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Bad Tools

Sell defective tools to be used as passive-aggressive gifts
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(+6)
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The Bad Tools product line features the following defects: right angles error ~2 degrees, rulers have a sixteenth of an inch (or 2 mm on the metric side) missing or added here and there, all 'straight' edges are bent and have random slivers cut out, the hand plane is tilted, the work table is not planar, mounted power tools come down in a different place when they are spinning compared to when they are stationary, and every tool has "precision" printed on it.

Some of these defects are already baked among my tools, but it takes a while to find the defects. By then the tools are old enough that they can't really be given as a gift. With the new Bad Tools product line, we standardize the deviations from standard so you know, right out of the package, the tool will bring hours of confusion to that special colleague.

Ketchupybread, Apr 17 2013

Hazard Fraught https://imgur.com/gallery/JcG3B
If you've seen the real one, you'll recognize this [lurch, Apr 18 2013, last modified May 25 2019]

Snap-on hammer http://buy1.snapon....&store=snapon-store
[Kansan101, Apr 18 2013]

Harbor Freight Hammer http://www.harborfr...s-handle-47872.html
[Kansan101, Apr 18 2013]

[link]






       That's pretty much all of the cheapest Chinese tools at the bottom of the display in the hardware store.
whlanteigne, Apr 18 2013
  

       Harbor Freight.
lurch, Apr 18 2013
  

       If only I could bun the link.
normzone, Apr 18 2013
  

       //Harbor Freight.//   

       I immediately thought of that too.
ytk, Apr 18 2013
  

       That is the funniest thing I have seen in a long time.
DIYMatt, Apr 18 2013
  

       Personally, I love Harbor Freight. If you want tools for occasional use at home, its the way to go.   

       Yeah, I know they will wear out quicker than snap-on. But at home, most of em will last a lifetime. For less than a tenth the price. See links. Two hammers, both made in China. I never wore out a hammer.
Kansan101, Apr 18 2013
  

       Any kind of fasteners that have something that looks like a screw thread on them, but it's just individual, separate grooves. Partly baked with helium bottles which have a left hand thread.
not_morrison_rm, Apr 18 2013
  

       Everyone's looking for something to blame.
theleopard, Apr 18 2013
  

       This is great [+]
piluso, Apr 18 2013
  

       <obligatory> Everything is a hammer, ecxept a screw driver... because that's a chisel.   

       //Personally, I love Harbor Freight.// I'd be lying if I implied I don't go there. I do, and will again. But you can't deny that they do carry some stuff which pretty well lands in the center of [Ketchupybread]'s idea zone.
lurch, Apr 18 2013
  

       Hmm, "gumption trap" in "Zen and the art of motorcycle mechanics"?
not_morrison_rm, Apr 20 2013
  

       Well, your friend made two mistakes there. One is buying electrical tools from Harbor Freight that would cause a real problem when they stop working. The other is relying on said tools to be functional.   

       You have to know what to buy there. It's a great place for getting little random crap to have around the workshop. I bought a 100+ piece security bit set at HF for $10 that allows me to take apart pretty much anything. The case is cheap and the bits are always falling out of their slots, but I know for sure that the bit I need is going to be in there no matter what type of screw I encounter.   

       It's also great for getting cheap power tools for hobby use. Want an 18V cordless drill? Sure, the battery might not last all that long on a charge, and sometimes the electrical connection between the battery and the tool is a bit spotty, but for $17 I don't really give a damn. Given that I don't make my living with my tools, and how often I use them, I'd rather have two or even three crappy power tools that will work fine for occasional use rather than one good one for the same price. And as [K101] points out, most of their hand tools are perfectly serviceable.   

       But I wouldn't rely on anything I bought at Harbor Freight to get me out of a jam. Frankly, your friend should have had more sense than to depend on a jumpstarter labeled “Chicago Electric” that's clearly made in China.
ytk, Apr 20 2013
  

       if (mens rea) then baked=true
lurch, Apr 21 2013
  
      
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