Re: (ET) the tools discussion

["Matthew callahan" <callahanrc hotmail com>]

Sometimes cheap is better than nothing.  As a poor college student, I often 
bought cheap tools whenever I could (except particular power tools like a 
circular saw, or craftsman wrenches and sockets) so I could build up a 
inventory of tools as large as I could before replacing them one by one with 
quality tools over time.

Case in point, I once helped a good friend replace a bad u-joint the same 
way i did for years, with a hammer and a cylinder of some sort to use as a 
punch (used a old cheap spark plug socket for this).  Halfway through 
hammering the stubborn old joint out of his toyota driveshaft, my hand 
slipped slightly and i slammed the hammer on the socket with my palm skin in 
the way.  As a result i split the skin of my palm open and am still scarred 
to this day.  After that I refused to hammer another u-joint out again.

When the front u-joints went bad on my jeep and the local shop's press was 
broken the night before a trip I needed to take, I drove to a local Homier 
tool show that night and bought a $99 20-ton shop press, assembled it, and 
swapped the joints in my garage the right way.  That press has served me 
great for several years now.

There are some tools you SHOULD buy at HF, and some tools you should not!  
Shop presses, parts washers, blast cabinets, latex gloves, razor blades, and 
BS like that are usually good to go from HF, but when it comes to sockets 
and wrenches, or power tools, buy the good stuff.  My DeWalt angle grinder 
has lasted me 10 years of very regular use, while my $5 HF grinders blew 
smoke a few months after I bought them to keep on hand as extras so i 
wouldnt need to change out the wire wheel for a grinding or cutoff wheel.

Matt

_________________________________________________________________
Turn searches into helpful donations. Make your search count. 
http://click4thecause.live.com/search/charity/default.aspx?source=hmemtagline_donation&FORM=WLMTAG