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RapidSlide Adjustable Wrench

mechanomy.com

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Re: RapidSlide Adjustable Wrench

#81

Post by constantcrying »

h2odragon wrote: post #2

Poorly designed, poorly manufactured, barely works in use and rounds the nuts you use it on so that subsequent attempts will be harder even with better tools. It feels like there's been a strong Satanic / nihilistic philosophy at work among the hand tool industry for a while now. Started somewhere around the time period when the movie "Rambo" caused a fad for crappy "survival knives."

This diseases has infected almost anything. Even many expensive product I see have obvious cut corners and great effort seems to have gone into making it connect to an app, which nobody in their right mind would want to use.

The sever decline in general product quality, together with an increase in unneeded complexity, is absolutely awful. You can go on amazon right now and for every product imaginable you can find many which are essentially just designed to be thrown into the trash in a couple of years, when with some actual effort the same thing could be made to last far longer.

It is easy to blame the buyers who "just cares about the cost", but I am not sure that tells the entire story. Surely there is a significant market segment of people willing to buy actual high quality products.

Re: RapidSlide Adjustable Wrench

#82

Post by jjeaff »

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 have two exception for the buy it cheap rule. I first look for a high quality option being sold used. Sometimes you can get the better option for cheaper. This is of course only worth the time on more expensive stuff.

Then, I also have started getting the one step up from the cheapest option. A lot of times that seems to be a better buy these days.

Re: RapidSlide Adjustable Wrench

#83

Post by constantcrying »

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

For a sufficiently cheap tool that might be instantaneously and the difference can be very hard to tell.

I think that you should spend money according to what you are comfortable with and what you actually have a use for.

>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 would say too many products are made and thrown away because people discovered that they were too badly made to use them.

Re: RapidSlide Adjustable Wrench

#84

Post by creaturemachine »

creato wrote: post #63
creaturemachine wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

I think this thread is conflating wasted money with wasted materials. Buying a nice tool once and underutilizing it wastes money. Buying cheap tools multiple times wastes materials.

That underused professional tool is as much a waste as the underused cheap one, maybe more considering the upgrade in materials. And between cost and materials, it's obvious which is the most on the mind of the consumer. The aliexpress tool is already rusting sitting on the shelf and I don't care. If I had followed "the mantra" and spent hundreds I'd feel like a sucker each time I opened my tool box.

Re: RapidSlide Adjustable Wrench

#85

Post by joshu »

mauvehaus wrote: post #72
gorbypark wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Knipex makes some decent adjustable wrenches (not crescent style, though). Their Pliers Wrench line has an adjustment mechanism like a channel lock plier, but then has a jaw that’s on a cam mechanism to keep the two jaws parallel. One direction they’re just as good as a crescent wrench, but in the other direction it “self tightens” and you can really reef on it. The cam mechanism allows you to loosen your grip and th…

I've heard a lot of recommendations for Knipex. I might yet break down and buy one of those even if it is a little bulky.

A+ plus plus. A valuable part of my toolkit, would buy again.

Re: RapidSlide Adjustable Wrench

#86

Post by [deleted] »

twblalock wrote: post #75
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…

Adjustable wrenches exist for situations where you don't have the proper size on hand. They are not intended to be used for everything. But when you need one, few other tools will suffice. A lot of people don't know that there is a correct direction to turn these wrenches (and Channel Locks, and pipe wrenches). Older Crescent models had an arrow engraved on the handle to show this. You turn the wrench with the smalle…

[deleted]

Re: RapidSlide Adjustable Wrench

#87

Post by martyvis »

ThePowerOfFuet wrote: post #67
gorbypark wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Knipex makes some decent adjustable wrenches (not crescent style, though). Their Pliers Wrench line has an adjustment mechanism like a channel lock plier, but then has a jaw that’s on a cam mechanism to keep the two jaws parallel. One direction they’re just as good as a crescent wrench, but in the other direction it “self tightens” and you can really reef on it. The cam mechanism allows you to loosen your grip and th…

My very limited experience with Knipex has me wanting to buy their stuff in the future.

I just bought two of their Cobra channel lock / water pump pliers, an electrician's plier and wire cutters. I decided at 59 I am tired of using rubbish tools - even for DIY duties. I got the trigger from here https://youtu.be/wcs2elc0LsU?t=538

Re: RapidSlide Adjustable Wrench

#88

Post by patja »

mauvehaus wrote: post #72
gorbypark wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Knipex makes some decent adjustable wrenches (not crescent style, though). Their Pliers Wrench line has an adjustment mechanism like a channel lock plier, but then has a jaw that’s on a cam mechanism to keep the two jaws parallel. One direction they’re just as good as a crescent wrench, but in the other direction it “self tightens” and you can really reef on it. The cam mechanism allows you to loosen your grip and th…

I've heard a lot of recommendations for Knipex. I might yet break down and buy one of those even if it is a little bulky.

I have 4 of these Knipex adjustable pliers. I do like them but find that getting them set just right for the task at hand is a bit fiddly. Seems like I am always setting it one setting too loose or too tight.

The Knipex product that I love is their automatic wire stripper.

Re: RapidSlide Adjustable Wrench

#89

Post by legitster »

PaulDavisThe1st wrote: post #79
legitster wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nice tools are nice because they use more resources. A Milwaukee drill is physically heavier than a Ryobi of the same size - purely because of all of the upgraded components to make it more durable/longer-lasting. But if you are only touching 5% of the expected lifespan of your tool, no need to have one that's over-engineered.

Well, you are ignoring several things: 1. is the milwaukee doubly-engineered compared to the ryobi? because if you end up with 2 ryobis, that's twice the material/energy input of the one milwaukee 2. you seem to be ignoring the possibility that the milwaukee is "so" over-engineered that you pass it on to someone else, greatly extending its effective lifetime.

Again, from personal experience I have yet to ever get rid of a tool because it failed on me. The only reason I have ever lost a tool was through theft, the battery/charger/replaceable component was no longer supported, or the tool was too unsafe to use.

If I was a professional or ran a tool rental business I would 100% agree. But I wouldn't buy a pickup track no matter how durable if all I need it to do is grab groceries. It's better to get a tool engineered for the level of work expected.

Re: RapidSlide Adjustable Wrench

#90

Post by marcus0x62 »

soared wrote: post #36
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.

Until you use a cheap tool on your expensive bike, the allowance on the tool is poor and strips a screw, which can only be custom ordered direct from the manufacturer with a 2 month lead time, leaving your half-fixed bike completely useless. This happened to me when bleeding my hydraulic brakes - the screw was a 2.5mm Allen and my keys were slightly smaller than 2.5 from being rounded over a short period of time. Tha…

Allen fasteners are bad, and the people who designed them should feel bad. Even relatively high quality allen wrenches are prone to stripping fasteners. The best option on the market is the MAC RBRT series[1]

1 - https://www.mactools.com/products/sbdb77rbrt

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