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5 Tools Best Bought Secondhand
Days when you buy a new tool are bright spots in the seemingly endless slog of working on a project car. Placing a shiny new tool onto a bench covered with rusty, crusty parts and pieces can reinvigorate your desire to work. Often that new tool makes or breaks our ability to get the task done. Tools are important, but that doesn’t mean you need to go into debt when buying them.
Finding used tools has never been easier for people with a little grease under their fingernails. At times it’s almost easier to find used tools in good condition than it is to find new ones of high quality. Remember, if you can’t test the function of a tool, assume you’ll need to rebuild or repair it. You can consume a great deal of time and money getting a cheap used tool up to the condition you thought it was in when you bought it.
However, not all used tools are money pits. Here are a few that make sense to purchase used.
Box-End Wrenches
Box-end wrenches really don’t wear out if used properly. Since they are easy to inspect, you can easily know whether the ones you are buying are damaged or abused. For DIY newcomers, there is no better option; even if you do buy a “better” set of wrenches later, this one will be perfect for filling out road-trip tool kits. You might even modify a few for special jobs.
Ratchets
When it comes to ratchets, you can save a lot of money if you are willing to put in a little extra work. Get familiar with the one you want, and what it takes to refurbish it. Rebuild kits can turn a beat-up, high-quality ratchet into a near-new one in an afternoon and the process is easier than you might think.
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That said, success isn’t guaranteed. I love my Snap-on ratchets and didn’t hesitate for a second to buy them right off the truck because I was having a hard time finding the tools I wanted, in rebuildable condition, for a price that made any sense.
Hack Saws
These simple saws come in clutch from time to time. Hack saws pop up at garage sales regularly and are often only a couple bucks. Since the blade is a consumable, something you will be replacing anyway, you only need to inspect the frame to make sure it’s not twisted or broken. That’s easy to check by eye. The consequences for error are relatively low: Should a hacksaw frame fail, there is not much risk of significant injury, so long as you are using it properly. Plus, the design has changed little over time.
Clamps
Since evolution has yet to give mechanics the third hand we so desperately need, it’s basically impossible to have enough clamps in your shop—anything that can help hold pieces of your project, from locking jaw pliers or long pipe clamps. Finding good used examples can save some money, and the only difference between new and used may boil down to appearance.
Punches
To be honest, I can’t tell old hardened steel from new hardened steel if you put both in my hands. Even the best punches eventually get used, as they are tools that are either sitting in storage or being struck with other tools. They lead a rough life, but punches can last a very long time, especially specialty ones or oddly sized versions. Those make for great swap-meet finds.
What else in your toolbox would you rather pick up used than purchase new? Tell us in the comments below.
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I attend Boys & Their Toys auctions in the spring and fall. My problem is seeing near perfect hand tools going for a fraction of their value, making a bid and winning. When I take the purchase home I find that I already have two or three duplicates. I now have workshop tools, garage tools and travelling tools plus some that are surplus to the three sets. My boys are going to have a real challenge disposing of them when my time comes to an end as they have not inherited the gene to use or be interested in DIY repairs
Look for the specialty stuff. You can go to Harbor Freight for the usual wrenches and sockets. When you need that special tool that Snap-On charges $400 for new, you will be glad you found it for $3.
I would love to have a small cart style Sun Scope (not one of those gigantic cabinets). Finding one at all, let alone a working one is hard. Years ago I went to a service station auction that had one. It went for more than I was willing or able to spend at the time but wish I could have had it. Few techs these days know how to read one, but they are great for finding issues with old ignition and carb cars. What I was trained on.
I worked at a dealer in the early 90s that had a Sun diagnostic center, complete with emissions tester. I used the oscilloscope religiously on twin spark plug vehicles (to figure out which bank stopped firing). The principal owner in his infinite wisdom donated it to a local adult school. I could say more, but it’s good to stop here (sigh).
Once I was waiting in line to check out at a big box store, and sitting there was an enormous adjustable wrench for twelve bucks, biggest I’d ever seen, so I bought it. I had lots of tools but nothing like that. The very next day I came home and water was spraying all over my basement, because a backup valve in line to my boilers had failed, and the enormous adjustable wrench was exactly what was needed to remove the valve.
