your worst tool fail

[espyking83]

The first time I used a pair of safety wire pliers.
Nothing wrong with the tool, only the person using it. 8 years of aviation and I still feel like I cant safety wire for ****. Probably the worst person at it Ive ever known.

 

[Thumper68]

About 10 years ago I saw the SO truck at the shop where I was getting gas so I decided to drink the cool aid and picked up a 1/2 drive ratchet, the first time I used it the pawls stripped and I smashed my hand on a nice hard piece of steel, when I finally tracked the guy down. (Must have carried that ratchet in my truck for 2 months) He gave me a hard time because of course you carry any tool in the bottom of a truck box around that long it is going to look like hell, glad I kept the receipt in my glove box.

That was the last new SO tool I have ever purchased, any manufacturer can have a bad tool but at that price they should test each and every one.

 

[toplessHO]

The first time I used a pair of safety wire pliers.
Nothing wrong with the tool, only the person using it. 8 years of aviation and I still feel like I cant safety wire for ****. Probably the worst person at it Ive ever known.

Dad was a flight line tech in his early years.
I learned how to safety wire like a pro.
I still have a few rolls of wire and he still has those awful pliers that make it possible.

 

[toplessHO]

another Harbor fright fail
Free magnetic pick up tool.
first time I went to retrieve something with it,the end that magnet was attached to came off
when I tried to solder it back on the heat from soldering demagnetized it. should have thrown it away to begin with .
Pretty bad when somethings free and not even worth that.
Neighbor has a coupon for their free package of AA batterys. I said dont bother they arent even worth free. Crappiest batteries Ive ever used

 

[Deadsquiggles]

It wasn't me, but a kid I worked with had the fine tooth, extendable 1/2" drive ratchet. First time he extended it, all the slides came apart.

 

[logikal]

Snap on mid length 3/8" sockets, The first time I used the 16mm to remove a bell housing bolt in a tight spot; The damn thing cracked and I thought that I had stripped the bolt. Subsequently, the 13mm from the same set lived the same short life removing a manifold to turbo nut.
Haven't had any problems since then though.

 

[G_P]

another Harbor fright fail
Free magnetic pick up tool.
first time I went to retrieve something with it,the end that magnet was attached to came off
when I tried to solder it back on the heat from soldering demagnetized it. should have thrown it away to begin with .
Pretty bad when somethings free and not even worth that.
Neighbor has a coupon for their free package of AA batterys. I said dont bother they arent even worth free. Crappiest batteries Ive ever used

I use the free HF batteries in remotes. They are near useless in anything else.

 

[Deadsquiggles]

I use the free HF batteries in remotes. They are near useless in anything else.

Don't forget the occasion where the give out a free box of nitrile gloves.

 

[toplessHO]

Don't forget the occasion where the give out a free box of nitrile gloves.

better hope your proctologist doesnt use them

 

[Zeke]

My worst tool fail had nothing to do with poor quality. I was using a Porter Cable router and it literally flashed blue light and sparks out of the vent ports between my arms and hands. The flash of blue/green light, smoke, whatever it was, seemed to go out 6 inches on each side. I'm sure it was much less. Needless to say I did not hold onto that sucker very long as I flipped it off the work and away from me to finish a violent death on the ground as I reached for the cord to unplug it. Didn't even investigate the cause of that — I just harvested whatever I could use including the cord and found the nearest trash can.

I still use PC routers and believe in them. I bought that one new as I did its replacement, another PC. But man did it let go!

 

[928'er]

Thorsen 1/4 breaker bar, first time I used it the ball fell out.

New Thorson (china) or old Thorson (USA)?

Two different animals. The only thing they have in common is the (debased) name.

 

[JBradley500]

I haven't really had anything break that was a total surprise. I did have a Matco/Witte screwdriver tip break doing the same job that a HH Snap-On screwdriver has done many times before. That more or less sold me on the SO/Williams HH screwdrivers.

I did have a disappointment once when I got a Williams ratcheting screwdriver from Amazon warehouse. It came with the mechanism all apart in a bag, dirty, no bits, and someones name was engraved in it. That left a bad taste in my mouth, but that's not the tool's fault.

 

[defektes]

Cordless recip saw broke in half while cutting a 4x4 post just above the grass. Glad the bladed section didn't come back into my arm. The tool worked well up until the point of failure

I had a incident with the same DeWalt cordless, when I worked construction, we were demoing a roof to do a addition and re roof the house. Using my DeWalt, the shaft snapped in two under the blade. I love DeWalt and they're many other products but I would never again buy a sawzall from them.. I replaced it with a corded USA Milwaukee.

