i used to laugh at guys who went to HF to tool up. i didn't even think of lowering my standards below Cornwell Tools.
if it didn't say Snap On, Starrett , made in Sweden,Austria,Poland,England or Germany i wouldn't handle it, much less try to put it to work. i'm still a recovering tool snob, and covet German made measuring devices of all kinds. i'm still looking for a reasonably priced set of Swedish Gage blocks, but that's like finding hen's teeth.
i took a service call on a Hollymatic 180A 250# meat grinder, with complications.... i didn't roll tool heavy that day, just bringing light tackle in anticipation of an easy 15 min repair. that's of course when the SHTF.:angry:
A gearbox drive sprocket lost a tooth, normally a 2 hr job on a rainy day to replace...not that day.
The meat grinder had been in continuous operation 5 days a week since Carter was in office, the drive sprocket was the original from the factory. corrosion went to work on the hardened set screws and made normal extraction out of the question, the sprocket was junk, but i had to save the shaft.
Good Ole' HF was just a mile away, i thought for sure Hephaestus was going to strike me down for even considering stepping into Sodom. I went to the angle grinder section and purchased a $10 4 1/2" and some wheels, with sunglasses on to hide my identity.
[h=3]i had every intention of throwing it in the garbage can upon completion of it's one and only task 15 mins of grinding.[/h]Well it's been 17 years since i was going to throw that piece of crap away, but it just keeps working. it sits next to a Makita in the drawer i break it out and use it now and again, especially if there is any risk of damaging my good grinder. sometimes it gets a flapper disk while the other grinder keeps the grinding wheel.
i have since purchased quite a few tools at HF over the years, i haven't been let down many times as i haven't expected much going into the purchases. some items are amazingly functional, while others are crude and require a lot of patience to massage it into a working tool. The quality should always outweigh the price, i always try to buy the best i can afford, unless of course it's for an intended sacrifice.
