Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

RapidSlide Adjustable Wrench

mechanomy.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

41–50 of 142 posts

Re: RapidSlide Adjustable Wrench

#41

Post by sliken »

bluedino wrote: post #26
not_the_fda wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I strongly disagree. Cheap tools are a pain to use, and break when you need them most, and perpetuate throw away culture. If a good tool is too expensive to own find a rental or buy used, otherwise buy high quality. High quality is a joy to work with and will serve you a long time.

I think he means more towards 'buy the cheapest, but quality tool' You don't want to use a dollar store screwdriver but at the same time you probably don't need a Wera. I have a friend who has a fault of buying the best of everything, for example he bought a $300 Milwaukee cordless to hang some pictures on the wall, because "One day I might want to build a swingset". It's been 8 years and he never built that swingset…

Sure, an unused $300 milwaukee cordless is a waste, definitely don't buy something like that before you need it. Especially since there's quite a few choices available.

However a 6 piece Wera screwdriver set is $30-35 and easily to justify in any apartment or home and should last dramatically longer than a dollar screw screwdriver and MUCH less likely to cause damage to whatever you are working on. Even building a piece of Ikea furniture and the most minor of repairs (light switches, door hinges, loose chairs, etc) would justify the wera set.

Much better to buy something decent set for $35 than might last a lifetime of light use than the nearly disposable dollar store stuff. Even a small apartment can justify a handful of screwdrivers and allens.

Re: RapidSlide Adjustable Wrench

#42

Post by ekidd »

Eduardo3rd wrote: post #3

I've long subscribed to the philosophy that you should buy the cheapest tool you can find and use safely, use it until it wears out, breaks, or your skill surpasses the capability of the tool - and only then should you spend money on high quality tools. Too much money is thrown away in the name of "buy once, cry once" only to discover that you don't need the capabilities offered by the top of the line options.

> I've long subscribed to the philosophy that you should buy the cheapest tool you can find and use safely, use it until it wears out, breaks, or your skill surpasses the capability of the tool - and only then should you spend money on high quality tools.

Overall, it's not a bad philosophy. But I can think of a couple of complications here:

- For battery-operated tools, standardizing on one system means you can buy a handful of pricy batteries and share them among many tools. Batteries wear out, and eventually need repeated replacement. And only needing to replace, say, 3 batteries from a single brand is convenient.

- A lot of times, it's possible to buy medium-quality tool sets (say, hex wrenches) for less than $100. I'm literally going to use many of them as long as I live. Why not spend $70 and get something halfway decent, instead of the $30 junk?

- If you're doing a big project (refinishing kitchen cabinets, building a deck, etc), that can easily justify spending a few hundred dollars on a quality key tool. A quality drill/hammer driver pair is game changing, for example. Saves countless hours compared to my old gear.

I had Craftsman power tools until battery replacements were only available from fly-by-night companies and a couple of the tools started failing (after 20 years). I wound up buying a couple of DeWalt tools on sale and they've been rock-solid. So I added a couple more as needed. I tried a Ryobi line trimmer a few years ago, and the battery system failed within two weeks. So I took it back and paid $50 extra for a DeWalt version that has run flawlessly. I could save some money by buying less-used tools from a second, cheaper brand. But that would double my battery replacement costs over the next 20 years, and I'd need to do more research for each purchase.

So sometimes a set of "79 auto tools for one low price!" is a good move. And sometimes, mid-to-high end homeowner gear or even a contractor tool is worth the money.

Re: RapidSlide Adjustable Wrench

#43

Post by CoastalCoder »

darksaints wrote: post #29
not_the_fda wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I strongly disagree. Cheap tools are a pain to use, and break when you need them most, and perpetuate throw away culture. If a good tool is too expensive to own find a rental or buy used, otherwise buy high quality. High quality is a joy to work with and will serve you a long time.

I've been burned repeatedly by your philosophy. It only seems to hold if you know exactly what you want. I've got closets littered with high quality things that I don't ever use anymore because I lost interest before I could ever appreciate its quality.

Not detracting from your point, but maybe sell them on Craigslist?

Re: RapidSlide Adjustable Wrench

#44

Post by pasttense01 »

The article is talking about a tool made by Crescent which was the original brand name making adjustable wrenches. In fact traditionally a few decades ago any of these adjustable wrenches were called a crescent wrench no matter who the manufacturer was. Like Craftsmen tools another example of the decline of tool brands from quality to junk.

https://jamestowngazette.com/crescent-tool-company/

Re: RapidSlide Adjustable Wrench

#45

Post by waltbosz »

bee_rider wrote: post #18
waltbosz wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My ironic favorite are the cheap screw drivers that destroy themselves instead of stripping the mildly tight screw.

Clearly a feature, not a bug.

Hmm, I doubt it was a design decision. The only time I've experience this was from bargain bin screwdriver sets.

