Your most expensive tool, and was it worth it?

[gagreen]

Not trying to start a ******* contest lol but what is your most expensive single tool and was it worth it?

Mine, so far, is an agilent multimeter. 470 after taxes over 600 after accy's and a pelican box to keep it warm in the night lol.

Totally worth it, an mm with bluetooth seems like nonsense but the first time your troubleshooting by yourself and realize you need to go flip a switch to get a reading you understand. It also has memory, hold, and came out of the box being calibrated less than a month prior.

 

[ihateminimumwage]

Matco air hammer, don't remember what it cost off the truck, but worth every penny.

 

[Rico.]

If we are talking a single tool (i.e. a single socket and not a socket set) then it would have
to be my air compressor... Was it worth it..? Oh my goodness gracious me... Yes.

 

[nanofrog]

Mine, so far, is an agilent multimeter. 470 after taxes over 600 after accy's and a pelican box to keep it warm in the night lol.

Totally worth it, an mm with bluetooth seems like nonsense but the first time your troubleshooting by yourself and realize you need to go flip a switch to get a reading you understand. It also has memory, hold, and came out of the box being calibrated less than a month prior.

Which model? U1252/3B?

I have a U1252B myself, and it's a very nice meter. Got it before the BT adapter came out (would be nice for field work though), so I the USB interface instead in the event I need to log with it (used on an electronics bench, so the computer is easily accessible).

Most expensive hand tool I own, and well worth what I've spent on it.

 

[gagreen]

Which model? U1252/3B?

I have a U1252B myself, and it's a very nice meter. Got it before the BT adapter came out (would be nice for field work though), so I the USB interface instead in the event I need to log with it (used on an electronics bench, so the computer is easily accessible).

Most expensive hand tool I own, and well worth what I've spent on it.

U1253B, my first agilent meter and probably won't be going back to fluke.... unless it's for the handheld ir

 

[Mohawk Dave]

Not my most expensive tool, but the most expensive for its category... 14oz Stiletto Framing hammer. Bought it when I was a wood butcher and they first hit the market for about $160....worth every penny. Now they are half that. No more steel hammers for framing all day

 

[06 DIESEL]

Source Auto valve spring compressor for 24V Cummins engines. Instead of taking an hour to change the valve spring on my truck when the head was off it took me five minutes total. Well worth the $150 I spent on it.

 

[Elvenhome21]

Hypertherm plasma cutter. And a ptrototrak cnc mill. Just wished I had bought the plasma cutter years ago when I was Enduro racing and stripping cars. Would've been a million times faster and easier then a sawzall and stick welder

 

[GTA Matt]

My Snap On Verdict scan tool. Purchase price plus all the updates I've done and accessories I got for the scope I'm in it over 11,000 or so. Well worth it to me.

 

[wannab20hatch]

Mine would have to be my spot weld drill. It was pretty close to 500 bucks

Was it worth it? Sometimes it is but I still think my grinder is faster

 

[Heavy Metal Doctor]

Outside of those overpriced shiny SO toolboxes, mine would be a 1" impact gun - I bought a CP cheapie and it was 800 bucks 15 years ago.
Truss rods on a particular pump I rebuild take somewhere in the 2000Ft/lb range and this gun make it possible for me to do the job by myself and get it done fast.

 

[TAMPAGT07]

Easy one....My SO midrise lift...I bought it used for $700....And I saved about $5300, for a new one...Was it worth it? Hell yeah...

 

[mebuildit]

Does a toolbox count?

 

[gagreen]

Does a toolbox count?

Leaning more towards single tool rather than a toolbox or set. The reason I started the thread was to see if some of the crazy expensive tools out there were actually worth the price.

 

[Fireball027]

My Wife... and no


Most expensive that I can think of at this time, beside my toolbox would be my Complete Ball Joint set. Cost me over a grand with all the adapters.

Also my 3/4 impact gun was around 800.00

And I forgot... my Snapon scanner was over 4K back in the day.

 

[chrenan]

Myself. 6 years of human capital investment in myself through an undergraduate and masters degree. Worth every penny as it lets me wrench as a hobby and really enjoy it.

 

[Stooge]

excluding welders and sets, itd probably be the hub shark setup. think it was mid $450 or so last year when i bought it, waited until i had a few people lined up that needed their hubs done and bit the bullet, paid for itself in a week so it didnt hurt too bad

 

[T_Raven]

I try to buy most big dollar single items used. For example I got my $1200 scan tool for $300 on ebay, and my $800 borescope for $500 on ebay. So that helps me justify the cost. I don't know what my most expensive tool is, but what I've learned over the years is I've never regretted buying a tool, no matter how expensive.

 

[Steinmetz]

Myself. 6 years of human capital investment in myself through an undergraduate and masters degree. Worth every penny as it lets me wrench as a hobby and really enjoy it.

