Most of the tools we buy today are all manufactured in China, and just imported, assembled, local logo slapped, and marked up for 3 x's the price. What are some tools or gadgets you've bought from Chinese websites that turned out better than expected for your DIY projects and hobbies?Post pics or screenshots of the item you bought and the price and whether it was good or a ripoff.Optional: What else were you able to afford for your DIY because of the money you saved by buying from China? Can be more Chinese tools or something western made.Previous: >>2860719
>>2869276That pic with all the router bits and saw and such scares me. Not sure if I’m the only one, but when it comes to any tool that requires proper metallurgy to work well, I don’t know if I have ever gotten a single Chinesium or generic branded one that wasn’t a huge disappointment that sent me going back to buy at least a mid range name brand.Like picrel, a pocket hole jig where the name brand is Kreg and seems kinda ridiculously priced when you think it’s nothing but a plastic block and a drill bit. So I get everything lined up and such, use the provided WorkPro special drill bit, and even new out of the box it’s horrible and chews up the wood and needs extra pressure which potentially moves the whole block and makes the pocket hole crooked. So I get a Kreg bit to make it work right, and all of the Kreg stuff is marked and easy to understand. And the Workpro leaves red flakes of plastic behind while the Kreg guide isn’t chewed up at all. The Workpro driver but is also rusting while the Kreg is fine.
>>2869342Also these plugs are the most god awful plastic ever. If I’m trying to drill pocket holes for a clean wood project, there’s no possible way to use those plugs without them sticking out like a sore thumb. They’re a waste of space.
I've bought literal thousands of things from Aliexpress. Most things are appropriate for the price you pay, ie. $1 phone chargers are garbage that don't perform well, have a fake ampmeter LCD that doesn't display anything, and can set your house on fire or shock you. $1 router bits are inaccurate and bearings on them are prone to failing. Very cheap drill bits are cheese grade steel. Cheap carbide endmills are usually relatively soft, but it's still carbide, it still mills stainless and hardened, and you can buy higher hardness stuff if that's what you want. Carbide inserts for tooling (mostly for lathe) and the holders are usually fine. Precision tools (micrometers, gauges) are decent for the money. Calipers are tricky, some of the midrange calipers have awful electronics that drain a battery in one or two months, others last at least a year.Other electronics, got some VESC high-end knockoff brushless drivers, two 2.4G RC controllers, tons of ESP32's, two large 200A lithium BMS from JK, stepper motors, smart closed loop steppers, 3D printer driver boards, large brushless motors, various HTD belts and pulleys, 3 VFDs for induction motors. Hundred various sensors and shit for various project, notably parts for an auto irrigation system with solenoids.Hand tools - lots of crimping tools, notably IWISS makes good ones; some wire strippers. Soldering irons, mostly just cheapo 900M knockoffs. Various knockoff WAGO connectors, shitty ferrules and terminals.Bigger tools, I got a $300 edge banding machine that works okay, a $25 18V Makita mini chainsaw that I already shilled in other threads that has developed a minor-medium issue with eating up the blade guide but it's still decently usable despite that.Also bought a $5000 1-ton excavator this year for maximum chink, it's doing okay at ~30 hours.
>>2869342What are those blue star bits? I've never seen them like that.
>>2869276Vevor "foundry" (actually a furnace) was a weird purchase. Mine didn't include the nozzle for the burner, had to DIY one up. Thankfully, the design is a modified version of one a Youtuber made a few years ago. It also didn't include the refractory cement I could swear it was supposed to come with.Functions okay-ish after tinkering.Iwiss ferule crimper was a worthwhile purchase.Bought a 3018 CNC with a small handful of the upgrades they have included. Waste of money, could have spent it on purchasing the parts I would need to make an actual worthwhile CNC from scratch - mainboard suffers from brownouts that cause the stepper motors to loose steps. Z axis too wobbly, etc. I 've gutted the thing, dumped money into it, and now it is almost barely functional.First motor controller for the new spindle for said project exploded - looks like they patched a trace on the back of the board poorly and thats where it failed. Have a newer, slightly nicer looking controller (for more money), still looks sketchy with untrimmed component leads nearly contacting the aluminum shell.RDGG is the only manufacturer I trust for mechanical components, everyone else sends rusty linear rails/rods/etc, or bent ballscrews.Got a Flashforge 5M from Ali for cheaper than list price, thing works fine (for the price point).Lots of cheapo taps, they always seem to be oversized, not terrible with a little locktite.No matter who I buy screws from on there, they always end up being a mm shorter than advertised. I just snag things from Bolt Depot now.
