Tools you shouldn't have bought

[mklotz]

You mean like this, Paul?

When I was young and innocent (sometime in the early Jurassic), I thought this thing was so neat that everyone needed one.

While it has a vernier, the marks are so broad that setting it with any accuracy demands an exterior reference (and, if you've got a reference, why use this?). The lock screw makes the thing move when you tighten it. With the V for part mounting, you've got to faff around with 45 degree compensations for most jobs. And it isn't heavy enough to anchor even a small boat.

Save your money and buy angle blocks and a sine bar. This thing is a shiny paperweight.

 

[John S]

Hey Marv, those things are brilliant



I have one I use it for ............. you know I can't remember............

JS

 

[Lew Hartswick]

I have one I use it for ............. you know I can't remember............
JS

A paper weight on your desk, maybe?
...lew...

 

[jack404]

adjustable angle block ...
I actually use mine a heap, but maybe thats just me and the work i do ( indexing barrels and sights and stock screws )
I have a half hex. insert made to take hexagonal shapes that i work with often

( not cheap!)

i did buy a cheap one once that moved when you tryed to lock it up but i tossed it fast.
if they move there are useless..

sine holders are the same , if they slip, send it back or toss it, its not worth the heart ache or temper tantrums that result.

jack

 

[cfellows]

Oh yeah, forgot, I bought a Lincoln Procut 25 plasma cutter for over $1100. My idea was to cut out spoke patterns in flywheel's with it. Although it cuts great, it's not much use without guides or templates to get nice straight and repeatable cuts. I've never really used it for any of my projects. But I'm going to some day.

Chuck

 

[McNeillMachine]

1) Hollow chisel mortiser. 225 bucks.

2) 115 pc set of drill bits for 29 bucks. ("They'll be good enough." - They weren't.)

3) Indexable stub acme thread cutter. Just HAD to cut a stub acme thread for a project instead of a 60 deg. 125 bucks.

4) 4 inch face mill off ebay. somehow I thought my BP could handle that. Maybe if I take a 2 thou DOC, but thats it. 40 bucks, plus cutters, plus arbor. prolly 200 total.

Not terrible for 6 years, but still.

 

[BillH]

I bought a T handle Hex set at Harborfreight one day. I could take the smaller ones and wrap them around my finger! Must of been made out of lead.

 

[Mike N]

I bought a T handle Hex set at Harborfreight one day. I could take the smaller ones and wrap them around my finger! Must of been made out of lead.

I bought a Metric & standard set of these to, junk!
In fact tomorrow I going to throw them out!

 

[shred]

I bought a Metric & standard set of these to, junk!
In fact tomorrow I going to throw them out!

I have a couple sets of the multi-colored ones and they do ok for me. They're a little soft, but I don't lean on them much and grind them back when they do wear. Cheap enough to dedicate a set to a particular machine which is how I deploy them; I have a better set for general purpose and heavy-duty uses.

I'll be sure to inspect any new sets thoroughly before buying.

 

[BobWarfield]

I actually kept a record the first couple of years, so I know exactly what I bought and didn't use. Here is a start on the list:

- Center Test Wobbler (tried it once, much preferred a DTI)

- Used Bison 6 1/4" 3-jaw Chuck (turned out to be too big for my lathe, but it was a heck of a deal, DOH!)

- Vibration dampening machine feet (I like making them out of Hockey pucks better!)

- Stainless Steel Protractor (I have yet to need to measure an angle of any kind. I set up angles, but that is different. I use my angle blocks)

- Pin Gage Set (Another fabulous deal, but never use 'em)

- Live center set (An import set. I found a nice used Royal before I ever had a chance to use the imports, and have stuck with it)

- Brown & Sharp Radius Gages

- Starrett Adjustable Parallels (Pretty sure these will get used, but so far I have found my planer gage is what I reach for first)

- Lathe dogs (I have a driven center arrangement I prefer)

- 8 Pc Expanding Arbor Set (Hey, they were cheap!)

- Starrett Taper Gage No 269B

The list goes on for quite some while. Can't resist an eBay deal!

OTOH, I hadn't looked at the list in a while and had to mark several things early in the list that I had finally gotten around to using.

