Minor Rant on Cheap Ass Tools.

[G V Gordon]

I went looking for a "Good" large punch today. Went to all the places in town that sell tools, prepared to pay for quality. I could not find a decent punch\drift to save my ass. I finally get the biggest one I could (find 11" long tapering down to 3\8" on the small end, and had to buy a set to get one that big). I knew it wasn't great quality 'cause the whole set only cost $13, but it was all I could find. It is now bent and battered but on the plus side. I got the other wishbone pin out of my '46 axle!
Sorry for the rant, just pisses me off that you can't buy quality anymore.

[Mr. Happy]

www.snapon.com (http://www.snapon.com)

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

[Model A Vette]

I argued with a friend for years about cheap tools. He keeps his "good" tools in a chest in his car which he moves into the house between trips.
He got a good rollaway for the garage, which we bolted to the wall because of the neighborhood he lives in. He filled it with cheap tools and insisted on locking it up. Someone broke into the garage and tried to steal the rollaway. Since it was bolted to the wall they proceeded to bend the drawers to open it up and get to the tools. So the box is now screwed up and some of the tools were gone. His reaction was: "See it doesn't pay to keep good tools in the garage!" I pointed out that the tools were so poor that the thieves didn't take all of them! I also pointed out that every time we needed to do a quality job that might injure us with cheap tools we had to go to the "Good Tool Chest"!
To solve the problem we made the garage totally secure: blocked the window, hardened lock through hardened eye bolts to the lock door.
Some "better" tools have made it into the garage but I'm always afraid to put a heavy turn on those "offshore" wrenches and sockets!

[Slide]

I hafta agree with GVG's frustrations. I mean, shoot, even Craftsman tools ain't near what they used to be. I'd even go as far as to say Snap-On has gone downhill a little, too.

Being a "hobbyist", I find it hard to justify the costs of the Snap-On and Mac tools for something I use once every couple of weeks, so I often settle for the "offshore" stuff for tools that I know I'll probably use three times in my life. But if I need a tool that will last, it's hard to just run out and find a good tool locally.

When I was growing up, Dad was always bringing home Snap-Ons, etc. that he'd bought cheep off co-workers that needed beer money for the weekend. I remember how good all those tools felt. The new ones just don't feel as "solid". Even plain ole combination wrenches or the punches and drifts GVG mentioned. We won't even talk about ratchets!

I'm "only" 32, and I can tell a big difference in tool quality in my short life.

[MercMan1951]

You get what you pay for. This has been a painful lesson to me a couple of times. I make do, becuase I can't afford all the high dollar shit I need (& know about) and want... http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif

[RileyRacing]

I'm down with Slide. My Snap On combo wrench set is crap. If you apply any torque to them, they bend and flex and hurt the heck outta your hand. I have to use my Craftsmans for that stuff. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smirk.gif

But Craftsman ratchets blow donkey balls. Any of them. So do Snappy's. The only decent ones I've seen have been Matco's.

And I'm only 29, so I can see where Slide is coming from about the "last few years" thing. My dad's old ass craftsman stuff is WAYYYYYY better than the new stuff. It's to the point of cruising garage sales to look for older stuff cause the new stuff sucks so bad.

But at least they are open on Sunday when it does break. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Jay