Everybody has at least one tool they thought would be a lifesaver, yet it sits on the shelf mocking you year after year...
>>2865174Because I know everybody wants to hear my opinion…First, let’s talk about the compound action pliers that were all over the place a couple years ago, seems like a good idea like bolt cutters. However, every single pair has more resistance which means the added leverage is cut down slightly already. And then you need to open your grip much wider for a given jaw opening, so especially on the cutter when you want to chop something large, it’s hard to get a real good grip when your hand is open so much wider than the optimal grip.The double x pliers, meh. I grab my Knipex long guys, the double X ones are heavy and larger and awkward to use in the tightest spots where you would want them to excel. Go to the medical supply store for stuff that will fit in tight spots.And then there’s the knockoff Raptor pliers and the Channies, there’s a real specific size of fastener that fit well in those jaws, and you’re better off trying not to mangle those 1/2”-5/8” nuts in the first place. I’m of the opinion that most of these pliers are unnecessary if you get normal pliers with properly heat treated steels. If you get quality cutters, long nose pliers, or Cobra type pliers with good steel that are sharp, then the goofy designs and double pivots don’t add anything.
>>2865174>YOUR MOST DISAPPOINTING TOOLMy penis
>>2865174I've got the newer brushless version of that rotary tool and it's great. Used it on a couple gunsmithing projects.Honestly, I don't think I have any useless tools. If you do, you should just sell them. Taking up space is also taking up time, money, and thought. Life is better without extra things.
>most disappointingThey sell "drill press" mounts for regular corded drills for about $20, it's an awful piece of shit. You'd think you'd at least get a good angle of drilling if nothing else, but it's so flimsy that it's not even good for that.>>2865174I got the Parkside ultra-cheap version of that tool and it's great. Obviously it's pretty weak, but even ~100W is enough for a lot of stuff. Diamond bits, deburring, small sanding work, occasional grinding.
>>2865181according to my mom, me
I gave my dad a set of these and he never used them. Now I know why. It's because they're gay.
>>2865248Craftsman had some fun meme tools the last decade or two at Sears, the bullshit that wives and daughters would buy from a Father’s Day display. Especially under the Mach label.I bought the Craftsman pass-thru socket set with the universal spline sockets from one of those displays thinking it was a meme but it was like $20 so whatever if it saved my ass once. Then I realized Gearwrench had a long handle flex head ratchet that fit those sockets, and the nano sockets fit in there too, and that combination is actually super useful.
>>2865174If you consider a multitool like that useless then you're simply not doing anything interesting.I use mine all the time.>>2865180Fuck off.
>>2865174I fell for the meme.
>>2865180>>2865277Do they make those pistol grip pliers in the extended double jointed style for maximum reach? I don't own any pistol grip style pliers. Never really saw a need for them. The extended needle nose pliers with the double joints are quite handy grabbing things out of deep inaccessible spots. I also used them for picking up drip tape out of a 10 acre field that I tore out last spring. Kept me from having to bend over that last 13 inches and helped me save my back slightly. Standard trash pickers wouldn't have worked well because you actually had to grip and pull the shit out of the ground. That was a shitty job fit for illegals...
>>2865257That meme pass through spline set was purchased by apex and now sold for $25-30 under crescent. I grabbed one last year and just threw it in the junk drawer as a get out of jail free card when I need it. Used it 5-6 times now, it's proven worth the $25
>>2865350You take that back. That was one of the first tools I bought in high school and I unironically use it more now than ever before. I like using it for pilot holes. It's one less bit I have to change and I feel like I can aim better than with the DUHWALT and also it's a little fun ok? Is fun allowed?
>>2865174>YOUR MOST DISAPPOINTING TOOL
>>2865277Now that's a ''useful-once-in-a-lifetime'' tool
>>2865174My highly experienced (as am I) bro bought one and offered to give it to me since he greatly prefers his Ryobi and never uses his either because he hates it. I turned it down because if it pisses him off I've no use for it. Finding a tool neither of us want is an accomplishment. I use various Dremels, pneumatic grinders, a RotoZip with multiple collets and my two beloved 5196 Milwaukee do make a ballsy corded die grinder that's so tough I bought mine used after maintaining a fleet of them (if ya see one missing the collet and/or nut, lower your bid by what those cost plus something for your time). >>2865343Those are worth owning for any mechanic though the true reason for spline offerings is splined hardware commonly used on aircraft.This 11-amp sword of destiny is loved by pipe welders for good reasons. https://www.milwaukeetool.com/Products/5196
>>2865381>This 11-amp sword of destinyi find its little bro to be handier and easier to wield
>>2865353I keep my old Millers falls breast drill with build-on level, my braces, planes, hand hacksaw (fresh blades can cut surprisingly quickly), anvil, hammers and OA/OP torch plus of course plenty of common automotive (mostly) hand tools.All that was dirt cheap and saves me far more money than those items cost because I often buy quality used tools. Estate sales, business liquidations and similar offer great deals (so ignore FOMO).
