Useless tools

[John Lee]

There are plenty of threads describing favourite & useful tools but I'm sure that all of us who have been in this game awhile have impulse purchased tools that turned out to be effectively useless & now reside in the back of a draw.

Reaching for the pliers to change the blade in my Swann Morton knife I noticed a blade removal tool in the tray which was used a couple of times & then decided that it was more trouble than it was worth.

So what's cluttering up you draw which we should think twice about when trawling the stands at the next model show?

[Ron Gray]

Useless tools? More often than not it’s my fingers!

[John Rudd]

Cheap hack saw blades!

I bought a pack of Junior hacksaw blades from a well known trades outlet ( begins with S ) cheaper than I thought they would be.....and they are for a reason...

Used one yesterday to cut some flooring trim ( aluminium ) ......What utter crap they are! Buy cheap, buy twice...definitely the case this time...

[Biggles' Elder Brother - Moderator]

Ah, beauty and possibly even usefulness, is in the eye of the beholder (or user?). Before I tie myself any more in knots trying to simultaineoulsy run two parallel metaphores allow me to explain,....I actually quite like the blade removal tool! I've had one for about 5 years and, as a person with a seemly limitless talent for cutting himself, I always use it.

Now if we want to talk about devices designed to put a thread on the end of 2mm control rods - yes I would agree a usless tool, unless the control rod is made of cheese!

BEB

Edited By Biggles' Elder Brother - Moderator on 04/04/2018 11:10:45

[J D 8]

I bet some health and safety type saw that and ordered heaps of them.

[Geoff S]

Posted by Biggles' Elder Brother - Moderator on 04/04/2018 11:09:02:

Ah, beauty and possibly even usefulness, is in the eye of the beholder (or user?). Before I tie myself any more in knots trying to simultaineoulsy run two parallel metaphores allow me to explain,....I actually quite like the blade removal tool! I've had one for about 5 years and, as a person with a seemly limitless talent for cutting himself, I always use it.

Now if we want to talk about devices designed to put a thread on the end of 2mm control rods - yes I would agree a usless tool, unless the control rod is made of cheese!

BEB

Edited By Biggles' Elder Brother - Moderator on 04/04/2018 11:10:45

I use my snipe-nose pliers to remove and replace scalpel blades. I think I had a one of those special tools but it was useless or (more likely) I was using wrongly.

The trouble with so-called 2mm control rods (at least the ones I've bought from SLEC) is that that they aren't 2mm! The thread is rolled like bike spoke threads and is 2mm but the rod diameter isn't. The only way to put a thread on the opposite end is to solder on one of those 2mm adapters also supplied by SLEC.

The tool I've had most trouble with is a fairly expensive double action Iwata air brush. It is always clogging and I can never make it work properly. I suppose I'm not using the right paint. I have a really cheap Badger single action air brush I've had for years and I use it a lot. It seems happy with any paint I put in the pot. It cost about £12 when I bought it.

Geoff

[Martyn K]

Titanium drill bits. Bought from Banggood. OK in balsa and ply but overheat in anything harder.. I'll stick to decent HSS is future

[Richard Wood]

The disc sander attachment on my old Dremel jigsaw was wobbly & of no use.
The jigsaw itself was very handy though...

[Former Member]

[This posting has been removed]

[John Rudd]

Posted by supertigrefan on 04/04/2018 12:05:12:

and for me, the only drill bits for metal I can totally rely on are proper cobalt....all this 'coated' business is a con.

Yep....I had a set of the 'titanium coated ' drills....Absolute rubbish! Tried drilling a hole in some mild steel plate, the bit didnt seem to be cutting, so I pressed a bit harder....next thing, the drill just bent...might as well have been made from liquorice....the remaining bits went into the bin!

[Don Fry]

I have a router attachment for a Dremel. Expensive. Useless piece of junk, does not slide down the pillars at right angles to the workpiece. Funny enough I have a router table for the same Dremel. Fine bit of kit.

[Jon H]

I got a tap/die set from somewhere and its hopeless. Most of the dies are deformed so dont cut, and the ones that do could barely cut a thread on a wooden dowel.

I tried using a 5mm tap on some soft ali and it only got a few mm in before in it took on the mechanical properties of a cheese string and tied itself in a knot.

Flippin hopeless!

Edited By Jon - Laser Engines on 04/04/2018 13:50:40

[Flyer]

I think my biggest problem is the person holding the tools............

Ade

[Ron Gray]

I learnt a long time ago that taps and dies need to be of high quality to get good results, same goes for machine tools imo.

[Stuart C]

If the drill does not have Dormer embossed on the shank, then its in the scrap bin.

[J D 8]

I once had some twist drill bits that untwisted on first use!!!

[Broken Prop]

U Boat spanner.............

An adjustable spanner that used hinged blades (a bit like feeler gauges) to set the gap. Sold as used by the Kriegsmarine in WW2, by a bloke out of a suitcase at the Great Dorchester Steam Fair years ago.

Unbelievably fiddly to set up and the resulting gap was never accurate. I have grown quite attached to this useless piece of kit over time and often get it out to look at it.

Use it? Not on your Nelly!

Pete

[cymaz]

 

 

Bought THIS...ok for the first couple of cuts. It then wore out! (Well what do you expect for £5..delivered very quickly though. ) Cut a nice spiral groove down the pipe...ended up using a dremel cutting disc.

Ended up in the metal recycling bin. Good riddance 

Edited By cymaz on 04/04/2018 17:19:52

[Dave Hopkin]

Cheap screwdrivers with moulded plastic handles

Either the blade just deforms and twists or the plastic handles shatters...

[Peter Miller]

I have had a drill reverse its flutes when kt jammed.

Another classic. Opening out a 1/8 hole in mild steel with a 3/16 drill. I was surprised how fast kt went through the steel. The 3/16 drill went through the mild steel and came out the other side reduced to 1/8.

[Devcon1]

Now that's an interesting question. I've thought about it and excluded tools where the quality not its usefulness is the problem. I truly can't think of anything I have which has no use but how often it is used is another question.

[John Lee]

Anyone else still got one of these:given away as a freebee many moons ago? Great bit of kit for ensuring that your rib is absolutely vertical until the exact moment you lift the jig off the board when you inevitably knock the component sideways.

[Bob Cotsford]

I've still got mine and I do use it, but I don't remove it until the glue has started to set. I've no idea what use the protractor arm is supposed to be though.

[J D 8]

I still have one somewhere and will not be rushing to find it.Also no idea what the arm was for.

[onetenor]

I bought a set of drills shown on telly. Showed them cutting through brake discs etc I tried the thinnest on a piece of mild steel. Result? a flat ended drill. Couldn't get money back as can't find order no. Remainder just sit in box. I should have known because the tips are like masonry drill tips.