>>2869575Which blue star bits? There’s the little Kreg “T” thing which is just a hex key to tighten the collar on the drill bit. The Kreg and the knockoff use a long #2 square driver for the screws>>2869459I love me some Chinese circuit boards that get like 200C on some chip and you wouldn’t have the slightest clue if you built it into a project and didn’t burn yourself on it.
>>2869276New general? Kinda exciting. Here's my two cents on soldering tools:I've had a T12 station for 7 years now and it's been excellent. This year the P-channel MOSFET died short and cooked the tip up above 500C, since it started glowing, but I swapped the PFET out with a through-hole PFET screwed to the case with wires running to the board, and it works a treat again. The roasted tip also still works, somehow. And the knockoff tips have dropped in price over the last 5 years to the point they're like $2 each instead of $10. Even though they're obviously knockoffs, I've never had a problem with them losing their plating or no longer wetting solder, at least nothing that some tip-tinner paste wouldn't solve. I have a handpiece where the tips just push right in, which is nice and convenient for hot-swapping between THT and SMT tips (D24 and D12 respectively), but it does mean if you're putting force on your tip it can rotate. The D52 is great for heavy loads like SMT MOSFETs. The internal PSU is a bit sketchy though, so I'd recommend using one with an external PSU instead. I added an external DC jack to mine anyhow, in case I need to run it off a battery.I bought a T12 controller to make a T245 soldering station with (>>2869123), which worked great too. Though some T12 controllers have a few design issues, like using a single small linear regulator that has heating issues, or using a small power FET that isn't really rated for 8A, or using an MCU that can't take custom firmware.I also have a Yihua 929D desoldering iron, which is excellent for its price, though I modified it to actually have a ground connection to the tip (via a 1MΩ resistor).I hear good things about the TS101, but haven't tried it since I'm not fond of the higher tip-to-grip distance compared to a T12. I'm considering buying desoldering tweezers, and some of those T215-tip battery irons look interesting.Don't trust noname chinese soldering consumables.
>>2869653here's a pic of the inside of the T12 station, for no good reason. Looks like a V2.1S board.
>>2869276Anyone get multitools on aliexpress? Looking to get one on 11/11
>>2869342>WorkProI got an auto wire stripper from them that cost basically nothing and I was surprised by the quality and features. I actually like it more than the Knipex one.
link to current chink shit general in /g/, there are coupons and the sales calendar there >>>/g/103141286
Speaking of T12 stations, I've had a Quecoo T12-956 for a while now, and I'm perfectly happy with it, even though it's a theretically simplified version with an STC chip instead of an STM32 one.The PSU already came with all the grounding and section separations done properly, so no issues there.I especially love how cheap the chink tips for it are.Anyway I will also ask here, anyone had hands on one of these ESR meters? >>2869982
11:11 sale is coming up whats in you're cart
I bought some dewalt knockoffsratchet works it doesn't have a lot of torque to break away bolts but you can still break the bolt loose manually and zip it outits not brushlessgrinder works I haven't used it yet though so I don't know how easy it gets overloaded or how much torque it hasIts brushless thoughNeither have circuit protection so they can over drain your batteries and break them so you need to be careful
>>2870354Ordered the ESR meter, might let you know how it does, of course assuming I even remember by the time it arrives.
Fuck I paid $30 for the Lisle set of these a couple months agoThey are pretty good for $30 definitely worth it for $8 if you work on cars https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256807300564189.htmlhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0SDywH5sS6I
Probably not the right thread but I bought a bunch of guitar tools as backup from aliexpress and they work just as well as the ones I buy in the states.
>>2870527I just got the Lisle ones a couple weeks ago. It’s one of those new popular patented tools where the Chinese knockoffs pop up on Amazon for cheap and the posting gets taken down before they have more than 5 reviews, so I passed on a sketchy Chinesium listing.Was disappointed in how sloppy the joint on the Lisle is. Not that it really matters for that application, but the Lisle tools aren’t cheap and I was expecting a bit more from a company that I thought still did some manufacturing in the US. The little metal flat pry bars and the diamond grit contact cleaning tweezers are two more tools that pop up on Amazon for a couple days before getting taken down for a patent copyright thing, and I’ve been tempted to get the cheap pry tool but if there’s no reviews on the post and it shows up as some POS made of Zamac, it’s useless.
>>2870600Those Lisle's are lovingly crafted by master toolmakers in Vietnam.
>>2870602At least the bits on the front line up pretty well. Maybe I need to stop buying good pliers, I’m getting too spoiled.Also if it is Vietnam, I think that’s like a Taiwan, not nearly as bad as mainland China. Trying to think of COO’s, the budget Fujiya pliers I got were from Vietnam I believe, and I think Wiha pliers are from there, plus something else I got, and it seems to be some better brands and decent quality stuff I have gotten from there. Not as nice as the Germany or Japan pliers, but they’re finished properly and line up and all that. You can tell when the machining is 300% past it’s recommended replacement.
>>2869653HiI also have a T12 station. Bought three years ago.The OLED screen has died. I now solder blind.Thanks for reading my email.
>>2870600They have the angled ones on ali for $8 I had searched for knock offs but didn't see any before I bought the Lisle it must be a recent thing
>>2870399Bought LED headlamp and cooking utensils as Christmas gifts, thermal pants for myself. Nothing I was especially looking for this time, the discounts aren't great, either.
A lot of those T12 stations aren't properly grounded make sure to check yours and fix it if its notthere are tutorials on youtube
>>2869653>TS101not worth it anymore pinecil is the current meme
>>2870604To not get into it too much, there's one major producer of hand-tools in Vietnam that owns several factories and produces tools for a fat heaping load of companies. Lisle, Wiha, Fujiya, Engineer, Tsunoda, Channellock, Irwin, Matco, GearWrench, Vampire, Crescent, Craftsman, Facom, Sunex, Proto, General, AmPro, the list goes on I'm sure. Wiha isn't actually a tool manufacturer at all, which I think is funny. They're a fabless tool company, 100% of their manufacturing is done contractually, with most of their German tools made by Orbis. Orbis produces fabulous tools, and many of the best German handtools you've ever touched were secretly made by them. Wiha's Schonach location is the one you see in photos usually, doesn't actually produce new tools, they package/repackage/label imports. Monchwiler and Werkzeuge are both are owned by Wiha, but they're both filled with Orbis machines, engineers, and designs. Kunststoffwerk is just a Swiss producer of plastics that Wiha bought to shit out rulers and bubble levels. Their USA factory is also a plastics producer, they "make" many of their tools by inserting German/Polish/Vietnamese parts into plastic handles. The Polish shit is the most egregious though because there's nothing inherently wrong with Polish tools, Wiha chose to be shitty in Poland. It's their personal experiment in using Poland as Germany's Mexico, offering shit pay, milking old beat to shit equipment, and using the cheapest materials they can get their hands on. They wanted to cut costs and increase profit margins on handtools while maintaining the Made-in-Europe status, and they did, which is how we got those new chippy cracky snappy Hex Keys and why their precision drivers don't have that "surgical precision" grind anymore.
>>2870679Basically the same thing, but the Pinecil supports more power delivery standards, and is a lot cheaper if you’re buying within America. If you’re not, shipping is quite expensive.Also the iFixIt iron is the newer meme.
>>2870810Sooo Wiha owns the factory in Germany where Wiha tools are produced, but they don’t really produce their own tools?Don’t get me wrong, a lot of the outsourced Wiha stuff has been lame, but the Orbis thing makes no sense. Orbis is like a subset of Knipex that has a couple pairs of specialty pliers under that name, so how do you come to the statement that Orbis, a company which doesn’t make screwdrivers, is actually manufacturing screwdrivers for a more well known and established company that owns the factory and has its damn name on the building? And a quick google search shows Wiha is quite transparent, they do all the metal work in one factory and then stick the blades in the handles and package them in a second factoryWiha def outsources the other hand tools besides screwdrivers though
>>2870864>Also the iFixIt iron is the newer meme.too expensive
>>2870930>too expensiveYes. And the lack of any kind of display on the iron itself, requiring that you plug it into its dedicated powerbank, feels unreasonably limiting. At least it defaults to 350C when you plug it into any other USB source. You could absolutely engineer a user interface that doesn't compromise ergonomics. The proprietary tips aren't brilliant either.Doesn't not make it the hot new meme for some ungodly reason.
I'm kind of surprised I can't find any cheap mini/micro mills on Ali. There are tons (of poor quality, to be fair) benchtop lathes, but no mini/micro mills? I would love to be able to snag a $300 mini mill to mod and fix up over time.
>>2870944They have the shitty cross-slide attachment for drill presses, or $300 CNC mills with tiny spindles.
Can’t remember which thread it was, but anons were talking about their Amazon brand laser levels. They’re somewhat frustrating without a tripod and the tripods can often cost more than the tool, so I was being a cheap ass and clamping the thing to a ladder.But no more! Walking down the clearance aisle of Wally World and found this tripod for $14. Even has a little carrying bag and two bubble levels on the tripod. Perfect for DIYer duty laser level work.
>>2870991Guess I could always buy the shitty drill press cross slide and build up from there.
how are chink pry bars? I'm looking for something that just won't bend or break when I take apart the paneling or lever the door, but I realize that chinesium alloys are probably the worst thing coming out of china
>>2870944Where ya at? I have a mini mill I should probably sell as I haven't used it in years. It's a Cummins brand Seig X2 clone that I already upgraded to the gas lift spring, put the belt drive upgrade on, and epoxy filled the column. Since getting it I acquired a HF knee mill (6x26 clone) and one of the large round column HF benchtop mills that I snagged at an auction for dirt cheap. Plus I have a 9x49 Lagun I got for a good price I just haven't ever hooked it up to power.
>>2871106>chinesium alloys are probably the worst thing coming out of chinaThis is the concern, especially when you start putting a lot of leverage on the thing. I sort of had the opposite with the cheap pry bars I got, the metal has been ok but the handles and strike caps aren’t secured to the bar worth a damn.For pry bars, unironically go to Walmart. They have Hyper Tough pry bars for cheap and they’re USA made and pretty damn solid. There’s a 3pk of common sizes for cheap, and larger sizes individually for real fair prices.
>>2871189>For pry bars, unironically go to Walmart.I'm Euro, so no Walmarts here, but I just found the pic-rel post-exhibition set of Roughneck Gorilla (no experience with the brand but it seems solid) utility bars for the equivalent of 7 bucks and also saw a half-price flash sale of some 20$ amazon 30'' crowbar (definitely chinesium, the brand name was CCLIFE, but all the reviews were positive, so maybe it won't be that bad), which should be even more suitable for my needs than a set of pry bars: the utility bars for taking apart paneling without breaking it and the crowbar for levering stuff
>>2871189I can vouch for hyper tough as well. Kids got me some stuff for father's day a few years back and I ended up using it a lot. Im the type to hammer on random screwdrivers etc like they were punches and pry up on shit when I'm working on old cars. Also built 2 decks and a wood 4x4 squat rack and bench with their drill bits. Not too shabby. Prob wouldn't last for a daily driver but for hobbyist/weekend warrior it's a good pickup
Received this thing today, paid $8 for it in the 3-for-whatever deal they usually have running. It's a tiny cordless rotary tool. Can take dremel attachments or smaller (<3mm). Took it apart, has a small DC motor, a 1.3Wh AA-sized lithium battery, and a control board. I fully expected it to be weak, was hoping it'd maybe have a 18650, but they never put 18650s in these small tools for some reason.It's okay for the money, I explicitly got this just for fiddling with PCB holes, grinding off tiny components, friction cutting couple mm holes in 3D prints, very low-power very small jobs.
Are there any power tools worth a damn on Aliexpress?
>>2871419You get what you pay for. I'd say that most of the mid-priced stuff is usually not going to be total junk, and the mid-priced batteries are probably not total junk (some sellers list the specific cells you are getting), but will still likely not outlive any genuine tools.
anyone seen chink mini/detail polishers that take dewalt? 12 or 24v there's a sort of full size one on amazon AU, as well as the legit full sized dewalt, but I really want a detail version like milwaukee but for dewalt
What in the fuck is this thing called? Trying to set up a data recovery business and need things like this for probing SD cards and other storage devices.
>>2871903Flying Lead needle probe.
>>2869276Totally down with this general, I been buying shit off aliexpress like I'm my boomer parents at walmart. I haven't even tried everything I've bought, but haven't spent more than $10 on any one thing. Only noticable thing was a breakout board that had some leads severely bent.Storage items is pretty foolproof and of course cheaper than the same exact thing from amazon or local big-box. Lots of variety too. Always check the store you're buying from. If they've been open 5 years and have a lot of 5star reviews and no/extremely few 1 star/negative, it's a fairly safe bet. If you're thinking you're getting an ipad for $5 you are a moron. If you're buying from a shop that opened this year and has no reviews, probably dumb but a crapshoot. Cool general though, I wish I'd taken a chance with aliexpress long ago. A lot of the same exact stuff is just priced up on amazon or local retail. >>2870352good to knowWould like to see more "I bought this and it is good" posts, as well as "this shop has done me right" postsI've seen it said you should video your box opening, something I'll probably start doing. But also I had a refund automatically happen from a seller who failed to ship in time. Weird world to this dumb midwestern anon, still figuring it out.
>>2869653>>2869655>>2870354>>2870617>>2870678>>2870679>>2870864>>2870930>>2870933Whats the deal with soldering stations? I don't do a ton of fiddly small electrical work but once in a while have to solder stuff to a circuit board or replace a component. Mainly solder electrical connections for vehicle wiring. Have used mostly pencil type plug in irons for small stuff, some bigger weller trigger type irons for some things, a butane torch at times, and a cordless milwaukee m12 soldering iron for up under dashes and tight spots on vehicles. Am I missing out on some huge thing by not having a soldering station with adjustable heat?
>>2872021For wires it doesn't matter much. For circuit boards there's much more of a risk of overheating something. The advantage of temperature control is that you can pump a lot more power into a smaller tip when you need to power through a beefy solder joint, without having to rely on natural convection to prevent it from overheating. The high power for small size makes them better able to handle small parts too, so temperature controlled irons/stations are generally well suited for a wide range of scales. Even the high-power 200W JBC T245 stations can work on 0402 SMD passives. If you wanted irons that can go up to 200W (for andersons or whatever) and down to circuit-board scale, you'd end up with like 5 irons of differing sizes, and the big ones would be less usable in tight quarters.The other advantage of a temperature controlled iron is tip life, since they don't drift too hot when left alone for a while. A lot of them even go to sleep and cool down when you leave them for too long. This is fine because a temp-controlled iron will heat up in like 5 seconds (if it uses cartridge tips at least), unlike a passively regulated iron that takes multiple minutes.Temperature controlled irons don't have to be smart and digital, you can get some with a little dial on the handle but they're not that well regulated. You can also get "PTC" irons, where the heating element reduces its power naturally as it heats up, and curie-point irons that stop conducting abruptly once the magnetic switch in their tip gets above a certain temperature. Though personally I do recommend a digital iron, especially one with cartridge tips because of how fast they heat up. I've heard stories where people get tips that just dissolve away, but I've never had that issue myself.I am >>2869653 by the way.
I’ve been using the Vevor 2418 engraver for 3 years and it’s been a pretty good experience. Not better than you’d expect from a $150 CNC, but it’s accurate, doesn’t break easily and engraves fine. For cutting its a bit under powered but they sell an upgraded spindle at $100 and then another stronger model at like $300. Basically covers the entire ‘bottom barrel price range’ but without being actually terrible
>>2872023Thank you for the well written response. I was genuinely curious and you took the time to make a very informative post. I appreciate it!
>>2872023nta but thanks. Do you have any recommendations? I'm just a hobbyist and beginning, so not into surfacemount yet, wondering if it's a waste to get something cheap and instead just invest in higher quality. But then again, being a beginner, I don't really know how to differentiate quality and crap. Also, would this be something to stay away from on aliexpress and instead go to amazon, or will it just be the same thing with increased price or something?Thanks for the informative post too, I'm so new I didn't realize cartridge tips were a thing even.
>>2872231Everybody seems to like those Yihua soldering stations. I think most of those are Hakko or Weller clones and they can use name brand Hakko tips.
>>2872288Yihua's pretty decent, actually. Have an 858D and besides Fedex breaking the fucking gun holder, it works really well and I've had no problems with it.
>>2871997>Would like to see more "I bought this and it is good" posts, as well as "this shop has done me right" poststhere are often post like that, we just are flooded with 11.11 bullshit right nowand i would say that easily half the reviews are /diy/ related, mostly /ohm/ related
>>2869276Does ali or temu have any good cheap laser levelers?
>>2872968>0.4deg slanted work surface so the poly-coated OSB drains the condensation from icy cold beverages What a genius!
Anybody can recommend me an air quality meter? Should I even buy one on aliexpress in the first place? I don't know much about them but I'd really like one for 3d printing.
>>2872974english pls
>>2873151The pic you posted must be the workbench of a genius!
>>2873151>>2873208That genius uses Bosch though, because while Chinese crap can be a great value sometimes, a genius doesn’t trust the Chinese to make accurate measuring devices or properly hardened steel.Except for multimeters, there are some OK cheap multimeters, but you better compare the readings to a known accurate meter when it’s fresh out of the box and stay way from high voltage. But if you try to save a few bucks on cheap measuring tech, you’re going start a job and lead yourself into a confusing mess if you have been trusting inaccurate readings the whole time.
>>2871106If you need something metal and heavy duty, don't get it from china
>>2870527>>2870600literally 15-20 bucks.lifetime warranty.made in US, designed in Iowa.
>>2873222Had to dig it out of the trash can to tell you you’re wrong
>>2873223fuck them then.
>>2873222>>2873223Here’s a few of their stamped pliers that are USA made from a few years ago. So they either sent the manufacturing overseas recently, or they make stamped metal and maybe some plastic stuff in the US, and forged stuff overseas.The Vietnam made ones don’t even have a Lisle logo on them, which is why maybe anon feels like he got ripped off for $30. If they’re not even branded, there’s part of me that feels like the $8 Ali ones could be the same damn thing without Lisle packaging. Or at least with how loose the joint is on these Lisle ones I got, my brain couldn’t tel the difference if the Ali one was delivered in the Lisle packaging.
>>2873213under a chinese brand or made in china in general? I bought an amazon crowbar recently >>2871203 and this thing seems indestructible, and I doubt something like that isn't made in china
>>2873271That's fine you can trust that thing with your limbs all you want.
precision measurement tools, potential death-inducing tools that depend on their metallurgy, and anything involving food-grade stuff, I'd rather not buy from China, or at least buy from a reputable brand even if made in China where they can certify, calibrate and back their product with good warranty. Everything else is generally fair game, but sometimes you do get what you pay for. Good general though, I'm learning lots.
>>2872021CAN SOMEONE PLEASE COMMENT ON ALIEXPRES SOLDERING TINis it bad quality? I cannot for the life of me solder wires like I used to do in the pastwhat is some cheap but good soldering wire to solder 2 wires togethr?
>>2873562Not aliexpress. Buy from any local electronics store, if you can, leaded, if you can't buy leaded, buy silver solder. Sn99Cu0.7Ag0.3 is pretty good from the cheapo ones.
>>2873563Okay so the problem is aliexpres solder is just ass then? Yeah but in my hardware store this shit costs like €30 for the cheapest one
>>2873565Then order online from a non-chink supplier. But silver solder will always be expensive, at least $10/100g. 100g will probably last you a long time as a hobbyist though.Aliexpress also has this stuff but it's expensive on aliexpress, too, like $70/500g.
>>2873567alright thanks
>>2873562bite the bullet and buy kester 24-6040-0027. it will last you a long time.
