Worst purchase ever?

[Moses Yoder]

We looked at more of dad's stuff today that my mom is sorting and getting ready for sale. I went through his fishing gear recently and found a thermometer that would tell the water temp at different depths with a price tag of $50 on it. Today we just sat and visited with my mom and sister and I was trying to think of the worst purchase I ever made. I'm sure there are some, but for some reason nothing came to mind. I asked my wife and she rolled her eyes and said "BOXES!" I said "Are you talking about my tools in the original boxes?" "Yes! They're BOXES." I replied "Well honey, I could sell those for more than I paid for them." She looks at me and says "BOXES!!!" I myself saw some humor in that statement, since we have over the last month purchased 4 orchids that will be dead inside of 6 months. At any rate I would guess there are some doozies out there; what is the worst purchase you have ever made?

[Bruce Page]

A 9 year old 1960 Pontiac Bonneville convertible. Biggest money pit vehicle I have owned. I wish I still had it today.

[eugene thomas]

A boat, and that saying "Bust Out Another Thousand" sure is true.

[Kev Williams]

Marriage license for the first 2 wives...

[David Weaver]

2000 volkswagen jetta.

That and some natural japanese stones. Others turned out great, but the ones that were ho hum were really expensive mediocre sharpening stones.

Oh, and wixey devices. All of the ones I ever got don't work any longer, and one of them I left in the box for a year (the planer depth gauge) and the adhesive dried up and I never got to use it at all. The angle box went on the fritz within two years, and I don't know how many times I turned on the digital TS gauge to find that it needed a new battery.

[Wade Lippman]

My last house. Sold it after 20 years for 80% of what I paid for it. Aren't they supposed to go up?
Sure hope the current one does better.

[Brian Kent]

In tools, the Buck Brothers planes from Home Depot, and several "tools" by Ryobi.

[Paul McGaha]

1982 Pontiac Bonneville Station Wagon.

A real lemon. Bought when my wife and i were in our late 20's, we had our (4) kids by then and were struggling with money.

My mom and dad were always GM people as was I when starting out life.

That Pontiac was bad enough to make a Ford guy out of me.

PHM

[Shawn Pixley]

I wanted to replace my tape 4-track recording deck 12 years ago. So I bought an 18 track (sixteen regular channels with 8 virtual tracks each and a two channel master) digital recording board (all in one). It worked fine (and still does) but the interface was so clunky, it made laying down a concept track so laborious that I stopped recording all practices as it slowed down the creative process. I now use a simpler computer based system.

[Charles Wiggins]

A 9 year old 1960 Pontiac Bonneville convertible. Biggest money pit vehicle I have owned. I wish I still had it today.

1972 Toyota Corona Mark II. That was my money pit. I was 18 and just had to have a car, but knew almost nothing about them. Geezer saw me coming.

Ran like crap after the first month I had it, even after getting the engine reworked. Electrical was all messed up. The bright headlights would come on when you turned on the turn signal. Gas leaked into the trunk.

[Sam Murdoch]

Oh, and wixey devices. All of the ones I ever got don't work any longer, and one of them I left in the box for a year (the planer depth gauge) and the adhesive dried up and I never got to use it at all. The angle box went on the fritz within two years, and I don't know how many times I turned on the digital TS gauge to find that it needed a new battery.

Geez - I was just about to buy a Wixey Digital Angle Gauge and you stopped me short. Any good alternatives?

I don't want to be posting to this thread later .

In the meanwhile to continue on the theme - every Sears wood workers tool I ever bought. Not Craftsmen mechanic stuff, but their woodworkers tools during my carpentry 101 days. All - over sized, over featured underwhelming in every way. Otherwise known as JUNK.

[Shawn Pixley]

Geez - I was just about to buy a Wixey Digital Angle Gauge and you stopped me short. Any good alternatives?

Wixey's seem to be hit and miss. I only have the angle box but it works perfectly. One battery replacement in 5 years. I'd buy it again. David's experience is not a lone example though. But there are those of us who have had good experiences. There was a thread ~6 weeks ago on this.

I turnit off when done and it doesn't get exposed to high or low temperatures.

[Andrew Joiner]

A Raleigh Professional bicycle. I was really into biking in the late 70's. I had a couple of low cost bikes that served me well. My bike dealer had a top of the line Raleigh Professional hanging on the wall. I lusted after it every time I was in . Then around 1980 just as was losing interest in biking I walked in and bought the bike of my dreams. I'd always wanted it and I could afford it. I hardly ever rode it. Sold it years later for 1/3 of what I paid.

[David Weaver]

Geez - I was just about to buy a Wixey Digital Angle Gauge and you stopped me short. Any good alternatives?

I don't want to be posting to this thread later .

In the meanwhile to continue on the theme - every Sears wood workers tool I ever bought. Not Craftsmen mechanic stuff, but their woodworkers tools during my carpentry 101 days. All - over sized, over featured underwhelming in every way. Otherwise known as JUNK.

I don't have any good suggestions. I don't think a lot of the small digital tools (calipers, angle guides, etc) are designed to last too long. Maybe there are exceptions to that at a cost level, but I'd imagine one of the things that allows wixey to provide good service is a very low actual cost of tooling. Just my supposition.

I've gone back to "old timey" analog everything, and like a lot of people, the longer you work wood - especially if you do some by hand - the more you find out where that kind of fiddling isn't necessary, and where it actually is.

[Moses Yoder]

I don't really like digital tools, I don't trust it to be right. I use a sliding T-bevel and plastic protractor to set angles. My birthday is coming up, I am thinking of registering at Starret. Vernier Protractor