I completely forgot to post one of my very favorite tools!I keep one of these in the desk drawer (living room area), one in the detached laundry room, and one in the man cave/ shop.
Quote from: lizzie on May 04, 2021, 07:29:11 PMI completely forgot to post one of my very favorite tools!I keep one of these in the desk drawer (living room area), one in the detached laundry room, and one in the man cave/ shop.Lizzie, Klien makes 3 different models of the 11-in-1. One with Torx bits (32500), one with square drive (32505) and the HVAC model with Schrader core tool (32527) as well as many replacement bits. Makes for a very nice EDC!
Channel lock pliers. I assume that is a brand name for all the blue handled pliers; the name being derived from the slip joint type pliers. We call them water pump pliers here in the south pacific.Just another piece of useless information for the Americans.
I have knipex pliers that were bought back in the late 80s that are still in perfect working order and much prefer them over channel lock brands because the knipex are hinged so that the more force applied to the fastener the tighter they get so slippage is very uncommon if they are positioned correctly to start with. I also have knipex side cutters and straight cutters that will cut coins or small screw and bolts in half with ease and never knick or dull the cutting edges. Best pliers made IMO.BD
Quote from: buldawg76 on May 06, 2021, 02:10:53 AMI have knipex pliers that were bought back in the late 80s that are still in perfect working order and much prefer them over channel lock brands because the knipex are hinged so that the more force applied to the fastener the tighter they get so slippage is very uncommon if they are positioned correctly to start with. I also have knipex side cutters and straight cutters that will cut coins or small screw and bolts in half with ease and never knick or dull the cutting edges. Best pliers made IMO.BDI can say the same for my Channellock dykes and cutters, especially those with the recent XLT design which has relocated the pivot forward for added cutting power.I've heard nothing but good things and I'm sure they're a great tool, but because they often cost 2x as much in many cases I am just not interested in trying anything from Knipex.At least not until Channellock starts to let me down.Their 8" mini bolt cutters are probably the only thing I'd buy from them because there is no American made option, or really any other option I know of that's not made in Taiwan or China.
Clearly we all like good tools but there is a place for cheap tools. Tools just fit for the job and that is all. A little while ago I had to cut a concrete path and to hire a proper concrete saw was going to cost 80 or 90 dollars. I bought a cheap plastic Black and decker power saw for $49.00 and a couple of concrete cut off blades and did the job. The saw came in handy thereafter for lots of rough jobs. It lasted for some years until about two weeks ago it fell off the bench and broke the handle.We have a Chinese brand here called Ozito. They produce a range of DIY tools with a three year warranty. Not available for commercial use. You only get one year on DeWalt and Hitachi and others. Ozito are gaining a reputation for being not a bad buy. I did up our hallway and to get it plastered professionally was $40.00 per square metre Something around $2500 for the job. I plastered it myself, not too professionally and bought an Ozito drywall sander with integral dust collector for $139.00 and did the job myself. I couldn't have got the finish I did with out this excellent cheap sander. It is still going and has done another family house. The question of environmental impact from production and transport and packaging of cheap tools that fail is another consideration.
I also do the Horrible Freight tool thing from time to time.I got a band saw from them that is still going strong! And that thing has cut TONS of steel out!Also have a Generator from there that I've not had any issues with.So cheap is not always bad.
Quote from: Privateer on May 06, 2021, 10:11:02 PMI also do the Horrible Freight tool thing from time to time.I got a band saw from them that is still going strong! And that thing has cut TONS of steel out!Also have a Generator from there that I've not had any issues with.So cheap is not always bad.There is a tool that I don't mind buying at Harbor Freight....angle grinders. The other power tool I bought there was back in 2003, when the hubs and I built our house. We framed in steel, and I bought a cheapie cut-off saw at HF, for using to cut a LOT of steel.....both 14 g and the light weight wall framing steel and hat channel. That cut-off saw lasted at least a couple of years of HEAVY use while we built, and it finally quit when we were a few months away from being finished. When that one went out, I bought a Rigid, which I still have today.
Only gripe is how loud it is.