What are/(were) your most USELESS tools?

[TractorJeff]

Air Ratchets seem to be the least used.
Hate to throw them out!

 

[Tyberius]

This:
Roto Zip

This works better and is more accurate:

The Roto-Zip is very hard to control doing drywall - too much torque. It's OK if you have a hard border to guide you, but watch out if you're trying to do something freehand.

I use my dremel with a spiral bit all the time. Best thing ever, but we've got metal boxes. The only reason I'd ever use a punch saw is for retrofitting low voltage stuff.

One of those fit-all sockets

One's in my cordless's bag. Use it quite a bit for assembling shelves with odd sized bolts.

Why the hate for Robo Grips? Just easily adjusted channell locks, right?

Too big to get into the spaces that you'd need a tool like that to use.

Occasionally a friend of mine will ask me to do some work on his Harley. It also has a mix of standard (inch size) and metric bolts & nuts. Maybe Buell is a subsidiary of Harley.

Hopefully Eric will be up and out on his own soon.

For me, my tach and dwell meter. Been about 30 years since I've used it.

Any ratchet with a circular switch rather than a lever switch. Grabbed one the other day. Need to mark it "emergency only"

 

[dbabicky]

You are obviously a buy and replace guy and not a fix/make/restore type of guy, thats OK, some people are like that, my boss is just like you, every time I talk about the things I make or restore he asks why dont I just buy a new one?
1. Old tools/parts are generally better quality and will last longer.
2. Pride in being able to make something that someone like him HAS to buy.
3. Getting it the way I want it not good/close enough.

Being here at GJ one would think youve seen many threads about restoring old tools, making things from scratch or scrap, taking pride in what YOU have made. Not what some 12 year old in China made.

My 1st lathe I used the **** out of, moved it 6 times (rented a fork lift each time) then got stupid 1 day, sold it and had a local machinist make some of my parts for me, well that got old the 1st time I needed to make something to fix a bike right now and could have spent 2 minutes on the lathe.

So I picked up a new lathe/mill combo and will NEVER be without one again.
I have easily made a 1000 parts on my lathes, made and modified tools you CANT buy!

I agree with the "Built Not Bought" idea when dealing with my project 4X4's and such.

 

[ncaddy87]

That's what I was going to say. My dad and I bought one at a garage sale with the idea that we could consolidate space from all our other bench top tools. We had it for a year or so and hardly used it. I think it ended up at the scrap yard. Probably could have sold it, but didn't try.

 

[LS6 Tommy]

I used mine about a dozen times. Now it has so much junk cluttered around it. I'll have a use for it again some day. Was nice for drilling holes in flat bar and angle brackets.

Growing up my Dad's Craftsman version of that always worked beautifully for us. Granted, it's not a full-on industrial drill press, but I liked it enough that since I'm fairly nostalgic I might even buy the one that one of the members here has for sale...

Tommy

 

[mrobins297aaa]

according to my wife............all of them.......lol

 

[devoncoolman]

Bought a slide sledge years ago thinking i would use the **** out of it. Nope never once. Hasent even seen daylight in atleast 3 or more years. Its a very cool tool and im sure if i was a body guy i would use it. But being a car and truck tech ive never had a use for it. My air hammer is more effective and faster.

Very cool tool and has the ability to be powerful, accurate , and have finesse all at the same time.

Link for any one interested. http://www.zorotools.com/g/00064166...kw={keyword}&gclid=CKC7wrn4t70CFe99OgodmFUAeg

 

[BuckR]

Well, being right handed I reckon the most useless tool in my garage is the left handed screwdriver.

 

[Bob Heine]

I threw out all my left-handed screwdrivers but I kept this wrench bracelet. It doesn't fit and I've never used it but it's a reminder that my son loves me....

 

[HemiRambler]

When I bought mill/lathe I was thinking of a lot of uses. For me the novelty worn off after I found myself spending 5 hours making $20 worth of parts. Fixing trivial things that can be easily replaced.

The guy that bought my mill had THREE lathes. I asked him what was the most practical thing he's done with them and he said he made his own CLUTCH TOOL ...you can buy clutch tool for less than $10!

But was HE happy with it - I'm sure lots of people think I, you or Mr. Magoo are wasting our lives away, but if each of us are happy then so what! I love machining parts - I use the mundane stuff to hone my skills so that when the difficult jobs come up I already have the skills to pull it off.

Another guy bought a lot of lathe tooling from me and said he was retired and simply wanted to learn machining as a hobby. No practical reason.

Life would be pretty boring if everything I did had to be practical. Certainly building old cars isn't very practical, but it does put a smile on my face.

If you think you have real use for mill/lathe, why not bring your work to machine shop?

It's EXPENSIVE! Granted some stuff isn't worth ******* around with at home - turning rotors is one of those things, but for any real custom stuff it isn't cheap for one off machining!

Or send your blueprints out for 3d printing?

3D printing is cool, but not an end all for guys making parts in their garages. Not every machinist I know can operate a computer. Our 3D printer at work cost 125K - parts coming off that aren't gonna be cheap - not if I had to pay someone to make them for me. There are some serious size limitations - expecially if your are wanting your parts out of metal!

Mill/lathe/grinder/metal stock/tooling take so much space - I think you'd have to have volume in thousands of dollars in machine work each month to really justify keeping your own tool room, buying machines, buying tooling, buying metal stock, and learning the trade.

Buy GOOD stuff USED and get a smoking deal - problem solved (worked for me) - I bought a 12" Clausing lathe for 100 bucks because the vari speed drive was FUBAR - it took me a couple nights after work to make the needed parts - totally worth it to me. Even a POS Bridgeport (not that I recommend getting a turd) will make plenty of good parts for what 99% of us are doing. My machines are all paid for - they don't cost me a nickel when they sit there unused. I have saved the cost of my machines several times over in what it would have cost me to take my projects to a PRO machinist/fabricator - so I guess a lot of this depends on IF you really have any projects or not. I use my mill, lathe, welder probably once a week when I am having a SLOW week - daily when things are interesting - like building a trailer or a dragster or even adding power steering to an old hot rod that never had it as an option. If you NEED these things - then odds are you already know it! Personally I would NEVER be without them.

 

[hemiredneck]

Fluorescent Tubing Bender....haven't gotten the damn thing to work once, glass everywhere!!

 

[mrvm]

This oil filter removal tool. I needed something and bought this on a whim. Was full of disbelief but I figured sometimes you can be wrong.

3 seconds of fiddling with it on the filter I realized that I was right. What a waste of time. I drove right back to the store and returned it.

Bought the HF version and it failed to remove an easily accessible oil filter. The rubber tips could not grab, slipped then the rubber tips ripped and no progress was made. Returned them for a locking oil filter wrench and it has become a regular in my tool box. Very few HF hand tools are allowed in my tool box

 

[jsaw]

Tripple square sockets. Used maybe 2 or three times. That and 9mm sockets. I have not once used one. What are they supposed to fit anyway???

Brake bleeders on a 1968 Mercedes . That is only 1 time I remember using that size.

 

[ersatzs2]

+N on EZ-outs. Useless, and mis-named

 

[911mike]

Interesting, I have one of those and use it all the time, works great, especially for removing
stubborn filters.

Me too. Works great for all the old ball filters.

 

[Mike Miller]

I've had this for a year and never found a use for it.

 

[gahrajmahal]

I do like the tip about keeping your infrequently or special use tools in a separate tool box. I may use that as I continue to organize my garage.

A tip I use from the old clean up your house Tv show is to photograph sentimental items that you never use. That allows you to get rid of the item but still be able to look at them whenever nostalgia moves you.

I wish I liked my Mig welder more. I bought one of those French versions sold through the street rod magazines in the 80's. It never seems to work when I need it.

 

[bwringer]

+N on EZ-outs. Useless, and mis-named

Agreed. In fact, I'm pretty sure I got rid of mine. I've seen exactly one EZ-out situation that ended well -- it was a bolt that got sheared off, but the threads weren't actually stuck. Even then, it was a close thing -- the EZ-out actually expanded the remnants of the fastener and made it very difficult to turn.


As far as the Rotozip, the only time I've actually NEEDED one was when installing network wiring in 108 year old house with plaster and lath (and horse hair!) walls. That stuff is very close to concrete in hardness, plus it's very brittle and inconsistent in thickness. The only thing that would even touch it was a Rotozip with a carbide rasp bit. We went through three or four bits installing 24 receptacles -- about 16 of these were in plaster walls.


The Mityvac (or similar vacuum pump) is an essential, highly effective tool for brake work. But you need to know a few things they don't tell you in the little booklet.

1) The plastic pump is utterly useless. Get a metal one. The brass pump sold at Harbor Freight is 10X better than the plastic Mityvac. Not sure whether the metal Mityvacs are any better, but they sure are expensive.

2) Any contamination whatsoever will ruin your vacuum pump -- brake fluid, moisture, individual molecules, etc. Once I figured this out (it took about three or four vacuum pumps) I simply installed a clear plastic fuel filter in the tubing near the pump to ensure that no contaminants get through. You also have to take care that no brake fluid gets into the pump, and the plastic fuel filter gives you a little extra time if this happens. The volume of the filter also adds a useful amount of vacuum reservoir capacity.

3) Wrap the gauge in several turns of clear plastic tape before use. For some reason, these awkwardly mounted gauges are all extremely delicate, to the point that they'll shatter if you scowl at them for a moment.

4) Most important tip: when you're getting ready to bleed brakes, remove the bleed screw and wrap the threads in a few turn of ordinary teflon tape. Be intelligent about it -- make sure the tape is on the threads, not near the tip, so it won't enter the braking system. This will ensure that no air can sneak past the threads, and that the bubbles you see are actually coming from inside the braking system and not past the threads of the bleeder.





As far as useless tools, I have a pair of locking pliers with no adjustment. You just clamp 'em on and they "automatically" adjust to the size of whatever you're grabbing. Sounds lovely, but they're set at the factory to have the grip of an asthmatic six year old. They were my Dad's, or otherwise I'd just toss 'em.

And yeah, I'm glad to hear someone else feels Robogrips are useless. Next time I run across mine, they're going into the metal recycling bin.

 

[Bob Heine]

5) Take your time. It is possible to pull 10 inches or more of vacuum with that HF pump. That's enough to unseat the caliper seals, which then leak when you try pumping the brakes. At least that's what I think happened (they didn't leak before the bleeding procedure).

 

[hoffman912]

It's a Euro thing. XZN/triple square holds down the seats in VWs, for example.

and takes the doors off 60s and 70s porches.

 

[shooting4life]

My vote goes to my hacksaw, tried using it to cut a piece of strut. I was like "well I only have three pieces of strut to cut, how hard could it be to use the hacksaw? I have a new lenox blade on it, no need to get out the portaband." Well, half way through the first piece of strut I got out the portaband.

 

[hilld]

I would have to say 8 point sockets, never had a need for one of those. Now if I was a professional garage door installer that might be a different story on those springs.

 

[Farmall450]

I would have to say 8 point sockets, never had a need for one of those. Now if I was a professional garage door installer that might be a different story on those springs.

I have one use, antique plows and tractors. Mostly plows tho.

They're always rusted on so it's nice to have more than 2 crescent wrenches...

 

[torqueman2002]

Anyone remember JC Whitney catalogues?

I bought a few things from them when I was 18, and received their catalogues for years, and years later.

The most useless tool I bought from JCW was a spark plug gapper.

