My Tools #3: The Most Embarrassing Tools I Own

The most embarrassing tool I have ever purchased was a power drill from harbor freight. Burned up the first time I used it. Went all the way back to get a replacement, got home and it went to the same tool graveyard as the first. I returned it and used the store creit to buy some casters. No more crappy tools for me.

-- making sawdust....

Well buddies I started with a hans saw , a hammer , a small electric drill and the next year my wife bough me a small jig saw I still have all those after 4o years , but now I have all the tool you need some cheap some expensive but remember this I was told by a very good cabinet maker that the tools dont do the work it is the person using the tools , this guy has not that many tools only what he needs and he does the finest work you ever seen

-- - - Tools are nice to have but you need someone to work them - -

I bought a dovetail saw for 6 dollars when i was young thinking i was getting a great deal. it couldn’t even cut pine right out of the box.

a cobalt air hose. i put on the plumbers tape and everything but it was still leaking and in my attempts to tighten it it pulled the threaded part off of the hose and it was stuck in the threaded part of the coupling

Thats all i can think of for now but I’ll probably add some later.

Just because it lives on in infamy: Wobble Dado.

-- Stevethepeeve -- I'm no rocket surgeon

25 years ago, I fell into the “Norm” trap and bought a biscuit joiner, complete with about 1,000 assorted biscuits. In my opinion, that’s one almost useless tool. I find something to use it for occasionally, but I don’t think I’ve used it more than 4 times. Too much trouble to set up, very weak joint. I think when I did use it, it was for plywood work.

-- Tim -- http://tmuli.com

A wobbly dado blade, Craftsman dovetail jig, and an unknown brand cordless drill – all auction purchases when I first started out and all junk.

-- Only the Shadow knows....................

I think its funny that the teenagewoodworker made reference to “when he was young”??!! Like what, in diapers?

As for my most embarrassing tool, I’d have to go with the Ryobi detail sander, I could do a better job with a wet Q-tip…with my eyes shut….left handed….and upside-down.. yeah, it’s that bad…

-- Rob (A) Waxahachie,TX

...OK so I have the very same Ryobi detail sander. Yep RobS has it right. It was enough to turn me off any sort of detail or profile sander. Somehow I ended up with a craftsman nail/staple gun that will not shoot anything over 3/4 inch….paper weight.

-- http://www.woodsongsfurniture.com

Slick Plane, and, yes of course the infamous Wobbler (Thanks Steve for breaking the barrier).

Gives me the chance to pull this graphic out of mothballs. Image edited to protect the younger generation from any disturbing depiction of anatomy.

-- "Bordnerizing" perfectly good lumber for over a decade.

Cheap dovetail jig. Worked okay for soft woods like pine and redwood, but when I tried to clamp it hard enough to hold hardwoods in place the knobs pulled off of their bolts. Would count this as a failure of expectations, but I bought it after I started buying Festool and the like, so there’s no excuse, I should have known that I’d be replacing it with a Leigh.

Sandpaper bought from the “bargain bin” at the (then) local Ace Hardware. Come to think of it there are a number of “Illinois Industrial Tool (IIT)” branded things I picked up from that bin, based on “at a buck fifty, how bad can it be?”, that… well… I’ve learned how bad it can be. Still use the tape measures, kinda, but they’re getting replaced slowly.

A combo square with a plastic head. ‘nuff said. The ruler part gets used with a cast head for which I lost the original ruler.

-- Dan Lyke, Petaluma California, http://www.flutterby.net/User:DanLyke

Wobble blade…although, if they ever figure out a use for “domed” dados this could turn into a very sought after item. -SST

-- Accuracy is not in your power tool, it's in you

Okay, this is a recurring theme, because I have a wobble, too. I’ve never had the heart to “stick it to the next generation” by putting it on eBay, either. But that’s a mere second place for me: first is a gen-yoo-wine stanley plastic miter box, complete with plastic-handled miter saw that doesn’t cut. Anything. And the plastic miter gauge? Warped. Sigh…

-- There's no tool like an old tool...

I have a Dewalt 12” miter saw… awesome… but the original blade got dull. I couldn’t find anyone to sharpen it. So, I just happened to be in one of those discount, close-out stores and saw a 12” combination saw blade for $9.99. I thought, ok, how can I go wrong? Use it for what I need while it’s sharp, then use it for junk lumber during house remodels… Well, it was TERRIBLE!! I’ve never had a blade that slapped the wood instead of cutting it. I took it off the saw because it was dangerous… maybe I’ll make knife blanks out of it or something… (I’d probably regret that, too)

-- As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another. (Proverbs 27:17)

I confess that half of my handscrews were made in China.

There, I said it but I swear I bought them years ago from Harbor Freight before the current scandals. That said, I had to disassemble the lot of them and run a thread chaser on ALL of the screws to get them operate smoothly. And while I had them apart, I sanded off the incriminating evidence of their origin. Nowafter a whole day of clamp tuning they work just as well as my Jorgensens. Sheesh. At my hourly rate those puppies are now the most expensive clamps I own. Further proof of how expensive real knowledge can be.

always,
J.C.

-- "Imagination is more important than knowledge" -- Albert Einstein

I don’t get it. What’s wrong with a wobble dado? Just because you have to incorporate the splintered tearout into the design, doesn’t make it that bad. Does it? You just rough up the whole board and call it “rustic” :]

-- Tim -- http://tmuli.com

An $8 ($7US) orbital sander that karked it after a couple of uses. Thought about collecting on the warranty but pulled it apart anyway. It was just a stuck armature brush, so I am back in business again with the cheapo tool.

-- Grumpy - "Always look on the bright side of life"- Monty Python

karked=ganked Don’t you just love the evolution of language. Good save Grumpy, and thanks for the Aussie slang sample!

-- "Bordnerizing" perfectly good lumber for over a decade.

Got a little carried away on the LN site a couple of months ago and ended up with a $45 screwdriver.

-- Ciao, gth.

I forgot my harbor freight rotory tool.. Or should I call it that thing I plugged in and burned my hand with when the short made it smoke and throw sparks….

-- making sawdust....

I personally don’t thing there’s any shame in paying any amount for anything Lie-Nielsen.

OTOH, I forgot to mention the F-clamps I bought from Harbor Frieght. That are a lot more F than clamp.

-- There's no tool like an old tool...