"do you borrow out your Festools"

[nickao]

To many times my friends have disrespected my tools. I finally stopped borrowing out any of my tools. Have any stories  about it. I would like to hear them.

Some kind of etiquette should be followed when borrowing tools. My dad taught me, borrow the car, return it washed with a full tank. The same goes for tools. Return them clean, working with fresh sandpaper, etc.

nickao

 

[alg]

Festool stays home. I hope to stick to it.

 

[tallgrass]

they do no leave my sight. as my old tools were replaced by festool they were placed in what i call my bitch bag, an old canvas bag. you can look in the bitch bag but do not t ouch the white boxes. it is funny watching friends look through the bitch bag while staring at the glory of the white boxes......i know thats sadistic,,, ;D but if it is not in the bag ,,,too bad. All my tools live in fear of a new white box......the tools know someone is going in the bag.

 

[The Woodentop]

I don't like to let others borrow my tools (be they Festool or not!) but it's so hard to turn down a friend.....and they are only tools after all.

 

[petiegolfer]

If my tools go anywhere I go with them. They are abit like my golf clubs...I hate anyone else touching them. I have loaned out clubs for people to hit and they have come back with nicks all over the graphite shafts and pop up marks on the head.....ahhhhh!

The other problem I have is people dont know how to use tools....I went out for a meal a couple of weeks ago and one of the guys had a mishapen tip to one finger...he had been pushing a peice of wood thorough a router whilst his buddy was holding it!!!!! the router wipped the wood along with the finger past the blade!! Mental!

So I tend to go with the tools...Its good to go and help people...should be more "barn rasieing" in my opinion!

Piers

 

[Tinker]

I try to take into consideration the borrower. 

I once loaned out a chainsaw to a builder who wanted to cut a small tree in his own yard.  he would "bring it right back".  Six weeks later, i finally went to his house to get my saw back.  the teeth were worn to nubbins.  The bar was burned and even the edge was flared from using it with lose chain.  The handle was cracked (meaning complete replacement of handle and housing)  the saw was unrecognizable.  "I never even used it," he promised.  Needless to say, I never loaned him another tool.  i never loaned him my time either, i charged him for every minute of everything i ever did for him.

later on, a WW friend told me he was going to get a bandsaw.  He did not know what size to get.  I told him my father had given me a 9" delta that i was storing under my bed til i could make room for it in my shop.  I told him to keep it as long as he needed it and to give it back whenever he got one of his own, or i could make room for my own use.  He decided to strip it completely.  he got intouch with Delta (It was a Delta/Rockwell/DeWalt, so you can guess it was old.) Delta no longer made that saw (I just figured out it is a 10")  but they still had all of the parts.  The saw was, at the time, 47 years old.  he replaced all of the warn parts, cleaned all rust from table etc and built a beautiful little oak stand for the saw with a brass plaque with my name on it.  He kept that saw for another 10-12 or more years.  when he went to assisted living, he rented space for it so he could use it there.  when he took his final trip to that final shop above, his son brought the saw back to me in FAR BETTER shape than it had been when i first brought it home from my father.  That saw is now over 65 years old and i still use it for small work and tight curves.  i just snapped the blade and will be sending for a new one in a week or so.

You win some and you loose some, to coin an old phrase.
Tinker

 

[Frank Pellow]

I have lent some of my Festool tools, but only to people who are serious woodworkers and who can appreciate them.  Even then, I always demonstrate the tools first and watch the borrower during a small "hands on" session.  This has definately resulted in follow-up Festool sales.

 

[peter halle]

Loan out my Festools?  No way!  Other tools maybe - if I have duplicates.

About ten years ago I felt sorry for my neighbor's brother who was living with them due to out of state marital problems.  He had worked in construction for years but had to sell all his tools due to lack of funds.  He had just hired on with a construction firm and needed to borrow some tools.  I wasn't actively working in construction at that time so I loaned him my beloved Makita mitersaw, some extension cords and some plastic sawhorses.  Didn't see him much for a month to six weeks because he was working a lot and our schedules didn't quite mesh.  Then one day I noticed that he had gotten himself a brand new Dewalt mitersaw.  He told me that he had worked out a payment plan with his employer.  Another few weeks went by and I finally asked my neighbor if they could ask him to return my mitersaw because I had some projects in the house that I wanted to do.  The brother now had moved out and I didn't see him any more.  Six weeks later I called the neighbor again and was told that I could get the mitersaw out of their shed.  I went over puzzled and discovered that the mitersaw table was broken in half, and the handle and motor housing was destroyed.  The sawhorses were broken and the extension cords cut.

The brother appeared two days later to remove the remainder of his items from their home and stopped by to explain.  He asked me if I remembered the damaged tailgate on his little truck.  He went on to explain that he was driving to a jobsite and went over a bump.  The tailgate came unlatched and my mitersaw fell out of the truck onto the street.  He looked back and saw the saw in one piece lying on the street - until the school bus ran over it.  What could I say?  I inquired if he would be willing to part with his new Dewalt.  No.  He had sold it to pay for drugs.  He was leaving to go into rehab and asked for my address so as to send money to repay me after he got out and was employed again.

Still waiting for that first payment. 

