Cheap Tools--The Good and the Bad!!!

[Randy Meijer]

There was a thread yesterday about buying a lower cost/quality tool vs. spending the money and buying top of the line. It raised what I thought was an interesting question. What cut-rate tool have you bought that was the most disappointing in its performance and what cheapie that you have purchased has far exceeded your expectations???

OK, I'll start. Cheap drill bits have always been a disappointment to me. On the plus side, I have a "Buffalo"(China) hacksaw that I paid about 2 bucks for(new) some 20 years ago and it still works like a champ......but I don't use cheap blades!!!

[Norman Hitt]

Poor Quality Tools.......Everything I ever bought that had a cutting edge on it, including drill bits.

On the Totally surprised side.......I bought a 4 1/2" angle grinder on sale at HF for about $11 incl tax, to just grind the welds and finish one project, but it got so hot I couldn't hold it. I decided maybe they didn't grease the gears good, so I opened it up, removed the kinda brown vaseline looking grease and filled the cavity with good grease, and to my surprise, it cooled down and worked like a champ and I have absolutely No Idea how many grinding discs I've worn out since then. I've probably put at least 100 hours of hard grinding on it, and it is still going strong. I've sure got my money's worth out of that thing. I just wish I had bought two of them at the time so I would have a spare if this one ever gives up.

[Frank Hagan]

I'll add a vote to cheap drill bits as the most disappointing. Awful.

For the sweet surprise category, I'll nominate my $19 angle grinder from Harbor Freight ... I bought it because I needed it for one operation, and figured hey, if it only works for a little while, it will have served its purpose. It has worked for several years, and I have used it more than I ever thought I would.

How about expanding the category to include expensive tools that disappointed? The "Fasttrack Resaw Fence", at $129, just doesn't fit, work, or satisfy on my Jet 14" band saw. Doggone thing isn't rigid enough, since the back part of the fence isn't secured, and resawing is a disaster. A shop-made high fence is much better, and doesn't cost anything if made from scraps. Ah, live and learn.

[Allen Bookout]

Number one worst cheap tool. Cheap foreign made torque wrench. Never worked but is real shinny so I still keep it hanging up on the wall.

Number two worst. Hand held hammer driven impact wrench. Will not loosen anything. Still in the cabinet - I don't know why.

Best cheap tool. Fourty year old hand crosscut saw that was so dull that it never would cut anything, even white pine. It is the best because I still keep it laying on the bench and when I am upset for spending money on a new power tool I just look at that old saw and I feel a whole lot better.

[Lee DeRaud]

Best? Probably the $85 Sears benchtop jointer that I used to take the finish off the face frames when I refaced my kitchen. Pretty much sucked as a jointer, but made a dynamite narrow-stock benchtop pseudo-planer.

Worst? Hmmm...probably the $60 Sears router I bought so I wouldn't tie up a good router using a biscuit-cutter attachment my dad gave me for no apparent reason. Think I used it twice...finally threw it away after the dog chewed the end off the cord about ten years later.

Overall, I've had pretty good luck with the "cheap stuff", probably because I don't tie myself in a knot trying to convince myself it's just as good as the "high-price spread". I try to stay on the cheap side of the cost-benefit tradeoff, especially for the first instance of a particular tool. If I get to a point where I'm buying the second instance of that tool, I'll usually "trade up" a grade or two, having proved that I'll use that tool long enough to make it worthwhile.

[Pat Monahan]

Randy
Yes - cheap drill bits - especially when 1/8" bits make 3/8" diameter circles spinning in the drill press.
Worst tool # 2 - cheap laser level. I couldn't figure out why things were so far off until I stepped back and just looked at the level marks Across 20 feet, the laser was off a good 8" vertically and about 6" sideways. A total waste of money.
Worst tool # 3 - band clamp for picture frames. The "heavy duty" nylon webbing was punctured the first time I tried to use it, and the nylon wasn't tight because the tensioning mechanism was equally well designed - it would start slipping when the slightest amount of tension was applied.
Best tool - set of combination wrenches 3/8' to 1 1/4", no brand names or markings except "made in China" for about $ 8. Yeah, surprised me too.
Best tool # 2 Ryobi 3/8 variable speed reversible drill. Same specs as ones 2-3 times the price. It's seen much use and some abuse, no complaints.
Pat

[Brian Jarnell]

A suggestion,use 1mm cut off wheel in angle grinder,you wont need you hack saw again.

