Cheap tools?

[Diy89]

So it finally happened, and I broke the gear on the minimill. When shopping for the new one, i found myself looking at several measuring devices.
Whats the deal with the cheap DI's, mics, dial/digital calipers? Are they worth buying, or should i save for the "real" thing that's substantially more?

 

[Steam4ian]

G'day Diy89

Unless you are running a tool shop the cheap DTI's, Michrometers and digital calipers are worth buying. Check out the cost against Staret and you will see what I mean. Unless it is really cheap it is better than nothing.

To gauge prices for good "imitations" look up Little Machine Shop, Chris doesn't stock junk.

Regards
Ian

 

[Twmaster]

Tools are sadly one of the areas it does not pay to cheap out in.

I had a cheapo DTI. When it stopped working correctly after less than a week of use it hit the trash with a loud thunk.

Good tools can be had. I personally have bought 4 indicators off FeeBay. 2 Starrett 'Last Word' DTIs, one Standard Gage DTI and a Starrett 25 series indicator. All work as expected. The only thing I had to do was put a crystal in one of the Last Words. I have a whopping total of $69 in the group.

I've also bought good milling bits, feeler gauges, drills, rules, vises, 1-2-3 blocks, etc for very good prices. It just takes some effort to look and watch for deals. They are out there. Especially in this economy.

Of course, it's your money. Spend it twice if ya have too...

 

[Artie]

Im with TW.... is it really necessary to buy new Starret stuff? Lots of auto shops or engineering shops have closed down or even guys like us who have given it all away... the stuff is out there.... patience and trawling....

Having said that...I have some chinese stuff which works just great...for how long... I have no idea but consider myself to already have my worth from most of it... what I mean is it can be better than nothing....

Good luck mate, perhaps one can slowly build up a kit of quality tools and equipemnt by starting with cheaper stuff....

Cheer

Rob

 

[Tin Falcon]

This is a subject that has come up in many forms and has been beaten around the boards.
IMHO look in this priority
good used stuff IE Starette Brown and Sharp Mitutoyo etc.
Then look at the import stuff.
The good stuff will never disappoint you except fo the price. I have also been very happy with some of my harbor freight stuff.
IMHO Harbor freight T gages are way too rough to be consistent and accurate. you pay you money and take your chances.
Tin

 

[Troutsqueezer]

>I have also been very happy with some of my harbor freight stuff.

Over the years I have bought much from Harbor Freight and Tin is right, you pays your money and you takes your chances and this is something I keep in mind every time I buy something from them. That said, there have been very few items I've purchased from them that failed to meet my expectations which admittedly, are always a bit lower considering it's HF stuff. If I buy something I need and pay a lot less for it at HF and it works just fine for me, that's a coup and I'm always please with myself. If it doesn't work, I haven't lost much and go out and buy the quality version. HF is very good at taking things back and giving refunds.

I bought one of HF's cheap DI's just to get started in this hobby. I figure I'll buy a nicer one when the opportunity presents itself but hey, I have absolutely zero complaints about this one, so far.

Now, if I can just get used to that Chinese factory/HF smell... :big:

 

[black85vette]

Almost everything at HF is intended for limited light duty. I would never buy tools there that I intended to use hard everyday for 8 hrs and try to make a living with them. But I don't mind buying things that get used occasionally and I have to go easy on them if the price is right. Its always a trade off. You just have to determine yours needs, priorities and resources. There is no one right answer that fits everybody.

 

[Diy89]

Thanks for the replies. Being a journeyman heavy diesel mechanic has its +'s after I changed jobs. I have a good rep with the rolling tool trucks. I think i put his kids through college and sure paid for his 1st wife after they split! Oh, and dont get me started about fleebay. I troll there for hours and hours. I agree to, if i were using them everyday, i wouldn't buy anything but the best. I guess if i wonder if a thou is a thou, i can ref another DI or a mic.
Now, to make some chips......