Cheers,

BW

 

[jack404]

I bought a Metric & standard set of these to, junk!
In fact tomorrow I going to throw them out!

if they are bigger sizes give em to your local gun nut

bored out and a barrel liner in place they make a a ripper .38 derringer

;D

jack

 

[potman]

Well.... OK... I'll admit it.

I'm beginning to regret buying my lathe.

It's a neat old Southbend that will be pretty cool as soon as I:

• Dismantle and clean
• De-rust
• Paint
• Assemble
• Mount motor
• Mount jackshaft
• Adjust and align
• Buy tooling

I probably would have been better off spending more money on a new machine. If I had then I could actually be turning thingys instead of just thinking about turning thingys.

There, I feel better already.

earl...

 

[rleete]

potman,

Console yourself with the fact that when you are done, you will have a nicer machine. Plus, having a Chinese lathe, you'd have to work on it anyway. Cleaning, adjusting, making improvements, etc. Not quite as involved as rebuilding a SB, but it will never be the machine the SB is, either.

 

[Brian Rupnow]

I don't have any tools that I shouldn't have bought. I do however have a tailstock that works with my 2 position rotary table that I have not had an opportunity to use yet!! ;D ;D Some of the tools I intitially purchased have had to wait for my machining ability to reach the point where I was capable of using them.---Brian

 

[shred]

Well.... OK... I'll admit it.

I'm beginning to regret buying my lathe.

It's a neat old Southbend that will be pretty cool as soon as I:

[...]

I probably would have been better off spending more money on a new machine. If I had then I could actually be turning thingys instead of just thinking about turning thingys.

Yeah, I know that one. The old machines are great when they're going, but I know more than one newbie that still has a parts machine and no made parts after a year or two of ownership.. the stock advice of many internet 'gurus' to anybody asking "what lathe should I buy?" to hunt around and wait for some old American iron to show up isn't necessarily the best answer for many (I see this in other areas too, and it frustrates me there as well). In the long run it should come out ok though.

 

[rake60]

I can't think of any tools I regret owning.
I did make a very dumb buy once.
An amazing deal on a full set of new 3/8" brazed tool bits
from an eBay vendor. At least it would have been a great
deal if the carbide had been properly brazed to the tools.
It popped off of 7 out of 10 of the tools with their very
first use.
:

Rick

 

[jihe]

Been thinking about this since the thread started. I've regretted lots of purchases, but never a tool! Of course I have tools that have not yet found their use, but I am pretty confident they will.

My philosophy has always been that it's better to have a bad Chinese tool made for the purpose than no tool at all. That has saved me many times.

I have a slow decision process though, and have regretted lots of tool purchases i did NOT do. And sometimes, when I discovered that I used a tool often that I just bought for safety, I have regretted I didn't buy a better version right away.

 

[baldrocker]

Potman
Been there still doing it. Make a simple chuff chuff first.
If its like mine it will be bloody awful but with luck will run.
This will give you all the incentive you need to persevere
also teach you what is needed to bring your lathe up to scratch.
The gradual improvement in your lathe plus the knowledge that
no-one knows it better than you is worth the wait. Don't worry about the
shift from making engines to making tools worry you, the urge to
make engines will return.
BR

 

[kvom]

I have a fair number of mechanics tools that I bought but have never used. So far I have bought very little for machining other than the machines themselves. I did buy a "Mighty Mag" with a DI on eBay; the magnet is fine but the DI is crap (lens cover knocked off in shipping, and the needle is bent).

 

[artrans]

I no one think i am need 100% happy with band saws you no i have a love hate relation ship with them to get them to cut straight i swear you can spend a live time trying and adjusting it a tool that seem to take a lot of maintenance. I confess i am bit of a tool junkie how ever shred i would respectively dis agree with you on the new vs Sb I have both Sb and the china brands and there is no way to compare the Sb is hands down far better then the china brand you take just the tail stock on the south bend I swear you can almost retract the total tail stock to zero with one good spin 30 years from now I do not think the china brand will do that. also if the day comes god forbid you need to sell the machines a south bent or some other older brand will always have a better resell value china brand may not. I new the saying new is new but any china brand will never ever beat a 10ee or a myford or a logan or a south bend in my opinion.