Tools that are junk, IMO

[Cameron Wood]

- 4 in one screwdrivers. Probably 1/2 of use of screwdrivers is prying, wedging, poking, etc., and these fail miserably at this. Add the bits getting stuck and lost- junk.

- Quick grip clamps. Almost every one I have used did not hold, and at best had miserable clamping pressure. A scam.

- Random orbit sanders. Expensive paper that comes off and spins across the room, exposing the even more expensive backing pad to wear and worse grief.

- Contour gauge. Nothing to reference it against makes this worthless.

- Electronic stud finder. Maybe newer ones are better, but the older ones were the most un-ergonomic tool ever.

- Straight cutting aviator snips. No point at all.

- Bent claw hammer. Less likely to gouge your face if you're a klutz, that's about it.

- Pocket screws. Not so much junk, as just wrong. An insult to woodworking.

<rant

[John Kananis]

4 in 1 screwdriver - totally agree

Quick grip clamps - these are good for a quick hold (an extra hand) but not glue ups so mostly agree

Random orbit sander - sorry, I like this one

Contour gauge - meh

Stud finder - try the Franklin sensors device, fathoms better than most

Straight aviator snips...lol

Bent claw hammer - I guess, never thought about this before

Pocket screws - these get a bad rep because of how and when they're used but they used pocket holes always in woodworking, just not with a commercial jig (attaching table tops for instance). Going off memory, which could be skewed but they even used them in ancient Egypt. All that said, I don't use them in fine work, mostly for shop stuff.

- 4 in one screwdrivers. Probably 1/2 of use of screwdrivers is prying, wedging, poking, etc., and these fail miserably at this. Add the bits getting stuck and lost- junk.

- Quick grip clamps. Almost every one I have used did not hold, and at best had miserable clamping pressure. A scam.

- Random orbit sanders. Expensive paper that comes off and spins across the room, exposing the even more expensive backing pad to wear and worse grief.

- Contour gauge. Nothing to reference it against makes this worthless.

- Electronic stud finder. Maybe newer ones are better, but the older ones were the most un-ergonomic tool ever.

- Straight cutting aviator snips. No point at all.

- Bent claw hammer. Less likely to gouge your face if you're a klutz, that's about it.

- Pocket screws. Not so much junk, as just wrong. An insult to woodworking.

<rant

[Jerome Stanek]

- 4 in one screwdrivers. Probably 1/2 of use of screwdrivers is prying, wedging, poking, etc., and these fail miserably at this. Add the bits getting stuck and lost- junk.

- Quick grip clamps. Almost every one I have used did not hold, and at best had miserable clamping pressure. A scam.

- Random orbit sanders. Expensive paper that comes off and spins across the room, exposing the even more expensive backing pad to wear and worse grief.

- Contour gauge. Nothing to reference it against makes this worthless.

- Electronic stud finder. Maybe newer ones are better, but the older ones were the most un-ergonomic tool ever.

- Straight cutting aviator snips. No point at all.

- Bent claw hammer. Less likely to gouge your face if you're a klutz, that's about it.

- Pocket screws. Not so much junk, as just wrong. An insult to woodworking.

<rant

4 in 1 screw driver I have a Wright tool one that is my go to

quick grip clamps I have a set that looks like a cualking gun that works great

Random orbit sander I love those if you get a good one with quality paper

Contour gauge don't use

Electric stud finder I have a good one that I have used for 30 years

Straight cut aviator snips I used all the time installing ceilings best tool for cutting grid

bent claw hammer I don't care for

Pocket screws don't use

[Curt Harms]

- 4 in one screwdrivers. Probably 1/2 of use of screwdrivers is prying, wedging, poking, etc., and these fail miserably at this. Add the bits getting stuck and lost- junk.

A small pry bar works pretty well for prying and wedging - maybe better than a screw driver. Particularly if screw drivers I have close to hand are square drive/Robertson, phillips or Torx. Correct tool for the job.

- Quick grip clamps. Almost every one I have used did not hold, and at best had miserable clamping pressure. A scam.

Agree with John, a 3rd (or 4th) hand. Not all clamping jobs require lots of pressure like PVA.

- Random orbit sanders. Expensive paper that comes off and spins across the room, exposing the even more expensive backing pad to wear and worse grief.

I don't recall a random orbit sander throwing a sanding disk unless the pad was well past due for replacement.

[mike calabrese]

Wow I can see this topic really taking off.
My turn on the runway.......
IMHO just about any tool that is marketed as a tool that can do several jobs is junk. Tools are made to address a specific function. When that focus is blurred so is the effectiveness of the tool. I could go on and on but pictures are worth a thousand words .............
On the other hand not all multi tools are really junk one example I would offer is a true swiss army knife , a true brand letherman . Even then each individual feature is somewhat compromised in size or broad reach of function.
Anyway off to Harbor Freight to get some of those multi tool time and money savers
calabrese55

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[Lee Schierer]

- 4 in one screwdrivers. I have a few in strategic locations such as the trunk of my car, travel trailer and boat, where I don't have space for a full set of screw drivers.

- Quick grip clamps. I use these for quick holds, never for clue ups

- Random orbit sanders. My ROS uses adhesive backed paper. Never had a disk go flying across the room in 20+ years

- Contour gauge. I think I have used mine 3-4 times. Fortunately I didn't pay much for it.

- Electronic stud finder. I agree, but they do get the job done. I also use rare earth magnets.

- Straight cutting aviator snips. No opinion, I don't own any.

- Bent claw hammer. The primary purpose is to drive nails, not pull them. I have several of each type.

- Pocket screws. As noted above pocket hole screws have been used for centuries, even in fine furniture. The new jigs make it easy. I use mine for certain things. I even built a cabinet for an artist that was entirely assembled with pocket hole screws, no glue as it had to be able to be disassembled.
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[Tom M King]

I forget the tools on the list, but I have a collection under about 45 feet of water. They were in the category of only being good for seeing how far you could throw them.

[Jim Becker]

My 4 in 1 screwdriver has been with me for over 30 years and there have been zero issues with it.

[Rob Luter]

I have several 4 in one drivers. I keep a different bit in each so it's like having a set. I like that the bits are gunsmith style and hardened. I also like the fact that a Creeker local to me turned the handles on three of them.

[Bradley Gray]

I have quality versions of all of these.

[Jared Sankovich]

4 in 1... stop using it as a pry bar/chisel. They work great when you use them as intended, sort of like everything else on your list of bad tools.

[Phillip Mitchell]

Easy fix here is to buy better tools. I don't have or use everything on the list but the ones I do have (4 in 1, quick clamps, ROS) do not give me any problems like you're describing.

This also calls to mind something my mentor used to say to me early on that stuck with me.

"You only need to be 10% smarter than the tool you're using."

[Darrell Bade]

Most of Rocklers gadgets with a solution to a problem that doesn't really exist.

[Bruce Mack]

You call that a clamp? This is a clamp I have used a couple on my bench to secure a panel for flattening. Four of these with MDF on two heavy sawhorses make a workbench.

[Bill Dufour]

A "bent claw" hammer is actually a claw hammer. Not much choice in the stores. They are designed to pull nails. Work pretty well for that once the nail head is above the surface.
I think what you mean by claw hammer is actually a rip hammer. Several years ago I was looking for a claw hammer and Horrible fright had none at all but at least 5-6 types of rip hammers in stock. Similar at other big box stores.
The rip hammer is better balanced for driving nails with most of the weight in line with the hammer face. I think it is also supposed to be used as a rough hatchet for splitting boards down to fit.
Bill D