Shite tools and consumables

[Bren]

I had the misfortune to purchase a box of hose clips from Aldi, I did'nt really look at them, just lobbed them in the trolley.

 

When I tried to use them however, it became apparent how shit they are.

 

A normal jubilee clip has the screw which turns in the grooves on the clip, however these don't have grooves, only slots, which means that as soon as the clip gets tight it just snaps - no good on your rad hoses then. Or anything else for that matter.

 

TBH honest most of the stuff from Aldi has been ok, apart from these, which are truly gash.

 

Anybody else bought a right load of shit lately?

[Split_Pin]

I have 2 sets of mole grips. One pair were found about 150 years ago rusting in the crevice of a Ford cargo chassis. Bloody awesome they are to this day. However, I needed a slim long nose pair and got cheap set from eBay. Couldn't snap a wet fag with them.

[Split_Pin]

Also, I know its been said before, but I had the experience of Popular Classics free screwdriver with the wooden handle, and the other mini set given away a few years later.

[willswitchengage]

A normal jubilee clip has the screw which turns in the grooves on the clip, however these don't have grooves, only slots, which means that as soon as the clip gets tight it just snaps - no good on your rad hoses then. Or anything else for that matter.

 

The BX had them on from the factory. GR2 fun trying to remove them with assorted saws and pliers (all Draper now after my adventures with ebay and Homebase tools)

[<type username here>]

I dont really do that whole shopping thing. Other than earn the sodding money to pay for it!

 

However, last year Her majesty bought a 'Weed burner' (the gardening type of weed) from our local Lidl.

 

The device consisted of a small gas cylinder, a long lance type arrangement and a comprehensive safety instruction book.

We advanced to the driveway were we found a suitable dandielion. Heeding the instructions we aimed the lance at the weed, turned the gas knob fully anti clockwise and pressed the trigger in anticipation.

 

Imagine our surprise, disgust and hilarity when a small blue flame briefly flickered at the end of the lance. You know the sort of thing? Like when your lighter is ready to pass onto the other side.

 

Twiddled the gas knob, checked the gas level and flow, hopeless. The Mrs. had basically bought a lighter on a stick. A rubbish lighter at that! We never conducted any detailed testing but I'd bet a birthday cake candle on a cocktail stick would have been more effective!

[cobblers]

Fucking Dremels. Loads of people have them and they seemed like they would be good for detailed work. About years ago I had a proper genuine one, but used cheap "bits" with it and it was good for nothing, even with like £1 a shot cutoff wheels (vs proper dremel ones about £3 each I think I lent it out and never got it back.

5 years ago I bought another, a cheap rechargeable one this time, but bought some proper dremel cutoff wheels and pink grindy jobbies. Absolutely gutless and shit, motor blew up and I threw it away.

Last month I bought a proper mains powered one and tried it with my proper expensive dremel abrasives. Still utter shit.

All I wanted to do was use it to cut a 6mmx50mm hole in the side of my van sliding door to fit some central locking contacts - I'd have just used a normal grinder but I'd run out of disks and it was 6PM sunday. I went through about a dozen of the cutoff wheels (admittedly 50% exploded) and cut a pair of 30mm slits in the door.

 

Maybe OK if you're working with plastics, but they have absolutely no place near steel of any sort.

 

Also, cheap slitting disks and flap wheels are a false economy, the good ones might cos twice as much, but easily last 5 times as long if you're gentle.

 

I've got an Aldi (or maybe Lidl) welder - Badged as a Powercraft, but it's actually a SIP. Obv the wire feed is shit, but at least I can get parts for it!

[Conrad D. Conelrad]

I had those Aldi hoseclips and was forever chasing leaks around my cooling system until I replaced them all. Not something I will be skimping on in the future.

[outlaw118]

Whilst "renovating" (bashing and bodging) Outlaw Towers, I bought a B+Q own brand impact drill - like a hand-held Kango if you like.