I do have a heart though.  If the person who did this to me years ago is reading this and will send me a new Kapex once they are available here in the U.S. I will forgive you and put you back on my Christmas card list.

Peter Halle

 

[Per Swenson]

Remember when Mcfeelys had those custom labels for your systainers?

Mine say...  NO! GO BUY YOUR OWN!

In the same vein, lending tools can ruin longstanding relationships.

Face it, your next door neighbor, harry the homeowner, can I borrow a cup of sugar,

simply has no concept. Now the other neighbor, you know the pro, who should have a firm grasp,

needs a special tool for the job. Except when it comes to the pottery barn rule when both he

and the tool is broke,

or it conveniently slips his mind.

You may think there are exceptions. You will be disappointed.

All those barbecues, fishing trips, years of raising kids together on the same team,

all of it, every one of those excellent times, will be usurped by the nagging remembrance

of a missed tool. Even if you don't need it, because you will.

This policy includes all Family members, unless you pay 'em a salary.

Per

 

[Dan Uhlir]

  I try to work out some kind of trade, I got a nice lawnmower, for festool/paintsprayer loans. win/win
    Lunch somethin like that. No one rides free. Cut the grass somethin.
                                                                                                                    Thanks
                                                                                                                      Dan

 

[The Woodentop]

Well I think some of you guys are mean. To be fair, I would only let friends who, in my judgement, are capable and honest. But then, I doubt we'd be friends if I didn't think both those things. So, I' let the few FRIENDS I have borrow anything.....except the wife! But I know from experience that some folks have 'friends' that I would only call acquaintances.........I think it's about wanting to be loved.

Conclusion: if it's a friend, let them borrow your pesky tool. If he/she breaks it, he/she will replace it....or offer to. Personally unless I felt there was wanton destruction I'd replace it myself. And of course you can easily replace a tool! Can you say that of a true friend?

 

[Wim]

Nobody is to borrow one of my Festools. If they need it for some job, I go and take my tools and do the job for them. After a broken hammer handle (glued with some crappy stuff) and a saw, returned with almost no teeth left, I stopped borrowing out my tools. I like to help people, but they will get my tools AND me.

 

[PeterK]

This is a tough one. Before I had any woodworking tools of any sort other than a $20 circular saw, I needed to build a deck on my house. A guy I worked with had a woodshop that he did side/professional work out of. He offered to let me use any and all tools he had. I took him up on the offer. After I finished my table saw and router table use, I purchased a new blade and router bit for him. My son and I also totally cleaned up his very messy shop - all to be able to come back in the future if needed. Never did use his stuff again but my feelings are always try to return things better than the way I find them.

Loaned my miter saw and sander to my son - who knows how anal I am about keeping my stuff pristine. Got my stuff back with paint on it, covered in dirt - not sawdust. Sheesh. I like helping my next door neighbor and I know him well enough after many years that I will let him use my shop or some tools with me giving initial guidance. Never have let him take the Festools to use at his house though.

Guess it all boils down to how you treasure your stuff. Do you care what it looks like? Festools are durable but for my investment, I like them to stay nice looking in case I want to sell them to upgrade to newer models. The resale value of Festools is so high that this is very easy to do and I have done it several times now. Pete

 

[Dennis Meek]

I don't "LEND" my tools out to anybody.  I have no need to borrow my own tools.

 

[JJ Wavra]

I probably would be in the boat of not lending them out.  I can just barely afford to purchase festool products and do so because they last.  However, I can't afford to replace any so I don't think they will leave my hands.

JJ

 

[Jim Becker]

There are only two woodworking friends that I would allow use of any of my tools, regardless of the nameplate on them...and then only because I know they treat their own tools with the same care I do. Outside of that, I do not and will not lend tools to anyone, including family...

 

[The Woodentop]

I don't "LEND" my tools out to anybody.  I have no need to borrow my own tools.

Would you borrow us a fiver? LOL........I now know we have some ENGLISH speakers amongst us!

 

[John Langevin]

  I once loaned my pickup truck (for one week) to my wife's best friend's boyfriend. I needed a vehicle so he loaned me his 1974 Formula 400 Pontiac. While using my truck the rear exhaust hanger broke. He took it to a muffler shop where they promptly replaced the entire exhaust system. When he returned my truck, he told me what had happened, needless to say I was impressed/embarassed. Then I asked him what happened to the brand new $300 stainless muffler (with the lifetime warranty), he said they replaced it. A year later when all the hangers and clamps had rusted out I returned to the muffler shop with warranty in hand. Their lifetime warranty didn't cover the needed parts! Go figure!
  I have two good friends who treat their tools the way I do, but I doubt I would lend them my Festools because neither one is really a woodworker and I think Festools have a definite learning curve; especially the TS saws and routers.

 

[The Woodentop]

I can honestly say I've never been disappointed by the returned condition of tools I have lent. I think my few friends must all be decent people. Some of the people mentioned on this thread must be absolutely bas%$rds!

 

[Dixon Peer]

I don't think anyone has brought up the subject of potential liability in this thread, but it is something that should be thought about.  I would hope that if your good friend cut off his or her body part with a saw you loaned them, they wouldn't try to hold you responsible, but you wouldn't know that until something unfortunate happened.  Law suits are nasty.