[Randy Meijer]

I just bought a cheap angle grinder and from its performance, so far, I suspect it will be a candidate for the "bad" list!!

[Paul Canaris]

I tend to buy socket sets and such at Harbour Freight. Typically the ratchet wrench breaks, so I replace it with a Sears. The sockets don't, and wont likely ever given that I am not a mechanic. So this has been a good combination over the years.

As to what is cheap and has not lasted or worked well consistently; any power tool made by Ryobi is C&*P, Panasonic runs a close second....

[John Miliunas]

Worst cheapie: Fluorescent drop lamp from one of those traveling tool shows. Goes to about 10% brightness after 5 min. or so.

Other "worst" and not necessarily real cheap: Just about anything C-man that plugs into 110VAC!

Successful cheapie purchases: The HF digital calipers (go on sale typically for 20 bucks.). I think I have 3 of these now throughout the shop. Side-by-side comparison shows no more than .001 variance between all of them. Another great HF buy was one of those auto-darkening welding helmets for 1/2 a c-note. Works great, especially for just the occasional user.

[Mike Parzych]

I'm with Pat Monahan - I bought one of the Ryobi drills and it has been a reliable workhorse.

Worst - I was at the dollar store buying my reading glasses and I got a Chinese adjustable wrench. The casting was so bad it wouldn't even open all the way. The Chinese seem to have a lot to learn about the carbon content of metal too. I got some hacksaw blades that were so brittle they snapped on the first cut when only sligtly flexed.

[Per Swenson]

Good Idea Randy,

Being a thrifty pseudo elitist tool junkie,

I occasionally succumb to the hunter gatherer

instincts equivalent of a free lunch.

In the not very expensive category,

Fastcap tape measures. You simply can't beat em for about 10 bucks.

Penn state industry clamps. Folks, even if you average one lousy

clamp out of 10, at these prices who cares.

Speaking of clamps, ever been in a dollar store?

24" bar clamps, one dollar. Maybe only good for 2lbs of pressure.

Sometimes thats all you need. At the same dollar store, once and a while

the most reliable set of 2 screwdrivers out there, $1.

Reliable? You bet, buy 10 sets and scatter them around the job,

you will always find one and the snap-on set stays intact.

And the number one cheap tool bargain? Bought a floor model,

dare I say it, Ryobi scroll saw. Marked down from $99 to 20 bucks.

works like a charm.

Per

[Jim Becker]

Worst cheap tools? Anything with motors, cutters or handles.

Best cheap tool...I can't think of even one that was "surprising". Now, bargans I can think of plenty--times when the price was right on something normally much more expensive.

[Kelly C. Hanna]

Worst was the litany of Craftsman & Ryobi stuff I bought before I learned better. I don't own a best cheap tool. I have rid myself of all of them except the Ridgid portable saw that just burned up on us and it's on ebay now.

Now I look at all the cheap stuff at HF and other places and just cringe thinking of all those people wasting their money. The biggest laugh is Homier, they are worse than HF.

[Mac McAtee]

I bought a 4 1/2" angle grinder on sale at HF for about $11 incl tax, to just grind the welds and finish one project, but it got so hot I couldn't hold it. I decided maybe they didn't grease the gears good, so I opened it up, removed the kinda brown vaseline looking grease and filled the cavity with good grease, and to my surprise, it cooled down and worked like a champ

I bought one from Northern Tool about the same period of time. Paid $19.95 for it with extra discs. Mine gets hot also but I didn't think of changing lube in transmission. Thanks for the tip, on the project list for this comming weekend.