Awesome tools you have but never use

[Radio Flyer]

Framing nailer....

Bought at a garage sale. Guy threw in what seems like a lifetime supply of nails. Used it to build my 12 X 12 shed, and loaned it out a bunch of times. Still have not made a dent in the nail supply.

 

[Dakotadadv8]

Porter-cable profile sander 20 years later 2x per year instead of 2x per week.

 

[lardy1]

Porter-cable profile sander 20 years later 2x per year instead of 2x per week.

I thought those were going to be the cats *** when they brought them out. Major disappointment. Mine hasn't even been plugged in in over 20 years. Still like new. I'm not even sure why I've held on to it.

 

[Rabid Badger]

Fluke 87V multimeter - It is in a case in a closet. My other meters are usually closer to hand and adequate for the task at hand. It does come out for precision work once in a while.

Fein WSG 17-70 Inox - I bought it at the same time as a WSG 17-125 grinder since Amazon had both of them priced obscenely low: $83 for the Inox and $53 for the 125. I've never needed the Inox for anything I work on.

 

[The Critic]

Mueller Kueps 609/390 and 609/400. Great tools for pressing out bushings, but rarely have an opportunity to use.

 

[Woody1320]

I've got a corded Porter Cable impact wrench that I bought a couple years ago. I've used it twice. I got it for a decent price on Amazon (less than 80 bucks), so I'm not sweating it. And it will probably last forever.

 

[thunderskunk]

I was on tour with the Army in Poland. The locals recommended we stop in at a flea market, and I went with the colonel as we had similar interests. Going through some boxes, he picked out a wrench and said “Do you know where that’s from?”

Best 1 Złoty I’ve ever spent. One of these days; It’ll go on the wall next to the calipers I pulled out of a locomotive oil sump while looking for my ratchet wrench (still floating around in that tank to this day) and the Polish combat engineer grappling hook I snagged from another fella.

 

[Rockable]

I will second the plasma cutter. When I need it, it's great. I hardly ever need it since I mainly do auto restoration/street rod builds. I have so many other ways of cutting sheet metal that often are better.

 

[f121]

Snap on g clamp. Cost about $600 and I use it about once a year, but whenever I do, it’s brilliant and nothing else will do the job.

 

[Shoreline_]

I have like a 1hp air angle grinder that I never have enough air to use it. Its practically brand new.

 

[Beerhippie]

I spent about a year building those two for indoor competition.

They shoot OK:



I later realized the amount of lead dust I was exposing myself and friends to while shooting in the house or garage and they've seen little use since. I should sell them, but no way I'm recouping my investment in parts and time.

Then there's this long-range hole punch:



It's fun, but....

 

[Skiff Builder]

Porter Cable 7403 Paint Remover, 1990 vintage. Works great on clapboard or even cedar sidewall shingles. Used once when bought house with a real hambone paint job. Everything we have now is stained cedar/ vinyl shake/ stone. Probably never get rid of it though

 

[a6hux]

 

[MiteyF]

I stumbled upon this on eBay (listed very poorly) for a tiny fraction of what it would cost new (and it does appear basically new), so I bought it just because... ya know, machinist buying machinist things.

Never have used it.

 

[willf650]

I bought a Bosch plunge router because of all the cool stuff I can make with it. I’ve never used it and almost bought a second plunge router because the hankering to do some wood working cropped up again and forgot I already had one.

I also bought and fixed up a Boice Crane multi speed wood/metal band saw and have never used it since I repaired it.

 

[king nero]

I stumbled upon this on eBay (listed very poorly) for a tiny fraction of what it would cost new (and it does appear basically new), so I bought it just because... ya know, machinist buying machinist things.

Never have used it.

Guilty as charged. This has a 50 mm (2") travel. Go ahead and ask me how many times I've used this already (bought it probably 20-25 yrs ago)...

 

[SouthernIllinois]

I have no idea why I bought it but it was too cool not to buy.
Someday it will come in handy - but that day hasn't came yet

 

[Crazyjake8493]

48" pipe wrench. Gets used maybe twice a year to straighten out a bent piece of metal, but it's always fun to break it out when I can. The ones at work do get used quite a bit for steam boiler pipes.

 

[jpaw]

Bought a makita track saw and 2 55" tracks. It has yet to be used.
If it was cordless it would have already been sold. I should try to sell it but being corded it may take a while.

 

[2011GADawg]

Hougen hmd904 mag drill. It probably only gets used once or twice a year, but it’s one of those things that turns a miserable job into a quick, precise and enjoyable job. I burned up a ton of bits, batteries, a few dewalt cordless drills and twisted my wrist a few times before I got my mag drill. Annular cutters and a mag drill makes heavy truck frame drilling a pleasure.

 

[L.Cheapo]

I have a Tiger Tool U-joint kit. I bought it right before doing a number of u-joints on a vehicle. It did very well and was worth it for that.

It's built to survive the apocalypse but I haven't touched it since then, years ago.

 

[rharman]

It pains me to write this but....

My JessEm router lift. Purchased February 2017 and still in the box. For some of those years, I did have a rudimentary router table where the router was just attached to the bottom. In November 2024, I did buy a router motor to dedicate to the lift, so I'm getting closer.

Some day, my router table will get built...

 

[MiteyF]

Hougen hmd904 mag drill. It probably only gets used once or twice a year, but it’s one of those things that turns a miserable job into a quick, precise and enjoyable job. I burned up a ton of bits, batteries, a few dewalt cordless drills and twisted my wrist a few times before I got my mag drill. Annular cutters and a mag drill makes heavy truck frame drilling a pleasure.

