Dumbest tool purchase?

[cpw]

I've been lurking on eBay and various WW sites trying to score a jointer plane and I've been amazed at how much some folks will pay for some of them. I guess whether they are worth it is another subject. Anyhow, I got to thinking that most of us have made bad tool buying decisions, either out of ignorance, or temporary insanity brought on by tool lust.

I've bought a lot of cheap tools over the years. Some have worked out alright and others were near useless. I guess my worst was a Buck Brothers block plane from the BORG. I spent a couple of hours fettling and never got a clean shaving with it. It's been so long since I touched it I can't even remember what all was wrong with it.

So what was your dumbest tool purchase? The categories are wide open - bad quality/design, did not work as advertised, never used it, paid too much, etc.

 

[Henry W]

Well I hope it was not my most recent one!? (or two now that I think about it)

I just made a craigslist purchase on Saturday - a PC router, the 2 HP plunge model 7529 (I think). Turns out it is discontinued and seemed to be a problem child for PC.

It did not turn on when I tried it - so we agreed on a less than half his original asking price. I figured it was a switch problem, or maybe brushes, and so likely fixable.

Time will tell whether my gamble was worth it.

I also boiught a damaged clearance item at the orange borg a week or so ago- a Black and Decker jig saw with a bent shoe/base plate. it looked very repairable so I took a $20 gamble on that oo. I rarely use a jig saw, but the 'new' ones with a blade guide have to be better than my $5 garage sale Craftsman that i have dropped too often and now has a cracked body!

These are two possible candidates - but I have a shop full of dusty parts and pieces or sometimes complete tools that were lousy purchases. I just try to forget about them.

Henry W

 

[merrill77]

$79 for a benchtop tablesaw back in 1991. It was such a piece of junk, so frustrating to use, that I almost gave up woodworking to find another hobby. I did manage to sell it for $25 a year or so later, but that is the only bright side to that purchase. I seem to recall starting several projects with it and could complete none of them.

I have a Nobex miter saw that I picked up on eBay many years ago and I've never used it, other than to try it out. Every time I think about selling it, something tells me to keep it, but I dunno why. I can don't know what I would use it for at this point. For a while I thought maybe my boys could use it, but I think it requires more strength than they could muster.

 

[timf67]

Probably my Leigh D4R dovetail jig. While a great dovetail jig, I don't make many drawers or dovetailed boxes so it mostly collects dust. I would have been better off investing in a quality dovetail saw and chisel set for what I paid for the Leigh jig. :eusa_doh:

 

[CarvedTones]

I often defend HF tools; they have some real bargains on certain items. But the 6" benchtop jointer/planer I bought several years ago is not one of them. The motor went out and had to be replaced. It took a very long time for the replacement. In the meantime, they let me keep the bad one and their tech told me how to wire it so it ran wide open all the time (the problem was with controlling its speed). It was very scary to attempt to use it like that. Even after getting and installing the new motor, I never successfully planed 2 boards on it that would meet perfectly edge to edge (which is kind of the point of getting a jointer). I sold it for about half what I paid.

 

[cpw]

I just made a craigslist purchase on Saturday - a PC router, the 2 HP plunge model 7529 (I think). Turns out it is discontinued and seemed to be a problem child for PC.

That's a bit amusing, or not. I have a 7529 that I bought as a refurb several years back and I've been pretty happy with it. Sometimes the plunge action is not as smooth as I'd like but it's been very reliable in all other respects.

 

[cpw]

You just reminded me that I bought a Rockler dovetail jig on clearance a few years back. So far I haven't had the chance to use it, and now I'm thinking I'd be more likely to do them by hand unless it was a production issue.

 

[Bob Carreiro]

A pair of spoke shaves. Have already forgotten where I purchased them from.

I've sharpened and resharpened and they STILL cannot remove a clean shaving! I had such high hopes for them envisioning the shaping of many a component in my woodworking pursuits - I mean, "how can a guy go wrong when they're so cheap, right? Well, I learned how (cough, cough)... or I SHOULD say, I EXPERIENCED how!

There've been others as well... a "second" socket set when I rarely use the first; an entire DRAWER FULL of assorted screw drivers so well overstuffed, I have trouble closing the drawer; tape measures... how many does a guy need... do I have a fetish?... I have AT LEAST 20!; then there are pick tools & probes (thought they looked neat to own, but for actually "needing" them???, NEVER!!!; endless "keepsakes" of plastic components & leftover hardware pcs; and wood scraps... do they count??? - I mean I'm being pushed out of my own shop (Help!); etc., etc., etc. Fortuneatly, I haven't spend bigger dollars on an item I rarely use. I typically go waaaaaaaaaaay overboard in doing my homework before a big ticket purchase (over a 100 bucks, for me).

I do have a low end router bench-top table I've used only a few times, a tenon jig for the TS (but I wouldn't get rid of it - the few times I've used it, earns the acerage required for its storage), and that's about it (I think). Oh, the 23 guage pinner from HF (may have been a lemon - others have had good luck w/them), Oh, and the air compressor guage also from HF (does not work AT ALL!) and now it's simply guess-work as to the pressure I'm using and the inability I have to change it!

