Buying tools ..you'll rarely use

[PSYKO_Inc]

I love back up status. I'll buy a hf tool to get by or to try, like long needle nose, then once I find they get used often I'll buy good stuff and bring the others home. Or there's back ups in the toolbox and at home lol.

Not to mention the kits in the trunk of each car, kitchen and office junk drawers, and the "junkyard bag" for trips to pick n pull. This one has all the really cheap and crappy, but still usable tools that I wouldn't be heartbroken at all if they get lost or stolen out of the back of the truck.

 

[Al Borland]

1/2" metric impact socket sets( deep and shallow). Bought two when a local store was going out of business 12-13 years ago. Still in the unopened packages.
I work in a lot of 75-100 year old facilities. There's no metric there.

 

[ezriderga]

Sometimes you just need the right tool for the job. I changed the fluid in my manual transmission recently and I needed a 9/16 eight point socket to remove and reinstall the fill plug. I bought one from ebay and I don't know if I'll ever use it again but I'm glad now I didn't try anything else to remove the plug.

 

[catalytic]

Wait, you guys use some of your tools?

Last weekend I was working on a large unfinished cabinet that was given to me and still needs a front door. I had to go to Lowes to get a backsaw to make the cuts, and I had to make them accurately because my 2500 pounds of various sanders and grinders (4 MAX disc sanders in 12"-20" disc sizes + various others) are not under power. The irony was not lost on me...

Oh, and the cabinet is going to be used to store more tools

 

[jd_1138]

Usually if you use the tool at least ONCE, it has already paid for itself. How much would a pro have charged to drive over and do the repair? Usually at least as much as the tool cost or maybe a lot more.

Can never have enough tools. I always find myself thinking I have tons of tools, but then I start a project and my needle nose pliers are not quite long enough, don't have the right style/size/number of clamps, etc..

 

[JAKE-THE-TOOL-MAN]

I have bought numerous Cummins specialty tools. I don't even own a diesel but I plan to purchase one in the near future. I just like tools

 

[Crazyjake8493]

I thought my drywall lift was going to end up in this category when I bought it to do two ceilings. Ended up doing a few more ceilings, hung several lights in the garage with it, and plenty of unexpected uses.

I bought a 10'6" Tapco trim brake on CL last weekend for $200. Eventually I'll get around to siding our house with vinyl and wrapping all the trim, but even if I don't I couldn't pass it up for that price.

 

[Superbec]

I have bought numerous Cummins specialty tools. I don't even own a diesel but I plan to purchase one in the near future. I just like tools

you took it to another level, what if you buy the diesel truck and never brakes down?

 

[matemike]

I suffer most from Being excessive in better quality alone. Not so much buying quantities that I won't use.
Perfect example, I feel I will be needing a new air compressor soon as my 3 gal craftsman is on the fritz. The regulator is stuck in a usable position, the on/off switch swings around freely past all stops so you can't ever really tell if it's off until you bleed it down past the start pressure and it stays off, and the drain plug knob broke off so only ways to bleed it down is through the hose and then get a set of pliers to loosen the drain stem. This obviously won't work forever as the stem is getting pretty messed up already.
Anyways the little compressor has served me well for a decade and only a couple of times was I using an air drill or impact and had to wait, wait, wait to air to rebuild. I could probably get away with a 20 gal craftsman again.
But NO, what do I do? I research until I'm blue in the face and am contemplating an IR 60 gal 5SL5 for maybe 2-3 dozen uses per year. Can't help it. The Internet is full of too much information and stores have made it all too easy. Add to cart, proceed to checkout; your item will be on your front door step in 3-5 days. Amazing, but dangerous for guys like me.

 

[MushCreek]

You'll use a better quality tool more, trust me. A good air compressor will lead to buying more air tools when you find out how much better it handles them.

 

[dclassical]

If I can rent them for free I will. I do like having the tools for the job, but I also value spending money on my other hobbies. I only work on my own cars and some friends' cars, but I will, once in a while, buy a tool that I won't use very often. Don't ask me why.

 

[48548]

The proto pullers I got I have not used yet and the china tech2 and mdi are a few I don't use that often. I do have to say I have used the tech2 more than I thought, but not often.

 

[CobraRed]

Usually if you use the tool at least ONCE, it has already paid for itself. How much would a pro have charged to drive over and do the repair? Usually at least as much as the tool cost or maybe a lot more.

Can never have enough tools. I always find myself thinking I have tons of tools, but then I start a project and my needle nose pliers are not quite long enough, don't have the right style/size/number of clamps, etc..

