To avoid these ads, REGISTER NOW!

Most Broken tools

Joined
Mar 8, 2026
Messages
12
What tools have you broken the most of and think are worth buying the highest quality version?

Already on my list are:

1/2" drive breaker bars
Square drive adapters
Torx bit sockets
 
To avoid these ads, REGISTER NOW!

CoThG

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 10, 2022
Messages
638
Location
Ohio
Craftsman screwdrivers... They make great sacrificial prybars and chisels.
 

Professor Gascan

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 26, 2024
Messages
178
Besides the obligatory broken flat blade screwdriver used inappropriately, the only tools I've broken are the three ratchets that came with my first tool set and an 8mm hex socket and a 1/2 drive 21mm from that same set.
 

RTM

Well-known member
Joined
May 13, 2019
Messages
13,130
Location
SF Bay Area
That's a consumable.

Here's today's carnage:

1000003158.jpg
Geez, that looks like a weed whacker attacked it. Hope you weren't wearing them at the time.

Only tool I've broken more than once was needle nose, one Craftsman, one Kobalt. Both on the day they were bought new at retail. Not bought a Kobalt since, it was being used so lightly at the time.
 
To avoid these ads, REGISTER NOW!

BDT/NWMN

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 22, 2012
Messages
3,762
Location
Erskine, Mn
Yep, agree with CoThG; Craftsman screwdrivers. Best tool made for those purposes yet to be determined.
 

CHI_Tool&Die

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 20, 2021
Messages
1,380
Location
Chicago, IL
5/64” and 9/64” hex bit sockets. I’ve destroyed so many over the years on one fixture at work. I see those sizes in my nightmares.
 

cody1325

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 17, 2024
Messages
1,083
Location
Southwest Virginia
I have somehow managed to mangle more than a few Dollar Tree "Craft Picker" tools and Harbor Freight $1.25 pick sets doing stuff I shouldn't have done.

Luckily, the carnage was limited to pocket change tools.
 

BTL-A4

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 28, 2018
Messages
1,252
Location
Santa Clarita
Here's my list:
  • Blade screwdrivers: twisted the blades
  • Phillips screwdrivers: stripped the blades. When I taught high school woodshop, the kids were constantly stripping the screwdrivers
  • Smaller drill bits: broke from pushing too hard/not punching a pilot
  • Crappy sockets: I was using my Dad's cheapo made-in-Japan before-that-meant-something socket set with an impact drill (it's all I had). It stripped the bits right away.
  • Cut-off tool/parting tool on a lathe: user error. I finally made a cutoff tool holder that flexes
  • Harbor Freight breaker bar: it was old, but it exploded on some lugnuts
  • Bandsaw blades: too much twisting and trying to cut too fast will lead to breakage
  • X-Acto blades when used as a pry bar: total misuse and user error
  • Smaller size taps: student often use a too-big wrench and don't use proper technique
  • Needle nose pliers: these were some older Craftsman ones. The very tip broke.
  • Cheap box wrenches will strip out. I have some really thin wrenches that are not the best (V8 made in China ones). They serve my needs, but I think I might look into buying better ones, since I'm using them more than I thought.
  • Reciprocating saw blades from Harbor Freight ****! I dulled one in 10 seconds. I use Diablo and DeWalt ones and they work great.
 

MichaelP

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 27, 2009
Messages
929
Location
IL/WI border
About 10-15 years ago I received a kitchen knife in a dusty box. The box was old, had hieroglyphs all over, and the knife looked like a typical Chinese garbage with thin flexible blade and a simple handle. Since I absolutely hate this kind of tools, on my first attempt using I was cutting through a bone. I did it deliberately to get rid of the garbage ASAP. This ripped away a large chunk of steel near the handle , and when I packed the knife into its box to throw away, I noticed that it was a Japanese knife.

To make the story short, I still use the knife, and it became a favorite one among my quite expensive kitchen knife collection. It's razor sharp, keeps the edge exceptionally well, and only needed a few touch ups over all this time. The butchered beyond any repair area remains as a reminder of my stupidity. Every time I pick the knife I feel like I intentionally harmed my best friend.

Last night I found and bought the same model (NOS), but my old friend will still stay with me to keep me ashamed of myself.
 

E46 Tony

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 16, 2024
Messages
47
I can't believe I'm the first to say snap ring pliers. Snap rings are obnoxious under perfect conditions, get some gunk in them and go after them with cheap pliers and you're guaranteed to invent some new profanities.
 

impactims

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 24, 2011
Messages
1,168
What tools have you broken the most of and think are worth buying the highest quality version?
Hex sockets, torx sockets, pliers, cutters

But, I have to say, I think the premise of your question is flawed. À tool needs to be high quality even if it does not get broken. The quality does more than minimize breakage. Quality steel, less flex, better tolerances. Jobs go better, quicker, easier when tools are of high quality. It’s not all about breakage. It’s about performance as well.
 

Pexto

Well-known member
Joined
May 5, 2018
Messages
638
For me it's tape measures. There are lots of ways to kill them - leave them out in the rain, drop them off a ladder, pull the tape out too far. Or my favorite, when you get a blob of construction adhesive on back of the blade and you only notice it as the tape is retracting and the blob touches your finger briefly, just as it disappears into the case to get all over everything.

One summer I worked commercial construction, with a lot of sheet metal studs and drywall. You needed to be fast, so cuts on light-gauge studs were marked by pulling the tape and marking the cut location with your tin snips. No time for a sharpie! Inevitably I'd nick the tape measure blade with my tin snips. A few days later the blade would break at that spot.

I killed about one tape measure per week that way; yes I'm a slow learner.
 
To avoid these ads, REGISTER NOW!
Top Bottom