I bought a box of files today...

[Bob La Londe]

I bought a box of files today. They were asking $15, but I paid them $32.

I guess I'm just a bad negotiator.



Figured the files would be half garbage, and they are a little better than that. A few of the flat bastards are good only for knife blanks, and most of the half rounds and rat tails are about the same. There are a few rat tails and a couple straight rounds that are still quite good. All the half rounds are good on the flat side. LOL. There are some specialty files like half diamond and diamond (shape not surface) that are nearly perfect. Most of the triangles are still good. There are 39 files in the box. A couple don't really count because they are chainsaw files. I had to change my guess from half garbage to more than half good. Some are crazy aggressive. Almost, but not quite rasp aggressive. I figured the half dozen or so handles was almost worth the 15 bucks they were asking. I had been planning to spend an afternoon one day soon making file handles. Now I don't have to.

They did throw in a few things to take the sting out of whooping me at negotiating.



The extras included a Ridgid chain wrench, a set of imperial Bondhus ball end hex drivers, a weird angle gage (by General), 3 micrometers (1 is Starrett), a Starrett caliper, a Starrett spring caliper, Starrett hardened and tempered 6in rule, and a Starrett level glass that I think was part of a machinist level. It's much bigger than the one on the Starrett machinist level I have.



The caliper is a bit of an odd duck. Usually when I see something like that its a promotional item with a company name like Detroit Bearing or General Motors, but when I saw it was made by Starrett I had to have it. The machinist rule is going to go back on my main lathe, and I'll toss the narrower harder to read Mitutoyo in a box. The micrometer will be nice if I can calibrate it. I have 2-6 inch Starretts, but not a one inch. I've been using my mechanical digital import for 1 inch. Its accurate enough according to my Starrett standards.

I had that exact set of Bondhus ball end hex drivers already, but a couple of have broken or cracked handles, and I snapped the ball off a couple. All from hard use and over abuse. Not from quality issues. I'm thrilled to be able to replace it.

I don't know if I'll ever need that chain wrench. I've got a rather large drawer full of pipe wrenches that has served me well enough, but if I ever need it that one item more than made up for my poor negotiating skills on the box of files.

[Bob La Londe]

I just checked that Starrett mic with 0.500, 0.750, and 1.000 gage blocks. It's a little stiff, but it reads within 1 or 2 tenths at all three sizes. Definitely needs a clean and lube to be 100% sure. After I get it cleaned up it just might become my main 1" mic.

[darryl]

Nice to find a score like that.

[lynnl]

I assume the weird angle gage is the item just to the left of the chain wrench handle...(?)
That's for checking the angle of drill points when grinding ....most likely 59 degrees for 118 deg drills.

[Bob La Londe]

I assume the weird angle gage is the item just to the left of the chain wrench handle...(?)
That's for checking the angle of drill points when grinding ....most likely 59 degrees for 118 deg drills.

It does a lot more than that, although it's does have a fixed 118 degree gage.

[J Tiers]

It does a lot more than that, although it's does have a fixed 118 degree gage.

They usually have a 6" scale on them, plus mm scale, the odd angle has divisions on it for checking centering on the drill grind, and there generally is a protractor scale with arm. Some have a bunch of nominally useful data printed on the back as well

[JRouche]

I bought a box of files today. They were asking $15, but I paid them $32.

I guess I'm just a bad negotiator.



Figured the files would be half garbage, and they are a little better than that. A few of the flat bastards are good only for knife blanks, and most of the half rounds and rat tails are about the same. There are a few rat tails and a couple straight rounds that are still quite good. All the half rounds are good on the flat side. LOL. There are some specialty files like half diamond and diamond (shape not surface) that are nearly perfect. Most of the triangles are still good. There are 39 files in the box. A couple don't really count because they are chainsaw files. I had to change my guess from half garbage to more than half good. Some are crazy aggressive. Almost, but not quite rasp aggressive. I figured the half dozen or so handles was almost worth the 15 bucks they were asking. I had been planning to spend an afternoon one day soon making file handles. Now I don't have to.

They did throw in a few things to take the sting out of whooping me at negotiating.



