Waste of Time and Money!

Peter Atwood

Peter Atwood

Joined
Oct 26, 2000
Messages
2,468
Everyone has done it. You buy something for the shop thinking it will really be of use only to find that it was really a waste of time and money. What item or items have you bought that you wish you hadn't? Could be power tools, could be hand tools or even just supplies. I'd like to know so I don't make the same mistake!:D

For me it was the variable speed Harbor Freight benchtop band saw with the skinny blade. Not quite useless but pretty much so. I sure can't use it for metal and it bogs down on anything but the thinnest handle slabs. I should have spent the extra $50 for the vertical/horizontal version which I now have to buy anyway.

So C'mon, fess up and give us your worst!:)
 
My confession: I bought a little 4X36, 6" disk grinder from Harbor Freight -- yuck! Not only underpowered, the disk wasn't square to the shaft, so it did this potato chip imitation spinning there and you couldn't get close to it. Utterly worthless. I couldn't even find a good use for the parts.

Yep, put the money in a full sized machine! My 6X48 is coming up after Christmas, I keep promising myself...

Dave
 
I bought a cheapo drill bit sharpener from Harbor Freight. One of the plastic bit holders broke the first time I tightened it up.

On the bright side, this experience prompted me to check out a bunch of machinist textbooks at the library, and now I'm practicing hand sharpening bits.

If you want sharp bits the easy way, buy a Drill Doctor sharpener. I've heard great things about it.

Bob
 
Peter,your not the only one by a long shot,this has the potential of a very long thread.I traded a knife for an older Craftsmen wood-cutting bandsaw even though I have a H/F V/H metal-cutting saw.It was almost useless on my handle materials.Ended up trading it along with my old Lincoln arc welder for a Cobra MIG welder.As for supplies, I had more than my share of unknown steel problems.That's why I now buy good known steel.Save the unknown for when you have some freetime.Dave:)
 
Originally posted by Peter Atwood
...variable speed Harbor Freight benchtop band saw with the skinny blade. Not quite useless but pretty much so. I sure can't use it for metal and it bogs down on anything but the thinnest handle slabs...
Click to expand...

One thing you could use it for is cutting the edges off of the sheath after stitching to bring it close to the threads, ready for final sanding...for when you have real thick welts that is hard to slice through straight and close...when I use to make fixed blade sheaths I would bring my welts up thick to accomadate the handle/guard so the knife wasn't pushing back hard against the belt loop and stretching the sheath open, so that made for some quite thick welts! A pain to hand stitch through!

As for me, been lucky in that dept, don't buy a lot of equipment, made a disk sander that just runs and runs...

G2
 
Boy I couldn't even start to list the different machines I have tried to make or buy cheap at the flea market and have not work for me..Donna finally put her foot down one day and told me that if I wanted a machine to save the money and buy the proper machine and forget trying to scrimp on the machines..as she was tired of seeing me get totally flusrated with the cheap stuff or spending days fixing something to only find out that it wouldn't work..
Great wife huh..
Bruce
 
YEA ME TOO,HARBOR freight shoud be c-4s,oh thattaliban talk so sorry.1#42 belt grinder,ect.. royboy
 
"One can only become a true professional by making every mistake in the book enough times to know how to fix each and every one!!" TM



:):p:):p:)

Now you have learned something important!! :eek:
 
I can't think of anything right off. If you believe that I have a mountain retreat in Iowa for sale cheap.
Had the Harbor freight band saw. Sent it back and got a refund. I bought a Harbor Freight attatchment to turn your 4 inch angle grinder into a chop saw.Worked just like the band saw.Bought the router speed control to see if it would control other motors. It won't.
Some time I'll tell you guys about my black and decker graveyard.
Take Care
TJ Smith
 
Right now I can't think about nothing but a cheap hacksaw. My grandpa was a locksmith and always said that "cheap tools cost nothing last nothing, good tools are expensive but last many lives". I've inherited his tools, and always sticked to that principle.
Best to wait to have the money to get the right thing than throwing away lots of hard earned bucks over useless things.
None of the tools I have bought till now has ever failed me.
Right now I'm waiting to get enough money together to buy a good belt grinder.
Meanwhile I'll stick to my high carbon files... What money can't buy muscle and patience can do :D :D :D
 
My el-cheapo brand chop saw. Bogs down on everything, less torque than my angle grinder. All for the reasonable price of $80 plus shipping! That's a lot for a poor married guy like me.
 
I have a cheapy HF chop saw, and so far it doesn't bog down. You said you couldn't even cut small bars of brass? What's your horsepower?
 
Mine isn't an HF, it's brand X that I got from eBay. I'll check the brand and specs when I get home and post it tomorrow. 3/8ths brass rod bogs it down easy. I would like to warn everyone off of this brand.
 
Most useless purchase: Sears 1 x42 belt sander. Wound up giving it away just to make some more bench space. Lesson learned.
 
Actually Don, I find that my Delta 1x42 is useful for the flat disc portion. I can tilt it to 7 1/2 degrees for my folder tangs. Other than that, it's totally useless!:D

These are some good reports. Let's hear from some more folks!
 
Over the years me and my family, grew up on a dairy farm, have ordered tons of stuff from Harbor Freight with little disipontment.

Just stick to the main brand names and read the specs. Harbor has some real good stuff, but they also have some incredably cheap crap too.

The worst for me was when I was in high school and ordered a 1x42" grinder from one of the adds in the back of Blade. It came with a 1/6 horse power motor and barrly had enough power to turn the belt, much less grind anything. Utterly useless.
 
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