G
Yes G I have been too cash converters at dee why , but I dont buy things there. I just had a look for fun.
I do spend a large part of my life in all kinds of junk shops and auctions though.
But to be honest I dont work on cars or bikes anymore and I have not done so in many many years, you forget it when you dont work at it and you lose it.
I work with timber and veneers restoring furniture now . I bought the tools because I wanted the tools from my past if that sense and they were all very cheap

Gee Pete at age 48 and you think the museum might put you behind glass lol I am 56 and I believe a large proportion of us fall under that category lol. As far as tools are concerned now well I just buy from shops that sell trade quality gear as it works out cheaper in the long run to buy quality gear.

Ohh I'm only joking Carl . Just the kids wearing me out this week.

I was lucky in many ways, I inherited a lot of Grandad's carpentry tools, These are like Disston, Stanley & several good American saws even have the hand saw sets. I did actually by a saw at Bunnings; What a pile of crap it is, the set is all wrong & it has not good enough to even get through a bit of hardwood. Bought a pair of side cutters same brand same place also crap.

Some stuff lasts. I have a "transit level" LS Starrett USA circa 1914, it's apparently one second of arc out & a 1919 2" Die stock that decided to have a malfunction yesterday, however, that was due to wear & I can fix it.

I did actually by a saw at Bunnings

So did I ... a cheapie to cut Hebel blocks with. It lasted as long as the job and then went into the bin.

Afterwards I noticed exactly the same saw cheaper at Big W. So much for "Lowest Prices Are Just The Beginning".

Hahaha, just look around at the street throw outs ! New looking mowers , new looking whipper snippers , new pressure washers,
Its an abundance of it on the throw out because it doesnt last and its all just crap! Dont waste ya money on it

I've heard of tradesmen painting their tools some shade of pink to make them unattractive to thieves. Idea being that most people wouldn't want to buy or use "girly" looking tools... And the pink colour makes them easy to find at a worksite.

It's funny how greenie groups whinge about the fact that a lot of the processed foods we buy are overwrapped, sometimes with three layers of wrapping simply to make the food presentable - bikkies, chokkies, etc. None of them ever protest about what the world is now filling its rubbish tips with.

It's not limited to cheap power tools. Anyone purchased a pedestal fan in recent years? Ever seen what happens when playful kids bowl one over? It gets smashed to smithereens, exposing every mm of electrical wiring inside. Then there's the cheap gimmicks that people buy to help them exercise whilst on an experimental crash diet. The things that are purported to give you 20 inch arms or ripped abs in a matter of weeks. Televisions go for an average of five years now and the circuitry cannot be repaired because the PCB is populated with integrated circuits and SMDs we can barely see, let alone solder in/out.

If anyone thinks that the closure of the Holden and Toyota car factories at the end of October will mean better cars can think again. The market they and Ford are leaving behind is being soaked up by a myriad of brands from China and India. When such vehicles hit a bump it is literally like an episode of the Dukes of Hazzard where Roscoe and Enos lose doors, the bonnet and mudguards whilst chasing the General Lee. The bottom line in a free market is that a majority of people won't buy what suits their needs, they will buy what is least expensive and then go on to tolerate the product's shortcomings.

One thing you will seldom find on a clean-up pile these days is a valve radio. For the most part they spend the first twenty years in a home providing entertainment then another ten years in sheds and garages so dad can listen to the races whilst doing chores and if a valve or condenser pops it can still even today be readily replaced. This is followed by radios winding up in a couple of thousand private collections around the country. I can't imagine the same fate being shared by Cherry utes or Ozito saws. On the subject of cheap stuff, there is a product safety recall current for some of the oil heaters that have been sold by Bunnings this year. If you have purchased one it's worth checking to see if your heater is a part of the recall. Some heaters are reported to have blown up, spraying hot oil over any bystanders.

https://www.productsafety.gov.au/recall/bunnings-group-limited-all-moretti-and-click-brand-oil-column-heaters

The last place I worked at still had old Dimplex and Electricaire oil heaters in service with no problems and some of these heaters are older than me. I remember the same heaters at my school back in the 1970s.

Its disgraceful what some parts of our society have become.
Some parts of our society are so wealthly they are completely out of touch with reality and what their throwing out onto the rubbish pile other people desperately need for basic needs only a few suburbs away.
Where I live I'm surrounded by fortunate wealthy people and what they through out on the street clean up last week was shameful and I even saw the Salvation store truck with the blue writing on the side driving around the throw out picking the stuff up.
I saw tons of newish furniture just dumped , kids toys still in the boxes, beautiful cots ,washing machines, fridges, building materials .
I run Ads that I buy second hand stuff and I often go to peoples house in the poorer suburbs that have nothing and their so poor their selling the washing to pay the rent.
It seems so wrong to me as we are all on this same Island and all Australians. Plus the waste and effect this is having on our environment.
Imagine what it must be like to come to Australia from Asia or the 3rd world and see this happen here. They must be horrified at the waste and blind ignorance of our attitudes.

there is a product safety recall current for some of the oil heaters that have been sold by Bunnings this year

I always keep my Bunnings receipts.

I returned a Bunnings heater last year under a recall. Impulse buy for my workshop on a cold night. They put these things right next to the checkouts for that reason.

"Lowest prices are just the beginning" ... of a series of returns under warranty or recall.

If you want to talk about waste. Most of the flooding you hear about in the Philippines is caused by garbage left in the street and caught up in flood waters and plugging up what storm water drains they have.

Ive lived in Manila and the provinces and in many other 3rd world countries. They have many problems related to over population and poverty, Food and medical facilities

I felt I had to agree about tool quality in the past compared to today. My father always bought good quality tools, he was a refrigeration engineer.
I still have many of his Sidchrome sockets and spanners, also some British made socket sets all in metal cases. I was always a big fan of Makita electric tools, all mine are at least 30 years old, only really had brushes replaced.

I'm often tempted to buy some new Milwaukee gear but the old stuff just keeps going.....Oh, and I don't lend them either...

Kmlec,
Hello
Oh you would like my fridge its a 1957 Crosley and still running great and is my daily driver, cream on the outside and pink on the inside, it's a real Gem and ive had it a long time.
When people visit they all want my fridge.
Now old tools , yes their great quality and feel good when you use them as well, I have some old Makita stuff too and its great old gear.
You would be hard pressed to find that quality in new tools of today, my Tap Die set would be over 50s years old and still cuts fine.
Years ago a engineer gave a drill press from a WWII Japanese submarine as a leaving work gift ,boy I wish I still had it, but moving houses years ago and I couldnt take it with me.
Pete

When you are talking about old fridges I remember when I was 15 my mum and dad bought a Leonard by Kelvinator. It was very modern at the time and was engineered to be easily repaired . My mother got rid of it 2 years ago and even then it still looked modern but its just that people dont like to repair the old gear anymore. I am now 56 which means mum had it for 39 years.