Useless tool gifts

[Uncle Buck]

How about a traditional one...the socketool! I think it was the Shelton socketool in most manifestations, but appeared in countless forms everywhere from the 1950's into the seventies at least. The sets came in various levels, but generally included a screwdriver type handle with crude reversing ratchet built in and a hex drive. There would be a set of hex drive small sockets made of mystery metal and a hatful of hex-stock screwdriver tips, pry bars, and mystery widgets apparently improvised by the guy turning the hex stock. Everything was the cheapest possible metal, unusable for anything...
They must have sold MILLIONS. They were pushed as Father's day gifts, handed out with advertising on the handle...you can't go to a garage sale without finding some little bits of vandalized 1/4' hex from one.

Here's one:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Vintage-Ratchet...042276578QQihZ015QQcategoryZ303QQcmdZViewItem

Tell me you haven't waded through pieces of that at fleamarkets...

I have never seen one until right now!

 

[wilbilt]

My dad had one. Maybe he had more than one, judging by the number of sockets that keep crawling out of the woodwork...

 

[JohnZ]

It's pretty disheartening to see those are made by Channellock.

Made by LoggerHead Tools - is that part of Channellock?

 

[wilbilt]

Made by LoggerHead Tools - is that part of Channellock?

Well....er...no, it isn't. I swear that looked like the Channellock logo....

These are my first bifocals, and sometimes...I have to get out a magnifying glass...

I was activating a new NEXTEL for one of our users yesterday. Even with the magnifying glass, I was having trouble distinguishing the "B" from the "8" in the serial number.

Thankfully, I'm not an air traffic controller...

 

[Mikeyworks]

This is the end-alll be-all of crappy tools. I can't even get it to melt the solder on a simple circut board, let alone solder wires!!!

Mikey

 

[wilbilt]

This is the end-alll be-all of crappy tools. I can't even get it to melt the solder on a simple circut board, let alone solder wires!!!

Mikey

Really. I always thought "Cold Heat" sounded like an oxymoron.

 

[mulepackin]

The Rotozip tool was right up there on one of the other forums I look at a couple of years ago

Boy I know alot of drywallers that would adamantly disagree about the Rotozip. They are a great tool for making all of the cutouts around outlets, switchboxes etc. I've nevery bought one myself, but always wished I had one whenever I hang rock.

 

[Truckguy]

My wife's aunt gave all the men in the family an Auto Tape, motorized tape measure. It was useful in turning ten grown men into ten 8 year olds. Other than that I havent used it.