Tooling Sources--Recommendations to Buy and Avoid?

[Rustrp]

I avoid buying from the US as the currency exchange rate and shipping is the killer. I have bought from Shars in the past with no issues in the level of quality for the price. I've bought from Accusize Industrial Tools , in Toronto, same or better quality as Shars , but at a Canadian price , and much cheaper shipping.

Yeah, the exchange rate can bite at times. The shipping costs are high because they have to go so far before they find someone. That's a bit of Northwest Territory experience.

 

[ACHiPo]

Lot's of good inputs. Thanks! I've done quite well buying top-shelf measurement tools from a retired machinist, but there are a few things he didn't have (e.g. coaxial DTG) that I'll look for top-shelf used. Other things like Jo-blocks I'm thinking import is probably fine.

Thanks again, and keep the experience and opinions coming!

 

[ACHiPo]

You are going to find that in just about every category of tool or equipment, there will be one make or model that is the standard. You may not need that standard or want to spend the money but it is always good to know what it is.

In our hobby, you can only cut as well as you can measure and the best source of information I know of for measuring tools is http://longislandindicator.com/. Here, you will find information that will allow you to make an informed decision.

Great info! Thanks again Mike!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[EmilioG]

I'm a serious hobbyist but also a working professional., so I buy good tools. Even fasteners, I buy Holokrome USA and others.
I just like working with well made, quality tools. I have gotten some really great deals, watching and waiting, for about the same price
of some new, cheaper import tools. Some, I just don't need, like a Tesa height gage, beautiful, but I'm fine with my Mitutoyo 6" dial HG.
Still a quality tool. And so it goes. Like Mikey wrote, "it's good to know what the gold standard is, then go from there. Make an informed choice.
I also ask my friends what they like and use. That's how I chose Etalon for micrometers. A great example. You can buy good used Etalons that are
much better than many new big names new.

 

[Rustrp]

I'm a serious hobbyist but also a working professional., so I buy good tools. Even fasteners, I buy Holokrome USA and others.
I just like working with well made, quality tools. I have gotten some really great deals, watching and waiting, for about the same price
of some new, cheaper import tools. Some, I just don't need, like a Tesa height gage, beautiful, but I'm fine with my Mitutoyo 6" dial HG.
Still a quality tool. And so it goes. Like Mikey wrote, "it's good to know what the gold standard is, then go from there. Make an informed choice.
I also ask my friends what they like and use. That's how I chose Etalon for micrometers. A great example. You can buy good used Etalons that are
much better than many new big names new.

Thank you! When I read a topic on how much machinists earn, the responses are nauseating. Why? Because this is a trade, a vocation, a profession to be proud of. The main reason for the drop in salary is due to the dilution of the trade, by **that's close enough, or that's good enough thinking** along with the resulting product produced. Unfortunately, most of those who go along with the trend don't realize that many of the decisions made are by folks who have never walked into a machine shop, never had cutting fluid under their fingernails.

If I purchase less than quality measuring tools, how do I know how accurate the product being produced really is. It seems logical that a class being taught on information technology wouldn't use 15 year old textbooks, so why do we do the same to ourselves, out trade(s). The twist in my analogy is that the 80 year old Machinists Handbook my father-in-law gave me is still accurate.

My comments are not a personal attack on anyone choosing to take a different path but I don't understand the mentality that goes with the purchase of a $30 HF item and then it's proceeded with a topic asking why it doesn't perform to the standard of the $300 item.

 

[mikey]

Thank you! When I read a topic on how much machinists earn, the responses are nauseating. Why? Because this is a trade, a vocation, a profession to be proud of. The main reason for the drop in salary is due to the dilution of the trade, by **that's close enough, or that's good enough thinking** along with the resulting product produced. Unfortunately, most of those who go along with the trend don't realize that many of the decisions made are by folks who have never walked into a machine shop, never had cutting fluid under their fingernails.

If I purchase less than quality measuring tools, how do I know how accurate the product being produced really is. It seems logical that a class being taught on information technology wouldn't use 15 year old textbooks, so why do we do the same to ourselves, out trade(s). The twist in my analogy is that the 80 year old Machinists Handbook my father-in-law gave me is still accurate.

My comments are not a personal attack on anyone choosing to take a different path but I don't understand the mentality that goes with the purchase of a $30 HF item and then it's proceeded with a topic asking why it doesn't perform to the standard of the $300 item.

Rustrp, your Integrity is showing. I'm only a hobby guy but you just earned my respect.

 

[Rustrp]

Rustrp, your Integrity is showing. I'm only a hobby guy but you just earned my respect.

Thanks mikey. I present my comments from a position that might provoke thoughts in the actions we take daily. Machining, especially when it comes to manufacturing plays a part in all our lives, yet we make choices thinking we go untouched. I fabricate sheetmetal and welded metal product with very little maching done, but the quality tools I have used through the years have changed dramatically with a downward spiral. My father-in-law and his Dad were machinists for their entire working careers. What they did daily as a vocation is now looked upon as an art based on the craftsmanship and/or the lack of availability in the market. I feel fortunate to have been taught by those who held the bar really high when it comes to quality. The tools they owned were tools owned since beginning their trade. They had the tools because they were well made and they used them in a similar manner, never abused. I always got the sense that when they told me what to buy for my toolbox it wasn't based on my choice, when the reality was I was choosing based on what they had instilled.

For me it's disheartening to think we have come so far from the invention of the wheel, too having the technology to build an International Space Station yet be willing in some areas to walk the path backwards toward the wheel, which was an era of humans striving to do things better.

 

[mikey]

Thanks mikey. I present my comments from a position that might provoke thoughts in the actions we take daily. Machining, especially when it comes to manufacturing plays a part in all our lives, yet we make choices thinking we go untouched. I fabricate sheetmetal and welded metal product with very little maching done, but the quality tools I have used through the years have changed dramatically with a downward spiral. My father-in-law and his Dad were machinists for their entire working careers. What they did daily as a vocation is now looked upon as an art based on the craftsmanship and/or the lack of availability in the market. I feel fortunate to have been taught by those who held the bar really high when it comes to quality. The tools they owned were tools owned since beginning their trade. They had the tools because they were well made and they used them in a similar manner, never abused. I always got the sense that when they told me what to buy for my toolbox it wasn't based on my choice, when the reality was I was choosing based on what they had instilled.

For me it's disheartening to think we have come so far from the invention of the wheel, too having the technology to build an International Space Station yet be willing in some areas to walk the path backwards toward the wheel, which was an era of humans striving to do things better.

I understand your perspective and where you're coming from. Moreover, I agree with you. From a hobbyist standpoint, however, I also appreciate that the plethora of import machines and tools have opened up the hobby machining world to many who would otherwise not be engaged. Luckily, I enjoy and am able to afford good tools so I get to choose. This is not the case for all of us.