I never throw tools away, so it's gotta be around somewhere.

 

[Hantke]

Tripple square sockets. Used maybe 2 or three times. That and 9mm sockets. I have not once used one. What are they supposed to fit anyway???

7/9 mm are the two most common sizes on suzuki motorcycles, funny seeing my most used ones on other peoples worthless lists, but motorcycles are usually like that. 7/9/11/12/13 MM and 2 allen wrenches and i can take my whole bike down to a frame and motor. I replaced most screws with stainless steel allen heads, looks cleaner.

I bought a Snap-On scraper that uses a razor blade. I've seen other people use them but I think the blade is at the wrong angle and tries to dig in. Every time I grab it, I cuss the stupid thing and put it back in the box.

Have you tried flipping the razor over? there are actually two edges on most razors. The paint guy taught me that, makes a world of difference when you are scrapping on anything that the razor wants to dig into. I know it sounds stupid, but it works in certain circumstances.

Worst tool I ever bought was actually an allen wrench from home depot or lowes, the metal was so soft it stripped out inside the allen head screw, borrowed my neighbors and it came right out.

 

[Coolabah]

E-torx sockets. Bought a set in 1988 for a job on a Dodge Omni. Haven't owned a vehicle since, that uses these fasteners. But after 26 years, I'll never get rid of them because you know that Murphy would take that opportunity to kick me square in the nuts.

Sorry for the off topic post, but... your signature caught my attention...

"Honey, it's tools or hookers - take your pick"

might leave a flank open ..

"well then hookers sounds good , WAY cheaper and I get every night off"

Other than that , I agree. I have a similar set that I actually think I didn't even use more than 1 socket- shoulda just bought that on its own !!

 

[Coolabah]

I would kill for a mill or lathe. I can think of tons of stuff I'd use one for. Then again, I want to get into more fab work.

I have a small jewellers lathe with mill and I surprise myself sometimes with the uses I find for it.... e.g. just lost that darn special sized nut for my speed-bag attachment bolt ?? ... oh , never mind, I'll make a new one ( yeh , 30 minutes of my time but... isn't this why we do this stuff... for fun ?? ) Plus , my nut was brass rather than mild steel. Win/win !!

 

[GarageWarrior]

You are obviously a buy and replace guy and not a fix/make/restore type of guy, thats OK, some people are like that, my boss is just like you, every time I talk about the things I make or restore he asks why dont I just buy a new one?

...my last car had 350 thousand miles and was running great when I sold it - no machining work was ever done on that car. Recently my 2-year-old PC monitor started acting up - traced it to a bad capacitors (out of spec ESD) - $5 capacitor, ESD meter and soldering iron to fix a $300 monitor + and an hour of my time...

Just yesterday I fixed up a 50 year old Yale forklift - I've been running it for a few years and mostly needed general automotive and electrical tools and hydraulic line crimpers - if I was to call forklift tech - it would be a few hundred minimum per visit, the landlord at my shop had to pay $750 for a 2 hour job just to replace a bad sensor ...forklift repair guys are insanely expensive. That's why I've been doing my own. I'll do work like fix marine engines, boats, cars, fabrication, lawn and garden equipment, roofing, power-washing, painting, electronics.... but doing my own machining I just found to be a waist of time, shop space and money.

1. Old tools/parts are generally better quality and will last longer.
2. Pride in being able to make something that someone like him HAS to buy.
3. Getting it the way I want it not good/close enough.

Being here at GJ one would think youve seen many threads about restoring old tools, making things from scratch or scrap, taking pride in what YOU have made. Not what some 12 year old in China made.

My 1st lathe I used the **** out of, moved it 6 times (rented a fork lift each time) then got stupid 1 day, sold it and had a local machinist make some of my parts for me, well that got old the 1st time I needed to make something to fix a bike right now and could have spent 2 minutes on the lathe.

