Time to update Rick Potter's 2007 post on bad tool purchases?

[rudy de haas]

While reading through the thread Tools that are much better than you expected (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?256985-Tools-that-are-much-better-than-you-expected) Started by Thomas Marr (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/member.php?26075-Thomas-Marr), (now on page two, below) I wondered if anyone had asked the obvious question: what was your worst purchase? A quick search showed several - starting with one by Rick Potter in 2007: http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?61338-Bad-tool-purchases .
Several people responding then mentioned the roto-zip. I have one: $10 at a garage sale and I got ripped off because it cuts gyprock beautifully, but throws a rooster tail that annoys the whole neighborhood and creates days of cleanup work.

Anyone want to confess to doing worse than that?

[Frederick Skelly]

My first "table saw" was a Delta benchtop, direct drive motor, really awful fence, mediocre miter gauge.

It was a really crappy tool.

[John K Jordan]

I don't think I've ever purchased a trool, good or bad. :D

But worst tool I can remember buying that was less than top quality was my first lathe, a copy of the old Craftsman tube lathe. But it was good in a way - it let me get started at a low price and when I upgraded to a great lathe I gave the cheap one to a friend - he's had a lot of fun with it.

But that brings up some questions, what does "worst" purchase mean:



#1, A tool that turned out to be much worse than expected, a poor value? And if so, should it include a tool with a generally good reputation that just happened to be a bad egg?

#2, A tool that was real cheap in both price and quality/function, one that was bad but was probably worth what it cost?

or could it even be #3, a tool that is good quality and value, works as intended, but just didn't work as we wished it did?

or #4, a very expensive, high quality tool that turned out to be a total waste of money because it never got used? Kind of like buying a big exercise machine.

I learned decades ago there are few regrets buying quality.


JKJ

[rudy de haas]

I don't think I've ever purchased a trool, good or bad. :D

But worst tool I can remember buying that was less than top quality was my first lathe, a copy of the old Craftsman tube lathe. But it was good in a way - it let me get started at a low price and when I upgraded to a great lathe I gave the cheap one to a friend - he's had a lot of fun with it.

But that brings up some questions, what does "worst" purchase mean:


#1, A tool that turned out to be much worse than expected, a poor value? And if so, should it include a tool with a generally good reputation that just happened to be a bad egg?
#2, A tool that was real cheap in both price and quality/function, one that was bad but was probably worth what it cost?
or could it even be #3, a tool that is good quality and value, works as intended, but just didn't work as we wished it did?
or #4, a very expensive, high quality tool that turned out to be a total waste of money because it never got used? Kind of like buying a big exercise machine.

I learned decades ago there are few regrets buying quality.


JKJ

Trool ? not my worst mistake ever.. (Can I pretend it means a tool one drools over before buying? :) )

Meaning of "worst" -in the eye of the beholder, so yes to all 4.
T

[Mike Circo]

I try this one.

A Craftsman "Professional" dovetail jig. Now I know these jigs are a constant problem to get right and generate no end of frustrations, but this version is the king of frustration.

It starts with the clever business decision by Craftsman to use unique bits, unique guides and specialized router bases. That should have been the first clue. The bits were junk (who ever heard of a single flute dovetail bit in the recent history!!??) The next issue was the use of plastic for the nearly the entire jig. There was a feeble attempt to stiffen the dovetail guide with some thin metal, but it was inadequate. If you were routing hardwood and had to push at all firmly, the guide would flex and ruin your fit. The next sin was to require constant movement of screwed on components to change settings or to just complete a set of dovetails. Bad enough the concept was difficult to understand, but having to get out a screwdriver, read tiny embossed letters and reassemble the jig was the last straw. The documentation for such a complex tool was mind-boggling difficult to understand and was written by a lawyer I suspect as it was nearly incoherent.

It currently sits on a high shelf as a reminder why Craftsman tools lost its way.

To the other question as to what constitutes a "bad" tool. This has it all.
Not cheap. Promises performance it will never deliver. Quality shortcuts which doom the tool to failure. Difficult to use. Requires upgrades or manual assistance to work at all. Makes a job more difficult rather than easier. And finally. When the need for it arises, I'd rather redesign the project than attempt to use the tool.

[John K Jordan]

Trool ? not my worst mistake ever.. (Can I pretend it means a tool one drools over before buying? :) )


Do tool typos induce drool in a troop of trolls?

My Lovely Bride said her worst tool purchase was a garlic rocker which she said was useless. I can guess, but I have no real idea of what that is.

JtrJK

[Nick Decker]

In the Craftsman vein, I'll throw in their 10" sliding miter saw. The first couple of inches of the cut were usually square, beyond that a complete crap shoot. Oh, and the included clamp? It didn't.

[Brad Barnhart]

I think one of the worst tools I ever bought was a master mechanic scroll saw. My bride decided she wanted a saw of her own, but all three of my others were to big & "scary" she said. So I went downtown & bought that one. All it uses is pin blades, air tube is connected to the hold down foot, & doesn't move enough air to keep the cut line clean. Tension setting is a joke. Will not keep tension on the blade. Ain't good for nothing but a boat anchor!!

[Phillip Gregory]

Worst tool I bought was a newer Delta 8" variable speed bench grinder. I expected a serviceable but not stupendous unit based on its price, which was about twice what you'd pay for a Harbor Freight unit. It shook like crazy with a bunch of axial runout particularly on the RH spindle. I eventually tracked it down to the step on the arbor where the cheap inner dimpled sheet steel arbor washer located itself was machined improperly so the wheel did some serious shimmying. The other spindle was not quite as bad but close. Replacing the wheels and trying to deburr the spindle didn't help much. I ended up getting a used Baldor pedestal grinder to replace it and that was certainly one of my better buys.