This is the dangerous logic that makes me not bookmark this forum

 

[ilovevocs]

This is the dangerous logic that makes me not bookmark this forum

Lmao!!


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[Revelations]

Can you put a price on doing the job right, vs some lying hack
who's trying to beat the book?

I have a r134 manifold gauge set I've only used once. Got it to verify charge state on my car. Turns out it was a simple pressure transducer switch. Didn't even get my hands dirty. Not sure the local gut here in town would been honest or compitent enough to do the right thing. Not saying pro techs are shady, but there are very few mechanics left... Just techs who throw parts at cars. If I encounter a problem that can't be solved, then that's my cue to call the wrecker and get another car.

So I'd rather have some odd ball specialty tool used only once, then to be ripped off like a fool.


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[four.cycle]

½" drive, 1½" socket

^ must-have item for removing and installing the heating element on your hot water tank. drove to three different places before I finally found a made-in-China unit for $10 at Tool Liquidators - Sears doesn't carry anything that big anymore!

(same as 36mm, btw: we used to sell all kinds of 1/2" drive 36mm sockets on Saturday afternoons for the exact same purpose - our tool boards didn't have a hook for a 1-1/2" socket.)

 

[ibedayank]

Quote:
Originally Posted by theoldwizard1
½" drive, 1½" socket




also used for the nut on top of certian motorcycle fork tubes...

 

[ibedayank]

^ must-have item for removing and installing the heating element on your hot water tank. drove to three different places before I finally found a made-in-China unit for $10 at Tool Liquidators - Sears doesn't carry anything that big anymore!

(same as 36mm, btw: we used to sell all kinds of 1/2" drive 36mm sockets on Saturday afternoons for the exact same purpose - our tool boards didn't have a hook for a 1-1/2" socket.)

http://www.lowes.com/pd_159985-135-9008083046_1z0rwon__?productId=3692742&pl=1

 

[Git]

I thought everyone had a Bosch Brute? - you mean you guys don't have one

This is the kind of thing you get into when you hire a licensed contractor who flakes out on you and you have to get rid of about 15 tons of concrete and masonry work because no one wants to come in and finish a project that someone else already started and screwed up

 

[wafrederick]

I bought one of those $20.00 inner tie rod tools,looks like an exhaust clamp.I have used it once so far and it works.Real simple to use also

 

[hotdogstand]

I order plenty of tools that I may rarely use, I justify it though by trying to buy it at the time I need it rather than buying it just to have. At least it try to

Same. As long as the tool(s) cost less than paying someone else to do the job I consider it a worthwhile purchase. Pretty much the only thing I don't do myself anymore is alignments.

 

[hotdogstand]

Can you put a price on doing the job right, vs some lying hack
who's trying to beat the book?

...but there are very few mechanics left... Just techs who throw parts at cars.

Used to be a mechanic was just a "parts guesser" and technician meant someone who went to school to learn how to properly diagnose a car. Granted there is little substitute for experience when it comes to tricky symptoms (sure, it LOOKS like a headgasket, but a faulty EGR is known to cause these symptoms on this generation Ford ******...) but the real problem is book time. Changing an alternator (for example) is MUCH faster than proper diagnosis of the entire electrical system, and 9/10 times might have been the problem. Skip on the troubleshooting and pay the piper when the "parts guesser" guesses wrong.
I'm a tech for the Navy, and believe me when I say a single bad tech can cost millions!

 

[Banana Man]

I'm happy to have a lot of tools I rarely use. When you use the wrong tool for the right job you're setting yourslef up for a real FUC#ED up day.

 

[egnorant]

I have friends and between us we keep some of the tools busy. Hammer drill had to be tracked down for a buddy who is getting a lift THIS WEEKEND (according to current shipping info).

Pulley puller...been around to at least 5 friends.

Don't get me started on tools I have bought that I have never used or don't even know what they do!

Bruce

 

[CutterFarms]

Usually if you use the tool at least ONCE, it has already paid for itself. How much would a pro have charged to drive over and do the repair? Usually at least as much as the tool cost or maybe a lot more.

Can never have enough tools. I always find myself thinking I have tons of tools, but then I start a project and my needle nose pliers are not quite long enough, don't have the right style/size/number of clamps, etc..

I have the same problem, or there at the other barn, in the other truck, ect...

 

[wafrederick]

A good rule is if you use the tool once,rent it or borrow it.If you use the tool 2 times and more,buy it.I did it with the caliper windback caliper tool set for the rear brake calipers.Always went over to borrow my dad's brake caliper windback tool and I don't anymore.Have used it over 8 times now and has paid for itself.