Tools you thought you'd really like - but don't.

[Farmall450]

I start with the same tool each time we have a thread like this. My Snap-On air gasket scraper. What a stink bomb. The reason it looks new after 30+ years is because it is.

I didn't even know they made such a thing...I've got a nice sharp Wilde that strips them off real fast. I've also seen people just use a 3M pad on a highspeed to polish off the tacky remnants...I don't really have a problem with doing it by hand.

 

[bcradio]

Yes, I totally do know how to use it.

Maybe you don't know what to use it ON then. I have never used mine working on a car or something similar. However, I use it all the time on other things around the house. It is an excellent tool that has countless uses around the house (lots in plumbing).

The only automotive task I could really see using this on is maybe rusted brake line flare nuts.

 

[Qualitytools]

Man I love mine I have the 7&10 the only thing I don't like is the price

I Love my Knipex Plier Wrench, I have the 10 and it works great for me

 

[bubinga]

A 3/8 cordless impact, heavy, awkward, and gutless compared to a 3/8 air gun with a nice swivel air fitting. Sold it after using it at work for about a month...

I use the hell out of mine around the garage, working on non automotive things!!

 

[Moose97]

Any Maglite.
Worst beam ever. Any flashlight that's abut 1/5th of the price, is at least twice as good.

Looks cool, machined well, and heavy enough to use as a personal defense device... only if you use it during the broad daylight, because you'll never see who you want to hit with it in the dark. Their marketing team should go to work for a better product that most people never heard of... like Seafoam, because they do a damn good job with the hype.

Holy ****! I think I just wet myself! I couldn't agree more! Well made, quality construction, lousy light!

 

[btbsandman]

Proto 3/8 Speeder

Never used it.

 

[ecotec]

Proto 3/8 Speeder

Never used it.

I have never used any of my speeders.

 

[-Brent-]

really wanted a snap on palm ratchet ...hardly ever used it in 20 years

I use mine with a tap socket and tap for chasing threads.

I'm with Art, I've found a bunch of different uses. The tap is one I've done with it, as well.

Any stubby wrenches

I have a perfect set sitting in a drawer - never used.

One thing I just bought but really dislike it is the Milwaukee right angle drill adapter. I tried it in a few cumbersome areas, last week, and I'm either really uncoordinated or I need three more fingers on my left hand. That thing is not my friend.

 

[shanny19]

I have never used any of my speeders.

Speeders were a mystery to me until a recent conversation with an older fellow who told me that they were rarely if ever used on machine bolts or cap screws, rather they were the tool of choice for driving lag bolts in the field prior to cordless tools. He said that highway crews in particular were fond of them for sign work, especially in the wooden post days. Made sense to me. I'd always wondered about the sheer volume of them you see at flea markets, yard sales, etc.

My addition to this thread would be Felo ergonic screwdrivers. Loved the idea of a screwdriver with a squishy handle. Hate the fact that it's squishy only one one axis. The squishy is asymetric due to internal moldings. Hard to describe. But no bueno.

 

[-Brent-]

My addition to this thread would be Felo ergonic screwdrivers. Loved the idea of a screwdriver with a squishy handle. Hate the fact that it's squishy only one one axis. The squishy is asymetric due to internal moldings. Hard to describe. But no bueno.

Yep, Completely agree. I passed these onto my wife, who likes them as much as someone who doesn't care about tools can like a tool. They're in her tool kit for around-the-house items like changing batteries in a kid's toy or the like.

 

[Herod]

Ditto on the craftman "max axxess" garbage. Was a gift to me from a brother in law. I re gifted to my dad. He used it once to take the back seat out of his ml320 for a fuel pump change. To put the seat back in, He just used an air ratchet.
Also bought that gearwrench "go thru" 1/4" drive socket and ratchet set. 2 years now I have never used it. But I want to. Don't know where.

 

[MagnumForce]

Maybe you don't know what to use it ON then. I have never used mine working on a car or something similar. However, I use it all the time on other things around the house. It is an excellent tool that has countless uses around the house (lots in plumbing).

The only automotive task I could really see using this on is maybe rusted brake line flare nuts.

I am an industrial maintenance man, I know what I should use them on. They are big, bulky, you have to squeeze them and the ratcheting function doesn't work on square bolts and nary impossible to adjust 1 handed.

I have a full set of Craftsman Adjustables and find those way more handy and easier to use but the plier wrench is nice to have in my tool belt.

I bought them thinking they would excel on pipe fittings but found they are not that great especially when overhead which is most of the time for me, also the ratchet doesn't work on the square nuts on pipe plugs and when going from different sized fittings I have to use 2 hands to adjust them. Meanwhile my 15 inch adjustable just requires I slide my hand up and turn the know with my thumb. I think anyone who says adjustable wrenches round things off doesn't know how to use them fwiw.