My worst tool fail was many years ago, I was helping my uncle replace his manual steering gearbox on his Jeep. I had him go get a pitman arm puller, he got me one from HF when I asked him to get me the Lisle from Kragen (Auto Store, was also called Chucks and Checkers.) Bent the jaws on three, stripped the bolt on the third, and snapped a arm on the 4th. I told him get me a USA pitman or pay someone to fix his jeep. He got me the Lisle (at that time USA) and broke his pitman off on the first try, mind you this was all with hand tools, no impacts, using my old Husky 18'' 1/2 breaker bar (R.I.P) and had him tap the pitman with a ball pein.

 

[dave89iroc]

Cordless recip saw broke in half while cutting a 4x4 post just above the grass. Glad the bladed section didn't come back into my arm. The tool worked well up until the point of failure

Dewalt will send you a new case to swap all the guts into

 

[OutsideMachinist]

The first time I used a pair of safety wire pliers.
Nothing wrong with the tool, only the person using it. 8 years of aviation and I still feel like I cant safety wire for ****. Probably the worst person at it Ive ever known.

Yep I hate using safety wire. It is always in the worst confined space where you are usually upside down or your arms bound up somewhere. A good small set of reversible pliers the shorter ones help a lot.

 

[bigredmf]

Brand new dewalt 1/2 drive corded drill. I was using a 3" hole saw in some 3/4 plywood. The first time I used it within the first 30 seconds it started throwing pieces of the internals out the vent holes. I unplugged it when the smoke started billowing. It would not stop so I hosed it down thoroughly and set it in the sun to dry so I could take it back. Two hours later I picked it up and it was still hot so I hit it with the hose again and put it in a plastic bag and returned it. The smell of plastic and electrical burning filled Lowes that day.

Red

Red


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[PugetDude]

Any 80's vintage power tool from Sears with a cord on it. Take your pick- routers, drills, circular saws, jigsaw.... I bought a whole shop full of Sears power tools for my first shop, not one of them lasted more than a year.

 

[Plombob]

Never heard of the "Georgia Guarantee"..

I got one of those carpenter's clamps with the pistol grip at HF. First time I used it, I gave it a good squeeze and and pieces flew in all directions.

 

[n8n]

Quickest one I remember was actually a Craftsman Torx screwdriver set, and this was maybe 10-15 years ago when they were still USA made. Unboxed 'em and went to work doing a tuneup/carb adjustment on an old Studebaker with a Carter AFB carb. Second or third screw to loosen the choke housing, and this was not an old ****** carb, just one with the screws normally snug, the damn handle twisted on the shaft on me.

Fortunately this was back in the day when they still had open stock, so back to Sears I went and got a replacement which I still have. However, it did shake my faith in Craftsman a little as up to that point I'd had excellent service from every Craftsman tool I'd touched.

Next would probably be my 10/11mm Craftsman flare wrench... made of pressed cheese, although to be fair, it did get abused on every job. But shouldn't that be expected with a flare wrench? (they're all SK or Snap-On now...)

 

[hangfirew8]

I've had so many, several involved Black & Decker power tools in the 80's/90's, then I gave up on that brand. Then several HF, but I'm savvy enough to know that not every tool there is junk (just most).

A most memorable fail was a Campbell Hausfeld cut-off tool, I really needed it for exhaust work I was doing on my old college beater. At 100PSI it spun at about 20 RPM and I could stop it with my fingertip. Yes I oiled it. It spun very freely, nothing binding, it just had no speed or power.

I finished the job old-school using a hack saw and my air impact hammer, returned it, and never bought CH again.

 

[WJD]

Was doing routine maintenance at work on a log skidder grapple snubber in the woods and had a crapsman 1/2 dr. 1-1/4 deep socket just explode trying to undo a keeper bolt.... I could not find a SINGLE piece of the socket even though a piece caught part of my ear lobe as it left company with the bolt head and the long handled napa ratchet that was turning it....... I have broke sockets before but none to this magnitude of not finding a single piece

I took that as a sign and That socket was replaced with an S-K 1/2 dr. 1-1/4 deep.

 

[02camaro86]

im disappointed every time i reach for a 1/2dr J.H Williams socket and bust it. turned me to dislike anything Williams

 

[PelicanPines]

Ok... I do have a consistant failure if that counts. I have broken every flat screwdriver tipped socket I use. Mostly Usa craftsman. Broke a few regular screwdrivers too... wrenching them.

