Rats, I just broke a tool. You too?

[Stew Denton]

Well, I just broke a combination square that I've had for many years. It was a Stanley, but a fairly inexpensive one with the part that held the straight edge rule made of plastic. However, it was right on the money square. I got very used to it's light weight and warm feel. (I had a VERY OLD Stanley steel that was also dead square, but I had dropped it and it wouldn't hold the rule very tightly any more, so I bought the replacement.)

The plastic handle got brittle and had cracked 2 or more years ago, but it stayed square and I kept using it. In the mean time I repaired my old Stanley, and a couple of days ago the handle on my plastic handled Stanley broke completely. I have started using the old Stanley again, and am fine with it, but really liked the cheap Stanley that I pitched. (I saved the steel rule part of the square.)

Have you broken any tools lately that are kind of like an old friend, can't be repaired, and you miss using?

Regards,

Stew

[Eric Brown]

All I can say is be careful. Slow down and you'll go faster.

[Mark Leifer]

Not exactly broken, but I have a wonderful AEG belt sander from the mid 80’s that is falling apart from old age and wear and tear. Parts are unavailable and a similar replacement from Festool is $740!

[Eric Brown]

Not exactly broken, but I have a wonderful AEG belt sander from the mid 80’s that is falling apart from old age and wear and tear. Parts are unavailable and a similar replacement from Festool is $740!

Mark, can you describe what is worn out. You might need bearings or something like that. You can get a lot of stuff from McMaster-Carr.

[Jim Koepke]

My "old friend" is a #65-1/2 Stanley LA block plane. I was using it away from the bench and it fell out of my hand to the concrete floor. A chunk flew off from one side.

A bit of JB Weld put it back together and it is still one of my favorite block planes for many jobs.

The other was mishap was with an old Lakeside saw that was filed rip at 4.5ppi. While enthusiastically ripping some ash, it bowed and snapped. JB Weld wasn't going to do the trick on that. My thought was to make a short saw with 9ppi, hasn't happened yet.


jtk