>>2865248Those suck indeed so I cut and bend them to make special tools (and discard the open end).
>>2865382Those are nice too but our students were killing them so after those we had died off we upgraded.
I used to have an electrical buddy who used a Dremel to cut conduitYes he was very dumb
>>2865174Electric screwdriver. "eeeeeeeeee" What is this for?, a crippled person?Slip joint pliers. Half weak pliers, half bolt scratcher.Spring opened pliers. Just why?
>>2865343I don’t think it was bought by Apex. Remember that Sears era Craftsman never had a factory to make their tools, it was a brand name, so Apex was making them for Craftsman.I got them 50/50 for the spline drive on whatever dumb application and the pass-thru, and honestly the pass-thru saved me a couple times. Working on this Honda with a 2.4, the motor mount on the top passenger side has one 17mm nut on a super long stud and a deep socket won’t fit. Flex head ratcheting box end would fit, but once I got the handle at an angle where I could clear obstacles, it was so steep that there was no torque and I risked rounding the nut because the wrench head was getting crooked. The extensions for the pass-thru set will create an extra deep socket, add the long handle Gearwrench ratchet and it worked perfect.Also if you want, Home Depot sells Husky nano impact sockets now, and those actually fit in those Apex pass-thru ratchets.>>2865277I got that too with a coupon. I figure one day that tip will help me with a sensor or electrical connection in a dumb spot. The one time that $15 set of pliers saves your ass, it’s worth the price of admission.>>2865285Not that I have seen. I don’t even know how you would do it with the double joint, and they would probably be super unbalanced. The new Milwaulee extended pliers are actually quite interesting, it’s a smart design. Also if you want goofy long pliers, check out medical supply places.
>>2865174this piece of crap- marks the vinyl wherever it touches- acrylic coated siding? it will scrape the coating right offOnly used as a last resort for unhooking now. For swiping, the trimmed hook of a siding scrap works better, without damaging the siding. Also, plastic bicycle tire irons are good for swiping.
>>2865174It was cheap as shit so maybe I shouldn't complain but having a fence that's aligned with itself and not warped and also not permanently a degree off does not seem like that big of an ask, especially from a Japanese company.
>>2865363>Makes every non-political thread into some political bullshit... I wonder who is behind this post.
>>2865174All of my ryobi tools. What a fool I was
>>2865598Is Ryobi really that bad?
>>2865389That's called getting paid by the hour. A fucking pipe cutter would be faster.
>>2865650If you're just a home DIY guy who needs some tools for some random project every other month? Go for it. They're fine if you just need a decent tool for occasional use and only want one battery brand.
>>2865540someone who made the mistake of voting for him in 2016.
>>2865650No. Everybody who actually owns them says they’re plenty good for DIYers.
>>2865650Their gardening stuff is good. I bought a cheap miter saw from them that was absolute ass. It could only make crooked cuts and eventually stopped working. I went through two drills on my home renovation too
>>2865174this circumcision cutter is absolute dogshit at cutting insulation without knicking the conductor. the swivel blade wanders so the cut never lines up and butchers the wire end. bought it to do gayass thermoplastic insulated direct burial uhv aluminum feeder and had a miserable time trying not to break off strands
>>2865194this is crap from the factory, but they are really easy to fix
>>2865194There’s a useful version of this, it lets you drill straight holes into the ends of beams
>>2865363REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
>>2866033truth hurts.
>>2865174can't really think of anything, worst tools I had were super cheap screwdrivers but I didn't buy them. even really cheap crappy wrenches are good when you need a very special tool as you can grind and cut them to what you need.I have tools I don't use a lot, and tools I bought but not used yet, but no nothing comes to mind.
>>2865174My circular saw. I thought it would be god send when I got it. But I only use it like twice a year
>>2865174RotoZip 'saw'.
>>2865194you buying a cheap shitty one does not make the product as an idea bad
>>2866428If you aren't constantly cutting out utility box opening through drywall, you don't need one.
>>2866428I used to drool over those every time I went into home depot but couldn’t justify the expense since I already had a skilsaw.Glad I didn’t. Spent the dough on booze instead probably.
