Heh, yes, likely we have, years go…
I guess I began back in my teens, with using what I had to get the job done… but then once on the job in a sheet metal shop and then WeCo, nobody messed with knockoffs at home Dad had few tools, but they were nice, cared for for his earlier work as a Ford Mechanic and on into his carpentry trade… I became used to nice tools, to where it certainly relegated the knockoffs to the recycle bin… A lot still around here should go that way but there are times when they become donors to be cut or welded to fit a need…
I suppose a big advantage of working at Western, and I saw it at all the Bell companies what that Quality mattered, from tiny components to to the tools we used… Cutting corners wasn’t imbedded… And over the years, sure, I’ve gone to that $59 tile saw, it did the job, a couple jobs, got me wet doing the job. but worked great, passed it along to others in the family, and I’d pick up another, even a used one if needed, but instead, a great tile guy did our master & hall baths, he did use that nice big, expensive tile saw…
So over the years, I’ve watched, picked up, cheap, better quality tools, but have yet to toss some of the cheap stuff… Someday… Always ignoring the cheap knockoffs… Not worth carrying them out to the truck… So the collecting grew, I think there’s 3 or 4 5 gallon buckets of just hammers, dead-blow to carpentry, ball-peen to masonry, rubber headed tire hammers to even titanium, light framer’s hammer… Some I only bought the heads, added nice handles, others had just a nice, used frill from the '40s, likely… Air tools, cheap ones are just that, but nice old Senco, still can get parts, etc… But even Senco had fails, 2" finish nailers I was using on the crown molding, died, both of 'em…New pistons assemblies would eat time, I just went to the local hardware shop, bought the current model, finished the project… May not need it for a while, but it’s there, waiting…
Old, quality tools are worth a bit of cash to pay out, there are names imbedded over the years I used to snag at the flea markets, as did other buyers, resellers… Kind of a kick to buy that big old red SnapOn dead-blow sledge hammer for $20… Sold for hundreds originally…
Anyway, to each their own, inlaw and I go round n round, he could afford the best, instead does all the Chinese knockoffs… He’s happy, I’m happy…
Those ratchet wrenches were nice, the good ones a tad pricey, but I picked up SAE & Metric early on, found others at the flea, added to the collections, some have coarser ratchets than others, one set I have, doesn’t ratchet, but is a smooth, one-way action, so in tight spots, handier…
Vive la TOOLS!
weco