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Old 18th Jun 2020, 10:55 am   #1
philthespark
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Default Tool rip offs

Picking up from a couple of the other threads I thought I'd start this one and see where it went, the theme is tool rip offs, usually by the Chinese in the 70's and 80's, lets see what we can come up with, I will open with the Xcelite screwdriver set.
Now these were quite good as I remember, and also fairly expensive, the handles had different colours to make identification easier, they also had a larger handle that slipped over to give more purchase. Then a cheap Chinese copy came out, they looked the same but the blades were made of some kind of cheese I think, you only had to look at them the worng way and they'd twist and bend, you used to see them for sale in holiday resorts a lot, along with those 'heavy duty' screwdriver sets, you hit them with a hammer (didn't we all) and they'd shatter into hundreds of sharp pieces, still I suppose they kept the eye specialists in work, lol
So, what else can you remember like this
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Old 18th Jun 2020, 11:22 am   #2
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Default Re: Tool rip offs

Same thing happened with those 'microshear' cutters. They were rather good when they came out, and solved the twin problems of not being able to afford Lindstrom or find anywhere stocking them. However the market is now flooded with cheap and nasty lookalikes to the microshears.... well the only bit that doesn't lookalike id the blade edges don't quite meet up in the same place.

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Old 18th Jun 2020, 11:30 am   #3
philthespark
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Default Re: Tool rip offs

I feel your pain, lolc I remember when I first met my wife, her daughter was a nice girl and thoughtfully bought me some screwdrivers for my birthday, 'they'll be handy for work you being an electrician' she told me. I opened the packaging to find a set of those cheap wooden handled ones from poundland, poor kid, she wasn't to know.
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Old 18th Jun 2020, 11:50 am   #4
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Default Re: Tool rip offs

Pushing at an open door here, we've probably all come across poor quality tools. Non-Engineers are easily fooled. Keep them for a while then when forgotten quietly dispose of them.
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Old 18th Jun 2020, 11:52 am   #5
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Default Re: Tool rip offs

Ah a similar thing happened to me , my girl friend bought me a tool kit in a nice plastic case , that was the only good thing about it , half the spanners had just a round hole where the ring should be , the handles broke off the screw drivers the shaft on the hammer bent , I still have it somewhere , She didn't know , bless. needless to say we got married . Now she ask's me before buying anything tool related. Mick.
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Old 18th Jun 2020, 11:53 am   #6
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Default Re: Tool rip offs

Then again, bought some a set of allen keys from Netto think they were about £1, plus 2 screwdrivers, a pozi drive and flat blade, both about 40p each, the Allen key’s are strong toughened steel and the screw drivers are CR-V, still got them and use them, more than paid for them selves,
Some of the tools from Lidi, aren’t too bad either, especially for taking out on to a job, not too expensive so if you lose, forget one it’s not a gutted feeling,
Ok to lend to friends, relations, neighbours etc, some people could break a tonka toy!
Regards, Alan.
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Old 18th Jun 2020, 12:29 pm   #7
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Default Re: Tool rip offs

This is not in the class of nasty rip offs, but Qiangsheng Luban manufacture hand tools (mainly hand planes) that are perfect copies of Lie Nielsen Toolworks products. But at half the price.

They are astonishingly good, and available from fine woodworking tool on-line shops. Like Axminster and Rutlands to name two.

Their latest offering is a large scraper plane at £130, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t5ufCEF8duU identical to https://www.lie-nielsen.com/products...makers-scraper - only $215 in the US, but £250 by the time it gets to the UK.
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Old 18th Jun 2020, 12:35 pm   #8
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Default Re: Tool rip offs

OK - I've just persuaded myself I need one, and sprung for Rutlands, who were the best price.
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Old 18th Jun 2020, 12:37 pm   #9
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Default Re: Tool rip offs

Why is it if you have bent twisted off soft screwdrivers and open jawed pliers, in your toolbox you never seem to be able to loose them, it is always your high quality stuff that goes missing.
I remember many years ago calling on a customer and leaving my toolbox on the roof of my van and driving off, realising I had no tools at the next call retraced my root all to no avail, just by chance I called into the police station ( we had police stations in those days) and someone had reported them found, I was so pleased having all my test gear and tools back all in a big cardboard box I gave the finder £10. When I got back to the workshop I found my AVO and all test gear smashed to pieces and all my decent tools were missing so all in all a bad day at the Office.
John
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Old 18th Jun 2020, 4:20 pm   #10
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Default Re: Tool rip offs

Hi!