Sounds like a new thread.

"Tools you hardly ever use, but love having"

 

[Bay79Matco4S]

I have a specialty puller that I bought because I was 100 percent sure I would need it constantly.

Used it exactly once.

Now it lives in its own molded case like royalty, and every time I see it, it just quietly judges me while the tools I actually use roll around in a drawer like feral animals.

But if I ever get another chance to use it… I will be ready.

 

[98ssuck]

I hate Allen wrenches. Despise them. Couldn’t design a tool that values cheapness over usability.

Bought an entire set of fractions sizes. .50 to 3/8 Snapon hard handles found them on eBay after weeks of looking. Used the 1/8 a couple of times. The 5/16 once. But generally don’t have use for the imperials sizes. Glad I have them though. They sit nicely organized but dusty in my toolbox.

On the other hand I came across a nos 4mm hard handle hex driver. Use it all the time. All the cheap furniture your wife buys is held together with a 4mm. This one lives in the toolbag

 

[Beerhippie]

I hate Allen wrenches. Despise them. Couldn’t design a tool that values cheapness over usability.

Bought a Imperial hex drivers. Bought an entire set of fractions sizes. .50 to 3/8 Snapon hard handles found them on eBay after weeks of looking. Used the 1/8 a couple of times. The 5/16 once. But generally don’t have use for the imperials sizes. Glad I have them though. They sit nicely organized but dusty in my toolbox.

On the other hand I came across a nos 4mm hard handle hex driver. Use it all the time. All the cheap furniture your wife buys is held together with a 4mm. This one lives in the toolbag

1/8 and 5/16 will cover most SAE set screws you'll run across. 6 and 8mm are very common in vehicles these days, with 10mm not far behind.

 

[Steve_P]

I stumbled upon this on eBay (listed very poorly) for a tiny fraction of what it would cost new (and it does appear basically new), so I bought it just because... ya know, machinist buying machinist things.

Never have used it.

Impressive! So, this monstrosity has ~6" travel?

 

[Steve_P]

On the other hand I came across a nos 4mm hard handle hex driver. Use it all the time. All the cheap furniture your wife buys is held together with a 4mm. This one lives in the toolbag

This made me laugh because I discovered this last year. I have hex and torx L keys, bit sockets, bits.... torx drivers.... but no dedicated hex drivers. I eventually bought a couple of Wiha metric hex drivers just for the furniture assembly purpose. The 4mm is unnecessarily long at 125mm IMO, and the second time I used it I couldn't use it in some spots, so I bought the Drive-Loc set that's in new tools arrivals to hopefully cover all the bases. I'm a huge Wiha fan, but they go by the formula of the bigger the fastener size, the longer the driver shaft needs to be, which drives me crazy sometimes.

 

[MiteyF]

Impressive! So, this monstrosity has ~6" travel?

7" actually! It looks even more impressive next to my little "normal" Mitutoyo tenth indicator



I do (did) a lot of manual lathe work, often without DRO's, and thought if nothing else it would be handy for setting shoulders on long cuts. Shortly after buying it, I became a stay-at-home-dad, and it's been sitting ever since.

The worst part is that it doesn't fit in my Kennedy machinist box with all of my other similar tools.

 

[joel63]

I stumbled upon this on eBay (listed very poorly) for a tiny fraction of what it would cost new (and it does appear basically new), so I bought it just because... ya know, machinist buying machinist things.

Never have used it.

WOW!

I have no idea why I bought it but it was too cool not to buy.
Someday it will come in handy - but that day hasn't came yet

That's next on my list to get, but I don't know why? I just want one.

 

[Steel_Rain]

Makita GWT01D 3/4” impact (1500+ ft-lbs) and this Quinn impact set. I have some heavy equipment experience with air tools mostly, but my FIL has a big diesel pusher that needs some suspension, tire and brake work. I was hoping to get to more of it over the Fall but didn’t end up using this stuff.

I hope I can get to it when the weather turns in the Spring.

 

[Nobody-named-Olli]

Bought this years ago with the intention of using, turns out the nozzles that are on the glue that I buy do more or less everything I need them to do - without transferring into this “system”, and therefore without needing to clean all those accessories after using them. …

Last year then I went and used one bottle and the brush attachment, knowing it would be waste afterwards, for some polyurethane glue. The bottle is still somewhat usable, but the polyurethane glue still hardens on the surface - so it’s only a matter of time before that is gone as well. Not that I care at this point, going to use it for the occasional dab of glue as long as it will dispense some.

I still think of this as an “awesome tool”, but not for me. Next workshop purge this is going into the recycling bin.



Kind regards,
Olli

 

[four.cycle]

It pains me to write this but....

I took this photograph a couple weeks ago, and since then I've been thinking about it.
Some of those brushes in that Lucerne cottage cheese container have never seen paint.
My older brother Rhett gave those to me when he was an art teacher out at Clover Park High School.
That would have been about 1968 or 1969.
Since then I've purchased the entire inventory of oil paints from the Fred Meyer store at 72nd & Pacific - I offered the store manager $50 bucks for the entire lot and he said "Ring him up" to one of the checkers.
I really should figure out how to use that medium.

(those are not all of my brushes... I just looked at the photo again and remembered that most of the others are in a different bedroom.)