Tools you buy once ...

[theoldwizard1]

... knowing you will probably never use them again ! And your grandkids will be asking "What's this ?" when you are gone.

1. Small flat head engine (Briggs & Stratton) valve spring compressor. (I am not "talented" enough to do it with common tools). Believe it or not, the engine had a stuck valve. Remove, clean the valve stem and the valve guide, reassemble. 50+ years messing with small engines and I never needed one until last year.
2. Briggs & Stratton flat head starter clutch removal tool (funny looking big socket). Giant arc joint pliers didn't work. Could not get a big pipe wrench on it. The "right tool" and the giant HF 1/2" breaker, made it easy. (Rope in cylinder to lock the piston in place.) Clean. Apply Fluid Film. Reassemble.

 

[MichaelP]

Many kids of today don't know what hammer and screwdriver are for.

 

[isb cornbinder]

It was a gift. My friends mother gave it to me. She offered to show me how it works best. My friend looked upset and fled the house.
The disc on the end can be set offset to change the intensity.

 

[darkzero]

Many kids of today don't know what hammer and screwdriver are for.

Oh they know what they are for, as much time they spend on the internet, they've seen em. They just don't know how told them them or dare even pick one up.

 

[darkzero]

I wanted a larger Knipex Cobra, no specific use, just thought it would be good to have around just in case. The largest I had was the 12"/300mm. There was only 2 sizes larger so I figured might as well skip to the largest one. Well damn, I wasn't expecting the size it is.

Got it during a Zoro sale so wasn't worth paying to return. The damn thing is too big & I'll probably never use it. Although I did use it to remove a stuck oil filter once. I don't have kids so there won't be grandkids but if I did I bet they'd say "what the hell did he use that thing for?!".



These I did not buy, got them for Christmas from my lil brother. They're cool & he said he thought the same & is why he bought them. But I'll never use them, don't know what I would even try using them on.

 

[isb cornbinder]

I wanted a larger Knipex Cobra, no specific use, just thought it would be good to have around just in case. The largest I had was the 12"/300mm. There was only 2 sizes larger so I figured might as well skip to the largest one. Well damn, I wasn't expecting the size it is.

Got it during a Zoro sale so wasn't worth paying to return. The damn thing is too big & I'll probably never use it. Although I did use it to remove a stuck oil filter once. I don't have kids so there won't be grandkids but if I did I bet they'd say "what the hell did he use that thing for?!".



These I did not buy, got them for Christmas from my lil brother. They're cool & he said he thought the same & is why he bought them. But I'll never use them, don't know what I would even try using them on.

I knew them as Yankee drivers. There were interchangeable single flute bits for drilling wood and driving screws. My Danish uncle was a cabinet builder. He had several. It was wonderful to watch him work a pile of wood into cabinets.

 

[Meursault74]

Oh they know what they are for, as much time they spend on the internet, they've seen em. They just don't know how told them them or dare even pick one up.

I worked with a couple of young guys. One of them asked me for a tool with the "square thing for a hole". I had no idea what he wanted based on that. I asked him to show me what it was for. Well, there was a rod that took a 3/8" drive. He wanted a ratchet. Curious I showed the other guy a picture of a ratchet from the web, he said he'd never seen one. The jobs were not tool heavy or a requirement, but we do have them and use them. I consider a ratchet a common tool. It's not like they didn't know what a chain whip for a bicycle cassette was.

 

[Robinson1]

I wanted a larger Knipex Cobra, no specific use, just thought it would be good to have around just in case. The largest I had was the 12"/300mm. There was only 2 sizes larger so I figured might as well skip to the largest one. Well damn, I wasn't expecting the size it is.

Got it during a Zoro sale so wasn't worth paying to return. The damn thing is too big & I'll probably never use it. Although I did use it to remove a stuck oil filter once. I don't have kids so there won't be grandkids but if I did I bet they'd say "what the hell did he use that thing for?!".



These I did not buy, got them for Christmas from my lil brother. They're cool & he said he thought the same & is why he bought them. But I'll never use them, don't know what I would even try using them on.

I’ve got a pair of 460 Channel Lock pliers which are similar in size to those Cobras. I find use for them a couple times a year. But when you need them nothing else will work. They stay on my work truck along with two 18 inch adjustable wrenches, two 24 inch pipe wrenches and a 36 inch pipe wrench. I’ve also got an 8 pound sledge hammer that I cut the handle to around 16 inches. I keep 3/4” drive sockets and a Ridgid ratcheting pipe threader in that compartment as well. Everyone I regularly work with knows if they see that door open it’s going to be a bad day.

 

[MushCreek]

Had to buy a huge fabricated socket to service the brakes and bearings in a Dana 60 rear end in my '72 F-250. I can't imagine ever using it again.