Why Cheap Tools Can Be Good

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I passed an illegal dump pile and made my apprentice go with me on the clock to raid it. My point was to show her all the free usable stuff we could get. Screwdrivers, high end calculators, paint brushes, bunch of stuff. She can leave it laying on jobsites to her hearts content as it was all free.

I do love Adam's stories on early projects....

Whenever I start a project or hobby that requires new tools I get a relatively cheap set. Whenever a part of that set breaks that means I use it a lot and replace it with a high quality one. The rest is usually good enough for the occasional use.

I used to go to a secondhand tool shop to get my hand tools, you could always find some incredible bargains

In Europe, we have this discount supermarket chain called Lidl. They have their own brand of tools called Parkside. These are cheap but almost always fine for hobby work and light duty around the house. I have some electrical tools, a lot of screw drivers, wrenches, sockets, etc and 99% of the stuff has served me very well. Of course, if you start to use it a lot, or misuse it, it'll break more easily than the DeWalts and Milwaukee's of this world.

Cheap tools can be modified without worry. Many years ago I need a couple of wrenchs for tight spaces. I bought a cheap set and heated them with a torch and bent them to the shape/angle required.

That second part needs to be it's own video so we can share the good word about cheap tools. Almost every time I see someone online asking about power tools there's a professional recommending dewalt, makita, etc. when a store brand tool that costs the same as a battery for the big brand tools would be perfectly fine for the person asking.

I love this story, thank you for sharing.

I was very heavily into auto restoration and the old car hobby from 89 to 06, and then I got back into it in 2022. Cheap tools have a very real and very important (and quite prominently common) place in my tool box. Unless you're a pro, you will be using these tools as light duty. For reference, I would remove the engine and strip the front end sheet metal down to the frame in my 1970 convertible every spring, so I'm not talking about a couple of 10-32s once every few years. I built engines, did bodywork, replaced tops, reverse engineered badly made replacement parts, upholstery rewired harnesses...anyway. Harbor Freight is my friend. I don't spend my budget on shiny new pro tools. I buy used tools, like old Stanely socket wrenches, and cheap tool that I can cut up, bend, modify, and use up, and if I need specialty stuff, I look at what my local Harbor Freight has and I do a bit of research to see if it's crap or not. Most of the time it's actually good for the light duty that I subject them to.

The ball-tube thing blew my mind and made complete sense with your 5-second explanation. Why don’t they teach us this in school?!? 😅

I agree with you and another commentator. Start out with a cheap set of tools. If you use something enough to break it or wear it out, replace it with the best you can afford at that point. Some things in a set you may never use, in which case their quality is irrelevant, and the less you've wasted on them the better. What you use regularly may be worth upgrading for the aesthetic pleasure they may give in use. The above advice does not apply to jack stands or hoists. :-)*

One comment about UK general elections - currently we do not vote for a national party, we vote for a local representative - who may represent a national party. The party with the most MPs forms a government - but it is theoretically possible for a political party to win an election, but their leader not win his seat

Just the small fact about the rails with ball oscillation is fascinating. I'd love to hear tons of Adam's learned nuggets like that which only come up for specific scenarios!

If i remember correctly, from the full story, the machine included a pitching machine to toss the balls, but it was turned down insanely low. Adam later learned its near impossible for a machine like that to accurately toss balls which is what caused the problems. He got paid in full and the suits in charge didn't even bother to use it in the end. "heres your check, we dont like the idea anymore, throw it away" type thing.

Dollar store tools are cheap but work well enough. The metal seems to be soft and can wear down or bend faster over time than good tools, but they usually last long enough to finish the current job.

I love the way a commercial for Harbor Freight popped up directly after this video. My wife calls it “The Dollar Tool Store”! Haha

I RELATE TO ADAM SO MUCH ,I HAVE TO KNOW HOW EVERYTHING WORKS,LOVE THIS GUY AND HIS KNOWLEDGE AND ADVICE 😎😎🇬🇧🇬🇧🤜🤛🇺🇸🇺🇸

"Why Cheap Tools Can Be Good" segment is super important i think as advice. Find the tool you want to try or see if it works for you BEFORE you splurge on the expensive one. You might lose out some 20 bucks or so BUT in return you know for a fact if something is an item you'll use or if it helps your work flow. I've recently done that with a few modelling tools like circle cutters, model-specific masking tape or other small tidbits and its amazing how much more efficient you can be with a tool thats realtively uniquely designed for your task. Dont be afraid of 2nd hand stuff either, because at least this way you can find out for yourself if an item is just a fancier "something else you have" or the ONE tool that you always needed.

I'm an artist working with pencil, ink, colour pencil. I've found over the years that it's really important to me to have good quality colour pencils, if you try to colour or shade any work with cheap pencils, it's impossible to get good results. I feel bad for all those kids who are given cheap pencils that don't lay the pigment down well, and conclude they suck at art because they can't make anything look nice. I really value good quality pigment liners for my ink work. Cheap ones tend to crack and spit ink around, or they have inconsistent line width, or they wear out fast, or they're not properly black. Using a Uni Pin or a Derwent Line Maker makes a big difference. When it comes to the pencil I use for construction lines... it really doesn't matter much. Of course you can use a blackwing, or an expensive mechanical pencil (and I use an expensive mechanical pencil). But, if I use a cheap unbranded knockoff pencil, so long as I can get it sharp and the lead isn't shattered to bits, I can sketch out those initial lines fine with basically anything. Hell, Adam uses papermate mechanical pencils (and I think those are garbage!) but they get the job done, you could live out of that if you had to. --- I think it's great to ask experts where to spend your money on tools, because some of them you need quality to use well, and some of them it's just a little quality of life.