Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast
Results 1 to 15 of 29

Thread: Time to update Rick Potter's 2007 post on bad tool purchases?

  1. #1

    Question Time to update Rick Potter's 2007 post on bad tool purchases?

    While reading through the thread Tools that are much better than you expected Started by Thomas Marr, (now on page two, below) I wondered if anyone had asked the obvious question: what was your worst purchase? A quick search showed several - starting with one by Rick Potter in 2007: http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthre...tool-purchases .

    Several people responding then mentioned the roto-zip. I have one: $10 at a garage sale and I got ripped off because it cuts gyprock beautifully, but throws a rooster tail that annoys the whole neighborhood and creates days of cleanup work.

    Anyone want to confess to doing worse than that?

  2. #2
    My first "table saw" was a Delta benchtop, direct drive motor, really awful fence, mediocre miter gauge.

    It was a really crappy tool.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Location
    E TN, near Knoxville
    Posts
    12,298
    I don't think I've ever purchased a trool, good or bad.

    But worst tool I can remember buying that was less than top quality was my first lathe, a copy of the old Craftsman tube lathe. But it was good in a way - it let me get started at a low price and when I upgraded to a great lathe I gave the cheap one to a friend - he's had a lot of fun with it.

    But that brings up some questions, what does "worst" purchase mean:

    • #1, A tool that turned out to be much worse than expected, a poor value? And if so, should it include a tool with a generally good reputation that just happened to be a bad egg?
    • #2, A tool that was real cheap in both price and quality/function, one that was bad but was probably worth what it cost?
    • or could it even be #3, a tool that is good quality and value, works as intended, but just didn't work as we wished it did?
    • or #4, a very expensive, high quality tool that turned out to be a total waste of money because it never got used? Kind of like buying a big exercise machine.

    I learned decades ago there are few regrets buying quality.


    JKJ

  4. #4
    Quote Originally Posted by John K Jordan View Post
    I don't think I've ever purchased a trool, good or bad.

    But worst tool I can remember buying that was less than top quality was my first lathe, a copy of the old Craftsman tube lathe. But it was good in a way - it let me get started at a low price and when I upgraded to a great lathe I gave the cheap one to a friend - he's had a lot of fun with it.

    But that brings up some questions, what does "worst" purchase mean:

    • #1, A tool that turned out to be much worse than expected, a poor value? And if so, should it include a tool with a generally good reputation that just happened to be a bad egg?
    • #2, A tool that was real cheap in both price and quality/function, one that was bad but was probably worth what it cost?
    • or could it even be #3, a tool that is good quality and value, works as intended, but just didn't work as we wished it did?
    • or #4, a very expensive, high quality tool that turned out to be a total waste of money because it never got used? Kind of like buying a big exercise machine.

    I learned decades ago there are few regrets buying quality.


    JKJ
    Trool ? not my worst mistake ever.. (Can I pretend it means a tool one drools over before buying? )

    Meaning of "worst" -in the eye of the beholder, so yes to all 4.
    T

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Feb 2003
    Location
    Algonquin, IL
    Posts
    303
    I try this one.

    A Craftsman "Professional" dovetail jig. Now I know these jigs are a constant problem to get right and generate no end of frustrations, but this version is the king of frustration.

    It starts with the clever business decision by Craftsman to use unique bits, unique guides and specialized router bases. That should have been the first clue. The bits were junk (who ever heard of a single flute dovetail bit in the recent history!!??) The next issue was the use of plastic for the nearly the entire jig. There was a feeble attempt to stiffen the dovetail guide with some thin metal, but it was inadequate. If you were routing hardwood and had to push at all firmly, the guide would flex and ruin your fit. The next sin was to require constant movement of screwed on components to change settings or to just complete a set of dovetails. Bad enough the concept was difficult to understand, but having to get out a screwdriver, read tiny embossed letters and reassemble the jig was the last straw. The documentation for such a complex tool was mind-boggling difficult to understand and was written by a lawyer I suspect as it was nearly incoherent.

    It currently sits on a high shelf as a reminder why Craftsman tools lost its way.

    To the other question as to what constitutes a "bad" tool. This has it all.
    Not cheap. Promises performance it will never deliver. Quality shortcuts which doom the tool to failure. Difficult to use. Requires upgrades or manual assistance to work at all. Makes a job more difficult rather than easier. And finally. When the need for it arises, I'd rather redesign the project than attempt to use the tool.
    “Never attribute to malice that which can be explained by stupidity”

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Location
    E TN, near Knoxville
    Posts
    12,298
    Quote Originally Posted by rudy de haas View Post
    Trool ? not my worst mistake ever.. (Can I pretend it means a tool one drools over before buying? )
    Do tool typos induce drool in a troop of trolls?

