Poll do you buy tools with owners marks?

[cludwin]

Here is a question I have had for a while and it's completely a personal preference thing but I wanted to get a sense of where people stand on this one.

The question is "do you buy tools with owners marks on them?".

Personally I like to use tools and I don't mind if they are a little beat up have a little surface rust so long as they work well but for some reason owners marks drive me crazy and I won't buy a tool with them unless it's a screaming deal and in that event I usually end up grinding the marks out at the expense of the chrome.

What about you guys do you buy them?

Would you buy tools to resell with owners marks?

 

[The Cobbler]

if the price is right, and I need it, sure

 

[Bobcat753]

For the older tools its like history. But for newer tools I don't like them.

 

[Jim C.]

I really try not to. If they're really faint, or un-noticeable, then maybe. But generally speaking, I avoid them.

Jim C.

 

[SAATR]

They don't bother me in the least. If I were buying for the purpose of a collection, a mark might matter. But being a professional mechanic, if it doesn't hinder the function of the tool, it doesn't matter.

 

[AceofSpad3s]

Doesn't faze me one bit, I buy everything pretty much dirt cheap anyways so I don't mind.

 

[Drift_G35]

Will trucks warrant the tool if it has owners marks? I didn't mind my sockets having them, but now that I cracked one I may have to go the way of the OP.


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[hautpot]

No, because most tools are marked lazily with a engraving pen. I may want to gift some of tools to friends of buddies when I want.

 

[SAATR]

Will trucks warrant the tool if it has owners marks? I didn't mind my sockets having them, but now that I cracked one I may have to go the way of the OP.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Nah, shouldn't be an issue at all.

 

[larry_g]

If the bolt don't complain, neither do I.

lg
no neat sig line

 

[ibedayank]

are you going to use it or polish it and stare at it???

 

[hickfied]

Depends on the price. fair market value, I won't buy them if they are engraved.

10-25% of what they are worth at a pawnshop or yardsale? yea, ill buy them. I have many tools that are engraved or have someones name on the case, none of my hardline though.

 

[RiverRider]

To me, it makes NO difference at all. Before discovering this site and exploring a bit, I couldn't have imagined why anyone would care one way or the other but much to my surprise there are guys who collect tools just to collect tools. I can see why it would bother some.

 

[jd_1138]

are you going to use it or polish it and stare at it???

lol, some people are more like OCD tool collectors rather than users of said tools. There are those who would not be able to sleep at night if that 15mm Snap-On wrench has the name "Dennis" engraved on it.

 

[Sam'sAutoParts]

I do buy them if the price is right, but only for tools I plan on using.

If I plan on re-selling them I avoid owners marks because it makes them harder to sell.

I also don't like to mark my own tools, and I only do it on rare occasions.

 

[CTyankee]

For the older tools its like history. But for newer tools I don't like them.

I feel the same way. I just bought my first engraved tool last week at a flea market. Thought the engraving was well done for a simple folding rule. IMO it helps show the value it must have had to the owner.

 

[davethorik]

My problem with people etching their name onto tools is they usually have horrible handwriting, where it looks like Michael J. Fox was etching tools on a trampoline. That bothers me. I have etched some of mine and it's always neat. I try not to buy tools engraved with someone else's name, but if the price is right...

 

[Mohawk Dave]

....it looks like Michael J. Fox was etching tools on a trampoline. ...

Dave, I really lol'd. Totally agree.

I hate engravings. But I will buy at steep discount or if going into a trailer/truck box etc.

My buddy works on MRI machines and we had to put his initials on the tools. No ones good with an engraver, so we used my stamps. Came out super nice looking.

 

[cludwin]

Stamped initials / names / codes I actually don't mind so much as they don't look horrible but for some reason the hand etched markings drive me bonkers.

 

[NorCalWrenchin]

it looks like Michael J. Fox was etching tools on a trampoline.

Haha that's a good one. I heard one a while back: 'It looks like Ray Charles did that with his feet"



I don't mind. Most of my tools in my home box are either etched, or painted. I laid a bunch of my tools that kept ending up in my buddy's tool bag down on some plywood, and shot a line across them with some leftover pink Krylon

 

[scissorman]

I wont buy tools with any kind of owner marking, to me it gives the tool a place to start rusting or having the chrome start flaking and I just cant stand to see non factory markings on my tools.

 

[dr_clyde]

It used to really bother me, but not so much anymore. I have the same initials as my dad, so I have a bunch of his tools with his/my name on them. Kinda neat that way.

I have some Starrett micrometers that have 3 different guys names going back to the 70s. It's a part of the history. They still measure the same.

I prefer it if the handwriting is at least somewhat neat and legible if I have a choice, but it's usually only fussy old toolmakers that bothered to do it right. Mechanics seem to be more sloppy for some reason. I suspect it's a personality trait of a toolmaker.

 

[nevercouldfigureitout]

Depends on price & how bad the markings are, some gawky **** that hurts to look at really dictates price foe me. I'm bothered a lil bit but I know if I ever had to resale that'd be something someone could complain about. A lot of times individuals have a wacked out perception of what it's worth if they've put their name on it.

