Tools you didn't know you needed until you had them

[chvet73]

Gotta be my multi-tool saw.

View attachment 151970

My Ridgid multi tool has a changeable head. Converts to an angle drill among other things. Very useful.

 

[Fawteen]

My Ridgid multi tool has a changeable head. Converts to an angle drill among other things. Very useful.

I have one of those and you're right, sometimes it's just the ticket. The angle drill has saved my bacon more than once.

 

[moresmoke]

TIG welder. Bought it for a specific project, and use it more than I ever thought I would.

 

[sandcastle1]

1/4 inch, M18 Milwaukee impact. I used to see them and say what a waste of money. Then I got one given to me and I do not think a week goes by without using it somewhere around the farm.

 

[Gary Mitchell]

Surely some of you have had the experience that you bought a tool for a one-time project, and then you found yourself reaching for it all the time. My most recent example is a plastic welder, which I bought because I was helping restore a car where some of the plastic interior and underhood parts were no longer available new and we needed to repair the pieces we could get our hands on. Then once I had it, I kept running across broken plastic things around here ranging from appliance knobs to toys, where in the past I would simply have bought new components but now I don't have to, and i can even correct the structural mistakes that the original engineers made.

I still passionately hate under-engineered plastic parts, but since this tool came with rods of a half-dozen different polymers I have compatibility with a wide range of materials. I always use it outdoors or with a fan going, as I know very well that this is not a wholesome activity for one's respiratory system.

My previous such tool was a great big hydraulic press. How did I ever live all those years without one? Before that it was a pneumatic trim nailer.

What's your example?

We got along w/o an oxygen/acetylene torch for years. Between that and no angle grinders we spent an awful lot of time we could have used elsewhere. gm

 

[Rich'sToys]

A few years ago when I was working on an old corn picker that had a lot of square headed bolts with square nuts, I bought a bunch of 8-point sockets. It's surprising how often I grab one of those. They're a godsend when changing oil on tractors with a square headed pipe plug on the oil pan.

 

[Tony in SD]

I don't think I have bought any tools without knowing the benefits. However I have hired some talented people that surprised me by what they could do with some of those tools.

 

[Texasmark]

Madtown Tools line wrench for Ford 4.6 egr removal . I can’t do without to clean the goop out of the holes blocking exhaust gas hole recirculating ports . Causing engine code. Was the tool of the decade past . Saved me a lot of cash.

I had a socket that fit the exhaust oxygen sensor and ground a slit in the side for the sensor connection to stick out while I unscrewed it.....not to be confused with my favorite tool. I have several and after 45+ years of accumulating needed tools to get the job done, I'm pretty well fixed to fix anything here.

 

[Lucid]

Years back got Milwaukee batt powered weed eater/pole saw. Havent used a gas trimmer since. The pole saw is a dream clearing shooting lanes for my deer stands. Also the sawzall makes easy paths to my stands!

 

[Stephen Newell]

Surely some of you have had the experience that you bought a tool for a one-time project, and then you found yourself reaching for it all the time. My most recent example is a plastic welder, which I bought because I was helping restore a car where some of the plastic interior and underhood parts were no longer available new and we needed to repair the pieces we could get our hands on. Then once I had it, I kept running across broken plastic things around here ranging from appliance knobs to toys, where in the past I would simply have bought new components but now I don't have to, and i can even correct the structural mistakes that the original engineers made.

I still passionately hate under-engineered plastic parts, but since this tool came with rods of a half-dozen different polymers I have compatibility with a wide range of materials. I always use it outdoors or with a fan going, as I know very well that this is not a wholesome activity for one's respiratory system.

My previous such tool was a great big hydraulic press. How did I ever live all those years without one? Before that it was a pneumatic trim nailer.

What's your example?

Usually happens when you cheap out, like say you need a masonry saw blade and you go to the store and you see a composition saw blade for 4 bucks or a carbide blade for 35 bucks and buy the composition blade. Then you find out the composition blade gets about 1/4" smaller in diameter with each cut. In reality the carbide blade would outlast 100 composition blades. As far as the way products are engineered today, I'm convinced they keep a table next to their drafting tables for cocaine while they are working. I don't think I've seen any product well thought out since the 20th century.

 

[showcrop]

With what it costs anymore to hire anything done, and tools are relatively way cheaper than they used to be, buying tools is a no-brainer.

 

[Tony in SD]

With what it costs anymore to hire anything done, and tools are relatively way cheaper than they used to be, buying tools is a no-brainer.

I have always said tools are cheap, labor is expensive. That was until I worked in Mexico. I was corrected by the owners of the company in Mexico that tools were expensive and Mexican labor was cheap. They figured it was cheaper to hire a Mexican to run tools back and forth to who ever needed the tools.

 

[Brian G. NY]

Gotta be my multi-tool saw.

View attachment 151970

I second that.....I bought a cheap Harbor Freight corded one when I installed some laminate flooring a few years ago.
I've used it for many other jobs since then!

 

[T@G]

Harris 980-F.

 

[circus]

In the same vein as the OP is my hot stapler. Staples broken plastic parts back together. Works great, cheap, all types of plastic.

 

[Texasmark]

Surely some of you have had the experience that you bought a tool for a one-time project, and then you found yourself reaching for it all the time. My most recent example is a plastic welder, which I bought because I was helping restore a car where some of the plastic interior and underhood parts were no longer available new and we needed to repair the pieces we could get our hands on. Then once I had it, I kept running across broken plastic things around here ranging from appliance knobs to toys, where in the past I would simply have bought new components but now I don't have to, and i can even correct the structural mistakes that the original engineers made.

I still passionately hate under-engineered plastic parts, but since this tool came with rods of a half-dozen different polymers I have compatibility with a wide range of materials. I always use it outdoors or with a fan going, as I know very well that this is not a wholesome activity for one's respiratory system.

My previous such tool was a great big hydraulic press. How did I ever live all those years without one? Before that it was a pneumatic trim nailer.

What's your example?

I've been collecting tools since I was a teenager and daddy bought me a used tool box full of tools at a pawn shop. Today, I have everything accumulated that I need to keep my farm and its equipment running.....replacing shingles on the roof excepted............for several reasons....age the main one.