Crappy tools

Ever buy a tool that wasn't worth its weight in scrap?

Here is a thread to warn everyone about the crappy tool that you regret buying. Tell us what the brand and model and how it did you wrong.

I actually have one recently...
It was a Stanley flat bar. Everyone knows the one I'm talkin about. It is black and has a bent end .
Well since I could not find my old one...someone has recently returned, I bought a NEW one.

Long story short...it broke on the second hit with my hammer at the bent part. I returned it, the new one broke in the middle when I used it last week to pry something apart. I am wondering what is going on.
I still have the 15 year old one ,it is just plain old used.
Our companies in the US have to start being so cheap and headed out of town....its back to basics.
Short story gone long.... I got my money back.

I got a craftsman professional 12 amp recipercating saw about a year ago. At first it worked great. But within 6 monthes everything you can image broke on it.. The first thing was that the blade hit the middle of the adjustable depth guide bar when sawing on an angle. Before long the guide was cut in two. Then the quick release blade level broke off. Next casing became loose. The end had about 1/2'' of play to it. Eventually one leg of the cut in half adjustable depth guide bar broke off. Now its not adjustable anymore. Still runs strong though...

Stanley wonder bar right? i have a fairly new one I havent broke mine yet but it has way too much flex for it to be useful.

Porter Cable planes!!!!

Okay, a few years ago Porter Cable retooled their shops to produce an old favorite, the Porta Plane. Why? I think they're nuts. If they were going to bring back an old favorite, why not the Versa Plane???

Porta Plane has the giant, heavy motor sticking out from the side of the tool - a nich lunk of weight to struggle with as you're trying to ballance this heavy tool on the edge of a door. The Versa Plane has the motor mounted on top of the tool, nice and evenly ballanced. If they had reintroduced the Versa Plane I'm guessing every serious woodworker and most professional carpenters would have bought one. But instead they reintroduced the Porta Plane, and everyone is much happier with their smaller, more nimble Makita, DeWalt or Bosch power plane.

So, what to they do next? The come out with the Power Plane, which I think they deliberately sabotaged right from the beginning. Either that or they hired their competitor to design it for them. What's happening with the Power Plane is the front shoe (the chip breaker) is set at a very slight angle when it should be perfectly parallel with the back of the shoe. Consequently, the back of the shoe digs into the wood when you're trying to plane it smooth. I can't imagine what they were thinking! But that's not the worse. To the back of the shoe, where it meets the spinning blades, they added teeth. Yes, TEETH! For which the only purpose I can imagine is to make sure it digs in real good, thus rendering using this tool nearly impossible.

I've always been a big fan of Porter Cable, since I bought my first electric drill some 25+ years ago - the T-handled 1/2" Porter Cable drill. I'm not sure, but I think my first cordless drill was a 14.4 volt Porter Cable drill. I gave it to a friend who is still using it to this day! Also, I have 3 circular saws. Which one do I grab first? My Porter Cable left-handed (blade on the left) sidewinder. It's lighter weight, more accurate and almost as powerful as my Milwaukee Mag 77 worm drive saw.

I don't know what's their train of thought when it comes to electric planes, but I think they're actually trying to lose money, probably for some corporate business write-off or something. All I know is I wouldn't own either the Porta Plane or the Power Plane if they gave them to me, cuz they're junk!

Ahhh... I feel much better now. Thanks Guyod, for starting this thread. I needed that.

I looked up the Porta Plane. $859 list price.. . thats enough to get me pissed off

guyod said:

I looked up the Porta Plane. $859 list price.. . thats enough to get me pissed off

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I don't know where you looked but list is $429. But it's still a piece of junk. I bought one on ebay, used it once and resold it. But the Versa Plane, if you can find a decent one, is one sweet tool. I'll probably hunt one down this summer, when work picks up a little more.

googled it. i looked at a couple sites they were selling around $450 but list price was $859. big difference in price... wierd

Im on a tight budget right now i only had a $100 budget for a hammer drill. .
I ended up gettin a 1/2'' black and decker fire storm 8amp two speed quick release chuck. The drill is about 3" longer than it should be and way out of balance. It bairly has any hammer to it. the quick realease doesnt hold a bit. The trigger jammed in the on position. Plus i Think it spins to fast I burned up 2 5/32 drill bits with about dozen holes. It might of been cheap masonary they came with Kwiset masonary screw kit but the tips had an over heated glaze look to them.

