X100 Somebody got me a pair of those back when they first came out. I thought they were the shit, 'til the first time I tried to use them. Turns out they were 'just shit', not 'the shit'. I gave 'em to my son, he keeps trying to give 'em back....
my father in law has a batteryless flashlight. How it works is... there's a capacitor inside it, and a coil, and a magnet. to charge the capacitor, you need to shake the magnet up and down so it slides up and down the coil thus creating current. It's not bad enough that it lasts for all of 30 seconds. It's the motion I don't really feel comfortable making in front of the inlaws. It actually makes a fap sound when you shake it.
Dremel table saw. Vibrates like hell but won't cut even plastic. Finally put it out by the garbage cans. Cheap double flare tools. Home pressure washers. They kind of work, but nothing compared to the real deal. Super glue containers. Use the glue once and it gunks up. Might as well open it, use it once and throw it away. Spray can nozzles. CAN NO ONE MAKE ONE THAT ALWAYS WORKS?!
I treat harbor freight tools as a one time use tool. Any use past what I was trying to do when I bought it I consider bonus time. I'm usually satisfied with my hf purchases due to my very very low expectations.
The most useless tools I've ever purchased are the ones that my brother borrowed. I'll never see them again. They don't work for me at all. The best tools I bought are the ones that I charge five times the purchase price to loan out. Try it sometime. For example, if someone wants to borrow a ten dollar tool. Get a fifty dollar deposit. Sorry bro, rules are rules.
Every screwdriver I own. Finding a good screwdriver around here takes longer than it would to just drill the damned screw out. The flatheads are all broken off at weird angles, making them useless for just about anything but punching out a lock tumbler, and all my Phillips heads are rounded out to the point of making them about as useful as an icepick for removing a screw. And yet, I keep them all around for some reason... Oh, and my cordless Dremel. WORTHLESS. Takes hours to recharge, and you get about 10 minutes of use out of it before it dies. For the money, I would rather just deal with a cord.
how about a husky extending handle ratchet.Nothing to keep the head from spinning around.looked good in my neighbors yard.
I've got one of those! Love it! There's a little button on the side you push in to keep the head straight. Might have to tap it in occasionally, but I wouldn't leave home without mine.
I bought a pair years ago, they vanished, found them ten years later under a tool box drawer, mine actually work surprisingly enough, maby I got the only working pair used in the TV commercial They actually sell a ten piece screwdriver set at Home depot thats still made in the US all except for the tiny one, they look like old craftsman screwdrivers, I was so suprised to find a US made set of screwdrivers I bought five sets, They have held up well so far. as far as useless tools any vise grip made today in China, Visegrip died when Irwin bought them, I'll keep hunting down and buying the old Peterson made ones, an old used pair is much better then the new crap ones
for most useless tool this has to beat all, who was the idiot who decided a crescent wrench was too hard to operate? battery powered?
cordless anything. i want direct power from the wall. not descent power for three minutes then a recharge
The board of directors and all employees of harbor freight should be real embarrassed about what their company does. It's a great concept to mass market tools cheap, but damned those tools are just plain ol dog crap. Despite the marginal quality, the manufacturing employees continue to get paid, when our manufacturing personnel here could be getting paid. Hopefully someone from harbor freight is reading this. There must be a ton of profit in those crappy tools because we all know the company. I thought I should state the obvious.
I'll say the Autozone brake pliers are a bending, joke of a riveted pile of crap. That's what I get for doing stuff after hours and having any optimism I suppose. Clear it by spraying upside down when done painting.
A friend bought Snap-On flex head oil filter pliers. Absolute crap, every time you squeeze them the arms flip different directions.
cordless tools have come a long way, you can now get a good drill with good battery life and many companies offer lifetime battery replacement, I remember the first dewalt set I bought, lasted a couple of months and then died, I think it sat in the back of a closet for most of a decade before being trashed
Spark plug boot remover pliers. They are great for holding large bolts up to the wire wheel but totally useless for removing spark plug boots from plugs! Hey, I was too young to know better. Cheap wire cutters and crimpers. Might as well throw them against the wall when you take them out of the package. Chinese double flaring tools. There's a frustrating and expensive lesson. Cheap channel locks.
Yup. I'm in industrial controls as well, and this is my favorite for single wires. Ended up buying a pair for home, too. Mine are the 11062.
The graffiti art guys have come up with some pretty awesome spray nozzles. I came across a couple and was pretty surprised. http://www.bombingscience.com/shop-tips.htm
X2 My old tools slowly disappeared (I forgot who I lent them to and they forgot who they borrowed them from). I bought a new set from Northern Tool. They don't work near as well as the oldies did.
The Jalopy Journal