Quote:

Why is it if you have bent twisted off soft screwdrivers and open jawed pliers, in your toolbox you never seem to be able to loose them, it is always your high quality stuff that goes missing.
It's always the way – I never lose the cheapest nastiest screwdrivers from my toolbox!

I think the reason is once you know it's a dud one, you leave it there, and then when you want a screwdriver to do something elsewhere you know which are the good ones, so you get the good one out and of course, you go and mislay it somewhere, get another reasonable one out and unfortunately you drop it somewhere, and then the process repeats until you've only got the bent mangled Chinese thingys in there next time you want one!

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Old 18th Jun 2020, 4:34 pm   #11
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Default Re: Tool rip offs

Quote:
Originally Posted by jonnybear View Post
I remember many years ago calling on a customer and leaving my toolbox on the roof of my van and driving off, realising I had no tools at the next call retraced my root all to no avail, just by chance I called into the police station ( we had police stations in those days) and someone had reported them found...
Last year I happened across a carrier bag in the middle of a busy road that people were driving round. I was on my bike so picked it up and found expensive screwdrivers, cutters and a Fluke meter. There was also an invoice and I managed to Google the owner's details.

Apparently it had fallen out the back of the chap's van and he didn't realise till he got home. I think the main reason I made a big effort to find the owner was that I knew it was top quality gear and probably someone's livelyhood.

On the subject of cheapo tools, I seem to have several small sets of sockets. All the same selection and all in some sort of rubber holder. Last time I tried to use one it was too shallow (to take a tuner off a guitar).
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Old 18th Jun 2020, 4:38 pm   #12
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Default Re: Tool rip offs

Some cheap tools are good: I've got a Spamish-made "Zubi Ondo" Stillson wrench here which I bought from a cheap-shop at least 40 years ago - it was a quarter of the price of a British-made Footprint but it's never let me down. Same for a set of ring-spanners by the same Spanish company.
I've also got a Chinese-made "Flying Horse" brand sickle which is rather good (Is it the one which inspired the Communist hammer-and-sickle logo?) - but I bought a hammer from a car-boot-sale and it broke within a week.

Who makes a hammer that breaks when you hit things with it? The Chinese!

I guess there's always a pragmatic balance between spending lots of money on nice tools then feeling annoyed when you lose them or they get 'borrowed', or buying cheap stuff in the hope that it will work OK before they're lost/borrowed. Losing a £10 Screwfix DVM won't make me shed tears; losing a £250 Fluke will!

Brands come and go: I've got quite a few Laser and Draper brand tools which seem OK as mid-price, Facom is my go-to brand for things like nut-drivers/ring-spanners for tightening potentiometer and switch-nuts (Facom is sometimes on special-offer at Halfords), and I'm also happy with Kamasa (I've got a nice little ratchet-driver socket-set of theirs). But I also have seriously-expensive Lindstrom side-cutters and pliers: nobody seems to be able to make box-joints like Lindstrom!
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Old 18th Jun 2020, 4:54 pm   #13
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Default Re: Tool rip offs

My one luxury (I don't eat or smoke, I am not married, etc) is expensive tools . I like to buy them once and expect them to last me the rest of my life (provided I don't misuse them, a watchmaker's screwdriver is not a pry bar!). Actually I am still not sure which is the better set of such screwdrivers, the Burgeon set I bought myself (complete with spare blades...) or the Moore & Wright set that I inherited from my father.

Facom stuff is very nice but I feel the German Stahlwille is slightly better. Both are overkill for what I _need_ but... And be sitting down when you see the prices.

At one time there was a 'posh' Draper brand called Elora. Their small spanners were excellent (and Maplin sold some for a time). I also like some CK stuff.

Talking of 'fakes'/confusion, Clarke are the Machine Mart own-brand (a few of the expensive tools are useable -- just), whereas Clarkson were respected in the machine tool business for things like milling chucks. Ho-hum.
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Old 18th Jun 2020, 4:55 pm   #14
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Default Re: Tool rip offs

I recall a glut of cheap "diamond tipped" drill bits, which it was claimed would drill through almost anything.
They did in fact drill through almost anything, but only once or twice after which they were useless.
Presumably they DID have a diamond coating, but of microscopic thickness or poorly attached.
They would drill through thick glass, provided that a new drill bit was used for each hole.
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Old 18th Jun 2020, 5:27 pm   #15
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I (alas) bought a set of cheap diamond coated burrs. Well, they may have been, But the shanks were made of cheese. I put one in my Dremel, ran it up to a reasonable speed and tried to open up a slot in a plastic box lid. The shank bent all over the place and made a right mess of the workpiece. Never again.

