What one tool you purchased that you wish you passed on?

Anything with the Craftsman (Sears) label...but especially two circular saws and a 1/2" drill motor.  All three...didn't make it past a year's use.  'Repairs' even worse. 

 

Never, ever again.

 

And their hand tool guarantee....free replacement if it fails/breaks...???  Reminds me of Magnavox's "Works in a Drawer" TV of 60+ years ago.  If you need that kind of an advertisement to sell it in the first place, why buy something that they are so sure won't last that they have to tell you how easy it is to have it repaired/replaced?!?!?

 

Well....you asked.

 

KD

I have nothing but craftsman tools and I find them to be the best on the market. I used them when I did remodels 25  Years ago and they are still going strong.

 

the worst tools-----anything at harbor freight, cheap, and useless.  

"I have nothing but craftsman tools and I find them to be the best on the market. I used them when I did remodels 25  Years ago and they are still going strong."

 

If all you have is Craftsman, and those are the only ones you've used, how can you possibly know that they are the "best?"

 

"the worst tools-----anything at harbor freight, cheap, and useless."

 

Another risky generalization.  I've found Harbor Freight tools should be judged on a case by case basis.  Some of them are pretty righteous, and when you're looking for a disposable tool that you're only ever gonna use once or twice even the cheap ones will last that long.

 

Pete

 

To get back to the OP's question, I have a wire bending jig that I may have used once in many years.  It looked indispensable at the time.

Same here.I got my first set of Craftsman in high school Automotive class.....and my son is a heavy equipment mechanic and has $10,000 worth of Craftsman.....we have had a few break.....but replaced no questions.....not bad over 40+ years.

 

Tool I never use......can't think of any I don;t use.....to cheap to buy anything I DON'T need!!!!

I suppose you feel the same way about the SnapOn, MatCo(Kobalt/Danaher), Cornwell & MAC guarantees?

Sorry but I never have bought cheap tools because I was using them only a few times. I have also used the other top brands when working on jobs that are at least equal to craftsman. But I used craftsman because I liked them, nothing more nothing less.

 

As far as harbor freight goes----you get what you pay for. They are cheap and dangerous IMO. No mechanic or craftsman ever looks for disposable tools--it is the best or nothing allowed on any job site I worked at. 

I purchased an inexpensive wire stripping tool, the kind that automatically strips the wire when you squeeze the handles, but have had mixed results getting it to strip some types of wire.  I thought I had a bad tool so I purchased a second one, but with the same inconsistent results.  I threw them both away.

I have one of those wire strippers - probably not a cheap version because I've had it 25 years and its done well.  I could not live without it. 

 

As to what tool i wish I'd passed on, I can't think of one.  *I buy only quality (learned that lesson years ago) and I use about ever tool I have at one time or another.  Several of my rechargeable drills are so weak they are only of marginal use - that's probably closest to the mark.

I love tools and bought a router about 25 years ago. Used it once. I'd sell it in a second.

 

Roger

Laser Level, I can do better with 2 bad eyes or at least no worse.

I have some older craftsman (made in the USA) that is about 20 years old and still going strong along with some of my fathers tools that go back may be 40 years. 

 

I don't have any new craftsman tools to compare to, but I have heard that since they moved the manufacturing to china, things went downhill.  I do know Home Depot bought the old craftman factories and kept the US workers to make their in-house brand "Ridgid" years ago, but I don't know that quality of that either.

 

I can also attest to Makita and Ryobi Lithium tools that have lasted a lot of abuse and some battery replacement.

 

Tools I should have passed on:

 

I have a roybi stud finder that is suppose to detect wooden studs, metal electrical, and also do deep scans can't detect anything in my house.  99% of the time, it can't find the stud through normal 1/2" drywall even on deep scan.  What a piece of junk.

I have a Stanley #45 molding plane with about 3 full boxes of the bits for this plane.

 

I've never had any use for it.  It could go away to the new home for a fair price.

Does Sears no longer honor lifetime guarantees on Craftsman tools, or does that apply only to hand tools?  I would not know, because the only Craftsman tool (and I have plenty) that failed was a five-year-old long-handled weeder.  Took it  to the store and exchanged it for a new one.




What, me worry?

Have purchased both craftsman hand and power tools and completely satisfied. A ratcheting wrench that I purchased 30 years ago broke and I took it back to the local Sears...no questions asked , they replaced it, no charge.

My little Sherline lathe - good for an occasional brass turning, but that's about it. Should have waited and gotten a decent sized one that could do heavier duty, more precise work like steel driver rims.

 

Jim

 

Maybe that little magnifying glass holder mentioned previously. 

Craftsman tools OK and return policy works to me.

i use all my tools.....HARD USE !!!

 

am on iPad now so can't send pics.

Ditto on this ^^^^^. I also agree about Ryobi 12V drill/ screw gun. Got it in a set of three tools and it was junk. Last time I ever bought a bargain tool. I now use Dewalt 18V daily and they have so much power they will rip your wrist off with the torque they put out if your not careful.

A Ruger Bisley .44 magnum. I only used it once.

FYI- Craftsman lifetime warranty is on its way out! I took my last broken craftsman item in only to be told the only replacement would be a sears tool(it is not a craftsman) and the lifetime warranty would not apply any longer! No option to order a craftsman replacement was available. The quality has slipped down to dangerous junk level too. A 1/2 wrench should not bend open, or break on a grade 8 bolt head. 

Id buy "safer" than Sears offers now.

I don't know about the Craftsman warrantee. I do know that the Craftsman hand tools I've looked at over the past year or so are made in China.

At least some of their power tools have been imported for a long time. I gave my son most of my old portable power tools and have been replacing those I want to use one at a time. I will not purchase any Craftsman power tools. I read the reviews and try to buy the best tool I can afford.

