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Re: "Good Enough" but Good Value

To: <shop-talk@autox.team.net>
Subject: Re: "Good Enough" but Good Value
From: old dirtbeard <dirtbeard@pacbell.net>
Date: Sun, 23 Nov 2003 19:48:30 -0800
I probably will catch some grief for saying this, but 
if you need a tool, why not buy a good one? In the US 
we seem to have this mentality that cost is king, and 
if something is $5.00 cheaper, we are foolish not to 
buy it instead.

I just try to find manufacturers that I trust, and I 
stick with them.  The only regrets I have had buying 
tools is when I, for whatever reason, but something 
based on price, and them hated using it because it is 
low quality, low power, poor ergonomics, unreliable, 
etc. The worst scenario is to buy some piece of junk, 
hoping it will die so you can replace it with what you 
should have bought in the first place.

The concept of disposable tools bothers me from an
environmental impact perspective as well.

I try to buy good tools, take care of them, and 
hopefully they will last me the rest of my life. If 
not, I can repair them because the brushes are 
accessible with a screw driver and readily available 
from the manufacturer.

I guess there is a little "Tool Time Tim Taylor" in me,
too, but I do enjoy using a high quality tool, even if 
I could have got the job done with a vastly inferior 
tool. I'll buy my wife Miki Moto pearls only because 
she feels better know they are top quality. I'll buy 
myself fine tools  because I just enjoy using fine 
tools. I enjoy seeing them hanging off the tool racks. 
I look forward to a "tool opportunity."

I'll get off the soapbox, but if manufacturers of high
quality tools cannot make a go of it selling quality, 
then all we will have left is the low-end junk from 
which to choose, and that will be a sad day indeed.

I can guarantee that you will not be unhappy buying the
following:

hand tools:  SK or Proto
power tools: Milwaukee or Porter Cable
measurement: Starrett

They are not the cheapest, but if you consider that 
they should be a once in a lifetime purchase, you might 
break even, and instead of using junk tools all your 
life, you can use tools that put a smile on your face 
every time they are in your hands.

Life simply is too short to use cheap tools. There are 
way too many other frustrations that are not so simple 
to solve.

Buy quality. Buy it once.  Enjoy it for life. You owe 
it to yourself not to own shit tools.


doug shook
los angeles
-------------
'72 BSA B50SS
'74 Triumph TR6
'01 HD XL883
'03 GMC Cargo Van





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