Got home, started chipping the render off the interior kitchen wall and it packed up, with that really shitty electrical burning smell, and a blue flash.

Took it back - time on receipt 8.30, time of return 9.20. Ruined in less than an hour.

Bought a Bosch(?), twice the price, but still working ten years on.

There's a moral here.....YGWYPF...

[CreepingJesus]

One of these days, I must buy some good quality hex keys. The cheapo ones I keep buying from Asda or the Post Office last about 2 uses, then they're hopelessly chewed up and rounded off. Draper do themselves no favours by stocking Asda's shelves with their cheap shit stuff: I've a super-long Draper Torx key which cost me about £7 alone some years ago. It took some abuse getting the sump off a Passat, but it still works fine. Looks like it's fit for the bin, mind, but the splines are A1!

Having said that, I was lent a Snap-On Torx kit many years ago, which slipped all over the place. My Laser Torx kit (about £20, 15 years ago) has never ever let me down, whatever it's been asked to do*. Still fucking hate Torx tho'; the Devil's work I tells thee.

 

 

*Apart from being able to reach the screws between the sump and the flywheel on a VW 2.0 8v, hence the desperation buy of the Draper...

[RedSparrow]

My dad runs a garage. He bought the business including everything, tools etc, in the 1980s. The place had been running since the 1940s and so is full of ancient tools (as well as the necessary modern ones), many of which are still used daily. The phrase They don't make them like they used to is pretty true in most cases I recon.

[CreepingJesus]

Ditto the stuff my grandad's still using, much of which has 'War Dept' and old 'BR' marks on...

[Split_Pin]

I've had a Dremel for years and they are great for working with plastic and fibreglass but I agree they are no use on steel.

 

They just about manage to grind clean small rusty patches on metal but even after that, the 'bit' is worn away and shit.

[Station]

Black Spur!

[Richard]

Rolson is the new Black Spur. In fact I wouldn't be surprised to find that Rolson really is Black Spur under a new name. Normally cheap tools are ok-ish as long as you don't ask too much of them but Rolson kit can't even manage light work.

[RedSparrow]

Also Silverline. A colleague one nearly got hit in the face when the metal handle of a hammer snapped off near the head.

[Danblez]

I've had a Dremel for years and they are great for working with plastic and fibreglass but I agree they are no use on steel.

 

They just about manage to grind clean small rusty patches on metal but even after that, the 'bit' is worn away and shit.

 

 

I love my dremel, it gets used often and with the correct reinforced dremel cutting discs cuts through steel really well. They are ruddy expensive though.

[meshking]

I use these : http://www.toollineuk.com/product.php/site/froogle/sn/2615S456JD

on my dremel and they're ideal for getting into the tight areas that my 115mm angle grinder can't get into. Yes, it takes a little longer but makes the job so much neater.

[ashmicro]

Bosch cordless garden power tools. Utter shit. I did a post mortem on the £100 hedge clippers and discovered why they failed - the motor shaft to the drive wheel for the blades is less than the thickness of a match, and made from cheap alloy. Ditto the Bosch cordless drill, which wasn't cheap either. Bosch cordless strimmer has been fucked off at the high port after it's battery went tits up, and I was looking at about £70 IIRC for a new one. Fuck that, pez strimmer FTW. I bought some B&Q El Cheapo mains operated hedge clippers for £16 and they are GR8.9. Good and noisy too.

[jonny69]

I had one of those massive bubble packs of 'tools' for £1 from the pound shop, where you get 10 screwdrivers, a plastic plane, a selection of small clamps, a tiny hammer and a selection of chisels. Probably more, but either way someone somewhere, probably a child, has been exploited to within an inch of their third world life in a sweatshop to produce a tray of tools where most don't even survive a single task. I'm sure they're proud of their work, but they can sleep easy knowing that, actually, the hammer and all the clamps are still in my toolbox and working after some 10 years.