Re: RapidSlide Adjustable Wrench

#46

Post by PaulDavisThe1st »

mauvehaus wrote: post #27

I haven't yet run across an adjustable wrench that was worth a shit. Even old (notionally decent?) Crescent ones. The jaws invariably splay when you apply force, even if you're using them correctly. I've come to the conclusion that it's just intrinsic to having a moving jaw that moves easily enough to be useful. At this point, if I expect to need the wrench ever again (or need to reuse the fastener), I'll just buy a…

30 minutes, just used my vise-grips to grab and turn a plastic&felt chair leg end that was stuck on the bottom of the leg. Perfect tool when you need to grab it, pull it and don't care if it is damaged in the process.

Re: RapidSlide Adjustable Wrench

#47

Post by creaturemachine »

PaulDavisThe1st wrote: post #31
legitster wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Agreed! If you are a trade professional and regularly have tools crap out on you, that's one thing. But my tools are more likely to need replacing purely out of obsolescence than anything else. And having an overbuilt tool collecting dust is just as much a waste as throwing one away occasionally.

> "And having an overbuilt tool collecting dust is just as much a waste as throwing one away occasionally." Is it?

Yes, because a good amount of the cost of that pro level tool is R&D and support for its use by pros. By using it once and shelving it you've paid for more engineering than you need. Case in point, when I needed to drill two holes in concrete block I opted for the cheapest $20 aliexpress carbide hole saw I could find rather than the professional diamond tipped version costing hundreds. In the unlikely event that I'll need to do the same job again I could easily bang out a few more cuts with what I have or order another cheap one and still be ahead.

Re: RapidSlide Adjustable Wrench

#48

Post by CoastalCoder »

PaulDavisThe1st wrote: post #31
legitster wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Agreed! If you are a trade professional and regularly have tools crap out on you, that's one thing. But my tools are more likely to need replacing purely out of obsolescence than anything else. And having an overbuilt tool collecting dust is just as much a waste as throwing one away occasionally.

> "And having an overbuilt tool collecting dust is just as much a waste as throwing one away occasionally." Is it?

I second this question.

If nothing else, there are various kinds of wastefulness: money, pollution during manufacture / delivery, landfill, opportunity costs, etc.

Re: RapidSlide Adjustable Wrench

#49

Post by Eduardo3rd »

not_the_fda wrote: post #16
Eduardo3rd wrote: post #3

I've long subscribed to the philosophy that you should buy the cheapest tool you can find and use safely, use it until it wears out, breaks, or your skill surpasses the capability of the tool - and only then should you spend money on high quality tools. Too much money is thrown away in the name of "buy once, cry once" only to discover that you don't need the capabilities offered by the top of the line options.

I strongly disagree. Cheap tools are a pain to use, and break when you need them most, and perpetuate throw away culture. If a good tool is too expensive to own find a rental or buy used, otherwise buy high quality. High quality is a joy to work with and will serve you a long time.

High quality tools are absolutely a joy! I love the high end tools that I get to use in my professional life as a mechanical engineer. (less frequently now that I am a manager, but you never get tired of using a well designed Festool, Bosch, or Wera product)

However,I don't need the same level of quality in the things I have at home. I've built, repaired, and otherwise tinkered away on countless projects over the years with things I found/bought on sale/picked up along the way with no issues. I'm not a professional [plumber, carpenter, electrician, mason, machinist, etc] and I don't need the same tools they have to get the job done safely.

There's nothing wrong with choosing to spend your personal money on high end tools. In general I find the attitude around tool ownership to be one of gate keeping though, and I'm more interested in getting started and discovering what I really need with less expensive tools than I am in spending my entire budget on high end equipment only to learn that I don't need specific expensive features after a few uses.

Re: RapidSlide Adjustable Wrench

#50

Post by sliken »

Rebelgecko wrote: post #34
animal_spirits wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I follow this sentiment. Buy nice or buy twice

For me it's more of a pareto thing. 90% of the time, the Harbor Freight tool is gonna do the job. Even if I end up needing to buy a more expensive tool 10% of the time, I'm still coming out ahead. YMMV depending on how often you need to use various tools or if you're buying jack stands (or anything else where failure could lead to death/injury)

However I got a harbor freight pneumatic nail gun, oiled it before use, and every night before putting it away. It almost lasted the building of an 80 foot fence, almost.

Funny enough I did buy some jack stands that looked good, and we recalled for catastrophic failures: https://images.harborfreight.com/hftweb/recalls/Jack-Stand-R...

If you need a single or low use unpowered tool I consider harbor freight. Generally anything powered, which is more expensive, I want to keep longer, and has a higher chance of damaging itself, what you are working on, or you I buy something name brand.

The harbor freight rolling tool chests are quite nice, and features on various tool/garage forums as a great deal.

Post reply on HN