 

[wkderf]

awesome thread. its interesting to see that some tools are really disliked by some people, but loved by others.

 

[Farmall450]

I am an industrial maintenance man, I know what I should use them on. They are big, bulky, you have to squeeze them and the ratcheting function doesn't work on square bolts and nary impossible to adjust 1 handed.

I have a full set of Craftsman Adjustables and find those way more handy and easier to use but the plier wrench is nice to have in my tool belt.

I bought them thinking they would excel on pipe fittings but found they are not that great especially when overhead which is most of the time for me, also the ratchet doesn't work on the square nuts on pipe plugs and when going from different sized fittings I have to use 2 hands to adjust them. Meanwhile my 15 inch adjustable just requires I slide my hand up and turn the know with my thumb. I think anyone who says adjustable wrenches round things off doesn't know how to use them fwiw.

Agreed...never rounded anything off w/ an adjustable myself.

 

[AceofSpad3s]

I agree, to me using box end wrenches makes me want to kill my self, I have fun using ratchets, just so satisfying.

 

[pauls_workshop]

Man I love mine I have the 7&10 the only thing I don't like is the price

I just got the 10" pliers wrench when Sears had a bunch of swell points deals recently. Got mine for about $25! I used it already to help bend some metal to make my own window bracket fitting as the one with the window failed. Combined with a flat end vice grips, it came in real handy, and I made the bracket I needed from some scrap metal. Can basically serve as a one handed "vise" while you bend the thing in your vise with something else. Can also readily flatten metal once bent up. Useful. I can easily see how the 10" is too bulky and uses too much space to operate for some people in certain tight spaces though. It is not going to be good in tight spaces. In the wide open, I think it is useful. Also does not replace other wrenches or normal adjustables to me. I think it compliments them though, and I might want to get the 7" size too some time for smaller things. The 6" or smaller I think would be too small to clamp down on well though to really hold things like the 10" can readily do. - Paul

 

[dudutzu905]

Ditto on the craftman "max axxess" garbage. Was a gift to me from a brother in law. I re gifted to my dad. He used it once to take the back seat out of his ml320 for a fuel pump change. To put the seat back in, He just used an air ratchet.
Also bought that gearwrench "go thru" 1/4" drive socket and ratchet set. 2 years now I have never used it. But I want to. Don't know where.

wanna sell it?

 

[KinzeMech]

Also bought that gearwrench "go thru" 1/4" drive socket and ratchet set. 2 years now I have never used it. But I want to. Don't know where.

It works anywhere you have a metric fastener between 4mm and 13mm or an SAE fastener 9/16" or less. You can use it just like a common socket set, there doesn't have to be a need for the hollow feature of the socket. I have that set in all three drive sizes, and they are my go-to sets for non-impact sockets (the fact they can't fit an impact is extra reinforcment for keeping one honest about keeping chrome sockets off the impact).

The hollow sockets and drive extensions make those the equivalent of deep sockets, which eliminates pieces. A set with 20 sockets and two hollow extensions become the equivalent of a set with 40 sockets (20 shallow, 20 deep). I especially love that set when I go somewhere that my tool selection is limited to what I can carry in one trip (e.g. junkyard). This set (actually, it's 3/8" drive equivalent) goes in the handbox, while the standard sockets stay home.

 

[jsaw]

A one man brake bleeder I bought off the Mac tool truck. The springs inside it must be too strong. you can pump and pump the brake pedal all day long and not get any fluid out of it

 

[coljar]

I didn't even know they made such a thing...I've got a nice sharp Wilde that strips them off real fast. I've also seen people just use a 3M pad on a highspeed to polish off the tacky remnants...I don't really have a problem with doing it by hand.

Exactly my thoughts, but back then, I was buying everything Snap-on had to offer.

 

[CobraRed]

Pass-through ratcheting wrenches, seemed like a no brainier. Once in a blue moon I use it for super low profile situations where i don't want to manually wrench.

 

[KinzeMech]

awesome thread. its interesting to see that some tools are really disliked by some people, but loved by others.

Any tool can be unsatisfactory if it's the wrong tool for the job, or the wrong job for the tool.

I wonder how many people here who've posted a complaint with a tool would be willing to trade it away. I'd be willing to trade away the one I complained about, if I see someone complain about a tool I want.

 

[BioNerd]

Any tool can be unsatisfactory if it's the wrong tool for the job, or the wrong job for the tool.

I wonder how many people here who've posted a complaint with a tool would be willing to trade it away. I'd be willing to trade away the one I complained about, if I see someone complain about a tool I want.

Good idea!

 

[carterbeauford]

Snap On (Grip On) locking pliers. after all the hype on here, I bought a pair. the teeth are not sharp and don't grip and the jaws flex 1/8 inch side to side. worthless for extracting stripped screws.