I could go on, but I'll spare you - don't unload like this all too often...

keep up the good (wood)work,
Bob

 

[Rob]

A Porter-Cable 9444VS VS Profile Sander Kit I bought years ago, I used it once, and have't touched it since.

 

[zapdafish]

A scrub plane. At the time I thought it would be cool to figure out how to take a rough board to smooth. I didn't realize they made planes to order so after placing the order I waited so long I forgot about it then many many months later my scrub plane showed up. By then I had gotten power tools to do the job.

Anyone interested in buying a scrub plane? :gar-La;

 

[Mike Camp]

My Ryobi cordless NiCad tool set which I just sold. The NiCad batteries just don't last, I should have ponied up the extra dough for the Lithium Ion batteries in the first place.

Also this Harbor Freight Reversible Air Screwdriver, I paid $10 I think, and it works fine other than it shoots tool oil out the exhaust port making it unusable for about 95% of my projects. Should have just saved my cash for a nice impact driver.

 

[TracyP]

The one I bought at the Charlotte woodworking show three years ago. I have used it so little that I don't even remember the name. It is a box making system that has teddy bears, heart joints, etc.,etc. in a kit. If I get in the mood I will go to the shop and get the name of it. Someone will probably post the name of the tool before I waste my time to walk back out in the heat. :wconfused::wconfused:

 

[Bill Clemmons]

A mortising attachment for a drill press. What a PITA! Didn't take me long to pack it up and buy a dedicated mortiser.

Bill

 

[scsmith42]

I once bought a concrete vibrator (brand new) off of e-bay. When it arrived, I opened the box to find "Central Machinery" on it. Yup, a harbor freight special being resold by an unscrupulous e-bayer. Oh well, maybe it wouldn't be so bad....

It was about a year before I had a project that I needed it for. 30 minutes into the pour, the vibrator burned up, and I had 9 yards of concrete that now needed to be vibrated by hand on a 95 degree day :kamahlitu

Contacted the seller; it was one week out of warranty and neither he nor HF would warrant it. $250.00 thrown away.... There is no way that I would spend a dime on fixing it either, instead I bought a good used American vibrator.

It still burns me up.

 

[Don Alexander]

i'm seeing a pretty common occurrence in this thread which reminds me again of the advice i got from the guy i worked for building houses when i first got out of college .................. when i left that job and started custom trim work on million dollar houses he said to me "never be afraid to buy quality tools, they will pay for themselves many times over and cheap tools will cost you more in the end"

anyone else notice that when really junky tools are mentioned that HF is by far the most often mentioned brand? if not just reread this thread

 

[pviser]

Okay, there is some truth to the HF comments. However, I have a small collection of the $18
chicago corded drills. When I have a project going and I get to the drilling stage, I have separate drills for the pilot hole, clearance hole, countersink, and driver bit. My first Chicago drill is over 15 years old and had drilled thousands of holes and screws over that time. And give me alternating current any day!

 

[cpw]

My Ryobi cordless NiCad tool set which I just sold. The NiCad batteries just don't last, I should have ponied up the extra dough for the Lithium Ion batteries in the first place.

It's interesting that you say that because I consider my Ryobi One tools some of the best purchases I've made, but I did spring for the Lithium when I needed replacement batteries. My original set that LOML bought for me included the 5 1/2" circular saw, the cordless drill, and the light (and the radio, which I never use). I also bought the sawzall and the weed wacker, which I don't think you can get anymore. They are all among my most used tools, especially for home improvement type projects.

 

[TBradley190]

I bought an aluminum clamp-on dowel jig several years ago and I don't think I ever used it for drilling dowels once. However it did make an excellent stock stop for my R/A saw fence, would slide up and down the fence and lock down great. Dumb, considering it's a $40 stop block :eusa_doh:

Tim

 

[cpw]

anyone else notice that when really junky tools are mentioned that HF is by far the most often mentioned brand?

I was first introduced to HF about twenty years ago when our only option was to call the 800# and order out of the paper catalog. My sculpture instructor ordered lots of hand tools and air tools from them because he'd rather see a $2 screwdriver get used as a chisel or pry bar than a $12 one.

My basic rule of thumb with HF is the more moving parts it has, the less likely I am to buy it. That said, I still have a number of things I purchased through them many years ago:
*I still have most of two ratchet sets - I immediately gave the ratchets to the college and bought two Master Mechanic ratchets to replace them. Most of the sockets and all of the adapters and extensions are still in service.
*A set of four hammers including a framing, large ball peen, a rubber mallet, and a hatchet - all of which I still have.
*A box of 100 course hacksaw blades - the best I've ever purchased, and I still have about 10 left.
*A tap and die set. Probably wouldn't be much good on steel, but I used it dozens of times on brass and aluminum.
*A wooden handle screwdriver set. These days, mostly used to pry things open or when working on nasty gunky stuff.

I'm sure there are a few other things I cannot recall right now.

 

[TedAS]

Would anyone like to buy a Porter Cable Profile Sander???? :dollar: