Favorite cheap-O tool.

[King Bojack]

Everyone here has got to have a favorite tool of theirs that they know isn't very good but they love and use it anyways.

I love my Craftsman 1/4 K4Y raised panel ratchet. Am I the only one with a dirty love relationship with a known inferior tool?

 

[daveroy]

This one: http://www.harborfreight.com/7-function-digital-multimeter-90899.html

I must have 4 or 5 of them just to make sure there is one handy in every tool bag/box.. and one to lend out!

 

[King Bojack]

How accurate are those Cen-Tecs? I know the bigger/better Cen-Tecs are fine but what about those dirt cheap ones? They gonna claim my car battery has 21v in it?

 

[LEVE]

They're accurate enough for working on cars and trucks. Like many, I've got two in the garage, one in the house and one in each vehicle I own... and one I gave away just came back to the garage last week. Never leave home with out one.

 

[daveroy]

How accurate are those Cen-Tecs? I know the bigger/better Cen-Tecs are fine but what about those dirt cheap ones? They gonna claim my car battery has 21v in it?

I don't know if it is extremely accurate, but I've never found one to be off so far as to cause concern. I use them mostly for general troubleshooting, continuity, 12v or nothing, that type of thing.. If I need accuracy beyond a 1/10 of a volt, or something like that I have better.

 

[Patrick Boyle]

I had a nice craftsman DMM that I left somewhere on a cross-country trip earlier this year. Bought that Cen-Tec pictured above in a pinch for three or four dollars and I haven't replaced it yet. It's accurate enough for most electrical troubleshooting. My only complaint is that it doesn't have a continuity tone feature

 

[4x4gearhead]

I love my big chinese angle wrenches, I have 1 1/2 1 5/8 2" ones great for the big hydraulic lines i work on, they cost me something like $15 a piece and are made by sunex I know the quality of their stuff isnt always up to par but these seem to be made better than their combination wrenches (big and small)

 

[DrkMtnDew]

old wood handled screwdrivers from a pawnshop for $5 years ago.

 

[therealwormey]

1/4 drive metric/SAE deep/shallow benchtop brand set with hex and torx bit drivers i bought at Kmart over 10 years ago for 19.99,bought my fater-in-law a set cause he loses tools so much i didnt wanna spend a lot.i liked so much i bought me one,i got mac and SO 1/4 drive stuff but that benchtop set is so easy to grab up and carry anywhere

 

[therealwormey]

old wood handled screwdrivers from a pawnshop for $5 years ago.

i love wooden handled screwdrivers,not produced a lot anymore i dont think.my grandpa bought me my first tool set; a bunch of stuff from Kmart when i was 15,it was cheep kmart brand but it was better than a lot of the china **** from tody, that was my first set of wooden handles,work great as lond as you dont abuse them

 

[treasureseeker]

HF toolboxes

 

[Zebu Fellenz]

I like my cheap 3/8" drive impact sockets. They work fine on my Milwaukee M12 impact and I don't worry about loaning them out or losing them when I'm doing work in the field.

 

[Davefr]

How accurate are those Cen-Tecs? I know the bigger/better Cen-Tecs are fine but what about those dirt cheap ones? They gonna claim my car battery has 21v in it?

They're pretty accurate but only have 3 digits of resolution. The best use is simple continuity, 12VDC, 110VAC type of measurements.

If you're debugging critical circuits then get something better.

The leads on these are very poor and shouldn't be trusted. Get some better ones from Deal Extreme. Never trust this meter (or any other DMM) until you test it against a known source.

This meter is also pretty slow at recording the reading but it's not that big a deal.

 

[littlekillertoad]

my favorite cheap tools are the black handled hf screwdrivers. They've held up well and they're the screwdrivers I abuse which keeps my others in pristine condition.

 

[jcabbbang]

Harbor Freight Soldering gun. Cheap, hot, and alway a challenge for me to reshape the tips when they burn in two, (in the middle of my project) but does a great job soldering and I think 9.99.

 

[woody 73]

I like those orange dead blow hammers from HF,they take the abuse and ask for more with no problems as of yet.

 

[6530]

The leads on these are very poor and shouldn't be trusted. Get some better ones from Deal Extreme.

I've got at least 6 of these distributed in various places & haven't had any issues with the leads. What are you referring to?

 

[Davefr]

I've got at least 6 of these distributed in various places & haven't had any issues with the leads. What are you referring to?

The wire pulls right out of the probe handle. It's not very secure.

 

[6530]

The wire pulls right out of the probe handle. It's not very secure.

Haven't had that happen yet. I looked on Dealextreme but couldn't find any leads by themselves - do you have a link?

 

[Davefr]

Haven't had that happen yet. I looked on Dealextreme but couldn't find any leads by themselves - do you have a link?

Try these:

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.33451

 

[bonneyman]

Craftsman makes this knurled mini-speeder that accepts hex and square attachments. Like $4. Man, do I reach for this thing alot! For extremely tight screw removal on furnaces, this tool and a 1/4" shallow socket are the ticket.

 

[american lockpicker]

Cheap? Whats that?

 

[The Rider]

HF's $20 angle grinder.

 

[lowbucktruck]

Cheapie Workforce stubby ratcheting screwdriver with the bits stored in the handle; got it at Home Depot ages ago (in fact, I bought several and gave them away as Christmas gifts). My brother still uses the one I gave him.
I keep one in the jockey box in my truck and another one in my lil home repair tool kit in the house.

 

[shotgunfatcat]

my little husky keychain screwdriver. I don't think I have ever used it as a screwdriver, but it cleans my fingernails, opens up my key fob, as well as anything else I can think to use it for.

Upper left hand corner.

 

[shampoop]

HF deadblow hammer and composite ratchets.

 

[jride200]

How about this one... Single edge razor blades. There's a lot of satisfaction in a nice clean cut.

 

[crewchief888]

HF's $20 angle grinder.

they were even better when they used to be $9.99

 

[bonneyman]

...I love my Craftsman 1/4 K4Y raised panel ratchet. Am I the only one with a dirty love relationship with a known inferior tool?

I forgot to mention I like the older C-man Tri-Wing ratchets that so many think are junk. I sold a 1/4" I had, and have been kicking myself. I like the knurled speeder on the back of the rat head.
Then again, I have a newer Husky 1/4" that is basically the same ratchet.

 

[balrog]

Promotional pocket screwdrivers.

 

[Steevo]

My HF $9.95 heat gun. That thing has removed more decals, heated more parts for assembly, burned off more paint and blistered more fingers than I ever expected to get out of it when I bought it three years ago.

 

[Cameronl]

I love my stubby 2-sided Husky 1/4" & 3/8" ratchet. Picked it up at HD for a buck. Nice and smooth.

 

[jam0o0]

i love my 4" harbor freight orange angle grinders. get them on sale for nothing ($20 i think). i've got 5 of them. they aren't as strong as the $150 ones. and the on/off switches aren't in the best place. but i like those things. the weak motors means i've never blown up a cutting disk or grinder disk. when they bind up it jumps a bit and stalls. instead of blowing up the disk and injuring me. the switch location keeps my hand near the point of contact so i'm always in the right place for a kick back or binding situation. they also have the right mandrels for 4.5" attachments.

 

[Dangerman77]

old wood handled screwdrivers from a pawnshop for $5 years ago.

try using hand-forged screwdrivers your step-father's father made 40 years ago those things are tough as hell!

 

[gc11090]

This little ****** here is $5 at home depot. It has some supper small torx bits, down to T4. It is really nice for all of these electronics and stuff with the tiny little torx.

Here is a link
http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1vZ1xh9/R-100087664/h_d2/ProductDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053

 

[Kirbot]

The cheapest needle-nose pliers I can find.

I always keep one or two on hand.
I bend them, grind them, and do whatever else needs to be done to them.

 

[TN_GARAGE]

HF's $20 angle grinder.

Especially if you can pick it up for $9 or $15 on sale

Re: OP

Cheap-o pliers from Wal Mart. They get used for all sort of things, especially around the BBQ pit.

Free screwdriver that came in one of those "some assembly required" bookcases. It's the perfect size and still has a nice sharp tip.

LED cap light. Always grab a few when I'm near the flea market. Perhaps one of the greatest inventions ever.

 

[I can fix anything]

Duralast ratchets.

 

[NJHandyGuy]

winchester multitool for as much as i abuse it it hasn't broken yet

and yes i am READY for the hate mail on this one craftsman robogrip pliers these things should be every scrappers best friend i keep them in my truck JUST not for the uses craftsman mentions

 

[RbrtAWhyt]

For those of you who like the HF multi-meter, here is a coupon for a free one that is good until 02-07-11

Here is a link to get a free one online...

http://www.harborfreight.com/free-multimeter-web.html