>>2865174>hand sanderpretty awkward to use, better to just use a belt sander
>>2866476> belt sanderI remember the first and last time I used a belt sander.I had just assembled a big entertainment-unit cabinet, but the tenons were a bit proud on the top, and the TV top piece wasn’t sitting flat.Go out, get belt sander. Load on a 60 grit belt.Press sander down on the top rails where the tenons were proud, press down hard and turn on sander. It only has one speed: full blast.Made a 1/4” belt-sander shaped divot in about a second before I realized what was happening.good times.
>>2865174I bought some shitty old ass cement mixer. It worked fine but it didn't mix well due to the shape of the barrel. I would have to add a shitload of water to the cement to get it to start mixing instead of all sticking to the side of the barrel.Eventually I ripped the motor off it and threw the rest in the bushes, where it will stay forever. I went out and bought a good metal wheelbarrow instead which I use for mixing concrete. It's faster to do by hand than with that piece of crap
>>2866455the spiral cutout tool that is commonly referred to as rotozip isn't what anon is referring to I believe. he means the actual rotozip branded zipsaw.
>>2865194Got one of these for my father-in-law's tools after he died. I've got a proper drill press so I don't even use this it's been sitting on a shelf since I got it>>2865350Years ago when I was still doing woodwork with hand tools, I got a whole bunch of bits plus a brace to use them and one of the best ones was an adjustable bit that I could make holes up to about two and a half inches in diameter. Great for drilling just one or two holes of a weird size that you don't want to go and buy a drill bit for>>2865381My brother did jewelry and used to Dremel for years until it burned out and he never replaced it. I don't know why people hold those tools and such high regard
>>2865525Cheap compound miter saws are just an exercise in frustration. I spent good money and got a dewalt.I was cutting all kinds of basalt with a diamond blade on mine to fit it for my outdoor wood fired oven. And now I'm going to use it to shape the hard centered fire brick into a dome shape by slicing off a bit on each side of the brick. A bit slow on this salt but that's the nature of it. I'm making my bearings grind though I guess I damaged them a bit with The Rock dust.
>>2865650I have one of their routers I bought it very early in my power tool journey. The first one I bought was a Makita three and a quarter inch hand planer. That tool is still going strong.The rotor on the other hand is hard to adjust, definitely underpowered even though it claims to be two and a half horsepower, call it doesn't hold very securely unless you're really careful and the locking mechanism is troublesome to use. And the on-off switch is Tiny and hard to use
>>2866488I had to do a bunch of finger joints final size for a couple of my telescope case projects. I used a Spoke shave on the smaller one, and I used a Stanley Bedrock playing adjusted very finely with a Hock extra thick plane blade in it. I've got a random orbit sander, and one of those simonizers for doing large sanding jobs. Trouble is my random orbit is suffering from age and it's working very intermittently and I suspect it needs new brushes or part of this stator is gone on the wiring
>>2866558>random orbit is suffering from age and it's working very intermittentlyFew years ago one of mine started acting up, ended up being the power switch.
>>2866558How do you tell if the brushes are dying? Ive got this vacuum in my shop, and lately when i’m using it, there is this weird smell and it sounds a bit funny.The smell is like… you know those old RC cars (and trains) that has those metal tracks, and you pick up the car when it was warm after racing it and sniff it? Like that. Kind of a oily/electronic smell.
>>2866588Open it up and see how much meat is left on the brushes. Some of the old corded tools are super easy to access, it’s like 2 slotted screw caps. That ozone smell isn’t always dying brushes, I think a lot of times it’s all sorts of old brush dust and crap in there getting stuff dirty and causing some extra sparks.
>>2866590>That ozone smell isn’t always dying brushes, I think a lot of times it’s all sorts of old brush dust and crap in there getting stuff dirty and causing some extra sparks.Sometimes it's the armature or windings that are fucked causing a lot of extra arcing and sparking making that ozone smell.
>>2866602This too happened to me on a dremel, dead spots on the motor and it was sparking like a bitch as it jumped between good spots and spots
>>2865540>>2866033your nose is showing
>>2866550Portable presses like >>2865989 are fantastic for a lot of stuff where bringing the work to a drill press is impractical.
>>2865650I have ryobi wacker, trimmer, drill, jigsaw, a fucking air inflator...I just keep buying them when i need a cheap tool that i don't use constantly, and I keep thinking one day I'll get tired of them and replace them with better stuff, but they never break. My drill is about 15 years old and I use it monthly.
