The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The Tool Chest buying tools ... "get what you pay for?"

withdrew my opinion

You are spot on Denny - and all of us have made tool choices that seem good for a while and then turn out not so good after a period of use. Good advice.

You can always crack it open and rebuild it. I've done that before.

Denny,

You got caught in the Chinese Crap Trap, "if it looks too good to be true, it probably is". I try to buy things by their abilities/capabilities, not by low price. In the long run it is cheaper.

Paul

If it was labelled Ni-Cad, you got what you paid for (Chinese or not). NiMH is a subsequent battery composition/technology that is better but also inferior.

Li-ion batteries are higher energy with no "memory effect" and Li-ion (chinese or not) has other better characteristics compared to the earlier rechargeable batteries.

China is cornering the markets for many rare materials. They use their foreign currency reserve to buy non-Chinese materials before they use their domestic reserve.

I have just started buying the Milwaukee brushless grinder and found that they are very good 18v batteries last better been told the drills are good

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I haven't bought any of the old standby American name power tools for quite a while. For quite a few years I bought Metabo, but I now prefer Fein. Probably the last American power tool I bought was a Jancy magnetic drill. Fein bought Jancy a few years ago and the last I think they improved the product. I consider labor too expensive to fool around with anything but the best available tools.

I've found that tools most often fall into the "you get what you pay for" category.

I have gotten what I paid for my 1960/70 Craftsman tools (the cheapos of the day).

Actually, I have gotten what I paid for my garage full of HF tools, accumulated over the past 25 years. Only two of the multi $Ks worth of tools have broken during three restorations. About $25 worth of broken tools.

I'd probably have bought other tools if my business depended on them, and I used them more regularly.

I agree with everyone elses assessment. We all know we get what we pay for. Every now and then we get good news from HF purchases. For me, its the 110 pc Drill Bit set for $60. High speed steel, bottom of the line, but if you have a Drill Doctor, they will cut through steel as good as the best drill bit in the world all day, every day. When people complain when I write something that says.. Use a #29 Drill Bit, because they dont have one, THIS is why I have one! Cheap, sharpenable, lasts forever.

I also get good service from their grinding, cutting and flap disks for my 4" Makita. But yeah, you DO get what you pay for. Thats why I have a slush fund!

Deve, your right on. Some of the best money I ever spent was for my Drill Doctor. Over the years I've collected several of the same drill bit sizes and would pitch them aside and go buy a new one. My eye sight won't let me sharpen them anymore on a bench grinder. With the Drill Doctor I realized, again, what a pain it is to try drilling holes with a dull bit. Why make it hard on ourselves?
(Best part is I knew a guy who worked at Granger and he got my Doctor at a good discount)

harbor freight is kind of a crap shoot. Sometimes one tool is good, while the one next to it is a complete dud. I have had relatively good success with their pneumatic tools. I bought a 1/2" drive impact, at first it would barely turn over. I ended up taking it apart and polishing things and generally cleaning it up, now it works pretty good. It seems their wrenches and socket sets have improved greatly over the years. Since the store is about 2 blocks down the street, I go there frequently. As far as the lithium batteries, they are indeed a wonderful item, but if you possess any concern whatsoever for the environment. Look up lithium mining.

Two ways to acquire the essentials of modern life, you either mine it or you grow it, there are no other options.

But Brad! Sure there is! We can just whip out our 17 trillion dollar limit credit card! Denny, after having kids and watching the news, two really bad habits.. I would have to agree. LOL!

You paid for NiCad not Lithium Ion. Failing to see the blame you are trying to put on HF.

I have a DeWalt (is that a name brand?) cordless drill I bought from Lowes.. name brand store.

Less than 6 months in one battery will not hold a charge.

Now I just have to find a way to blame HF.

Lots of garages are full of HF tools (mine sure is) and they work well. I'd rather deal with HF than the Snap On or Matco dealer... top dollar and poor service... if they even talk to you.

"if you possess any concern whatsoever for the environment. Look up lithium mining."

Lithium is now being recovered from the super heated water being used for geothermal power generation in California [and other places, including oil field brines], always new ways to do things .... but Denny has it close, unbridled consumerism will be the end of us all

Bill

I've dealt with Snap on for over 35 years. They never claim to be the cheapest but darn straight they cover the stuff if something breaks.
The Harbor Freight stuff does ok for the most part, but the ads they put out can sure leave an impression that the stuff does more than it really can.

Caveat emptor .........

If you have a smart phone, picture a factory that in order to work there, you live in their apartment complexes on site. No leaving that site since you work 16 hour days. No union, no rights. So you get depressed and try to jump off the top floor of your building. But they have that covered, because too many people were doing it, so they installed Nets. All Iphone, Samsung, etc users live with THAT! I saw that on the liberal CBS news, so it must be true.

World is outta control. Hail to the Stovebolt! LOL!

Let's get back on topic, gentlemen!

A buddy of mine just went on and on about this awesome 4 1/2 grinder he got at HF for $19.99. He was such a good cheerleader that he sucked me in. I got one, the only problem was that the Mickey Mouse engineered on/off switch was way too difficult to operate with gloves, a major safety flaw! Took that dog back the next week and got a real side grinder from somewhere else.

Implied Warranty: Fitness for Particular Purpose

http://www.law.cornell.edu/ucc/2/2-315

Read it learn it, it won't hurt. No consumerism pre-landfill trash makes it on my property.

I go with the nicad vs lion talk. I was given one of those Home Depot Ryobi tool sets almost 10 years ago.the original nicads acted just like Denny's HF stuff is described. When Ryobi went LiOn, they made sure the new batts fit the old tools. LiOns go forever, they don't slow down in use, they just suddenly stop working at "charge me" time.

Any one who can buy Fein tools must be a pro. I can't afford to even look at them. Their skilsaw with the built in guide and vacuum is a beaut.

I use tools to maintain my fleet of trucks. By the time I pay workman's comp and all, grease monkeys cost me over $30 an hour. I can't afford to have them using anything but the best of tools available.

Wow! My grease monkeys are $65 an hour?