Date:         Wed, 6 Mar 96 19:43 CST
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         khooper@wsp1.wspice.com (Ken Hooper)
Subject:      Re: Spring clip pliers


>PS -- Just because an outfit offers to replace a tool if it breaks is no
>reason to get all excited about their 'quality.'  What you want are tools
>that DON'T break.  Comparison of old Craftsman tools to their modern
>offerings will give you an instant education in how a good company can go
>bad.

Their power tools have never been worth a fat damn. All the Sears
woodworking tools I've used have been middling to poor. Bad tools with a
good warranty--but K-Mart now carries a line of very inexpensive tools with
a lifetime guarantee. Whatever comes, Sears at least has the virtue of
being expensive. ;)

A popular sport among the pickup truck shade tree crowd is buying as many
ancient rusty Craftsman tools as possible at garage sales and hauling them
back to Sears for free replacement. Ain't that nice? Hee-yuck? If these
gentlemen really apply themselves, maybe they can bankrupt the place. Sears
never says "no," and he who dies with the most stuff he didn't earn, wins.

It's funny, though, how you can't steal integrity like you can steal tools.
Peculiar, that. Strange, the overwrought performance of mock outrage you'll
get if you call the behavior of one of those tool scavengers by its name.
We can get away with nearly anything if we pretend we're being persecuted.
Ye shall know the virtuous by the shrill frequency of their
denunciations...

That's why I tend to buy tools at Sears, although it's a roundabout
explanation. They don't claim they're the best tools in the universe
anymore, only that they're warranted for life. I've never managed to break
one. The selection is pretty good. And they keep honoring the warranty.
They keep doing what they said they'd do. That's all I ask of anybody; man,
God, or vendor. ;)

-Ken  <--in a mood
 '71 Bus