More on cheap tools vs secong hand

[graduate_owner]

About 2 years ago I went to a sale - the type of sale where you get an auction, plus a load of other sellers with their stuff on tables and all over the floor. At one of these tables they were selling a Bosch sabre saw for £4. I was even able to plug it in and try it - worked fine. So, two years on it's still working, although only had occasional use (but really handy when you need it). Bargain. They were £99 new, but now discontinued.

Later on, an AEG drill with the plug cut off - not likely to be working then, but I wanted the case so I bid £! and got it. In the shed, I had an exploratory dig and found all the electronics burnt out (constant torque etc) but the windings seemed to read fine so I reconnected the mains lead, bypassing the burnt out gubbins, and hey presto - a working AEG drill for £1.

You can't always be lucky with second hand power tools, but at these prices I couldn't go far wrong. And they are better than cheapie power tools that have no bearings. However when it comes to hand tools, well you can't go wrong at all.

K

 

[wallace]

I agree with you whole heartedly, I bought some drills at a sale once a nice bosch drill and a hilti breaker which was covered in cement all in a box of miscellaneous stuff. I paid £15. They all worked. Plus it had a funny contraption, it looked like a weight lifting belt with a transformer on it and some kind of hot wire cutting tool attached. Any ideas? I think its worth the risk for me as a part timer to go for second hand stuff. I have some of the best machinery ever made all because I took a chance.
Mark

 

[lanemaux]

Hi Mark, just as a wild stab, is the wire cutting device attached to an old soldering type of device? If so it may have been for cutting and smoothing old tyles of the linoleum type. I once had something similar on an old soldering gun and was told that was what it was for. The Deities alone know what it would have been like in use , stinky as the "other place" would be my guess. Or perhaps some manner of foam cutter , another tool I have no inclination to use , Phew!
On another topic , love your machines amigo, cast iron as artwork!

 

[graduate_owner]

Just to follow up

at the same sale, different date, I bought a galvanised tin bath full of odds and ends, and what I wanted from there was a spanner that I'd seen amongst the garbage. When I got it home there was a wire crimpers (2 actually, but I'm not sure about the purpose of one of them) made by RS components. Checked their website - £85 +VAT. Nice tool, but not something I could justify buying.
But for £1, well ...

And for £16 I bought a battery charger / starter, the type that is the size of a suitcase and has 2 wheels. It was raining that day, and the charger had a clear label warning against using when wet - I think that put a lot of people off. I left it about a month before trying it out, and apart from a broken ammeter, it works fine. Great for starting my old discovery in the winter.

I currently have 4 (yes 4) drills by AEG, all but 1 are 110 volt, all second hand and all working beautifully. Do I need 4 - no, but at the silly prices I paid, I couldn't resist. One of them (my favourite) was acquired when I bought a generator - the seller started it up and showed it was working by running the drill. So when I went to collect the genny, the 'man at the gate' said I should take all the stuff I'd bought and not leave my rubbish for them to clear away - turns out he meant the drill and a long, heavy duty extension which were part of the lot. And later I saw the drill in a catalogue selling for £160. I paid £50 for the lot and it still all, works some 25 years on. One of the others is an SDS, and the bits that came with it are worth more than the price I paid for the lot - £4.

Having said all that, I have had my fingers burnt once or twice - you can't win them all. But I shall keep a lookout for what's going, until I'm too old to use tools safely anyway.



K

 

[graduate_owner]

By the way Lanemaux, who are Andy and Rory?

K

 

[lanemaux]

The boon companions of Doctor Who , now residing in the past , if now has a meanig in this case. I shall miss them as Amy is smoking hot and Rory is delightfully funny. Played by Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvill. The signature refers to the cultural wasteland of American programmes in Canada with rednecks as role models and talentless talent shows.

 

[graduate_owner]

I haven't watched Doctor Who since the days of William Hartnell. I was a teenager then and Doctor Who was essential viewing - cutting edge stuff, including the theme music. There can't be many series that have lasted so long.

K