The extras included a Ridgid chain wrench, a set of imperial Bondhus ball end hex drivers, a weird angle gage (by General), 3 micrometers (1 is Starrett), a Starrett caliper, a Starrett spring caliper, Starrett hardened and tempered 6in rule, and a Starrett level glass that I think was part of a machinist level. It's much bigger than the one on the Starrett machinist level I have.



The caliper is a bit of an odd duck. Usually when I see something like that its a promotional item with a company name like Detroit Bearing or General Motors, but when I saw it was made by Starrett I had to have it. The machinist rule is going to go back on my main lathe, and I'll toss the narrower harder to read Mitutoyo in a box. The micrometer will be nice if I can calibrate it. I have 2-6 inch Starretts, but not a one inch. I've been using my mechanical digital import for 1 inch. Its accurate enough according to my Starrett standards.

I had that exact set of Bondhus ball end hex drivers already, but a couple of have broken or cracked handles, and I snapped the ball off a couple. All from hard use and over abuse. Not from quality issues. I'm thrilled to be able to replace it.

I don't know if I'll ever need that chain wrench. I've got a rather large drawer full of pipe wrenches that has served me well enough, but if I ever need it that one item more than made up for my poor negotiating skills on the box of files.

"I figured the half dozen or so handles was almost worth the 15 bucks they were asking. "

Really, I love file handles, I have a 5gl bucket full of them. Old ones included,

[J Tiers]

That little caliper is handy for measuring fractional size stock. Have one of them that I think is a B&S, not Starrett. Accurate enough for stock sizing.

[Bob La Londe]

That little caliper is handy for measuring fractional size stock. Have one of them that I think is a B&S, not Starrett. Accurate enough for stock sizing.

I had one ages ago with a Detroit Bearing name on it. I gave it to the owner of an independent motorcycle accessory shop. He was always having customers ask, "Will this fit my bike?"

I miss that old fart. No matter how his day was going he greeted everybody who walked in the door with a smile, a friendly greeting by name, and his hand offered out. If he didn't know you he introduced himself.

[old mart]

Maybe not a bad negotiator, maybe an honest person who has a conscience.

[Bob La Londe]

Maybe not a bad negotiator, maybe an honest person who has a conscience.

They had a few other things I could have bought cheap. Some store brand stuff, some Snap-On, old school Craftsman, etc. I told them the way to optimize their sales price is take the time to look up each item that was in good condition and find its cheapest new price on-line. Then ask about 60-80% and if they would take less tell say "make offer." If you set a starting point people's offers tend to be higher than if you act like you don't know what its worth. I even told them that they could get more money from somebody else on everything they sold me. As I was leaving the older gentleman there told me they had two storage units of his dad stuff he still had to clean out. He would let me know if there was any more machinist stuff when he got into that.

Integrity pays better than petty skullduggery. As a contractor I used to tell my guys, "Integrity sells." "If you screw something up tell me right away so we can tell the customer and make it right before they even know it's wrong." I had a couple customers "hold it against me" that we made a mistake, but most became life long repeat customers. Some still call me to chat or ask for advice. In 23 years as a licensed contractor I was never sued and never had a complaint against my licenses.

They seemed to be doing well though. Nice new boats, trucks, fifth wheel etc. I think they were just getting rid of stuff. I got the impression they didn't want to take the time to maximize their sales the way I suggested. They wanted to play with their toys in retirement.

[alanganes]

The weird angle tool is one of these:

https://generaltools.com/angle-izer-pocket-sized-6-in-1-multi-use-ruler-and-gauge

I have one around someplace that gets occasional use. I can't recall where I even got it, but it seems to be one of those things you see in every hardware store. Not a high precision tool, but handy enough for some stuff here and there.

[Bob La Londe]

The weird angle tool is one of these:

https://generaltools.com/angle-izer-pocket-sized-6-in-1-multi-use-ruler-and-gauge

I have one around someplace that gets occasional use. I can't recall where I even got it, but it seems to be one of those things you see in every hardware store. Not a high precision tool, but handy enough for some stuff here and there.

Yeah, I'll probably just use it as a drill gage at the bench grinder. That way I can leave my fancy Starrett slide arm protractor in my desk... as soon as I remember where I put it.

[RancherBill]

You Suck. Great deal.