realize that was only true down to a point. I stopped buying the same shitty tools I had seen my dad buy, and started buying quality and taking good care of them.

 

In all the decades since, I have only ever had to warranty out four hand tools: a Craftsman lineman pliers that would not quite close, a pair of Craftsman dikes that were sticky right out of the box, a pair of Husky needle nose pliers that my wife destroyed making teddy bears, and a Stanley tape measure with a touchy lock. I've never broken a quality ratchet, socket, wrench, screwdriver, etc., because I take care of the tools and don't use them past their design limits. 

 

However: one day not too long ago, I was torquing down some lug nuts and twisted the end off of a socket extension. On close inspection it turned out not to be part of my USA Craftsman set, but rather a junky old one that probably came in a Kmart set. I haven't bought junk hand tools like that in probably 35 years, so that extension was somehow hiding in with my sockets all that time. 

[dwasifar]

25 minutes ago, dwasifar said:

In all the decades since, I have only ever had to warranty out four hand tools: a Craftsman lineman pliers that would not quite close, a pair of Craftsman dikes that were sticky right out of the box, a pair of Husky needle nose pliers that my wife destroyed making teddy bears, and a Stanley tape measure with a touchy lock.

 

Well, five, actually.  I forgot about the Stanley combination square that wasn't actually square.

 

The point is that aside from the Husky pliers my wife ruined, and maybe the Craftsman lineman pliers, nothing was wrecked; they were manufacturing defects.

[Todd the Tinkerer]

 

Well, five, actually.  I forgot about the Stanley combination square that wasn't actually square.

 

The point is that aside from the Husky pliers my wife ruined, and maybe the Craftsman lineman pliers, nothing was wrecked; they were manufacturing defects.

I viewed it as getting into a trade, buy cheap because you generally need to buy a lot of tools. As you progress start changing the cheap tools out for good ones. It will also keep you from spending big bucks on a tool you might not use very often.


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[comp56]

9 minutes ago, tcoscarelli said:

I viewed it as getting into a trade, buy cheap because you generally need to buy a lot of tools. As you progress start changing the cheap tools out for good ones. It will also keep you from spending big bucks on a tool you might not use very often.


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I agree to some point but there are some trades that cheap don't cut it......

[NicolasRamos]

I agree to some point but there are some trades that cheap don't cut it......

Agreed. I'd rather our new apprentices show up with Klein, at the least. But I understand that they won't be able to spend a ton on their first tools, if they don't have any yet.


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[NicolasRamos]

Hanging out with you guys is bad for my wallet.

 

Here's today:

 



 

KnarlyCarl bought the TurboShear at Menards and I immediately said to myself "How have I lived without this device?"  So I also bought one at Menards' bag sale.  

 

While there I picked up a Channellock 8" adjustable wrench purely because BMack37 recommended it.  It was $30 for the Wide-Azz version with "Code Blue" grip, or $16 for the one you see here, so I bought the cheaper one and a thing of Plasti Dip to cushion the handle.  

 

Finally we have an el cheapo ratcheting band clamp from Horror Fright.  For $7 I will give it a try before I move up to name brand clamps costing three and four times as much.

It gets expensive real fast! I needed to get a new pair of journeyman linemans, and these combo linemans were cheaper than the originals. We'll see how I like them. And I've been wanting to get knipex cobras for a long time, but my old faithful chanellocks haven't let me down. I'll be putting the channel locks in the spare tool box, to force myself to use the knipex... though I don't think it'll take long to love them!


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[Conductor562]

@dwasifar: My dad was like that to a point, sometimes.....I swear the man is bi-polar. He'd buy good tools and he'd tell me all the reasons it pays to have good tools. The next week he'd buy some bargain bin piece of shit and tell me how it would be good enough for what he needed. The next day he'd get pissed off when it broke, cuss, bitch, throw it over the railroad tracks, then tell me not to ever waste my money on cheap tools. Then the process would repeat. Power equipment was the worst. He'd buy a top notch mower, weed eater, chainsaw, etc, never sharpen shit, change the oil, or do anything in the way of maintenance, then when it crapped out after a few short years of utter neglect, he'd bitch about how you just couldn't buy good shit anymore. He liked working with stuff, but he didn't like working on stuff if that makes any sense.

