I have a friend who is incredibly capable when it comes to existing in the modern world. He is a retired American Airlines senior Captain. He is enjoying the fruits of a long career driving 777’s around the world, and has an appreciation for complexity, whether in the fiber world or tooling a boat around Lake of the Ozarks. His motor equipment is top shelf and he is the guy who will have 2 Garmins on the windshield along with the in-car navigation. After all, John has literally navigated the world and appreciates the value of knowing precisely where he is.
We have shared a number of laughs over hand tool acquisition and their use. I have always preferred Milwaukee, DeWalt, Makita or lately Ryobi, all expensive and inherently accurate and precise. He eschews such extravagance and prefers the value in cheap stuff from Harbor Freight and similar tool “outlets”. He believes in their value and quality, humorous to me who tries to avoid Chinese stuff when I can.
I was wrong and he was right. I am now a member of Harbor Freight’s in house program that gives me an extra savings when they conduct one of their sales or promotions. The fact is, the Chinese are manufacturing many of the branded tools, slapping them into the trappings of the big, American tool companies and shipping them to us. I still prefer branded tools for precision work, but have wasted a lot of money through vanity when it comes to my work bench. Harbor Freight is a gold mine when it comes to so many things the average home craftsman needs from nitrile gloves to screw sticks, compressors to generators and virtually everything else needed to run and maintain a household……at a fraction of the cost of the big guys. Buy their warranty and they replace a tool, no questions asked, forever. A disclaimer, I avoid their house branded drills and such. I also refuse to add another line of batteries and chargers. I have another trusted friend, a craftsman in his own rite, who managed a Harbor Freight store. Don advised me to shop their line. Thanks, Don.
I have also become a devotee of battery powered stuff. This is a complex world, as you need brand specific batteries to run branded tools, causing me to have chargers for Makita, DeWalt, Crftsman and Ryobi on the battery shelf. I refuse to acquire another line of tools as these batteries are exorbitant in price…..and they work.
I may need an intervention. When I run into an issue and don’t have the right tool for the job, I acquire it instead of borrow or rent it, even when its future use is not likely. It has opened my eyes to such extravagances as oscillating saws and high speed tile, wood or metal saws, 3”, that will cleanly slice through these materials with minimum effort (they are also great on wood, with the right blade). I have a pretty good selection of tools on my garage workbench, out in the mower shed and in the Ram box for stuff while out RV’ing. To add to the confusion, you are likely to need a metric tool instead of SAE tool…necessitating duplication across the board.
Vanity aside, stop in and peruse the selection at Harbor Freight or Grizzley tools in Springfield. If you are hopelessly afflicted with the need for tools, they are gold mines in many cases. I admit my weakness and have arrived at real world economics when it comes acquiring tools…..now if I can overcome the need for more firearms.
srj641 