Automatic spark-plug gapping tool. You would set the gap, insert the plug and squeeze the handle. Supposedly a perfect gap, every time. I don't think they even make it, anymore. Biggest fucking waste of money, ever.
>>2865650Some is really decent and some is really that bad.
>>2867014This. People who actually own them have no issue with the stuff.>>2867051I can’t remember the last time I bought a spark plug that wasn’t gapped just fine from the factory. I think gapping plugs is a boomer thing like filling up batteries with distilled water, it’s totally unnecessary in 99% of situations today.
>>2866681If I need to bring a homemaker to a part then it's the portable drill I've never needed one of these presses.
>>2867074>I can’t remember the last time I bought a spark plug that wasn’t gapped just fine from the factory. I think gapping plugs is a boomer thing like filling up batteries with distilled water, it’s totally unnecessary in 99% of situations today.You still check em though right?
>>2867051Sounds like the perfect tool twice a decade
This. Not because it doesn't work. Not because it is cheap ancient awkward to operate. Not because the bits are Chineseium.But because the transparent base it has that is used to hold the attachments, has a huge plastic nib that sticks out into the cylinder that you put the router into and bottoms out a good fucking 8mm from surface flush. I'm losing so much depth of cut with this stupid design.
>>2865174
>>2867386Just nut up and buy the DeWalt or Bosch, don't go Amazon bargain hunting on a key tool like this. I personally prefer the way the DeWalt adjusts.
>>2867371…and I feel like I wasted my time every single time I check the gap on new plugs.>>2867386>>2867402That’s actually a tool I was tempted to go cheap on, just because it’s such a basic one that it looks like they could all be Makita knockoffs and the design has been the same forever.I ended up going Kobalt for my big router with table and the smaller palm router. I don’t really have Kobalt anything besides those, but in both situations I was thinking about Bosch because their router is super popular, never pulled the trigger, and then one day looking at the Bosch again, one of the Kobalts went on sale for so cheap that I couldn’t pass up on it.As a non-woodworker who builds a random wood project maybe 2-3 times a year, I figured Kobalt would be good enough since they’re generally solid tools. They have worked good so far and both the big router and table and the palm router ended up being about the price of a no-name Amazon brand when they went on sale for such a low price.
>>2865174Bosch IXO Bought it on sale for 20€ but it has no torque so you have to tighten everything by hand.Bought a Metabo 12v Powermaxx BS set for 50€ and it has actual power, adjustable torq, and the battery lasts way longer.The IXO was a mistake. Can't even unscrew secured bolts.On that note:Inbus is the better Locktite.Same performance for half the price
>>2867408I actually splurged for a Bosch router after killing one old as hell router and having issues with another loosening up and self adjusting it's depth on me during a project. Bought it after that particular project was done, and haven't used it once since! Lol. So goes life. I'm set up for the next time I need a damn router though! T. Not a wood-worker.
>>2867632>Inbus is the better Locktite.>Not using Locttlf... ISHYGDDT
>>2865174The only disappoint thing in this kind of tool is how horrible the cutting disks are. You look at them and they already break in half. And it is not a simple matter of having sideways pressure during the cut either, because they break by falling on the floor.I bought a more expensive set and I am waiting to test it out and I hope this time it doesn't break by a simple wind passing through it.
>>2867642ching chong ping pong ripoff loctite has been working fine for me. ive put it in $25k cat engine rebuilds and never thought twice about it
>>2867738I do a bit better with name brand accessories. Wait for Dremel to go on clearance and stock up, or Walmart had the Hart brand on clearance at some stores for super cheap. The tend to run better than the Amazon Chinesium special 1000pc sets if you use them correctly. Sanding and grinding bits are the same, generic Chinese consumables are the worst,
i bought a 12v dewalt hammer drill because i just assumed it could hammer without drilling, i was looking forward to chipping off some mortar from a stack of old bricks i havei even bought a set of chisels off amazon in anticipation, so now I guess I either use my large corded SDS or I use it on hammer drill mode but with a typical jackhammer bit on it and just pretend I dont see it rotateit came with two 12v batteries for less than the cost of said batteries alone so its not a complete loss
>>2867744Seriously its been working fine for me too. I honestly bought the Locttlf stuff off of banggood many years ago and been using it since. Crazy how expensive name brand Loctite is!
>>2867804Tons of the smaller SDS-Plus type drills don’t have a hammer only mode. I’d assume a 12V barely has any more hammering force than a typical 18V hammer drill/driver. If you go big like SDS-Max, then you should have a little more force for the hammer only.
>>2865174Sawsall, used it for demo, but a circular saw an oscillating multi tool and a hack saw are always closer at hand the sawsall is a sledgehammer in my tool belt big and cumbersome.
>>2867804You kids.
>>2867873i have rsi/tendonitis from working with my hands my whole life and they go numb if i use them too much
>>2867956same. didn't take my whole life to get there tho
>>2867985>>2867956Kek, go talk to this anon>>2866807>>2866754
>>2865350Is that an analog dilator?
>>2867999>34 >gaming since 4 years old>every job since 18 has been hard on hands/wrists>completely absolutely fucked>wake up in morning and arms numb>hold hands above chest>arms numb>hold them out to side>arms numb>rest them on desk>arms numb>>2867985no matter what age you got rsi it took your whole life at that point
>>2865744Just use a knife, utility knife with disposable blades. You score the circumference at whatever length, and then either bend the end of the cable until the insulation parts and you slide it off, or you add one more score perpendicular to the first out to the cut end of the cable and peel it off.
>>2867744> loctite for circular partsWait until you look at the msds and test them and realize the 100 different loctites are all basically the exact same thing.
>>2868161Red, blue, and sleeve retainer are the 3 I keep on hand. I heard you can use the sleeve retainer as a super duper loctite for threaded fasteners that is even harder to disassemble than red loctite. Dunno how true that is, but i have put it on a few things i really didn't want to come apart again.
>>2868161yeah they have the same base compositions, and have slightly different proportions to tune the strength, what is your point anon? bc they clearly behave different
>>2865650No but actually yes
>>2865363Unironically go outside and touch grass, tranny.
>>2868292
>>2865174A few years ago I bought a pretty nice hardwood flooring cleat nailer for a job and thought I would get plenty of use out of it, but it seems like any time I install flooring these days it's all just laminate and lvp garbage. Haven't touched it since that one job. Would have been way better off just buying a fucking laminate cutter (still probably going to)
>>2865989I used one of these (someone else's) to drill holes to mount a solid wood mantle to a bracket and it seemed to work well enough, it just seems like a lot of extra work for a slightly straighter hole
>>2865181don't worry, I'm 6'5" with blonde hair, blue eyes, 250lb of strong with 11in long, and thicker than half my exes wrists. It's no better for methe problem isn't you, it's womennow I'm just gym, motorcycle, computer games.
>>2868361>6'5" with blonde hair, blue eyes, 250lb of strong with 11in long, and thicker than half my exes wrists.Way more gay dudes will be into you than women. A lot of women won't even try to take that.
>>2865744Skill issue. I used one of these professionally for years to strip large and fucking massive cables. Adjust the cutter for your insulation, pull the cable tight to keep it from twisting with the tool and dont be retarded.
>>2868307the point of those are often getting angled holes, not so much straight ones
>>2867384Not even. Didn't work, worth a shit. I could consistently hand-gap 8 cylinders, just as well and almost as fast.
>>2869046I stopped gapping plugs in 1986.
>>2865363
>>2865194get a wabeco but then it costs as much as a cheap drill press. and you need a good corded drill with small runnout not the old one you used to mix bags of mortar.
>>2869538it looks sturdy as hell, and the kind of shit i would integrate in an asembly line, not the kind you see in a home /diy/ but sure it would be useful
>>2869538But then why not buy the cheap drill press in the first place?
>>2871412while not as convenient, you cannot deny that is way more versatile.
>>2871411you could use it to mass produce some stuff really well if you build the right jigg.you can also buy a 2 axis milling table or really long columns for it.
>>2871523yeah the more i look into it the more it looks like it could be really useful in a small manufacturing workshop
Battery vacuum. Thought it would save lots of time during maintenance at a hotel but it hadnt much suction.I did find a use for it sucking bugs out of upturned chandelier shades.
>>2866428I used mine and a CNC spindle
>>2871538The one I've got is great when I'm doing stuff I do at work, like hanging TVs and putting holes in tables and cabinets for conference calling systems.
>>2871646the cheap home appliance kind ones are really shit
>>2871646The one i got was similar to pic rel. but about 8-10 years ago. I wanted a cheap one that i wouldnt mind killing with concrete dust because standard walls are RCB so to put up even a picture frame its usually a hammer drill and concrete screws or wall plugs and screws
>>2873148Yeah, that's one's a proper HEPA wet/dry that also works great with my Bosch random orbit sander. Don't even need a different adapter for it.
>>2873166how much the battery last?
>>2873248Haven't had it drop more than a bar even with multi-stage sanding of a decent sized 30" walnut slab. The kit comes with a 4AH XR battery.
