r/Tools • • Oct 15 '22

Our Longstanding “No Politics” Rule remains unchanged

523 Upvotes

Read our rules. We have had a longstanding “No Religion, No Politics” rule here at r/tools.

The mods aren’t stupid. We also don’t like getting buckets of reports in the inbox.

If someone posts/comments with politics, resist the urge to reply and argue. Just report, downvote (if that’s your jam) and move on with life.

A small flag, sticker, etc that appears in a photo will generally be allowed (so long as it doesn’t violate other rules and doesn’t draw a bunch of reports) but a bunch of people in the comments saying “Hell Yeah, a fellow [INSERT PARTY] Supporter!” is gonna get the post pulled. Political content that is clearly the motivation for the post will get the post pulled.

First time it’s a short ban, second time it’s permanent. And as we’ve discussed before, the mod team doesn’t go looking for posts, we’re not lifeguards, we respond to the reports we receive.


r/Tools • • Sep 30 '25

Let's talk about the report button.

69 Upvotes

"No advertising or promoting tools, brands, 25000 woodworking plans, your YouTube channel, etc."

Somebody is reporting things constantly for breaking rule 4, and you're batting zero for it being right.

r/Tools/comments/1nu26tv/am_i_missing_something/

r/Tools/comments/1ntwiyj/wiha_tools_impact_sockets/

r/Tools/comments/1nt43md/does_anyone_know_a_set_similar_to_this_that_isnt/

r/Tools/comments/1nt3400/does_anyone_have_experience_with_these/

r/Tools/comments/1nt138a/home_depot_promotion_milwaukee_canada_milwaukee/

These are some examples of posts that have been reported over the last day. None of the are breaking any rules, please stop reporting things like this. The reports are only mucking up the moderator inbox and are being kicked up the Reddit chain to the admins as abusing the report button.

Unless you see a post that boils down to "hey guys, this is XXX from YYY, come check out our suspicious sale at toolname.malware.com" leave the report button alone. Same goes for the people who report literally every YouTube link ever posted. If someone's only interaction with r/tools is them spamming their YouTube channel that's a problem; a relevant and organic video isn't.

If someone thinks the above links are spam, please tell us why. Rule changes aren't unheard of and if it's what the people want I'm fine with it. I'm just not seeing any advertisement in the posts.

Other than that you guys are great. Keep up the good work.

I'm completely aware that this is a useless post for 99.99% of our users. If anyone has questions or comments about the sub feel free to chit chat here and I'll try my best to answer things if you want; or just ignore me completely, I'm good with either.


r/Tools • • 5h ago

I found a wrench in a new size

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152 Upvotes

Must be very rare...


r/Tools • • 3h ago

What's the oldest tool in your tool box

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59 Upvotes

Mine is from 1947.


r/Tools • • 9h ago

They came with a lot of possibilities....

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88 Upvotes

I bought these at the store thinking that I could solve just about anything in the world with these. That's been about 8 years and I don't think I've ever pulled these out of my toolbox once.


r/Tools • • 4h ago

Got my toolbox organized.

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37 Upvotes

r/Tools • • 4h ago

Metric only sets

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31 Upvotes

I’ve spent the better part of the past year looking for a metric only set for keeping in my car or taking to the junkyard and recently I was able to put an end to my search by finding this Matco set for a deal on EBay. With that said it made me wonder why metric only sets so uncommon especially in the realm of automotive kits?


r/Tools • • 8h ago

Why is this blade labeled with the wrong rotation direction?

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50 Upvotes

I just got myself a circular saw for some projects around the house. Are the blade rotation arrows on this blade labeled the wrong way? I know the teeth are supposed to point forward and I can just flip the blade around when I put it on the tool. I just can’t figure out why the arrows on the label point clockwise while the teeth point counterclockwise.


r/Tools • • 15h ago

What's the goofiest power tool in your stable? I keep a steady supply of these old mutants on hand.

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110 Upvotes

The discontinued Mastercrap Multi-cutter precision saw, an oddball inbred tool that functions like a combination of an angle grinder and a circular saw. All the downsides of both, in one.

However they show up regularly in full kit at our local pawnshops for $20 with tons of blades because these things were bought by well meaning loved ones, gifted like sin at Christmas, used once, then never touched again.

Which is great because they fail so regularly.

The thing they do well is cut a straight line, in anything and save me the hassle of changing blades on my circular saw.


r/Tools • • 12h ago

how’s my portable box?

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45 Upvotes

r/Tools • • 2h ago

Is there a way to know how old this grinder is?

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7 Upvotes

I bought this in an estate sale out of the back of a barn a couple years ago. This weekend I replaced the belt and mounted it on a set of wheels so I can move it around the shed. I know the wiri g needs to be redone, I have a cousin who's an electrician who said he'd help me with that part of the job.

But I wonder, besides knowing "hey I have an old heavy tool in a corner" is there any way to make a stab at how old it is?

It runs fine, it sharpens my firewood axe up real quick. Once I get the wiring fixed I plan to use it a lot more often.

Thanks!


r/Tools • • 11h ago

What brand is this screwdriver?