So I picked up a new lathe/mill combo and will NEVER be without one again.
I have easily made a 1000 parts on my lathes, made and modified tools you CANT buy!

How about this - if you doing extensive repairs/fab work, especially on older equipment - lathe/mill can sometime be very useful. But unless it's something you are using daily, they are IMPRACTICAL to own.

My local machinist charges $65/hour and can make parts 10 times faster than I can. He keeps all the metal stock on hand, tooling/cutters, 12 foot lathe, a beefy mill, surface grinder ...

Just in terms of cost of floor space it's 100's of $ per month. I know some guys will say they have free space - but if you truly have free space, you can usually find a way to make use out of that free space, so space is never really free. Plus tooling, plus metal stock, plus equipment, plus rigging costs, plus your time. It's just not practical to be doing machining in a home shop. Why not admit that it's mostly a hobby?

 

[HemiRambler]

<snip>
How about this - if you doing extensive repairs/fab work, especially on older equipment - lathe/mill can sometime be very useful. But unless it's something you are using daily, they are IMPRACTICAL to own.

No idea about practical or not, but after having them personally I'd NEVER be without out them - no way, no how.

My local machinist charges $65/hour and can make parts 10 times faster than I can. He keeps all the metal stock on hand, tooling/cutters, 12 foot lathe, a beefy mill, surface grinder ...

My buddy owns a machine shop - no doubt he's FASTER than me - only way I'll ever get better is to practice, practice, practice! He's occasionally loaned me tooling and is always good for advice on how to approach a machining project when I am unsure.

Just in terms of cost of floor space it's 100's of $ per month. I know some guys will say they have free space - but if you truly have free space, you can usually find a way to make use out of that free space, so space is never really free. Plus tooling, plus metal stock, plus equipment, plus rigging costs, plus your time. It's just not practical to be doing machining in a home shop. Why not admit that it's mostly a hobby?

Not really seeing how it cost me 100's per month - if I sold all my stuff I'd just have to replace them with more cars - now THAT could COST me 100's per month!

As for admitting it's a HOBBY - Yes most definitely - for me - having machine tools at home is DEFINITELY a HOBBY - this hobby supports my car hobby, and my racing hobby and my fabrication hobby - matter of fact near EVERYTHING in my garage is a hobby - we agree on this topic 100% ;-)

 

[liquidcougar]

First, I kind of have a personal policy regarding tools... and that is simply that when it comes to most of your basic hand tools (and some larger and specialty tools), if I need it once and even if I know I might never need it again, I have no problem buying it and keeping it. I like the knowing that I have the right tools for any job that might come my way. It's something I picked up from my dad. My dad also taught me that there is a specific tool for every purpose, and a specific purpose for every tool. As a result, I've made it a point to never buy any "gimmick" tools, or anything "as seen on TV". Basically, I never buy anything because it'll work. I buy my tools because they're the right ones for the job.

That's not to say I don't have anything to contribute to the thread though...

Cold Heat soldering iron: I got one as a gift somewhere along the line, and I've only tried to use it once. Based on its design, in theory, it should work.. but it doesn't. Couldn't even tell you where it is now.

Rotozip: Almost bought one once, but then realized that I can put a small router base on my Dremel and nicely adjust the speed and bit appropriate to the material I'm cutting.

Black & Decker AutoTape: To this day, I have no recollection as to how this monstrosity wound up in my tool collection. I used it once as a regular tape measure (the batteries were dead), but only because it happened to be closer to me than my FatMax at the time. It was an awkward experience. I think it was a great idea on B&D's part, but there is just nothing practical about this thing.

Also, am I the only person here who loves his 3/8" air ratchet?

