And regrets? .. Yes I have a few....

[dirtydeeds]

its hard to follow that pattern

cheap looks like the obvious candidate

but my guess is austrialian coyboys...................... 

 

[Eli]

its hard to follow that pattern

cheap looks like the obvious candidate

but my guess is austrialian coyboys...................... 

If I could find a few more rich widows to work for I'd be a toyboy, not a coy boy. ;D But not cheap$$$

 

[dirtydeeds]

so i cant spell..........................  :

how about gigalo

i cant spell that either

 

[Wonderwino]

A long, long time ago, I bought an aluminum "drill press converter" for my old B&D corded drill at Twin Fair.  It never worked very well.  It was stolen at my garage sale, but I didn't care; they couldn't bring it back for a refund.

 

[stevelf]

The first time I started making dadoes I figured I was saving mucho bucks by buying that dial-a-dado gizmo. I think I ended up throwing it away, and when I bought an Amana set, WOW, was that ever a pleasure to use !!

 

[pingvinlakrits]

The one sticking in my craw of late is the Klein folding utility knife I bought a while back.  I thought it would be handy being folding and all, but I hate to use it because the release tab for the blade is always being hit, with blade being released through mid-cut -----aggravating !!  Just give me the old standby --- you can just grab it and wack stuff.

Next?

Justin

Because you asked for it...

This cast iron sucker is solid as a rock and it has enough weight that when engaged in a heavy cut and it finally breaks free it does not go flying, like this aluminum version can.

It's just as rigid as the iron version but weighs 1/4 as much.

Even the iron version isn't my favorite. I have misplaced my favorite which is identical except that it says DEFIANCE in raised letters on the side.

Michael; is that dried blood on the top knife? 

 

[pingvinlakrits]

I love having a beautifully crafted hand plane like those from Lie-Nielson.  Now to be able to use them properly is another story.
Another waste of money were some Radi Planes that I bought to round over and chamfer edges.  Could never seem to get the two cutters aligned properly with one another.
Oh yeah, and then there were these little round-over tools that looked like church keys.  They would be working fine, taking tight little shavings, and then all of a sudden just grab a chunk of the wood.
I guess I could go on, but these stand out.

Neill

I wish I hade read this a few months ago... ...before ordering the chunk carving church keys. A colleague has a Radi plane that actually works quite well. The church keys work alright on mdf - though they become dull very fast. 

 

[Tinker]

every SINGLE stud finder that already exists on the planet

AND

every SINGLE stud finder that hasnt been invented yet

if it doesnt exist the stud finder WILL find it

if it does exist the stud finder WONT find it

they ALL find electric cables all the time

BUT....................................... ANYTHING they find is also electric

even wooden studs are electric

according to stud finders

so are nails and screws

and copper water pipes

the list is endless

When I was in construction, i  had a couple of backhoes to do my own footing excavations and grading among a lot of other functions.  On every job, i always checked with owner on where the water well and septic system were located.  as more and more houses had the electric service installed underground, i had to call a service to locate everything for me.  I eventually discovered two very important facts.
1 Owners always told me where items were located according to their needs of the moment.
2 ALL backhoes and excavating equipment have factory installed locating devices.  the devices are NOT removable and cannot be over-ridden.  those devices ALWAYS locate waterlines that are on THE FAR SIDE OF THE HOUSE.  They ALWAYS locate septic systems that are ON THE FAR SIDE OF THE HOUSE.  same with electric lines, oil lines.  They also locate old pet burial grounds greatly revered by the children of the house, drainage lines and so on and onandonandon>>>>>>>

On one job, we located visually, the well.  We located the oil tank on far end of house.  The owner showed me EXACTLY where the septic system was located on far side of house.  He showed me where the electric service line came into the house and where it started from the pole at the street.  when I started digging, the very first thing i had to do was to remove a tree and its stump.  As I pulled the stump, I saw a geyser of water.  It seems the tree roots were wrapped securely around the old water line and I had broken it in half with pulling out of the tree roots.  we no sooner fixed the water line when I discovered the septic system was NOT on the far side of the house.  Before the excavation was completed, I discovered the electric lines did NOT follow a straight line into house as owner had pointed out.  I also discovered the oil line did not follow a straight line.  with all of the excitement, the wife went into labor and ended up being rushed to the hospital.  I guess she survived ok.  The house is still there and I see her walking where she used to jog.  Her hair used to be very bright red, but it is solid grey now.  I probably contributed somewhat to the grey.  I have only seen the husband a couple of times in the intervening 25 or so years, but he still is friendly to me.
Tinker

 

[slb]

Others have already hit a lot of my peeves, especially stud finders that don't work on lath and plaster despite the "deep sensing" capability (though I do get good results on wallboard).  Second on my list is squares that aren't, especially framing squares. 

But my number one is supposed sharp-edge tools made with junk steel that won't hold an edge.  I've got a couple of marking knives in which the steel is so soft that the point bends over if it tries to follow the grain in the wood.  I gave up on them and just use an Xacto - the tip breaks but it's fast and cheap to replace the blade.  I had two block planes bought cheap before I learned better, and both of them got dull at the first hint of hard wood or paint.  I've got several Marples chisels whose edges chip after only a few cuts.  I've gotten more cuts from dull tools than from sharp ones.

Steve

 

[jgag]

my original cold chisels - which blunt on the 2nd or 3rd strike - I was renovating our third house

the new chisels were tedious to grind to shape - but stay sharp for half a days hard use

the time I've wasted...