[Shop-talk] good tools, cheap tools

[Steven Trovato]

No argument here that good tools are better than cheap tools, and 
probably the better way to go most of the time.  Sometimes, though, 
there is no way to justify the price of the good tool.  The choice is 
either to own the cheap tool, or not own the tool at all.  If I could 
have someone else do a job for $50, I might pay $100 for a tool, just 
because I want to do it myself and I will still have the tool when 
I'm done.  But when that tool is $500, I'm not buying it for only one 
job.  Well, OK, I might, but only because I'm a tool addict!  Rental 
is sometimes an option, but only for situations where I know I'll 
only need the tool for a short time.  I tend to do a lot of things a 
little at a time as time and energy allow.  If I need a tool for ten 
minutes at a time, but on four different occasions several days 
apart, rental just doesn't work.

At 01:40 AM 7/3/2008, old dirtbeard wrote:
>Dear Gents,
>
>Once a year or so, I have the need to jump in on a thread with the plaintive
>plea of "please don't buy cheap tools." Order your stuff from McMaster-Carr,
>buy Milwaukee electric, Starrett gauges, Simpsom meters, Wilton vices, etc.
>You will never regret it.