 

I think more than anything it was an issue of time. I learned how to work on things out of sheer sympathy for the man. Even at the age of 13 or 14 I felt sorry for the guy. He grew up dirt poor and he worked all the overtime he could get so my brother and I could have all the shit he never had. I rode around town on a $1000 bike, in $200 shoes, and I truly appreciated the sacrifices he made. I tried to do my part to make his life a little easier. There weren't many kids who rode down to the hardware on their bike to buy decent parts before their dad had the opportunity to buy the wrong shit, but I did.

 

I think at some point he realized he just wasn't capable of taking care of shit and gave up. I did all a young kid could do to help, but the man was a regular wrecking crew on equipment. When I started on my own I opted for the "learn from dad's mistakes" approach. 

 

 

3 hours ago, comp56 said:

I agree to some point but there are some trades that cheap don't cut it......

 

Just like using tools, buying tools is a skill. It takes a young guy awhile to learn how the game works, and some never do. Hell, I know career mechanics who can fix anything, but they'll pay $300 for something off the Snap-On truck when they could have bought the EXACT same tool from the OEM for half price, but they'll swear the Snap-On version is somehow special. They'll even go as far as to tell you Snap-On puts it through "extra heat treatment" or some nutty shit when you explain it to them.

 

I have a friend at the County bus garage that calls me at least 5 or 6 times a year to ask who makes what and where he can get it for the cheapest price. If the Snap-On guy in my area has a people to kill list, I'm bound to be on it. 

[dwasifar]

17 hours ago, dwasifar said:

While there I picked up a Channellock 8" adjustable wrench purely because BMack37 recommended it.  It was $30 for the Wide-Azz version with "Code Blue" grip, or $16 for the one you see here, so I bought the cheaper one and a thing of Plasti Dip to cushion the handle.  

Here is the wrench post-dip:

 

I wanted each successive dip to be a little deeper, for a clean finish, but the wrench bottomed out in the can on the second dip as the product got used up and the fluid level dropped. Archimedes and I solved the problem by sticking a couple pieces of wood into the can to raise the level. 

[Todd the Tinkerer]

I love dipping tools. Looks great. I prefer the cushioned grip. I know I am pre-madana, but I am ok with that.


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[comp56]

I guess you could shake it in a bag of silica sand as soon as you get it out for extra grip..... like shake and bake

[ChrisK]

19 minutes ago, dwasifar said:

Here is the wrench post-dip:

 

I wanted each successive dip to be a little deeper, for a clean finish, but the wrench bottomed out in the can on the second dip as the product got used up and the fluid level dropped. Archimedes and I solved the problem by sticking a couple pieces of wood into the can to raise the level. 

That is friggin awesome. Thanks for sharing dude!

[Foneguy]

35 minutes ago, dwasifar said:

Here is the wrench post-dip:

 

I wanted each successive dip to be a little deeper, for a clean finish, but the wrench bottomed out in the can on the second dip as the product got used up and the fluid level dropped. Archimedes and I solved the problem by sticking a couple pieces of wood into the can to raise the level. 

Great job on "the dip" dude.......

[Stercorarius]

8 hours ago, Conductor562 said:

@dwasifar

Hell, I know career mechanics who can fix anything, but they'll pay $300 for something off the Snap-On truck when they could have bought the EXACT same tool from the OEM for half price, but they'll swear the Snap-On version is somehow special. They'll even go as far as to tell you Snap-On puts it through "extra heat treatment" or some nutty shit when you explain it to them.

 

I have a friend at the County bus garage that calls me at least 5 or 6 times a year to ask who makes what and where he can get it for the cheapest price. If the Snap-On guy in my area has a people to kill list, I'm bound to be on it. 

Didn't you do a TIA article on cheaper OEM versions of things way back?

[Conductor562]

25 minutes ago, Stercorarius said:

Didn't you do a TIA article on cheaper OEM versions of things way back?

 

Sure did:

 

http://professional-power-tool-guide.com/2014/08/who-makes-what-tools/

 

I always intended to do a part 2, just haven't gotten around to it.

 

[Todd the Tinkerer]

2 hours ago, Conductor562 said:

 

Sure did:

 

http://professional-power-tool-guide.com/2014/08/who-makes-what-tools/

 

I always intended to do a part 2, just haven't gotten around to it.

 

Thank you for re-sharing this. It is very useful.

[Stercorarius]

Yeah, they need to get you doing hand tool reviews. The videos on power tools are great, but I prefer reading reviews on hand tools. Power tools are awesome, but I'm more interested in more industrial and automotive hand tools. I know a lot of comments on the videos and websites have been asking for tool reviews on hand tools from tool trucks and the works. 