A bit off-topic, but the copies of those tools for opening screw-on wristwatch backs are nowhere near as accurately made as the Swiss originals. Yes they are about a 10th the price, but when (not if) they slip and scratch the back of a watch you've probably lost that saving. No thanks...
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Old 18th Jun 2020, 6:11 pm   #16
Alan_G3XAQ
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Default Re: Tool rip offs

Quote:
Originally Posted by G6Tanuki View Post
Who makes a hammer that breaks when you hit things with it? The Chinese!
Ah, but the Chinese one I bought in Uganda was even more impressive. Before the handle broke the head shed razor sharp shards of "steel" which always seemed to head in my direction.

Alan
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Old 18th Jun 2020, 7:01 pm   #17
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Default Re: Tool rip offs

It's never really worth wasting time with junk tools although I do admit to owning quite a few
I remember having some cheap watchmaker's screwdrivers with an 'advanced' feature, as you spun the handle, it rotated but the blade stood still, a neat torque limit facility The blades were bonded to the handle with cyanoacrylate adhesive. I tried repairing them but the superglue didn't work well.

I remember the cheap grotty yellow plastic handle screwdrivers. They sounded cheap by the ring from the brittle handle. I've had those snap off the blade, terrible things.

I've had a number of drills supposedly HSS but you'd think they were made from putty. Engineering files second cut, and ******* (with the emphasis on the latter! ), that are useless after being little used on mild steel. Those cheap craft knives can be awful, the plastic housing failing under only moderate pressure so could cause serious injury.

Some cheap combination and long nose pliers are poorly designed, you end up badly pinching your skin if you take your eye off the ball.

I have still got some very cheap flat open-ended BA spanners which have actually lasted me very well. I've not seen them available anywhere these days. Being quite thin, they're very useful in some situations.

It's hard to find a decent oilstone these days when you want to sharpen your chisels and plane blades. Very often, the cheap ones are grooved and gouged out after little use.

I also agree that Kamasa tools are quite good. I have a 1/4" and 3/8" drive metric/imperial socket set bought from CPC about 25 years ago and that has served me well.

I have some BA and metric nut spinners from RS back in the 1980s. They're great and well worth paying the extra for quality. The handles are a wine red colour and have a Spiralux look to them. Footprint also made some decent screwdrivers. Stanley are pretty good for carpentry tools.

Regards,
Symon
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Old 18th Jun 2020, 7:28 pm   #18
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Default Re: Tool rip offs

I had that screwdriver kit - it would have been the late 60s - probably a present bought at our local hardware shop. I still have a couple of the flat bladed ones - the rest and the big handle have become lost over the years. I had a little Stanley block plane from the same place - still in use.

I have a set of Spanish made ring spanners and some Indian combination spanners that date from the late 1970s that are still in frequent use working on certain mechanical items we don't mention here.

The worst stuff I bought was from stalls at radio rallies in the 1970s when I was a schoolkid with limited money. The stallholders rubbed their hands with glee when they saw you coming. I distinctly remember a set of twist drills that failed at the first attempt to drill some aluminium sheet. Soon learned my lesson.

Of course, the stuff was often unbranded which for the less gullible was a dead giveaway. The problem these days with apparently branded items is that there's a lot of counterfeit stuff about. I only buy tools from places where I know I can take them back.

PS

Quote:
Originally Posted by Philips210 View Post
I also agree that Kamasa tools are quite good.
I have a Kamasa 1/2" imperial socket set - 40 years years old and counting.

Last edited by Junk Box Nick; 18th Jun 2020 at 7:32 pm. Reason: Extra info
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Old 18th Jun 2020, 7:48 pm   #19
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Default Re: Tool rip offs

Hi.

Yes, those Kamasa socket sets are pretty good quality considering how reasonably priced they were. One of my mates has a 1/2" drive set from about 1975, still good as new. The quality of finish ie the chrome plating is excellent.

Regards,
Symon.
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Old 18th Jun 2020, 8:13 pm   #20
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Default Re: Tool rip offs

I bought a cheap jewellers screwdriver set once when I was at college. Probably from a pound shop type outlet. By the time I had got home 2 of the hardened shafts had already departed from the knurled steel handles....

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