[Randy Heinemann]

Not the worst tool I ever bought . . . Leigh FMT jig. It is a very high quality, accurate tool which does what it is supposed to, but I found that, because of setup and the fact that I almost never mass produce mortise and tenon joints, I just never got it out and used it. I finally sold it this year, many years after I bought it, like new, to someone who seems like he will actually use it. I find that, for the most, part my bad tool purchases have fallen into this category - high quality tools that I end up not using enough to make them worthwhile. Fortunately, at this point in my life, I'm a little smarter about what I buy.

[Thomas Pender]

My nomination for worst tool would be the Leigh FMT jig. I do not agree it does what it is supposed to do very well. I would rather use a hollow chisel mortiser and a tenon jig and take much longer, which I did. (I accept this nomination may be unique to me.)

[Martin Wasner]

Powermatic shapers
A Powermatic tablesaw
Accuset nail guns
DeWalt drill (pre impacts and Li-ion batteries)
A dumpster full of Makita sanders
Steff 4 wheel feeders (should've bought the DC comatic ones)
Every single insert head I bought before getting Dimension in Tooling heads
Powermatic 15s planer
FS Tool dado heads. (They work well in solid, terrible in ply)
The cheap Porter Cable trim routers.
The cheap Bosch trim routers.
Every single stud finder I've ever bought.
Wooden Stanley level.
Stabila laser level (should've gotten a PLS)
Delta 14" bandsaw, what a lump
Delta lathe, should've never tried making money on a lathe...

I've made some less than stellar purchases.

[Frederick Skelly]

I've made some less than stellar purchases.

Geez Martin - it sounds like you've made several dumpsters full of 'em. :D :D :D

[Martin Wasner]

Geez Martin - it sounds like you've made several dumpsters full of 'em. :D :D :D


Live and learn. Sometimes you can't afford better, and sometimes you don't know any better. I'm guilty of both many many times

[Warren Lake]

have to agree on the stanley stuff last four or five things I told myself never again with that name on it, complained to them and the only thing worse than their stuff was their service, same time have a few of their tools from the past and no issues american made stuff. Last thing I got Lee Valley said we have never had any complaints before, keep it and we will send your money back, I ended up driving the product to the store and the guy just looked me you didnt have to, I said I dont want their stuff in my shop.

[Frederick Skelly]

Live and learn. Sometimes you can't afford better, and sometimes you don't know any better. I'm guilty of both many many times

Me too, unfortunately.....

[Justin Ludwig]

Me too, unfortunately.....
+2

3hp Griz Shaper - great boat anchor and I sent it back
Shop Fox Drill Press
Kreg Router table's Fence

Customer Support from Safety Speed regarding a 15yr old panel saw (both American and Euro branches) I have 40+ shop hrs learning to set up a 2002 ES5 properly. I hate being ignorant on equipment, but I had to learn the good ol' fashioned way. It now cuts to .002 precision and I have the gray hairs to prove it.

Everything else I have I make work.

[Dan Friedrichs]

Every single stud finder I've ever bought.

Buy this.
http://franklinsensors.com/product-details/prosensor-710/
You will like it :)

[Charles Taylor]

My first HVLP sprayer was an inexpensive conversion touch-up gun I bought last winter from that humongous online retail site after seeing a positive review of it here. The Creeker who recommended it is clearly happy with his, but at a selling price of about $35, there have to be some lemons, and mine was. It never saw a real project. I replaced it almost immediately with a full-size conversion sprayer from Homestead.

[rudy de haas]

Powermatic shapers
A Powermatic tablesaw
Powermatic 15s planer

I've made some less than stellar purchases.

Umm, I suspect you'll get some argument from the local powermatic fans - there seem to be a lot of them here although, personally, I think it's largely because the paint subconsciously influences everyone who's had the pleasure of getting real mustard on a real hot dog at a ball game.. :)

[Martin Wasner]

Inadequate for commercial use is the best way to sum it up. Those pieces have been replaced with SAC, SCMi, Format4, Northfield and Tannewitz. ;)

[Martin Wasner]

To be fair, I still have a 6" Grizzlymatic jointer, and a mid 90's 66 that is fairly smooth, but neither are workhorses and live pretty easy lives.

[Brandon Speaks]

Harbor freight scroll saw was pretty bad, I knew it was a gamble going in though. Bosch bench top router table, that one might be my fault not learning to use it right.

[Jerome Stanek]

Mine was a Wagner airless sprayer never could get it to produce a nice spray drips and splatters.

[Justin Ludwig]

Buy this.
http://franklinsensors.com/product-details/prosensor-710/
You will like it :)

Yep. Best stud finder I've ever owned. It's been dropped off of many o' ladders - stick the 9V battery back in, sacrifice a chicken and it keeps working.

[glenn bradley]

I have been very lucky. Early on I used forums like this to get actual owners input and opinions. Still, despite many warnings I bought a 6" benchtop jointer . . . I was going to be the exception that proved the rule, right? Wrong!

[Nick Decker]

I have been very lucky. Early on I used forums like this to get actual owners input and opinions. Still, despite many warnings I bought a 6" benchtop jointer . . . I was going to be the exception that proved the rule, right? Wrong!

Sounds like me, and there are many of us.

[paul cottingham]

I agree. Replaced it with a mortiser and a handsaw.

Oops, while trying to fix it, i deleted it! I was referring to the FMT. I replaced it with a tennon saw, and a mortiser.

[Jim Morgan]

I agree. Replaced it with a mortiser and a handsaw.

Agree with whom? Replaced what?