Everyone has a couple of tools that they never use, but what about the tools that you are ashamed to admit you even have? This week, I open up my tool chest of shame and share the six most embarrassing tools that I own.
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I worked at a repair center for DeWALT / B&D tools. We also laughed at that tape measure. it’s fun to goose your co-workers from 10 feet away
Anyhow, one of the repair techs took a smashed up DeWALT 18v drill, and cut off the top housing, removing the chuck, motor and transmission so only the switch, handle and battery were left. He then taped the B&D electric tape measure on top of the drill handle and wired the drill switch into the battery contacts in the tape measure. We now had an 18V tape measure with forward/reverse control and variable speed! It was then awesome enough to be un-embarrassing. it shot out of that so fast it left little bruises where it hit your arm. I don’t think the motor held out too long, though.
Also, I am surprised you got 10 inches of grout cutting out of that versa-pak tool. That COULD be a record.
Ok here are my top three in order of not so bad to WHY??
#3 8″ miter saw – only cut left or right, no compound cuts. I was desperate for a miter saw and convinced myself this would be the right saw for my fledgling shop.
#2 Rotozip Rotary Saw – they said it would cut in a variety of materials like wood. It did, but never with as much control as they showed on TV. I used it when I renovated the master bedroom in our old house, but sold it in a garage sale (not ours but a different family member’s in a different town.)
#1 Modular Sharpening System from Sam’s Club – self contained unit that consisted of a small motor (and I do mean small!). Had a module for sharpening drill bits (a hole that didn’t support the bit during sharpening). A module for sharpening chisels and plane blades (the small grinding wheel was about 1/4″ wide so balance was key). And my favorite module…the knife and scissor module (the only one that worked).
This episode sounds like a meeting of AA or something. “Hi my name is Shannon and I have an embarrassing tool problem.” Don’t feel bad Dave we are all in this together except that my electric tape measure was a gift so I can’t put it on my list since I didn’t buy it. It does still work even though I don’t use it much due to weight and size. My top 3 would be:
3. Dremel Tool (bought it when I was making custom built flyrods for cutting the rod blank. A 5 second job peformed once during construction. I have 5 five rods in the last 7 years for a total of 25 seconds of use)
2. Electric staple gun (you covered all the reasons for that one in the podcast. I sold mine on ebay a few years back)
1. My complete Router Workshop router table and jig set. Have you seen the stuff these guys make??? What was I thinking???!!!!
I’m officially classifying this post as a meme. My own list to come in the near future on my own blog!
[...] in Tools Tags: embarrassing tools, tool chest of shame, woodworking This post was inspired by one with a nearly identical name over at Modern Woodshop. It seemed worthy of being classified as a meme, so let’s all join in [...]
A couple of my embarrassing tools, not in any special order:
1. A mortising attachment for my drill press. I bought it a big box store, it doesn’t fit my drill press right so I made a shim and it still didn’t work.
2. I too have an electric tape measure; mine was a gage gift from my mom. (Does that count?)
3. A horizontal / disk sander I bought without realizing it was wired for 220V (I don’t have 220 in my shop).
Hey Dave,
While listening to this episode I could tick off a couple of tool purchases that are embarrassing. In no particular order:
1) Rotozip tool. The infomercial was very well done. Even grandma from the audience could handle the tool. It was amazing how there was no dust. When I first tried this tool I immediately broke the first bit when trying to cut some pine. I was also amazed at how I had to use two hands to try and keep the tool from wandering (meanwhile, I was remembering the grandma from the infomercial who practically only used one hand…she must have biceps of steel under that blouse….apparently she is the women’s reigning arm wrestling champ). So, after replacing the blade I thought I would give the tool one more try. This time on some drywall. I decided to add an electrical switch to the inside of our master wall in closet. Of course after seeing the infomercial there is virtually no dust. I neglected to remove my wifes and my clothes from the closet. When the bit touched the drywall there was an immense cloud of white dust realizing my error but feeling that I must finish “the cut”. I plunged away leaving our entire wardrobe covered in this fine gypsum. Luckily, the little woman wasn’t home so I could quickly clean up the mess. The tool sits in it’s box, selling it on craislist or a garage sale sounds like a good next step.
This is the only tool that sticks in my mind at this time. I will need to walk the shop to find the others that have been erased from memory.
One other thought. This episode made me think about one of your first where you posed the question about whether it was wise to buy your 2nd tool first?
I don’t have the Rotozip because I already owned the Porter Cable version which was actually marketed only as a tool to do electrical box cut-outs and could also be used to do tile and grout repair with the carbide bit. This thing has saved me a lot of time being the cut-out tool. I can definitely see its down-fall in the actual woodworking arena.
Hello! I’ve been a long time reader, but am having trouble viewing your site in Firefox today. Did you update something?