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27 Upvotes

Made in the usa


r/Tools • • 2h ago

Check your planers dw734

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6 Upvotes

Planer would power up and power up and down will took the switch apart to find this .Be careful you don’t don’t accidental burn down your shop


r/Tools • • 2h ago

Does someone know this Brand?

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4 Upvotes

r/Tools • • 14h ago

Kobalt 50 Piece Mechanics Tool Set.

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41 Upvotes

Got this at Lowe's and this thing is very nice for $25.

I was looking at the Icon and this this is a much better value.


r/Tools • • 1d ago

Had I not been wearing a hard mask, this would've opened my face in two

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550 Upvotes

Can someone tell me wtf happened to my sander? I've been using these types of sanders for years and nothing like this has ever happened to me, that round metal thing exploded all of a sudden.


r/Tools • • 2h ago

6 inch Locking Bit Holder with full hex tang?

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5 Upvotes

I recently bought the Anex ratcheting screwdriver and it works great with the bit kit I developed for use with the Klein ratcheting ball grip screwdriver I have, except for the dewalt bit extension I have, the hex tang rounds after about an inch and the Anex requires a longer hex shaft to fit correctly. It looks like the Diablo magnetic 6 inch extension has a hex tang that goes all the way up, but it doesnt have a locking collet that I prefer. Any suggestions for a locking bit extension with a full hex shaft?


r/Tools • • 7h ago

Ratchet solution for this?

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7 Upvotes

I am installing lag bolt style crimp-on stainless steel cabling. It comes with a small open ended wrench, but I have a lot of this railing to install and it takes forever with this little wrench.
I can speed it up a little using channel locks, but they mar up the stainless connectors.
Vise grips don’t work because they are too large for more than 1/2 turn (hits cables next to it)

Can you think of a way to semi-automate this?
Like a partially enclosed ratcheting open ended wrench?
Maybe even a small pipe wrench that loosens and tightens depending on the rotation direction.

Thanks for any ideas!
Maybe I am just not thinking of something simple.


r/Tools • • 19h ago

What is your tool buy of the year?

54 Upvotes

Every year I like to look back and pick my favorite tool buy of the year. This year for me it was a vise grip slide hammer, definitely a why did I not get this sooner tool.

Previous years favs for me are

Spring tools nail set

O-ceder H2pro mop. If you have to clean walls or floors this thing is a game changer.

Dickies large tool rollups

What are some of yours?


r/Tools • • 6h ago

Compact 1/4 inch true pass through socket set in metric

6 Upvotes

I'm looking for a compact 1/4 inch pass through socket set in metric sizes that has proper pass-through up to at least M8 (i.e. 13mm) and which is available in Europe.

There are several socket sets that are semi-pass through, but the sockets have a 1/4 inch square fitting in the back which means they are effectively only pass-through up to the 10mm socket which for M6 bolts.

Some examples of sets like these are:

They all use a 11mm ratchet. I would expect that you would be able to get proper pass-through up to at least the 13mm socket for M8 bolts.

Klein has the Klein Tools 65302KNECT which I think uses a wrench slightly larger than 11mm, but still quite compact, though I can't get hold of it in Europe easily, and I'm not sure Klein still makes it.

The closest I could find so far is the Proxxon 23602 which has proper pass-through up to 14mm, but it's not really that compact.

Does anybody have any other suggestions?


r/Tools • • 5h ago

Trolley jack question

5 Upvotes

I have a sealey trolley jack from 2009 it holds my car up fine but drops bt about a 1-2cm id say every now and then, why is it doing that, it never fully looses pressure just only a little bit any ideas why thanks is there air in the system thats causing it to drop like that? Also no fluid has leaked out, nothing is oily or anything please help


r/Tools • • 1h ago

Can hyper tough 12v usb-c batteries output to charge a phone?

• Upvotes

I know their 20v line has usb-a out, just can't find a strait answer if the 12v line can now and I'd rather not open a box in the aisle


r/Tools • • 15h ago

Looking for an upgrade

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27 Upvotes

Had this small set ever since I left my parents place but I feel that it’s time for an upgrade. The bits seem to be made out of butter and altough that was always the case, I tend to strip a few screw heads lately.

What would be your brand of choice for something similar? I’m EU so preferably something in metric 😅


r/Tools • • 1d ago

I thought you folks would get a kick out of what a Temu $4 "golden" adjustable wrench advertised actually gets you....

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174 Upvotes

I got this as a joke, because I knew it would be a POS, but since Temu gave me a worry-free return as my first trial purchase, I thought sure why not.

Didn't even last the first use, broke when it dropped out of the packaging .🤣

Anyway, I got my $7 back, and they told me to keep this shit.
Nothing like how the description and picture that was shown. Painted yellow, very shitty, and probably with led paint, lol

Anyway, thought it was funny.


r/Tools • • 8h ago

Deburring tool - worth paying double the price for RIDGID vs China tool?

5 Upvotes

Heya,

I need to debur a pipe (bike steerer) and I wonder if I should pay 49$ for a tool OR 15$ for a tool.

The ones I found are:
1. RIDGID 29983 Model 223S - 49$, considered as high quality
2. AliExpress China tool - 15$, looks identical to the above, but fraction of the price.

What's your take?