 

[rake60]

My work tools are all Mitutoyo and Starrett.
The home tools are mostly the "cheap" stuff. There are a few
tired old Starrett tools in my home hobby tool box. Tools that
had severed me very well for many years, but would no longer
meet the calibration requirements to be used in a working machine
shop. I know several working machinists who have put their old
worn tools on eBay. They don't sell them because they are too
good to be kept.

You can not beat the quality of Mitutoyo and Starrett tools.
In a home shop environment they will last a lifetime.
At my age that might not be that long!
I just can't justify spending $125 for a digital 0-6 caliper in my hobby
budget. The "cheap" stuff works just fine for me.

Rick

 

[applescotty]

Another aspect to this is the enjoyment of using the tools. When I use any of my cheap HF tools, I just use them. When I use some of my Starrett or Lufkin tools (almost all purchased used on eBay), I have much more respect for the tool, and for what I'd doing. My work is probably better, too.

I know it's all a mental thing, and for the things I do, either tool probably is just a capable. But, I just enjoy it more with the good tools.

Scott

 

[user 1493]

After I retired for the first time ten years ago, I spent six months operating and maintaining a 36 inch cone crusher for a friend. One day we had to change one of the screens on the sifter. This screen had 1 inch openings and was made from 3/8 steel wire. It looked like a chain link fence panel and was 4x8. After we replaced the screen, I started it up and noticed some shiny parts going through the crusher. I stopped it and discovered that we had left a 1/2 drive Snap on ratchet, a 3/4 inch SK combination wrench and a 3/4 inch Harbor freight combination wrench on the screen. The Snap on ratchet was in four pieces, the SK wrench was broken in half, and the HF wrench was pretty well scratched up from the rock that it was mixed up with. I have some HF stuff and I think that some of it is okay and some of it is not so great.

 

[shred]

I've got HF digital calipers and some nice Mitutoyos, a China DTI and a couple B&S DTIs. HF DI's and a Starrett DI. The B&S & Mitus & Starretts are nicer to use, but the HF's are a tenth the price and get the job done. Just starting out, you're unlikely to need the difference, so I'd say get cheap ones to start and upgrade later if you decide it's worth it and/or as good used ones come by (that's how I got mine ).

 

[Majorstrain]

A while back I got a Chinese 0-25mm micrometer.
I was a bit sticky in places but all it needed was a strip down and de-bur.
Right as rain now, and the quality matches my abilities at the moment. :big:

Phil

 

[philt214]

For the home shop machinist...buy the cheap ones. Especially such measuring tools as micrometers, DIs, calipers are a great bargain and measure just as well as the more expensive tools. If it doesn't then replace it with another. I have any number of measuring instruments purchased from Harbor Freight, Enco, JTS and others that measure just as accurately as the more expensive versions of the same tool.

 

[rake60]

The old "You get what you pay for." adage come to mind.
You can pay a premium price for a tool that will work perfectly
right out of the box. OR, you can buy tools at 1/4 the cost that
might require a simple touch up of user refinement to make them
work good as the premium priced tools.

Most career machinists will say the cheap tools are nothing but junk.
If they worked for a shop that was worth it's salt, their tools were
obtained at cost through a generous payroll deduction plan.
I know all of my own work tools were purchased by those means.

At home the story changes.
Tools purchased are based on my home hobby budget.
I bought a set of import telescopic bore gages for $10. They were gritty and
sticky. I tore them apart, cleaned and deburred them. They now have the
same feel and accuracy of the Starrett set that I have at work. I paid
just over $175 for the Starrett's but that was painless as a $20 per pay
deduction. I wonder if the wife would allow me a weekly deduction plan
for buying tools?
I CAN dream of that happening!
Rof}

Rick

 

[Maryak]

Big money name brand tools get out of adjustment at about the same rate as the cheap charlie copies. IMHO, if abused both will suffer from the abuse.

To deviate slightly, even the best sextants have an error individual to each instrument if you know the error, (provided with a good quality instrument), you have a better chance of knowing where you are by applying the correction to the angle obtained. Measuring tools are similar - know the error in the tool and you can correct for it.

Hope this helps.

Best Regards
Bob