In 1972 we moved to get closer to my job. I was commuting 64 miles one way. Anyways the first thing I did was build a workbench in the basement of our new home. I built the workbench with the wood from the garage I tore down at the old house. That Christmas my wife gifted me a full set of Craftsman tools. Both SAE and Metric. Those old Craftsman tools turned out to be indestructible. I think I’ve only replaced one 1/4 in ratchet and one 19 mm socket. If I ever get around to cleaning my workbench I’m sure I still have everything except the elusive 10 mm socket. At 53 years old, you could say that all my Craftsman tools are used and functional.
So far, no one has mentioned the most fun part of buying a tool: putting your name on it. I started in Tool and Die 60 years ago and both the precision tools and the hand tools got my name and the month/year written on with the electric pencil. My writing is quite bad so on micrometers and such I took them to a jeweler and had him engrave them.. It’s always a kick to look at how old they are and where I was in my progress…. and can often remember the reason for buying the tool… Mechanics’ tools… wrenches, punches etc lived in a bench drawer… the precision tools were in their cases in the Kennedy box….. and still are…
For much the same reason as the punches, chisels (wood working or metal working) are often a good garage sale find. Especially speaking towards the wood working variety, they are often being sold because the current owner lacks the time/patience/skill to sharpen it properly.
Honestly….it might be easier to just make a list of the 5 things you should never buy second hand. First on my list would be any tool that takes a battery.
I inherited a bunch of tools from my late father-in-law, who started wrenching on Model T’s back in the 1920s. All sorts of brands, most all pre-dating WW II. The only one that has broken was a pre WWII Craftsman 1/2″ drive breaker bar. Took it back to Sears (when they were still around) and got a new one, no questions asked. Some of those wrenches are 90+ years old!
My best buys at garage sales etc are soft metal hammers: brass, copper, lead etc. They’re stupidly expensive new, but usually a few bucks at a garage sale. Then there was the time I bought a bread loaf pan full of taps and dies 4-5 lbs worth–for $5. About every SAE and pipe thread size you can think of. No metric, unfortunately, but for five bucks, I was a happy camper.
I was out for a run one day about a year ago and ran by a shop that I had not seen open in the last twenty years on the route I had been running. I stopped and talked to a guy in the shop. He said he had just bought the shop and he was cleaning it out to rent it. He said the original owner died in the late 1950’s and the son ran the shop until 1993 and it had been closed since. He was selling all the inventory on the internet. I took some pictures on my phone and got his number. I ended up picking up an old Delco grinder wheel on a cast iron pedestal with a wire wheel on one side and a grinder on the other for only 150 dollars. It is from the 1950’s made in America and works great! I have sharpened my lawn mower blade cleaned off rusty nuts and bolts and more. It has full metal covers with glass and lights on them to see what you are doing unlike the new little piece of plastic the new ones have. I still wear safety glass as well.
When l was young and just starting to have a little disposable income, l struck a deal with the local Snap-On dealer to pay him half of the then current retail for like new trade in sets of tools. It took me several years to put together a very complete set of Snap-On tools that at 78 l am still actively using. I’ve only taken advantage of their replacement policy twice in all of those years! My kids will inherit a great set of tools that will probably last another generation or two.
Back in the day l had an ag related business and offered some fairly good tools for sale. I always kept three sizes of heavy duty Wilton vises on the shelf. The smaller sizes rotated through on a regular basis, but the 8” combination vise was languishing on the shelf with its $600 price tag. The local radio station did a promotion once a year where they would trade your dead stock at retail for an equal value of air time. I used them on a regular basis, so it was a no brainer for me. They would then hold a big auction and unload this merchandise. Now comes the good part of this story….. A couple of weeks later, l got a call from a friend who said he had purchased a nice heavy vice he didn’t need at an auction for 75 bucks and would l like to make him whole. 40 years later, it’s still my favorite vise plus it has a great story!
There is no such thing as enough tools. 1/4 to 3/4 sockets. 6 point 12 point standard, semi deep and deep. Combination long, standard, short, box end, ratcheting and flex wrenches. Thought I had everything possible but the Toy Truck aka Snap On just ordered me a wrench. I think I have a problem.
You can keep your Snap-on ratchets had one STB twice and I rebuilt a Craftsman more than once. Haven’t had to do anything with the PITTSBURGH tools except USE them!!!!!
And the angle grinder with the cutoff wheel will soon replace the hack saw.
Best used tool I purchased was a 2 ton engine hoist for $120 from another car enthusiast and a Rotary scissor lift for $900 a few years ago.
Small tools I buy new.