Inexpensive tools

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I have read alot on here about HF, Northern, Dewalt, B&D etc tools. I have to throw in my 2 cents. In the many years I have been doing mechanical and welding work one thing has been obvious. Buy the best tools you can afford. Even for the hobbiest. It will make your hobby more fun and enjoyable. I have been down the cheap road because that is all I could do. You have to really love what you are doing to put up with cheap tools. For instance I bought a Dewalt grinder. I thought it was a good brand based on the feedback. The insides were plastic and it did not take long for the hold button to fail when changing discs. I bought a Metabo and WOW the difference was night and day. It was like using your hands verses your feet. I am not saying don't start with what you can afford but don't get stuck on cheap, once you get the chance to use good tools you will be hooked and it will will no longer be as hard to justify the bigger cost. I try to stay in the industrial catagories of Milwaukee, Porter Cable and Metabo for power tools. As for Welders stay with the Blue ones or the Red ones. You can pick them up used for reasonable prices, parts are available and they are more versitile. I hope this helps someone.
Reply:I always go to HF!  Here is a write up I did on them a while back.  http://www.associatedcontent.com/art...ap.html?cat=27 Have a Jeep Cherokee?  Click Here!
Reply:I'm going to HF or discount auto's less and less as time goes on. Never say "never" but the more their stuff breaks, craps out, burns up, bends or just plain doesn't do the job to start with, I get tired of making that 2nd trip to town right smack in the middle of a project and my precious weekend time.
Reply:Beyond an obvious difference in quality, a big difference to is often who makes it.  I don't support slavery, neither should anyone else here.Miller 330 a/bp water cooledI believe in gun control, I hold my gun with two hands.  If you want to know why, click here.Buy American or bye America.
Reply:My HF Tool Purchasing Philosophy based on purchases and busted knuckles over a more than twenty year period:If it has two parts or more to the particular tool of interest--forget it, you will end up with two broken parts and you will take your eye out in the process.If it has any , and I mean any, electrical compoents--see rule number 1.If it remotely has any moving part(s) to it---see rule number 1If it is for a one time use and your desperate to complete the job--see rule number 1If your think the warranty will save you--read the fine print, it is an Oklahoma Warranty if it breaks you get to keep the two pieces and see rule number 1
Reply:Apparently, Craftsman tools are now made in China, and I've heard that Sears isn't as good as they were in the past about the warranty.  I wouldn't have believed it, but I bought a couple of Craftsman wrenches recently, and when I got them home, I noticed they were marked "China" on the back side.  I've got drawers full of Craftsman stuff... but I'm not sure I'll continue to pay Craftsman prices for Chinese tools.  Vise Grips... another example.  It's becoming harder and harder to find quality stuff these days.Last edited by Leadhead1911; 10-25-2009 at 11:14 AM.Work HARDER, not smarter! ------------------------ Miller Bobcat 250Millermatic 251Lincoln Precision TIG 185Hypertherm PM 600Hobart 135 HandlerOxweld 400 FlameMaster
Reply:Originally Posted by Leadhead1911Apparently, Craftsman tools are now made in China, and I've heard that Sears isn't as good as they were in the past about the warranty.  I wouldn't have believed it, but I bought a couple of Craftsman wrenches recently, and when I got them home, I noticed they were marked "China" on the back side.  I've got drawers full of Craftsman stuff... but I'm not sure I'll continue to pay Craftsman prices for Chinese tools.  Vise Grips... another example.  It's becoming harder and harder to find quality stuff these days.
Reply:After waiting a few weeks looking in the paper and online websites for a decent used bench grinder I bought a cheap grinder from Princess Auto here in Canada which is almost the same as HF for you Americans on sale at $60 FOR AN 8" bench grinder... Thing is a piece of garbage and i'll be taking it back this week. vibrates so bad it i am afraid to use it. wheels wobble left and right.... took the wheels off and the shaft has less than a 1/32" shoulder?!?! I surface ground the wheel clamping plates to make sure the were true but makes no difference. Miked the wheels and they are .015" thicker at one point. I got what i paid for and wasted an hour trying to get it to operate as it should. total waste of time.Isn't it interesting how western countries have minimun wage laws yet our governments allow "free" trade with countries that have labor rates of $0.30/hour or less.Last edited by Stringer; 10-25-2009 at 05:42 PM.
Reply:Originally Posted by StringerAfter waiting a few weeks looking in the paper and online websites for a decent used bench grinder I bought a cheap grinder from Princess Auto here in Canada which is almost the same as HF for you Americans on sale at $60 FOR AN 8" bench grinder... Thing is a piece of garbage and i'll be taking it back this week. vibrates so bad it i am afraid to use it. wheels wobble left and right.... took the wheels off and the shaft has less than a 1/32" shoulder?!?! I surface ground the wheel clamping plates to make sure the were true but makes no difference. Miked the wheels and they are .015" thicker at one point. I got what i paid for and wasted an hour trying to get it to operate as it should. total waste of time.Isn't it interesting how western countries have minimun wage laws yet our governments allow "free" trade with countries that have labor rates of $0.30/hour or less.
Reply:I too have a Dewalt grinder.  It's a couple of years old and hasn't seen a lot of use, but it's starting to fail.  Also had a Dewalt 1/2 inch hammer drill that bit the dust earlier this year, and it too had little use.   My days of buying Dewalt are done... Originally Posted by billsssI have read alot on here about HF, Northern, Dewalt, B&D etc tools. I have to throw in my 2 cents. In the many years I have been doing mechanical and welding work one thing has been obvious. Buy the best tools you can afford. Even for the hobbiest. It will make your hobby more fun and enjoyable. I have been down the cheap road because that is all I could do. You have to really love what you are doing to put up with cheap tools. For instance I bought a Dewalt grinder. I thought it was a good brand based on the feedback. The insides were plastic and it did not take long for the hold button to fail when changing discs. I bought a Metabo and WOW the difference was night and day. It was like using your hands verses your feet. I am not saying don't start with what you can afford but don't get stuck on cheap, once you get the chance to use good tools you will be hooked and it will will no longer be as hard to justify the bigger cost. I try to stay in the industrial catagories of Milwaukee, Porter Cable and Metabo for power tools. As for Welders stay with the Blue ones or the Red ones. You can pick them up used for reasonable prices, parts are available and they are more versitile. I hope this helps someone.
Reply:Yeah, it's times like these that make me want to go all air tools.  I suspect that more than half of the time tools fail it is because of something cheap and crappy electrical inside, air tools seem better over all no matter how I look at them with the exception of price.  My drill has a terrible freakin wobble to it, it breaks screws and makes drilling sometimes more than a little difficult.  We all know why sleazy corporations make ultra cheap products, profits.  It's not just cheaper to sell something for a higher price with lower production costs but it's also doubly profitable to sell something that will break after a short period of time, usually just after some non-existent warranty runs out.Miller 330 a/bp water cooledI believe in gun control, I hold my gun with two hands.  If you want to know why, click here.Buy American or bye America.
Reply:Wow, Craftsman being made in China is repulsive.  Sickens me.  Have a Jeep Cherokee?  Click Here!