I had a new cheap hitichi hammer drill and it worked good but got stolen. I should of got the same thing but i like trying new things and got sucked in with the 2 speeds and quick realse chuck features.
I will be returning it.. Thank You lowes for your relaxed return policy..

I was at a supplier one time, when somebody came in with a B&D hammer drill in need of repair. The plastic around the brushes had melted as he was drilling a 1" hole through 16" of brick. I forget exactly what they told him it would cost to repair it, but I think it was aroun $150. They customer noted that the drill didn't cost that much new, and for that he could get a used DeWalt or Milwaukee. I think was getting the idea.

I bought a $15 grinder from Harbor Freight about 3 years ago, and the thing still runs strong.
Sometimes cheap tools work magnificently.

I bought a little 7" compact wet saw for $65. It looks like a table saw for cutting tile. It's great for small jobs. Don't have to lug a heavy wet saw around or take time to set up.

MattCoops said:

I bought a $15 grinder from Harbor Freight about 3 years ago, and the thing still runs strong.
Sometimes cheap tools work magnificently.

I bought a little 7" compact wet saw for $65. It looks like a table saw for cutting tile. It's great for small jobs. Don't have to lug a heavy wet saw around or take time to set up.

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I also own both of these and have been satisfied. Except that $15 grinder was on sale recently for $9!

I have a Sears Craftsman ninety-nine dollar table saw. Just got it for sticking in one floor two years ago. Still going strong.

I have sworn off craftsman. I try and only buy quality tools and I will sing their praises when they perform.

Lets see - Craftman jigsaw - Trashed, replaced with excellent Bosch.
Craftsman stud finder, $50, couldn't find a stud, replaced with $10 stanley that works like a champ.

i could go on and on.

The Handyguys did a few tool tests that may be germane to this discussion.
First - A reciprocating saw tool test where we compared cordless to a corded sawzall
http://www.handyguyspodcast.com/27/episode-3

Then a drill test - We tested 7 different drills in a tough wood drilling task and also tested out two hammer drills with tapcons.
http://www.handyguyspodcast.com/63/episode-9-drill-it

We did a show on a basic tool kit for every homeowner
http://www.handyguyspodcast.com/30/episode-6-the-tool-kit

and lastly, we did a show comparing air compressors and talked about nailers.
http://www.handyguyspodcast.com/31/episode-5-compress-it

I guess the Handyguys are tool snobs. We really like or hate our tools and have opinions on most tools.

I would say my all time favorite tool is my Makita LXT impact driver and my most hated tool purchase was my craftsman jigsaw.

Craftsman is just badgineering. My Craftsman fiberglas hammer I use for mucking around was actually made by Vaughan. The balance sucks for nailing but it os great for de-nailing or therapeutic whacks when my temper is up. My Craftsman chop saw was made by Ryobi, and on and on. I just made out like a bandit with a nice set of chisels and all made in the Old US of A. Nice to keep one's fellow citizens employed.

Man a bunch of stuff.
Grizzly bucket boss knock off
$10 skill drill
craftsman compressor
gorilla bar
non-swanson speed square
strait-line studfinder (I got so PO'd at it I took it out and backed over it)
irwin blue bi-metal blades
Stanley utility knife.

I agree with what everyone said, basically the parts that compose most of the expensive tools like craftsman are the same parts that compose the cheap ones. The only difference with craftsman is they incorporate, black and decker, porter cable, and some dewalt parts in their tools. So in turn all these different brands of parts do not work well together, causing the downfault of the tools. This is why you either go with a Bosch brand tool or Hitachi because the company that produces this tools soley only uses their own parts.