 

[michiganman18]

Had a duralast ratchet at my friends sheer clean off at the head

 

[greenbalot]

my first oil change on my mom's car using my uncle's craftsman ratchet and 17mm socket. Stripped the drain bolt and my uncle ended up having to bail me out.

 

[vintage nut]

I've had so many, several involved Black & Decker power tools in the 80's/90's, then I gave up on that brand. Then several HF, but I'm savvy enough to know that not every tool there is junk (just most).

A most memorable fail was a Campbell Hausfeld cut-off tool, I really needed it for exhaust work I was doing on my old college beater. At 100PSI it spun at about 20 RPM and I could stop it with my fingertip. Yes I oiled it. It spun very freely, nothing binding, it just had no speed or power.

I finished the job old-school using a hack saw and my air impact hammer, returned it, and never bought CH again.

I had my ch air cut off tool do exactly the same thing.... My ch straight die grinder has been great though...
Although I'm also never buying ch again... I have had far better luck with cp....

you can never have too many tools

 

[GirchyGirchy]

I had a super cheap round head ratchet I kept at work for the rare times I needed one. It came in one of those $4 40-piece ratchet sets from Big Lots or the like. One day I was talking to someone while holding the socket and spinning the wrench around and it self-destructed. The handle and internal bits went flying everywhere. We got a good laugh out of that one!

 

[kf4zht]

I have a tie, and neither are Harbor Freight

Broke my last spare t55 tearing my jeep apart. Ran over to sears and bought another pack of Torx, first time using it the end rotated a good 1/4 turn and broke. Probably a bad heat treat job. Took it back and was told they didn't stock individual sockets, I couldn't return the pack since one was broken so I had to mail it in and wait 1-4 weeks for the return.

Had a Makita 4.5" grinder start shooting sparks, then smoking, then catch on fire about 2 minutes after taking it out of the box. When I called CS to get a RMA they had the company lawyer call me back and accuse me of using the tool wrong. Finally I had to ship it to a repair center (on my dime) who determined that the comms were never attached to the shaft correctly and had flown apart. Finally got a new one but it was the last makita I will ever own.

 

[Tim37]

Naught cman wrench set got to using them and they where so bulky I kept finding tight spots where they where unusable yet the old USA wrenches would fit. I gave them to my nephews to play with.

 

[Uncle_Charlie]

A few years back, I dragged a 1967 Ford Custom500 out of a junkyard just to see if I could make it run. The car is long gone now, but somewhere around here I still have the jack stand it crushed under the front end of the car.

 

[shanker]

Cordless recip saw broke in half while cutting a 4x4 post just above the grass. Glad the bladed section didn't come back into my arm. The tool worked well up until the point of failure

Mine broke in the EXACT same place when it was fairly new doing something light.

I ended up putting some large screws thru it to hold it back together so I could finish the job....I looked online for a replacement handle/body; didn't find one cheap enough and have been using it for years patched back together.

 

[Casey69]

I use the free HF batteries in remotes. They are near useless in anything else.

those batteries are awful. i've had more than a few of them bust open & leak their goo all over my free flashlights & ruin them.

most of the stuff i buy @ hf is fine. i did get a (well-reviewed) nailgun there that worked ok for ~1 hour then pooped the bed, but i took it back & got a refund.

 

[LordPsychon]

I swear those batteries must have nanoamp hours because they give up the ghost within minutes. Small wonder they're free at times.

 

[tfalk]

Years ago on our first house, we set out to build a deck... my father shows up with 6 brand spanking new hammers he bought from HF. First 2 of them lasted exactly 1 nail each, one hit and the head snapped off the handle. All 6 promptly flew into the circular file.

 

[jamesr242]

Hate to pick on Harbor Freight but my big fail was their hole saw kit. The whole kit was $12 and just a single 5" hole saw (plus pilot) was $60 at Home Depot. So anyway, I'm up on my roof trying to use this thing to cut a hole for a bathroom vent and I couldn't even get one hole out of this kit. Cut half way through my shingles and just quit. Pathetic.

Had to race to the Depot before closing so I didn't have a hole in my roof all night!

 

[TJM2]

HF combo wrenches - I was helping my friend pull a transmission from a 99 Tahoe. He pointed out some bolts he wanted me to remove and handed me the wrenches. The jaws of the open end bent like cheap plastic when I turned the wrench. He laughed and handed me some CMan wrenches that did the trick. I just couldn't believe they bent (out of shape, then back) like that.