[KnarlyCarl]

6 hours ago, Conductor562 said:

 

Sure did:

 

http://professional-power-tool-guide.com/2014/08/who-makes-what-tools/

 

I always intended to do a part 2, just haven't gotten around to it.

 

Awesome, thanks for the refresher

[KnarlyCarl]

15 hours ago, Conductor562 said:

 

Just like using tools, buying tools is a skill. It takes a young guy awhile to learn how the game works, and some never do. Hell, I know career mechanics who can fix anything, but they'll pay $300 for something off the Snap-On truck when they could have bought the EXACT same tool from the OEM for half price, but they'll swear the Snap-On version is somehow special. They'll even go as far as to tell you Snap-On puts it through "extra heat treatment" or some nutty shit when you explain it to them.

 

I have a friend at the County bus garage that calls me at least 5 or 6 times a year to ask who makes what and where he can get it for the cheapest price. If the Snap-On guy in my area has a people to kill list, I'm bound to be on it. 

 

I was that young guy sold on the whole Snap-On culture, fortunately, i got out of the mechanic world or I might still be stuck on buying Snap-On. Couple years ago I started kicking myself when i realized the $4k box i bought could have gone toward a lot better cause and more good tools... but I sold that box for still a pretty decent dollar, to a young guy that reminded me of myself couple years prior, kind of felt sorry for him, but i needed the money and he was old enough to make his own decisions...... 

It was a good box, just nuts for me to buy that when i did for what I was making at the time.....

[dwasifar]

One more today:

 

 

I replace these from time to time just because they get gunked up and full of corrosion and deposits that you scrape off the terminals.  Today it's because I also bought this:

 

 

This is for my wife's car.  She heard me telling my friend that I replace batteries every three or four years whether they need it or not, as preventive maintenance, and she said, "But my battery is five years old."  And she's right.  I knew Subaru had given her a free battery when the car was still under warranty but I had kind of lost track of time and didn't realize it had been that long.  Any time I thought about it, it was "Oh, she got a new battery from Subaru, she's fine for a while."  Given that we've been in the single-digit temperatures for the last couple weeks, I am hustling to rectify this oversight.

 

 

[Todd the Tinkerer]

1 minute ago, dwasifar said:

One more today:

 

 

I replace these from time to time just because they get gunked up and full of corrosion and deposits that you scrape off the terminals.  Today it's because I also bought this:

 

 

This is for my wife's car.  She heard me telling my friend that I replace batteries every three or four years whether they need it or not, as preventive maintenance, and she said, "But my battery is five years old."  And she's right.  I knew Subaru had given her a free battery when the car was still under warranty but I had kind of lost track of time and didn't realize it had been that long.  Any time I thought about it, it was "Oh, she got a new battery from Subaru, she's fine for a while."  Given that we've been in the single-digit temperatures for the last couple weeks, I am hustling to rectify this oversight.

 

 

I didn't know that Bosch made automotive batteries. How do they compare to others like dihard or optima?

[Conductor562]

Don't get me wrong, Snap-On (and the other trucks for that matter) have some great tools. They produce top quality stuff that's designed to make a living with. I admire quality tools, and the trucks deliver that (pun intended) but what gets me is the insane mark-up on rebranded items. I don't mind paying top money for a top quality tool, but I do mind paying 200% more for a Snap-On branded set of something made by Lisle, when I can buy the same Lisle made set, with a different label on the box for pennies on the dollar. It's shameless. I get it, trucks offer convienance and easy credit, and nobody is holding a gun to anyone's head, but it's borderline exploitation of uninformed consumers. 

 

Tool trucks aren't the only ones that do this, it's capitalism, but as an informed consumer advocate I'm not going to pretend it isn't happening. 

 

As for hand tool reviews, there's a reason you don't see a lot of them. For starters, many hand tool manufacturers aren't very open to having their tools reviewed. Some are really cool and feel the same passion for their stuff that we do. One of the coolest guys I ever dealt with was the guy at EZ RED. His grandfather started the company and he has a real passion for it. Awesome dude to talk to. A lot of companies won't even respond to your emails. There's various reasons for it, but you can look at the blogs and see what companies have a presence and determine what ones are willing to work with you and what one's aren't. Blogs and forums are the ultimate tool of the informed tool user, but some companies prefer for you to focus entirely on the things they tell you to focus on and have no interest in a 3rd party perspective.  

