Just been drilling out the roots of a bush in the garden with my old 70's B&D GD33 1/2" chuck drill, still going strong after all these years! It cost me about 1 mile of petrol to get it off some one on Freecycle a few years back. Its been driving a 16 & 22 mm flat bit into wet root with no problems at all. Also got a B&D D520 smaller 3/8" chuck I often use on the bench, that cost me though, ...........£1 on a Steam rally tool stool! I love old tools, I also have a first edition B&D workmate Model 79001 still with the plastic holders that grip work pieces on the top. Of course I have the usual collection of old odd spanner's that were old when my dad had them, King Dick, Gedore etc, but 1 tool I treasure more than all is a stud extractor I made at school in metal work classes in about 1966! Used it so many times, along with a paint scraper I made, they've stayed with me this long! My most modern tool I wouldn't be with-out is my Halfords 150 piece socket set, got 1/2 price a few Christmas's ago even then my wife had to talk me into spending that much money! Been in-valuable since, from use on Land Rover's to bikes, I wonder if they will last a life time too? Terry
Hi Terry, great thread idea this. I have my step Dad's old tool kit which has loads of different sized ring spanners - comes in handy on Landies. I have a Draper socket set that my dear wife bought me over 25 yrs ago and still going strong.
Yes mate, Draper & Kamasa were the start of the 'cheap' tools, affordable at the time by most, still got a few bits of Draper socket sets around in the 'oddment' box, and a Kamasa Trolley jack that cost me £29 trade, thats done some work!! Stanley were one of the best maker's, now just the name survives only on cheapo Chinky tools, having said that some of these tools are bloody good value, if the do they job you bought it for and last after that its a bonus. Example, garage to change a front car spring £90, set of spring clamps & do it your self, £10 off eBay, no brainer really, and still got them. A few years back you would have been looking at £40-50 for a set. 1 thing I never stint on though is GOOD quality screw divers, especially X heads, how many screws have I fcuked up with crappy ones?
love old tools, My garage was broken into 18 months ago and all my lifetime's collection was taken. I had king dick, gedore, as others have said, but my fave was a snail brand spanner which just seemed to fit everything. It is amazing how often now I need one of my "specials" and they aint there any more. I have rebuilt my kit slowly, got some from aldi and lidl, but it just is never the same. Treasure them guys lol have to say they never stole the bike,mmmmmmmmmmmmmm perhaps that says a lot
I inherited loads of my dad's old tools which he and his father used running the family farm. Still have boxes of Whitworth spanners, hand tools which had my dad or grand dad's initials stamped into the shafts.
I used to know a guy who was a mechanic on tanks in WW2, his socket set was something to behold.lol ooooooooh proper spanners, whitworth and bsf threads not this AF and metric crap.
Aldi & Lidl both come with 3 years guarantee too. I've got a wooden block plane some one gave me, they dated it to 1890's, probably the oldest tool I have, and it still works! Warranty has run out now though
Well, I make my living on the tools and in reality well maintained cheap tool can still work very well. I've snapon and a good selection of middle of the road and cheap tools. The most used every day tools for me is a cheap Aldi 1/4 drive socket set. It's always to hand and I know I can leave them around without them being pinched. I buy cheapish vise grips, lube them well and as good as any. I use a lot of air tools and one of the best is a lidl Palm sander which works as good as indasa, ccp or Desouter. The list just carries on.......
I always find the Halford stuff to be really good and take daily abuse. Got to agree about the decent cross head drivers though. The amount of knackerd fasteners you find because people seem to think anything with that shaped head can be undone with any cross head driver. Grr...drives me nuts. I must admit, i kind of use small angle grinders as disposable items these days. They are so cheap they are hardly worth messing with when they give up the ghost. I did buy a cheap 'dremel' type tool from maplins. It was ok but not a patch on the real thing. It's in the bin now, quite dead
I still have my Draper socket set in it's orange tin box that my Dad bought me when I got my first car in 1979. (a red 1967 MkII Cortina 1500 (pre- cross flow engine).
