Cheap tools

[PassnThru]

From WkiiPedia:

Engineers apply the sciences of physics and mathematics to find suitable solutions to problems or to make improvements to the status quo. More than ever, engineers are now required to have knowledge of relevant sciences for their design projects, as a result, they keep on learning new material throughout their career.

If multiple options exist, engineers weigh different design choices on their merits and choose the solution that best matches the requirements. The crucial and unique task of the engineer is to identify, understand, and interpret the constraints on a design in order to produce a successful result. It is usually not enough to build a technically successful product; it must also meet further requirements.

Constraints may include available resources, physical, imaginative or technical limitations, flexibility for future modifications and additions, and other factors, such as requirements for cost, safety, marketability, productibility, and serviceability. By understanding the constraints, engineers derive specifications for the limits within which a viable object or system may be produced and operated.

We have a lot of highly trained professionals out there designing everything we interact with in our daily lives - including tools. Tools - like everything else - are designed to meet a specific criteria. We all know that everything out there has a best and a worst. Let's discard the worst - it may not have been engineered at all and it may be a piece of trash. Let's focus on the medium to finest. Unless you go poking in the farthest reaches of the internet (or Harbor Freight as some would say) to buy your tools, you likely will not encounter the worst at any reputable vendor. So that leaves the medium to finest. Is there a difference? Of course there is. The finest was engineered to withstand the heaviest use and abuse. The medium? Well, some engineer decided that it was good enough for infrequent use. Is that a bad thing? I think not. It's blatantly obvious to all of us that something that is used frequently must be built better than something that is used infrequently. And we all know that it costs more to build something better. The best tools cost more - as with everything else in life. But wait - do I need the best? I don't. If you do then you would know it. Not everything I touch in life has to be over engineered for my specific application. I've saved a lot of money since I realized that. What many consider less than best will give me good service for a lifetime.
It's a long winded way to say - if an OP wants a set of tools to handle the occasional fix around the house then cheap tools are more than OK - that is what they were designed for. Why do we argue about this? They were, in fact, engineered for that purpose. It's not a grand conspiracy to cheat people - not everyone needs the best.

 

[cronic]

Very well put. I agree.

 

[hguerrero]

i'll add...i need the best that i can afford.