 

Some companies, understandably, only put out new release stuff. This is no big deal with the ever evolving power tool world, but things change at a slower pace in the hand tool world. This typically means it's hard to keep a good flow of tools to write about.  

 

Another reason you don't see many hand tool reviews is that (and this is going to sound different than I mean it) most people don't possess the ability to make them interesting enough to read. Anybody can write a page about a power tool by throwing in features and specs, etc, etc, but it takes a special person to write an article of any length about a hammer or a screwdriver without being extremely boring. That's why a lot of the hand tool articles you do see are basically news articles. 

 

Then there's the simple economics of it. Hand tools just don't generate enough traffic to keep the lights on. Comprehensive blogs like TIA are not cheap to operate. There is an extraordinary amount of time and money required to keep a high quality site like this running and hand tools aren't going to cut it. It doesn't matter to me, I don't make a living doing this, and Dan & Eric liked to keep diverse content, but most blogs just don't mess with hand tools much for that reason. 

 

I do feel good enough to start writing again, and I have a bunch of new stuff I could write about. Maybe I'll get in gear and get going.

 

And thanks you guys for the kind words. Glad to know at least 4 or 5 people read the stuff I wrote ?

 

 

[Todd the Tinkerer]

Don't get me wrong, Snap-On (and the other trucks for that matter) have some great tools. They produce top quality stuff that's designed to make a living with. I admire quality tools, and the trucks deliver that (pun intended) but what gets me is the insane mark-up on rebranded items. I don't mind paying top money for a top quality tool, but I do mind paying 200% more for a Snap-On branded set of something made by Lisle, when I can buy the same Lisle made set, with a different label on the box for pennies on the dollar. It's shameless. I get it, trucks offer convienance and easy credit, and nobody is holding a gun to anyone's head, but it's borderline exploitation of uninformed consumers. 

 

Tool trucks aren't the only ones that do this, it's capitalism, but as an informed consumer advocate I'm not going to pretend it isn't happening. 

 

As for hand tool reviews, there's a reason you don't see a lot of them. For starters, many hand tool manufacturers aren't very open to having their tools reviewed. Some are really cool and feel the same passion for their stuff that we do. One of the coolest guys I ever dealt with was the guy at EZ RED. His grandfather started the company and he has a real passion for it. Awesome dude to talk to. A lot of companies won't even respond to your emails. There's various reasons for it, but you can look at the blogs and see what companies have a presence and determine what ones are willing to work with you and what one's aren't. Blogs and forums are the ultimate tool of the informed tool user, but some companies prefer for you to focus entirely on the things they tell you to focus on and have no interest in a 3rd party perspective.  

 

Some companies, understandably, only put out new release stuff. This is no big deal with the ever evolving power tool world, but things change at a slower pace in the hand tool world. This typically means it's hard to keep a good flow of tools to write about.  

 

Another reason you don't see many hand tool reviews is that (and this is going to sound different than I mean it) most people don't possess the ability to make them interesting enough to read. Anybody can write a page about a power tool by throwing in features and specs, etc, etc, but it takes a special person to write an article of any length about a hammer or a screwdriver without being extremely boring. That's why a lot of the hand tool articles you do see are basically news articles. 

 

Then there's the simple economics of it. Hand tools just don't generate enough traffic to keep the lights on. Comprehensive blogs like TIA are not cheap to operate. There is an extraordinary amount of time and money required to keep a high quality site like this running and hand tools aren't going to cut it. It doesn't matter to me, I don't make a living doing this, and Dan & Eric liked to keep diverse content, but most blogs just don't mess with hand tools much for that reason. 

 

I do feel good enough to start writing again, and I have a bunch of new stuff I could write about. Maybe I'll get in gear and get going.

 

And thanks you guys for the kind words. Glad to know at least 4 or 5 people read the stuff I wrote [emoji23]

 

 

Very well said. As a new member stumbling around the site I am constantly surprised by how accepting and knowledgeable everyone is. Like everyone here I have a passion for the tools I use everyday to make a living for my family and have bought tools based on what Dan and Eric have said. From what I have read on here I will definitely take what everyone on here has to say seriously too. Please everyone keep the conversation going and I will definitely read any review you post. Thank you everyone.


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[JimboS1ice]

Don't get me wrong, Snap-On (and the other trucks for that matter) have some great tools. They produce top quality stuff that's designed to make a living with. I admire quality tools, and the trucks deliver that (pun intended) but what gets me is the insane mark-up on rebranded items. I don't mind paying top money for a top quality tool, but I do mind paying 200% more for a Snap-On branded set of something made by Lisle, when I can buy the same Lisle made set, with a different label on the box for pennies on the dollar. It's shameless. I get it, trucks offer convienance and easy credit, and nobody is holding a gun to anyone's head, but it's borderline exploitation of uninformed consumers. 