 

[3baygarage]

Seems like all the old timers engraved or stamped some things. In certain instances I think it adds character and tells a little history like someone else said.

At times, engravings/grind marks look like plain old overkill as far as ID'ing a tool goes. The price has to be right if it isn't pretty because collector value and overall desirability lessen.

 

[colin39]

I wont buy tools with any kind of owner marking, to me it gives the tool a place to start rusting or having the chrome start flaking and I just cant stand to see non factory markings on my tools.

I eatched all of my snappy tools when i started my apprenticeship, that was some 27 years ago, i still have a minority of these tools , and was made to etch them by my mentor so the other theiving bstard appreciates couldnt steel them. Sorry i digressed, anyways my point is these havent rusted and the chrome has never flaked. In fact these have been used so much that i can see the brass colour through the chrome in places where im rubbing it thin.
Also these spanners and most of my apprentice tools are located in one draw, to show my apprentises what i started with in the same job that they have chosen, and they are given so much more to do the same job with.
Would i buy good tools with markings on , hell yea in a heart beat they have history and soul .
Obviously with one exeption you all know them, the ones that grind 3 long lines or grooves in a tool with no respect too the tool.

 

[Mohawk Dave]

oh **** colin....the 3 grind marks or grind lines....WTF!?!

Tool instantly gets set back down everytime. That is like taking a baseball bat to your own car to let everyone know it's yours.

 

[Jarhead0408]

Yeah the grind marks make me mad too.

One of my recent purchases had me laughing. I bought an Ingersoll-Rand 231-HA with an extended anvil. On the back of it the previous owner had engraved the name(?) "PeeDoo."
Crazy name but it made me laugh! Now whenever I ask someone to hand me my impact I can say "Go grab PeeDoo" and laugh at the look on their faces. Yes I've got a juvenile mind. I can't help it.

 

[Tim37]

Run a line through there's and add my own.

I have a few of my dads and grandfather's tools in my box at work and I love it when I see there engravings.

 

[OutsideMachinist]

I try not to. I don't care about the looks/value. I engrave all my stuff anyway. My concern would be if they are stolen.

 

[bobdell]

I try not to. I don't care about the looks/value. I engrave all my stuff anyway. My concern would be if they are stolen.

This was my first thought when I saw the title of the thread!

I was surprised at the responses, but then resale value has never been a consideration for me.

If I need a tool enough to buy it, I'll probably need it again sometime.


When I was a tech, all my tools were engraved for security.

 

[Mohawk Dave]

My concern would be if they are stolen.

I doubt you mean it any other way, but that comes across as non-engraved tools can't be stolen....or guys that engrave tools live forever, never retire, and the tools will never hit the used market.

 

[Justanoldguy]

I buy my tools new.
But I have had a lot given to me that have previous owner marks on them.
Not worried one bit as I'm not collecting them.
They are for using.

 

[OutsideMachinist]

I doubt you mean it any other way, but that comes across as non-engraved tools can't be stolen....or guys that engrave tools live forever, never retire, and the tools will never hit the used market.

Yes sir all valid points.

 

[MushCreek]

Sometimes, if I know the PO. Otherwise, there's a good chance they are stolen. I worked with a guy that had a toolbox FULL of tools marked from his previous employer, and I know his former boss was not in the habit of giving out parting gifts.

I never hand engrave my tools. I made a custom electrode to mark my precision tools with an EDM machine; some others I have marked with a pantograph. In a tool room, lots of guys have identical or similar tools, and all use the same machines, so there's a lot of risk of mix-ups.

 

[ssdave]

I'll buy tools I really need to use that are engraved. I will not buy one that someone has ground the engraving off. The manufacturer will not warranty a ground on tool.

In my proto collection, I have a few engraved tools or tools in poor condition. Whenever i get a chance to upgrade to one that is in better condition or not engraved, i do so. Same as I upgrade to ones that match the rest of the set in markings better. When I try to resell the ones with engraving on them, they are hard to sell unless discounted.

 

[holt2ton]

When I started my apprenticeship I received some of my tools from my father. I didn't add my name to those as his was already on there. On any tools that I have purchased, I do engrave my name. I try to do it in a non-obvious place. Like on a micrometer I open the thimble past the max range and engrave it there so no-one can see it unless you open it that far.

 

[Hyster Gareth]

I try not to. I don't care about the looks/value. I engrave all my stuff anyway. My concern would be if they are stolen.

Absolutely agree with your sentiment regarding theft!

 

[Coach James]

I have several wrenches that the previous owner engraved. They are good tools that I got at a price I was happy with and they work as intended. I would buy them again.

Coach

 

[Sam'sAutoParts]

Good Point,lol

My problem with people etching their name onto tools is they usually have horrible handwriting, where it looks like Michael J. Fox was etching tools on a trampoline. That bothers me. I have etched some of mine and it's always neat. I try not to buy tools engraved with someone else's name, but if the price is right...

 

[coljar]

Many years ago, I bought some tools off of a lady customer of mine that had belonged to her late husband. They were deeply engraved with the name HAM on each one because his last name was Hamilton. Although I never met him, I'd heard throughout the years from different people what a great guy he was and a helluva mechanic. When I use one, I feel like I'm holding a little piece of history about one of the town's past citizens.