 

Not all that long ago, I brought an old broken craftsman 1/2 inch ratchet to sears. They offered to trade it in for a new craftsmen (made in China). I spotted another broken ratchet in their junk box. The salesman let me take the piece I needed off that one, so I got to keep my tool.

 

David hit it!!!!!!!!!

harbor Freight tools

are worthless.

tried twice and got bitten

twice. ended up takin them back

don't buy anything powered from harbor freight

My purchase of a Vegematic!

 

 

  

 

Seriously, Harbor Freight tools (and cheap tools in general) aren't worth the money or the effort.  I don't believe in disposable tools.

 

George

A NOCH Static Grass Applicator...total piece of junk which didn't come close to working as advertised. Kudo's to Micromark for accepting the return.

 

--Greg

A drill bit sharpener.  I must have been having a dumb spell.

Funny, its one of my favorites.

I guess I don't understand this, either.  Why would a drill sharpener be a dumb purchase?  Don't they work?  Or is it cheaper to just replace them?

George

I bought a small needle nose pliers and a diagonal cutter from Loews.  They were the house brand: Kobalt.  The pliers would get out of alignment and the diagonal cutter's edge got dents from just cutting piano wire.  I returned them both and made a couple of comments about China.  No more Kobalt.

I didn't know that Home Depot's Ridgid is the old Sear's Craftsman tools.  Anybody want to chime in about their experience with them?

Alan

My Delta jointer. Crudely made, hard to adjust precisely, and impossible to align the cutting blades properly because the adjusting mechanism is just too crudely machined. For a couple of hundred more I could have bought a Jet with self adjusting blades and I should have. I continue to use it because I haven't built anything lately requiring real precision (it was OK for squaring up the lumber to build benchwork), but when I get going on some nice furniture, it's gotta go. No more Delta tools for me - the days of Delta by Rockwell are gone forever. 

Nothing for or against Kobalt tools, but it's my impression that piano wire is considered hard, and some cutting pliers are not designed to cut hard wire.

Most of my cutting pliers are brand names from the electronics industry, such as Klein and Xcelite. A few years back, NOS surplus electronics pliers and screwdrivers were all over Ebay at fantastic prices, so I purchased a wide assortment of tools.

I don't get that one at all. The Ridgid tools I've seen all appear to be original designs. Some of their woodworking tools, like their table saws, have gotten very favorable reviews in specialist woodworking magazines. The only Ridgid items I have are two shop vacuums, a new one for the shop and the old one got moved to the garage. They are both excellent; the Shop Vac brand I had before was junk. It was so bad I left it for the obnoxious Bulgarian who bought my old house - but I took the attachments with me, so he'd have to buy new attachments before he found out it was worthless. 

Well, I did purchase a particle beam weapon deom the Megalomaniac Supply Catalog, but it could only vaporize small objects at close range. Totally useless for global domination.

 

Seriously, I bought a cheap set of socket wrenches at an auto parts store that were complete crap. The ratchet lasted all of two months and the sockets didn't fit cleanly on other handles. Never again.

Some jigs for grinders don't work well. I have the Drilldoctor 750. Worked well enough. I thought it was too "cheap" to last at first, but its got to be 10-15 years old. Smaller bits can be cheap enough to buy. Have you priced a 1/4" or larger bit? How about 1/2"+? I seldom have to order, go to the local store, or even wait long. I can sharpen most bits in well under a minute, with my eyes shut, one handed, and it can add an antiwalking backcut to the tip(That takes eyes, to make a real good one anyhow, but Im still drilling again in under two minutes). It paid for itself long ago.

 Ridgid is a very old and reputable producer of heavy industrial tools for the trades.

Did they buy Craftsman? I think you are maybe talking about Husky Tools at HD. If I remember they have a lifetime warranty, and I have noticed a similarity to Craftsman.

I bough a small cheap chop saw from harbor freight. The kind used for cutting metal pipe. I've gotten a lot of use out of it but it is impossible to make a straight 90deg cut with it.

 

Even when I was a full time mechanic I would occasionally buy a cheap tool for something I would only use on rare occasion.

 

I never cared for craftsman hand tools. All the Kobalt ratchets, sockets, and wrenches I have worked really well for me. The best set of screwdrivers I have ever used came from snap-on.

 

Over ten years ago I bought a Makita 7.2v cordless drill/driver. I've gotten a lot of use out of it and just recently bought new batteries for it.

I asked my wife to get me a corded drill for Christmas. The Makita just doesn't have enough power for some tasks.

I bought a Stihl  038AV chain saw 1988.  I have yet to figure out why I can't make miter cuts with it.  I even replaced the chain recently, still cuts awful.  

To get the subject back to hobby tools used primarily in model railroading (and i don't mean building benchwork!), the two tools i wish i had passed on both came from the same unnamed source (with the initials M M).

1) Spiral Push Drill #26101: Great idea but it is made to such sloppy tolerances that the drill bits wobble to the extent that accurate drilling is all but impossible.

2) Spring Type Tube Bender Set #60360: Another good idea, but the tool was not strong enough to bend small diameter brass tubing, without bending out of shape itself and becoming useless.

jackson

R.I.P. Ron Popeil.

What a maroon! I explicitly told you to go to your local ACME store and purchase the "Illudium PU-36 Explosive Space Modulator"!!! 

 

Seriously?

Ask a question and start a flame war! You guys can't even agree on who is better...Lionel or MTH. Actually, go back enough years and you should find that Lionel made better tools than MTH ever did.

Battery powered screwdriver. I'd been told that it's easier and faster, but it's too much for screws no longer than 3/4" long.