 

Tool trucks aren't the only ones that do this, it's capitalism, but as an informed consumer advocate I'm not going to pretend it isn't happening. 

 

As for hand tool reviews, there's a reason you don't see a lot of them. For starters, many hand tool manufacturers aren't very open to having their tools reviewed. Some are really cool and feel the same passion for their stuff that we do. One of the coolest guys I ever dealt with was the guy at EZ RED. His grandfather started the company and he has a real passion for it. Awesome dude to talk to. A lot of companies won't even respond to your emails. There's various reasons for it, but you can look at the blogs and see what companies have a presence and determine what ones are willing to work with you and what one's aren't. Blogs and forums are the ultimate tool of the informed tool user, but some companies prefer for you to focus entirely on the things they tell you to focus on and have no interest in a 3rd party perspective.  

 

Some companies, understandably, only put out new release stuff. This is no big deal with the ever evolving power tool world, but things change at a slower pace in the hand tool world. This typically means it's hard to keep a good flow of tools to write about.  

 

Another reason you don't see many hand tool reviews is that (and this is going to sound different than I mean it) most people don't possess the ability to make them interesting enough to read. Anybody can write a page about a power tool by throwing in features and specs, etc, etc, but it takes a special person to write an article of any length about a hammer or a screwdriver without being extremely boring. That's why a lot of the hand tool articles you do see are basically news articles. 

 

Then there's the simple economics of it. Hand tools just don't generate enough traffic to keep the lights on. Comprehensive blogs like TIA are not cheap to operate. There is an extraordinary amount of time and money required to keep a high quality site like this running and hand tools aren't going to cut it. It doesn't matter to me, I don't make a living doing this, and Dan & Eric liked to keep diverse content, but most blogs just don't mess with hand tools much for that reason. 

 

I do feel good enough to start writing again, and I have a bunch of new stuff I could write about. Maybe I'll get in gear and get going.

 

And thanks you guys for the kind words. Glad to know at least 4 or 5 people read the stuff I wrote [emoji23]

 

 

Well said Travis! I think alto of reviewers just don't want to take the time with a hand tool, its not always as simple as reading off a box and banging some screws in a 4x4, it can be more challenging and does take some more passion about the tool

Jimbo

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[dwasifar]

2 hours ago, tcoscarelli said:

I didn't know that Bosch made automotive batteries. How do they compare to others like dihard or optima?

 

Well, I'm about to find out.  I've seen good reviews on it, but I've never had a Bosch battery that I know of.  Might have had an OEM in a German car at some point, but who knows.

 

Typically I buy the private-branded Johnson Controls batteries they sell at Advance Auto Parts as AutoCraft Gold or at AutoZone as Duralast Gold.  Those are next-to-top of the line for each store, and it's a big jump in price to go from them to the "Platinum," the top of the line AGM designs.  If the Gold is $130, the Platinum will be pushing $200, and I never wanted to spend that much on a battery because, as I said, I replace them before end of life anyway.  I was all set to buy another one of those, and then I found that Pep Boys was having an online coupon sale on this Bosch AGM battery, which is a nice step up from what I usually buy, and the 25% coupon brought it in at only about $20 more.

 

From what I've read, Optima is not what it used to be.  They moved their manufacturing, and now a lot of people are reporting inconsistent quality.  DieHard has been a go-to brand for a lot of people for decades, and they generally get good ratings from Consumer Reports, but I have zero confidence that Sears will be around to honor the warranty if I ever need it.

 

I spent longer than I needed to out there changing it.  Took out the tray and the insulating box and cleaned them in the sink along with the hold down strap and bolts, oiled the nuts for ease of future disassembly, greased the terminal connections once they were tight.  Ran zip ties around the insulation to keep it snug.  Filled the washer tank while I was there.  It's my wife's car and I like to add the little detail touches.  Subaru was smart about fasteners; the terminal bolts, the hold-downs, and the harness strap are all 10mm, so you only need one tool.

[jtkendall]

I didn't know that Bosch made automotive batteries. How do they compare to others like dihard or optima?

I didn't realize they had any automotive parts until I ordered some new oxygen sensors for my truck. Was surprised to learn today that they make batteries as well.


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