i once had a mk2 scirocco press car had less than 50k on the clock because it had been stood for 20 years i rebuilt the engine 9new gaskets etc) i had a "facom" torque wrench that was bought from a website makred down on sale fakeom is more like it. snapped the cam carrier studs right out the casting always been weary after that i like to look at the thing im buying
All the companies I mentioned are legit and well known.
Honestly, even in the States, if people restricted themselves to just buying from bricks and mortar shops, their workshops would be a lot more empty. Here in the UK you are going to struggle to get what you need if you rely only on shops that you can walk in to.
In fact, given that in the UK, most of the places that have enough physical outlets to make visiting them practical will be generic DIY places, you're
more likely to end up with junk.
Besides, you won't always be able to tell for sure that something is good by visual inspection. You walk in somewhere to buy a set of parallels, the only way you'll know how 'parallel' they are is to take a dial test indicator, and indicator stand and surface plate with you. Or say, buying a dial indicator: Machine Mart sells Clarke dial indicators; there's probably a Machine Mart near you. You can't know by looking that those Clarke indicators will probably have been spottily and poorly QC'd and will only last a year or two before they get crunchy and sticky.
Now, I'll grant that even the legit online companies will sell kit that's at varying levels of quality, but you can look at the prices and work out those quality levels yourself, or if you're not sure, ask on here.
A lot of products these days are made in China but that doesn't automatically mean junk. The Chinese can make decent quality stuff, we just have to pay sensible money for it.
Even with 'reputable' brands there's counterfeit items to consider. A £20 "Mitutoyo" dial indicator say, will be a fake, a genuine Mitutoyo dial indicator will cost double that. Fake Mitutoyo digital calipers are ubiquitous these days, you pretty much have to buy from a limited set of companies like Digital Micrometer Limited (or, if you're willing to pay a little bit more to be 100% sure, from Mitutoyo's own .co.uk website).
Or consider Starrett, a totally reputable brand. Some of their offerings are now made in China and are not the quality you'd expect from Starrett.
Without online sales, the world of hobbyist machining would be much less interesting and companies like Eccentric Engineering or Hemingway, who's products are beloved would struggle to exist.
You can buy online and be confident that you're getting what you paid for, you just have to verify the legitimacy of the company and the quality off the product. That's one of benefits of being on this forum. You can ask and someone generally will be able to give you a decent steer.
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