Yes. Grad school and law school for me. The best investment.

 

[ianguilly]

Snap on mg725, worth every penny.

 

[rusty65]

So far my most expensive piece of shop equipment would have to be my wilton c1 I bought it for 225 and was built in 2005. My single most expensive tool is my snap on fhnf100 expensive at 130 but worth every penny in my eyes. And my most expensive set would be my 36 piece snap on impact driver set I paid 250 and all the pieces have a 2010 date code and the set retails for 650.

 

[aka Larry]

My lift was $1500, and worth every penny!

 

[Zeke]

A decent quality airless spray gun. Graco Ultra 395 for $800.

 

[zmaxmotorsports]

2010 jd 125 excavator

 

[Krokodil]

Excluding my welder, powertools and box, must be my fluke and torque wrenches.

 

[mossyboy6]

My large ultrasonic cleaner.

Still trying to decide if it was worth it or not.

 

[larry_g]

Case backhoe. Invaluable when it's needed. A few machine tools also rank in there.

lg
no neat sig line

 

[Kurn]

Snap on mg725, worth every penny.

This.

 

[Thunderbisciut]

Exluding welders and machine tools, I would say my Bead Form 3 was the most expensive. They go for $529 now, but mine was $400 if I remember correctly. After not finding anyone local willing or able to weld beads onto my first set of intercooler pipes I deceided to drop the coin. Still not sure if it was worth it. The tool is awesome, but after only using it on 5 or 6 sets of intercooler pipes I'm not sure if it was the best investment.

 

[Lkdelta]

If the Atlas scissor lift counts as a tool... absolutely worth it
It has paid for itself a few times already by allowing us to do jobs here that can't be done on jack stands and a floor jack

You can't pick the car up high enough to slide the loaded K-frame/****** out from underneath without the lift

Otherwise, my oxy-acetylene set frequently makes things easier

 

[Outlawmws]

Eully Tooled (and then some) Craftsman Atlas Lathe, Under 200 hours on it, maybe under 100. $2K almost 30 years ago. Worth every penny.

 

[bigenos]

Milwaukee 28V cordless impact. I've saved myself a lot of time and effort with it over the years. Both at home and when I'm at an autocross (usually for swapping wheels). It was somwhere north of $400 when I bought it.

 

[HoosierBuddy]

I guess it would be my U.S. Burke Millrite 8X30" knee mill.

Was it worth it?

Yeah. It was something I wanted for 20 years and I was finally in a position to do something about it so I did. Your dreams are always worth the money.

Phil

 

[Ohmthis]

My wife and SOOOOOOOO worth it. The only other very expensive toy is a large massey Ferguson tractor with a front loader. I have tons of expensive tools. I wouldn't pay for any of them if they were not worth it. Do a lot of research before you buy and you'll never worry what it costs.

 

[firecracker]

Must be my Honda 21" lawnmower cost £1000 and I only use it once a week in summer, and it's no better than the one it replaced and donated to my local church which I still have to service and use now and then on the church lawns.suppose it was worth it.

 

[General Geoff]

My most expensive tool is a 7.62mm autoloading rifle. Was it worth it? Hard to say; thankfully I've never needed to use it, and I hope it stays that way.


Aside from firearms, most expensive single tool is a huge pair of Knipex Cobras which I've used several times, and was well worth it at just under $100. My 1/2" impact wrench (CP Earthquake) was only about 80 bucks, and that's easily paid for itself many times over in time and aggravation saved.

 

[crewchief888]

probably an inductive pickup tach for diesel engines.

seems like it was $600 or so nearly 20 years ago.
technology has come a long way, it probably sells for $100 now

 

[Lead-Core]

SO 1/2" torque wrench, wanna say $350 a year ago for it.

 

[Moose-LandTran]

My TIG welder:

Was it worth it? (£800) Yes it was, not only in terms of money i have earned through its use, but in the satisfaction alone from having taught myself to TIG weld with it and the satisfaction in what i make and repair with it.

Second to that is probably my Fluke 289, which is also worth it because it does everything a multimeter can do and it's just an awesome piece of kit.

 

[durallymax]

outside of the shop tools and my toolbox, single tool that fits inside the box would be the Snap On BK8000 videoscope. Bought it so I could record what I see to prove to people what was wrong because it wasn't a ton more than their other one. Seems like a year later now there are a ton of nice videoscopes out there. Probably one of the bigger wastes of money.

Now for a set, my biggest waste would be all the snap on wrenches I have over 1 1/8" and 27mm. I bought the two biggest sets thinking in craftsman terms, the more you buy the more you save. Turns out I saved $2 over buying all of the individually. Oh well, they are nice to use and I do use them enough. They are a lot of acreage to shine up though. I think the biggest one is like $180 on its own. I try not to think about them. Its a face palm moment every time I open that drawer.