You cut out the meat of the advice. The point is that you may not need the tools to last a lifetime; you buy a cheap set first, and then replace the ones you actually use with the quality ones, for the reasons you explain. This prevents you from spending excess money on tools you don't use.
The best recommendation I’ve ever heard was to buy as cheap as you can, and then pay attention to what you actually use. Whatever tools in the “regular use” category break first should be replaced with the nicest tool in that category you can afford.
Of course if you’re a professional carpenter or similar, chances are you’re already aware about what you need to spend more on.
Maybe instead, aim to buy tools as cheaply as you can the first time.
I think it's best to just get your tools as gifts, or from garage sales.
But there are a lot of tools that are cheap, feel cheap, and will break on you.
Avoid using cheaply made tools -- this is also good advice.
A neighbor bought a table saw with really flimsy legs... and the whole things just shook when you put boards through it. Look, you don't want to use a table saw like that. For... all the common sense reasons.
Plus, with gifts at least, it's nice knowing my grandfather used the same socket set I have now. Emotionally-nice, and quality-nice... I know they aren't going to break on me since they didn't break on him.
Agree. I buy high quality tools and keep them for life. I have a toolbox full of Craftsman tools that are about 60 years old, which are enough to completely rebuild a car - and have done so several times.
I have 50 year old garden tools that have decades of life left. The handles get a quick sanding and a coat of linseed oil every year or two. We do, however, wear out pitchforks in about 15 years: the tines get too short!
If I bought crappy tools, I'd have a life full of crappy tools, which is not my style. I don't buy gold plated or frilly tools, though.
> ..you should buy the cheapest tool you can find and use safely, use it until it wears out, breaks, or your skill surpasses the capability of the tool..
I wholeheartedly agree with this view, with one caveat. You shouldn't cheap out on certain specialty tools where failure can pose a risk of injury or damage, a suspension spring compressor is my usual example. Fortunately, purchasing an expensive one-off tool isn't your only option! They're often available for rent from local auto parts stores, to keep with my example.
But yeah, besides that caveat, you'll often be better served by going with a reasonably priced tool. If you use it enough to wear it out, or break it, kudos! Time to upgrade.
> if it's the first of a particular kind of equipment, buy the cheapest version you can get. Use that, and you'll learn if it's actually helpful to you and, if it is, what qualities are really important. Only then go out and buy the best version you can afford.
I call this the Harbor Freight tool philosophy! If you need a tool that you do not have, buy it from Harbor Freight (the store sells very cheep but still functional tools). If (and only if) you wear out the Harbor Freight tool, then you know that your use-case deserves a higher level of investment and you go and buy the best version of the tool you can afford. This is a very simple and practical measure (for DIY folks) to decide what equipment to invest in.
I like the idea of this, and I'm sure you save a lot of money, but the downside is this: I want to do some one-off job I haven't done before. It'll be difficult, because I will be trying it for the first time. Do I really want to make it even _more_ difficult by cheaping out on tools? I've done this several times, and I've ended up doing several jobs over again with better tools after I've screwed up the first time.
Edit: In other words, cheap tools aren't just less durable, they often do a worse job (or at least make it harder to do a good job).
When you're buying tools, buy the cheapest one that will do the job. After you use that tool for a while and it breaks (because it's cheap) then go out and buy the best one you can afford, because you're already justified that you use the tool enough to break a cheap one.
I strongly disagree. Cheap tools are a pain to use, and break when you need them most, and perpetuate throw away culture. If a good tool is too expensive to own find a rental or buy used, otherwise buy high quality.
High quality is a joy to work with and will serve you a long time.
A few really good tools will last you a lifetime. Don't waste time, money or potentially your safety with inferior tools. And stay far, far away from dull tools, too.
> I've long subscribed to the philosophy that you should buy the cheapest tool you can find and use safely, use it until it wears out, breaks, or your skill surpasses the capability of the tool - and only then should you spend money on high quality tools.
Overall, it's not a bad philosophy. But I can think of a couple of complications here:
- For battery-operated tools, standardizing on one system means you can buy a handful of pricy batteries and share them among many tools. Batteries wear out, and eventually need repeated replacement. And only needing to replace, say, 3 batteries from a single brand is convenient.
- A lot of times, it's possible to buy medium-quality tool sets (say, hex wrenches) for less than $100. I'm literally going to use many of them as long as I live. Why not spend $70 and get something halfway decent, instead of the $30 junk?
- If you're doing a big project (refinishing kitchen cabinets, building a deck, etc), that can easily justify spending a few hundred dollars on a quality key tool. A quality drill/hammer driver pair is game changing, for example. Saves countless hours compared to my old gear.