 

[Tbirdtc]

rear disc brakes on a newer GM truck? most caliper bracket bolts require an 18mm wrench.

my most useless tool purchase was a pair of lisle exhaust pipe hanger pliers.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0012S9A5U/?tag=atomicindus08-20

Front wheel bearings s10 4x4 / blazer use 18 mm
Matco Long to break top loose
Gear wrench to remove it
1/2 imp snappy swivel to remove lowers

 

[HTGTS350]

I'll reserve judgement on the lathe thing, I have a brand new one in a box that has just been delivered after telling myself for years I didn't need one and having friends in the business that I can get to do the machining was okay, but lately it seems like I need something machined right away and it is always late at night or a weekend.

 

[Ruger_556]

I would have to say 8 point sockets, never had a need for one of those. Now if I was a professional garage door installer that might be a different story on those springs.

I use them all the time

 

[freudianfloyd]

So useless I couldn't let another human be tortured the way I was an threw them away. Nothing but aggravation and stripped hardware.

I bought my dad a set when I was a kid. Pretty big expense for me at the time. I don't think he has ever used them, they are just hanging on the wall on his shop. Cool 90's graphics on the package though.

 

[LS6 Tommy]

My vote goes to my hacksaw, tried using it to cut a piece of strut. I was like "well I only have three pieces of strut to cut, how hard could it be to use the hacksaw? I have a new lenox blade on it, no need to get out the portaband." Well, half way through the first piece of strut I got out the portaband.

That's not a useless tool, it's a lazy user...

Tommy

 

[cliftonbros89]

I received one of those Craftsman Dogbone wrenches when they came out for Christmas one year. I've never used it, can't say I ever will. But I received it from my grandmother. So it sits in the very back of a drawer in my toolbox shoved behind a bunch of other stuff.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[manioso]

Speed handle is pretty much useless to me, but a 3/4 breaker bar and a 36mm (or 1 7/16) socket are the only way to work on a VW or Porsche.

 

[jcthorne]

Among my worst purchases of tools are the Milwaukee right angle impact drivers. Both 1/4 hex drive and 3/8 square drive. They are the only Milwaukee tools that I own that are so limp wristed as to be useless. They simply NEVER work to remove bolts. And these were NOT cheap tools.

The Milwaukee ratchets on the other hand work great.

 

[Dr Stan]

2) Metalworking mill - they might not cost much, especially used, but are hard to move and take a ton of floor space. Tooling and stock are expensive. Long setup time for what are mostly one-off jobs. Every couple years I'd have a use for it like resurfacing heads during an engine rebuilt, but it took so long to get things setup and running, that it just made more sense to bring parts to machine shop down the street. Last time the guy only charged me $70 or so. I found that what machinist charge is very reasonable, so no need to try to do their job for them.

3) Lathe - same as mill, except now nobody even bothers with turning brake rotors - new ones are way too cheap. And I thought a lathe would be useful for making custom adapters and special threads and what not, but can't actually recall a time when I actually needed something and could not find a part in stock or special-order for a reasonable cost.

As a long time tool maker/machinist I must respectfully disagree. They are invaluable to me when I'm making a one-off item especially when restoring an old machine tool or building a prototype.

 

[Fueler]

I pretty much have every hand tool (multiples actually) and specialty tools from decades of biz, racing, home repairs and hobby work.
Christmas is hard for people to buy for me as a result
So
I got one of those electric crescent wrenches. Pointless. Gave it to the wife.

I got one of those electric tape measures. Semi useless....sort of.
My grand kids think it is the coolest. So....I let them play with and fight over it but I used it to teach them numbers and fractions before they were in preschool. I now have some math whiz grand kids that are annoyed by that common core ****.

These days I always suggest a multi thousand dollar piece of equipment, wait for the pause / look OR a Menards gift card. That works

I have one granddaughter that always seems to hang around when I am carving out something on the mill or lathe so they are useful beyond their purpose.
Another seems fascinated by Tig welding. A couple more years and if they still show interest I will start letting them turn knobs and lay beads.

To avoid a thread derail ...ATTention safety nazis, the kids all wear appropriate safety equipment when hanging around.