Shopsmith Forums

I'm a tool freak but I rarely walk down the Wal-Mart tool aisle. I have bought stuff like sandpaper and saber-saw blades there. Most of the time I just never see anything there that excites me.
On the other hand I do shop Harbor freight more than you might think. I am normally an excellent judge of tool quality and NEVER say that "you get what you pay for". Much of the really ultra high dollar stuff is just sucker bait. I know, I used to sell some of it. Good stuff with silly pricing. I say that you get the quality that you search out and learn to recognize. I do buy a LOT of tools at yard / garage sales. Most of the time that can be the best way to save a buck and still be able to buy quality stuff (if you recognize it).
The reason that I shop Harbor freight for some stuff is that there are a lot of tools that I buy that I rarely use and it seems kind of silly to me for me to put top dollar in a tool that I might only use twice and that does not have any special needs to be "special".
The drill press vise I posted to another thread is one example.
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=31001
OK we are talking about $20 here. I would buy a better one for the metal shop where it would get a lot of stress and it might cost me $80. In the wood shop the $20 vise would be fine. If I buy the $20 one instead of the $80 one I now have $60 left to buy something else. If I do that enough times I can afford a new Shopsmith 530 using the money I didn't spend over-buying tools that have little need to be "special",
Now if I am going to be using something frequently I generally want it to be the best quality I can buy but I never use the price tag to decide if it is high quality or not.
I keep trying to help my son build his tool collection and a few years ago I bought him a low cost Tool Shop compound miter saw. I didn't put a lot in it because his need was not that great. I had already given him a good Shopsmith Greenie. A year later he decided to build a 26' x 32' addition to his house and to remodel the rest of the house. That Tool Shop saw did about 90% of the cross cutting on that work and he is still using it. It is just as accurate as it was when it was new. He just last month bought a laser light guide attachment for it.
For some guys it comes down to $$$. Either you buy a bunch of "decent" stuff at a low dollar amount and do woodworking or... You buy one $500 hammer and sit it out in the floor and look at it...

robinson46176 wrote:You buy one $500 hammer and sit it out in the floor and look at it...

I think the Gov. buys all of those hammers.

If you buy a $500 hammer (or anything else) and don't use it - you have either a problem or far more money than you need.

robinson46176 wrote:I'm a tool freak but I rarely walk down the Wal-Mart tool aisle. I have bought stuff like sandpaper and saber-saw blades there. Most of the time I just never see anything there that excites me.
On the other hand I do shop Harbor freight more than you might think. I am normally an excellent judge of tool quality and NEVER say that "you get what you pay for". Much of the really ultra high dollar stuff is just sucker bait. I know, I used to sell some of it. Good stuff with silly pricing. I say that you get the quality that you search out and learn to recognize. I do buy a LOT of tools at yard / garage sales. Most of the time that can be the best way to save a buck and still be able to buy quality stuff (if you recognize it).
The reason that I shop Harbor freight for some stuff is that there are a lot of tools that I buy that I rarely use and it seems kind of silly to me for me to put top dollar in a tool that I might only use twice and that does not have any special needs to be "special".
The drill press vise I posted to another thread is one example.
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=31001
OK we are talking about $20 here. I would buy a better one for the metal shop where it would get a lot of stress and it might cost me $80. In the wood shop the $20 vise would be fine. If I buy the $20 one instead of the $80 one I now have $60 left to buy something else. If I do that enough times I can afford a new Shopsmith 530 using the money I didn't spend over-buying tools that have little need to be "special",
Now if I am going to be using something frequently I generally want it to be the best quality I can buy but I never use the price tag to decide if it is high quality or not.
I keep trying to help my son build his tool collection and a few years ago I bought him a low cost Tool Shop compound miter saw. I didn't put a lot in it because his need was not that great. I had already given him a good Shopsmith Greenie. A year later he decided to build a 26' x 32' addition to his house and to remodel the rest of the house. That Tool Shop saw did about 90% of the cross cutting on that work and he is still using it. It is just as accurate as it was when it was new. He just last month bought a laser light guide attachment for it.
For some guys it comes down to $$$. Either you buy a bunch of "decent" stuff at a low dollar amount and do woodworking or... You buy one $500 hammer and sit it out in the floor and look at it...

Walley world or as a friend calls them China mart just opened a super dooper mart near my home. I have not visitied it. In fact will not. I refuse to support a company that does not allow salesmen in their stores. I also detest the marketing and employee tactics they employ. So I shop at local stores that are willing to take good care of employees and support local community growth. This is one grumpy ole guys opinion and not the opinion of anyone or any business other than my own.

:DI Buy American and I Buy Quality thus supporting my neighbors.

fjimp wrote:Walley world or as a friend calls them China mart just opened a super dooper mart near my home. I have not visitied it. In fact will not. I refuse to support a company that does not allow salesmen in their stores. I also detest the marketing and employee tactics they employ. So I shop at local stores that are willing to take good care of employees and support local community growth. This is one grumpy ole guys opinion and not the opinion of anyone or any business other than my own.

:DI Buy American and I Buy Quality thus supporting my neighbors.

In the Economics classes I teach I show my students the Frontline show "Is Wal-Mart Good for America?" One of my students said he'll never shop at Wal-Mart again after seeing the tactics of that chain. If you've never seen it, I highly recommend it.
BPR

An acquaintance of mine used to work for a canned food company(which shall remain unidentified) informed me that Wally/China/world/mart was only interested that the label show who canned the product. They were not interested in the quality or if it was as good as the producer's normal product. After all it was not WM's reputation on the line! FWIW the producer did not ship to WM!

Anyone think WM has a good reputation re quality?

Always low prices, always has a different meaning for me. Never good quality, never.

They are not always the lowest either!

Like Farmer though, when 'cheap' non-durable poor quality is good enough for the intended purpose then I will go there. I do not expect 'good stuff' for what I pay. I have been pleasantly surprised on a couple of occasions, but not lately!

ryanbp01 wrote:In the Economics classes I teach I show my students the Frontline show "Is Wal-Mart Good for America?" One of my students said he'll never shop at Wal-Mart again after seeing the tactics of that chain. If you've never seen it, I highly recommend it.
BPR

Truly I need to view it. Thanks.

dusty wrote:Do you have any specific examples of poor quality Stanley tools (products). My Stanley items are all older but they have all held up great.

Dusty, I agree with you, the old Stanley tools were great and I also have some of them. Last year I bought a set of Stanley screwdrivers. The plating has all come off the shanks, and they haven't been used that much.

Brent

I had to run to WM one time late at nite working on the dishwasher and toliet (not at the same time)!!! I needed some parts and they are open 24hrs. I couldn;t wait till Lowes or HD opened.. That's was a good thing there. I did require any rocket science type tools/parts, so I wasn't worried about what they had.

dusty wrote:Let us continue very carefully here.

Lets.

First, drop the snotty attitude and condescending tone about people who buy at Walmart or Kmart or Harborfreight. I did not say I do or do not buy from these stores, but I'm not so arrogant as to proclaim nothing of quality can be purchased from them. Only a fool would proclaim that. An ignorant fool. For quality items can be purchased at each of them. Shop carefully and with your eyes open.

It stands as I stated about Stanley. Stanley sells cheap junk tools at those locations. THAT was the subject. Your refusal to admit it or to go look at the Stanley junk changes nothing. You demanded proof that Stanley sells anything other than quality tools. That proof was presented.