I had Craftsman power tools until battery replacements were only available from fly-by-night companies and a couple of the tools started failing (after 20 years). I wound up buying a couple of DeWalt tools on sale and they've been rock-solid. So I added a couple more as needed. I tried a Ryobi line trimmer a few years ago, and the battery system failed within two weeks. So I took it back and paid $50 extra for a DeWalt version that has run flawlessly. I could save some money by buying less-used tools from a second, cheaper brand. But that would double my battery replacement costs over the next 20 years, and I'd need to do more research for each purchase.
So sometimes a set of "79 auto tools for one low price!" is a good move. And sometimes, mid-to-high end homeowner gear or even a contractor tool is worth the money.
My method is more like the following, which I believe is the better way to go:
1. Do research to understand your options
2. Purchase a mid-grade but not garbage quality version of whatever tool you need.
3. If you find out you use it often or that it has any annoying shortcomings, go back and buy the highest quality version you can afford and gift the mid-grade one to a friend who might need an upgrade from their average/low quality option from the box store.
This is how I ended up with a lot of Tekton hand tools and after I got more serious about racing cars and doing work on cars I upgraded to Hazet, Wiha, Wera, Nepros, Mitutoyo, Engineer, and Asahi tools. But at no point did I just go to Harbor Freight and fill up my trunk with random quality junk made in China ready for the landfill. I was then able to pass on the Tekton stuff to friends in need as I replaced it with higher end German/Japanese made tools and it's still more than capable of getting the job done even if it's not the utmost design in terms of speed or ergonomics for doing that particular work. All of the mid-grade stuff I've owned along the way has been reliable enough to last until I gifted it onward, or to stay in use up until now (and beyond).
There's WAY WAY WAY too much disposable quality drek on the market at bottom barrel scraping prices that people buy and then just throw away and buy another cheap one, thinking that the lifespan of a pan should be 2 years, that you should just buy a new set of cheap knives when the old ones don't cut well anymore, or that it's normal for an adjustable wrench or ratchet to eventually have the gears strip their teeth out.
I'm fortunate to be able to afford to buy twice and I'm nice enough to pass along my tools to others, but if you can learn anything from me, it's that it's worth not buying the absolute bottom barrel stuff in the first place. It's all garbage and in so many little ways adds to cognitive load and stress in your life, especially when trying to do hobbies you're supposed to enjoy, and it's just not worth it. It's actively bad for your life and it's catastrophically bad for the environment. If you can, buy it once and buy it for life. If you can't, buy it twice, and make sure the first option was at least good enough you could pass it along instead of throwing it away.
"if you need a tool, buy the cheapest one you can find. If it’s inadequate, or breaks, or you use it a lot, then buy the best one you can afford"
I don't know how I feel about this... The unsaid thing here is that you will end up landfilling the broken or inadequate tool and buy twice what you need.
These days, if I'm going to put money into buying material goods, I feel they have to meet at least a minimal "this isn't going to end up in landfill after the first time I use it" bar.
A lot of cheap tools barely meet this level, sadly...
I've long subscribed to the philosophy that you should buy the cheapest tool you can find and use safely, use it until it wears out, breaks, or your skill surpasses the capability of the tool - and only then should you spend money on high quality tools. Too much money is thrown away in the name of "buy once, cry once" only to discover that you don't need the capabilities offered by the top of the line options.
For some time now, for buying home improvement tools, I have followed the heuristic “buy the cheap one, then once it breaks, buy the expensive high-quality one.” I find that this helps make sure I don’t waste money on something I will only use once or twice.
Some cheapo Harbor Freight tools last a lifetime if you only use them a couple times a year. No sense in buying something very heavy duty when it won't see much duty.
I feel like "buy it for life" is just a different kind of (hipster?) snobbery.
Seconded. If you're a pro or plan on using a tool a lot it makes great sense, but if you're just getting your feet wet or a dilettante then go with something cheaper until you KNOW you need something more.
Source: my collection of high end crap I never use.
I have a rule for buying tools. The first one I buy, I buy the cheaper version (Harbor Freight house brand for instance). If I use it enough to break it within3 years, or become frustrated with its shortcomings, then I go buy a "pro" version.
Yes, it does mean I have spent more money than absolutely necessary, but on the other hand I have a lot of cheap tools that are perfectly serviceable for the two times a year I actually need to use them.
Honestly I've gone in the other direction. Quality for its own sake is not a virtue; all that matters is whether the item meets the needs you have. An item that breaks and needs replacement is waste, but an item that is overbuilt and never used to its potential is a different kind of waste.
I don't need the best tools in the world for my home toolbox. I use each tool maybe a couple of times a year and even the cheap ones don't break at that level of use. I bought a $250 RC car and a $10 one, and while the $250 one is awesome I've gotten more use out of the $10 one. Sometimes you need quality but sometimes you don't.
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