    My Lovely Bride said her worst tool purchase was a garlic rocker which she said was useless. I can guess, but I have no real idea of what that is.

    JtrJK

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Sep 2016
    Location
    Central Missouri, U.S.
    Posts
    1,263
    In the Craftsman vein, I'll throw in their 10" sliding miter saw. The first couple of inches of the cut were usually square, beyond that a complete crap shoot. Oh, and the included clamp? It didn't.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    May 2015
    Location
    St. Francis, Kansas
    Posts
    148
    I think one of the worst tools I ever bought was a master mechanic scroll saw. My bride decided she wanted a saw of her own, but all three of my others were to big & "scary" she said. So I went downtown & bought that one. All it uses is pin blades, air tube is connected to the hold down foot, & doesn't move enough air to keep the cut line clean. Tension setting is a joke. Will not keep tension on the blade. Ain't good for nothing but a boat anchor!!
    Last edited by Keith Outten; 08-19-2017 at 7:28 AM.
    Sawdust703

  9. #9
    Worst tool I bought was a newer Delta 8" variable speed bench grinder. I expected a serviceable but not stupendous unit based on its price, which was about twice what you'd pay for a Harbor Freight unit. It shook like crazy with a bunch of axial runout particularly on the RH spindle. I eventually tracked it down to the step on the arbor where the cheap inner dimpled sheet steel arbor washer located itself was machined improperly so the wheel did some serious shimmying. The other spindle was not quite as bad but close. Replacing the wheels and trying to deburr the spindle didn't help much. I ended up getting a used Baldor pedestal grinder to replace it and that was certainly one of my better buys.

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Feb 2017
    Location
    Northern Illinois
    Posts
    943
    Not the worst tool I ever bought . . . Leigh FMT jig. It is a very high quality, accurate tool which does what it is supposed to, but I found that, because of setup and the fact that I almost never mass produce mortise and tenon joints, I just never got it out and used it. I finally sold it this year, many years after I bought it, like new, to someone who seems like he will actually use it. I find that, for the most, part my bad tool purchases have fallen into this category - high quality tools that I end up not using enough to make them worthwhile. Fortunately, at this point in my life, I'm a little smarter about what I buy.

  11. #11
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Location
    Rockingham, Virginia
    Posts
    337
    My nomination for worst tool would be the Leigh FMT jig. I do not agree it does what it is supposed to do very well. I would rather use a hollow chisel mortiser and a tenon jig and take much longer, which I did. (I accept this nomination may be unique to me.)

  12. #12
    Powermatic shapers
    A Powermatic tablesaw
    Accuset nail guns
    DeWalt drill (pre impacts and Li-ion batteries)
    A dumpster full of Makita sanders
    Steff 4 wheel feeders (should've bought the DC comatic ones)
    Every single insert head I bought before getting Dimension in Tooling heads
    Powermatic 15s planer
    FS Tool dado heads. (They work well in solid, terrible in ply)
    The cheap Porter Cable trim routers.
    The cheap Bosch trim routers.
    Every single stud finder I've ever bought.
    Wooden Stanley level.
    Stabila laser level (should've gotten a PLS)
    Delta 14" bandsaw, what a lump
    Delta lathe, should've never tried making money on a lathe...

    I've made some less than stellar purchases.

  13. #13
    Quote Originally Posted by Martin Wasner View Post
    I've made some less than stellar purchases.
    Geez Martin - it sounds like you've made several dumpsters full of 'em.

  14. #14
    Quote Originally Posted by Frederick Skelly View Post
    Geez Martin - it sounds like you've made several dumpsters full of 'em.

    Live and learn. Sometimes you can't afford better, and sometimes you don't know any better. I'm guilty of both many many times

  15. #15
    have to agree on the stanley stuff last four or five things I told myself never again with that name on it, complained to them and the only thing worse than their stuff was their service, same time have a few of their tools from the past and no issues american made stuff. Last thing I got Lee Valley said we have never had any complaints before, keep it and we will send your money back, I ended up driving the product to the store and the guy just looked me you didnt have to, I said I dont want their stuff in my shop.

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •