Memories, was it an aluminium cast thing with cast handle and a blade about 150mm diameter ?
Buying cheap tools
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Doug71
Established Member
It does depend how much you are going to use something. I needed a hedge trimmer and petrol strimmer a few years ago, they wouldn't get much use so I just bought some cheap ones from Screwfix. They come out once a year and do what I need but if I was using them daily I would certainly want something better, I get zero pleasure from using them.
@baldkev I ended up putting a roof on last week (something I never do anymore) so was swinging my hammer all day. I generally use Estwings but was using a Stanley as that's what I had with me. Don't know if it was the hammer or old age but next day my elbow knew about it!
@baldkev I ended up putting a roof on last week (something I never do anymore) so was swinging my hammer all day. I generally use Estwings but was using a Stanley as that's what I had with me. Don't know if it was the hammer or old age but next day my elbow knew about it!
It sure was , they also did a grinder and polishing attachment, the good old days eh!
No being wrapped in cotton wool in those days, I would only have been ten when using it to try and make a go kart !!
Another time, another place. I commented to my wife only yesterday upon hearing of another stabbing that it seems strange now but I remember getting sent home from the Cubs and Scouts for NOT carrying a knife.
I cannot even say that. If this were true I could get a better end result at a lower price in a store. For me it is the making that matters, not the end result. So I want tools that I enjoy using, but predicting that in advance isn't easy.
homeinthecity
Established Member
I'm relatively new to woodworking, and started buying cheap before I knew what to look for. I now mostly buy older, but higher quality tools from eBay or other marketplaces.
Ultimately though low-cost tools made it accessible to me and easy to get started. Some of the copycat brands like Katsu have good to me.
Ultimately though low-cost tools made it accessible to me and easy to get started. Some of the copycat brands like Katsu have good to me.
The bloke on MythBusters gave some advice and said if you're starting out buying tools buy the cheapest tools that are on the market but when that tool breaks and you need to replace it by the best one that you can afford and after a few years some of the cheap tools will still keep being used and you realise you don't need to spend that much on them then other tools that were expensive you realise that you're using on a daily basis
I used to love making go carts as a youngster with my younger brother , we had a decent hill where we lived and would spend hours and hours riding downhill and having to avoid the lorries going to and from the industrial estate at the top of the hill . So much more fun than the modern day kids that spend hours playing with Xbox and PlayStations and not being active. A good example of how these threads go off topic yet still remain within the woodworking theme
ajs
Established Member
Sure. In my view second hand is buying smart, not buying cheap but I didn't mention that in the original post. It aslo depends on the nature of the tool. Any big tools fine, but I'd be more wary of e.g. a handheld power drill or jigsaw.
Actually I have a Katsu mini bench drill and love it for the very small holes stuff - I do a lot of circuit boards so it isn't a niche task for me. For £50 it was a steal, but then I think of the TLC it's had. Brand new it must have had two or three hours hand scraping to get the table to some semblance of flat (it's within about 5 thou now; over 50 thou out out of the box). Then I had to replace the switch/speed control in fairly short order when that failed. Most recently the ball knob on the lever when that split apart - it was a bakelite job without an insert, so tightening it up split it in two. Small jobs but pricing my time even at minimum wage makes it a £100 drill and it's probably only five years old. OTOH most of the competitors run to the £250-300+ mark so I can't say it was a bad deal, if those were my only choices I probably wouldn't have bothered at all and made do with a dentist's drill in a stand. My only hesitation these days is that the primary distributor seems to be AIM Tools and I've since heard bad things about after sales support. I've no first hand experience of that (never needed it) but I'd be circumspect in future.
ajs
Established Member
I've often thought that myself, a variation on what to buy when you first leave your parents. Buy cheap stuff since you need a lot of stuff in short order for initial capability. As stuff breaks get better quality replacements- it's less of an outlay in one lump sum. After a while the stuff that hasn't broken is either that which you never use and probably didn't need, or they're doing the job and there wasn't an issue with buying cheap in the first place.
Sounds fine if you only consider show-stoppers. Often what spending money gets you is a subtle refinement, the kind of thing that saves a second or two here and there or frees you from considering that particular "issue" with the cheap tool.
TheUnicorn
Established Member
I always think in terms of quality vs cost, whether tools or other purchases, buying very cheap will buy junk, from that point spending twice the money may get three or four times the value, however there gets to a point (mid range) where spending twice the money will only get you a 10% increase in quality. For some that 10% will be worth every penny, those refinements that are the difference between a functional tool and a tool you really enjoy using, personally I can rarely justify that extra expense.
Misterdog
Established Member
I just bought exactly the same tool.
I saw there were 300 positive reviews on the Screwfix site so decided it would do for my 40 M of concrete.
Many people buy this breaker, as you say just to break some fence post concrete, or similar because it is cheaper than hiring the tool, fetching and returning.
After they have finished they then sell them on Ebay (or similar)
Because there are so many on the market this keeps the price down.
Mine cost £ 58, delivered, as new, only done 2 hours work.
Never mistake ' cheap' for 'Value for money'.
Having used Kango and Bosch breakers rrp £ 1K The MacAllister breaker rates really highly with me.
It won't last as long, though I only use one every 5 years.
And the Chinese are shrinking the western world manufacturing jobs market at a huge rate.
The diesel heaters, concrete breakers, hi-fi are up there with the best, though have appalling customer service - return to china.
Yet offer exceptional value for money.
Woodwork Journey Dean
Established Member
I buy second hand when I can, it saves something from another land fill potentially and whether you’re fixing it up or not is a solid way of spending less money.
I’m disabled and live month to month generally so spunking big money on stuff isn’t an issue.
When I can’t get secondhand I still go cheap, but not necessarily the cheapest. I get very studious and read every review and watch every video I can.
I do think there’s a valid reason for buying something cheap to see if it’ll get used, but it also informs you of what you’ll actually want when you spend more money.
For instance I had a Titan bandsaw and tablesaw and loved them both. They certainly had their issues, but by the time I upgraded I knew all the points that were important to me and what to look out for.
I’ve been going nuts recently searching for second hand deals with drills as I want a secondary for countersinking, I’ve even thought of using a hand drill.
I’m not going for the cheapest, but seeing as Erbauer is now getting up there in price, I’m looking at the main brand stuff so I can concentrate on a single battery platform, but also you find way more second hand Dewalts and Makitas than you do Erbauer and Worx
TL
R
I think cheap tools are good as long as you do your homework
I’m disabled and live month to month generally so spunking big money on stuff isn’t an issue.
When I can’t get secondhand I still go cheap, but not necessarily the cheapest. I get very studious and read every review and watch every video I can.
I do think there’s a valid reason for buying something cheap to see if it’ll get used, but it also informs you of what you’ll actually want when you spend more money.
For instance I had a Titan bandsaw and tablesaw and loved them both. They certainly had their issues, but by the time I upgraded I knew all the points that were important to me and what to look out for.
I’ve been going nuts recently searching for second hand deals with drills as I want a secondary for countersinking, I’ve even thought of using a hand drill.
I’m not going for the cheapest, but seeing as Erbauer is now getting up there in price, I’m looking at the main brand stuff so I can concentrate on a single battery platform, but also you find way more second hand Dewalts and Makitas than you do Erbauer and Worx
TL
RI think cheap tools are good as long as you do your homework
ajs
Established Member
I remember one of those things came up when I was in home insurance, only it was a petrol powered model.
Discussing it with the claimant, he was "Well, I bought it second hand to redo the floor in my kitchen, I've loaned it out a couple of times since, as far as I'm concerned it's paid for itself." Still, I had to assign it a value to it, and on a new for old basis. Managed to find it online and it was ring for price stuff so get price over the phone.
The claimant was rather happy when I said we can pay a little over £4000 for it...
Yes, he did have an appropriate level of coverage for the "toyshop": if you try that on most policies with the standard limits in play you'll get a fraction of that.
Well here we go, actually, i do have a 'cheap tool' experience that would be a good fit in the buying regrets thread!
Last april i bought a petrol dumper, hydraulic tip, tracked, 500kg capacity. I bought it because I had a sum of money in the job for machine hire and decided to buy one rather than hire. 2 or 3 good sized jobs and it's paid for.
It cost £2100, was reduced from the £2500 price tag . The nearest price competitor was lumag at 3k, but it was the same machine, same handles, frame, undercarriage, just different colour. ( chinese )
Now a jcb new was 10k, used 4.5k and up...
Anyway, the cheap handle broke on the first day, it travelled maybe 40 feet before it died. I got an upgraded replacement, but that meant i also needed a different cable. Oh well, teething issues.
Long story of little things to make it better, but after about 35 to 40 hours of work the damn thing sprung an oil leak. I got new oil seals but it turned out to be a part in the driveshaft housing and i was told you had to buy a new assembly ( which was gearbox, driveshafts etc all complete )
Nope. I took it apart to find it was a white metal bearing sleeve ( chinesium ), designed to be worn instead of wearing the shafts out. This could have been avoided if they'd designed it with actual bearing races.
Anyway, I fixed it up and flogged it. A terrible machine that would fail every 40 hours, not to mention all the other things i found along the way.
Sounds like you got a raw deal on that one but hopefully got most of your money back . I guess that’s the risk with 2hand the risk goes up the more you pay . My hilti has paid for itself over and over again but the equivalent model is around the £800-£1000 pound. Last summer I did a fence ( had to remove a dozen or so concrete god fathers that must of been fitted using a pile driver and my poor old hilti was struggling. Turns out the cust had a petrol x army kango ( atlas copo I think ) that I could barely lift but it roared into life and destroyed the old godfathers in no time . We subsequently took it as part payment ( £200 ) and that too has now paid for itself ..
By that time Black and Decker quality had declined - my B&D hammer drill was bought in 1969 and I was using it yesterday (had a new switch and makes a bearing noise but still going strong), perhaps it should be in the Guinness book of records. It's hard nowadays to define "cheap".
Adam W.
A Major Clanger
I avoid buying Chinese at all costs.
How?
