Annoying tools

[bravheart]

I don't know who bought it (supposedly my father) but I had a set of parkside spirit levels, they where horribly flimsy and if I remember right in one of them you could jiggle the level part. I decided there and then that I wouln't skimp on such precision tools and just buy name brands, Sola in my case.
On a sidenote, the part with the airbubble in it is called a "libel" in Dutch, is there an English name?

Don't know about the bubble but libel over here has the high price lawyers rubbing there hands with glee.

 

[forblue]

Wifey bought me a socket set from Aldi about ten years ago and it was terrific quality,a made in Germany version. Sockets fit well , ratchet perfect and very strong a match for anything. A month later it was dad's birthday so ,with no hesitation ,ripped in to Aldi and bought a screwdriver set for him. Biggest pile of shite that ever left China. The shafts only went in to the handles about 3/4" so the ones that didn't round their tips on their first use just snapped the handles off.

Got a small trolley jack from them few years ago thought it might be handy for small jobs, first use the plunger broke off linkage returned it for money back and got a better one from different place, yet i got a Chinese 4.5" grinder from Wickes for £8 many years ago been brilliant, seems Chinese can make good cheap stuff but a competitor then copies it using cheaper parts and it's then crap.

 

[Pistonbroke]

Got a small trolley jack from them few years ago thought it might be handy for small jobs, first use the plunger broke off linkage returned it for money back and got a better one from different place, yet i got a Chinese 4.5" grinder from Wickes for £8 many years ago been brilliant, seems Chinese can make good cheap stuff but a competitor then copies it using cheaper parts and it's then crap.

I was halfway through cutting and welding and artic trailer on a weekend outdoors and dad drove over the welder🫣 . I wasn't happy so went and did something else. Dad, knowing nothing about any tool other than hammers,went to Aldi and bought a 180amp arc welder for £30. I was about p!ss!Ng myself when I saw it,it did all the welding,drawbar,hitch eye etc without any issue. Still here 12 years later,not used much just on a workbench in case something needs bodging quick

 

[Lakesdigger]

Don't know about the bubble but libel over here has the high price lawyers rubbing there hands with glee.

The bubble is called a vial here, I guess there will have been the odd "vial" of something used where lawyers and big money is concerned over the years

 

[TheTallGuy]

The most annoying tool is the one that you've been using whilst lying under a machine…..

You haven’t moved for 20 minutes. You’ve only used a couple of tools and you were just using this one 10 seconds ago….

BUT THE barsteward f**kING THING HAS VANISHED INTO THE GROUND!!!!!

And , for the life of you, you cannot find it anywhere.

And breathe…….

Or it somehow migrates under your body in an uncomfortable and inaccessible location...

 

[Paddington]

You know you need a 13mm spanner to do a job in an awkward place. You pick it up off the wall where all the spanners are hung in ascending sizes. There is just enough room to wriggle under the vehicle inch by inch with the spanner held tightly in your hand so as not to lose it. In position you reach up to find you have brought a 12mm one instead. There is a lot of bad language.

 

[David.]

My suspicion is that 12mm and 18mm were merely invented as a cruel joke. They have to have been the cause of much wasted shoe leather and un-Christian language.

 

[britt]

The most annoying tool is the one that you've been using whilst lying under a machine…..

You haven’t moved for 20 minutes. You’ve only used a couple of tools and you were just using this one 10 seconds ago….

BUT THE barsteward f**kING THING HAS VANISHED INTO THE GROUND!!!!!

And , for the life of you, you cannot find it anywhere.

And breathe…….

I found that problem ceased when I lost the dog that used to like "helping" when I was fixing stuff.

 

[Paddington]

Amazon bench clamps, screw through the bench with a toggle clamp, probably less than a year old and the threads are stripping already.

 

[britt]

You know you need a 13mm spanner to do a job in an awkward place. You pick it up off the wall where all the spanners are hung in ascending sizes. There is just enough room to wriggle under the vehicle inch by inch with the spanner held tightly in your hand so as not to lose it. In position you reach up to find you have brought a 12mm one instead. There is a lot of bad language.

Unless you are working on a VW. In which case you will have the 13 or 17mm spanner in hand, and find that you actually need the 12 or 18mm.

 

[britt]

Is that the same one that streches every measuring tape just enough that it fecks the spring so it won't return anymore?

It has another sister. That one kinks the tape so you can't measure anything longer than you can reach.

 

[clbarclay]

Get a Japanese built vehicle and you will get used to 12mm and 14mm nuts.

 

[Pistonbroke]

It has another sister. That one kinks the tape so you can't measure anything longer than you can reach.

Dad bought himself a posh Stanley one and it was not running quite as free as usual so he soaked it in a jug of petrol. All the rubber/ plastic parts inside just dissolved into tar. Don't soak them in petrol