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#43896 10/24/04 10:52 AM
Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 141
S
Member
Once again, I have to deal with tool-borrowing leeches who don't pull their weight.

A guy came up to me wanting to use my Klein thread cutter, which was brand new.

He brought it back with about 5/8" of it (the smaller thread cutter) broken off and tried to give it to me.

I thought back to the guy who blew a hole in my dikes and tried to hand them back to me, the guy who used my DeWalt recipro saw to cut out about 20 pipes from a panel after promising to bring back a new blade and not doing it, and others who used and abused and lost my tools without trying to replace them. After the guy blew a hole in my dikes with melted plastic around the hole and I told him he can go replace it, he told me it was Craftsman and I can get a new free one - that I should just go do it. I went around town to different Sears stores until I found one in stock. Pain in the butt, probably 2 or 3 hours and 40 miles on the truck just to replace one tool.

This time I just said, "Get me a new one." He said he thinks they have replacement cutters. I told him to go find one. Well, now it's been over two weeks, I needed the thread cutter 4 days ago and didn't have it.

I have a choice of not loaning anything and being a bad guy and getting run off the job for not being friendly and cooperative, or just loaning things out and having to replace at least one tool per month. It's aggravating. Now I have to track this guy down to whatever job he's on and ask him when he's going to replace the tool he broke that I make a living with.

People who borrow tools usually don't have enough tools to do the job in the first place because these people are too cheap to buy tools, and their tools are usually in lousy shape, insulation torn off of Channellocks, dull dikes, rounded screwdrivers, etc. They're too cheap to buy new tools to replace their old ones. They don't feel a bit of guilt for using and wearing out my tools, drill bits, blades. I guess I need to be the bad guy and say "I don't loan tools to cheap-a$$ fools."

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#43897 10/24/04 11:05 AM
Joined: Feb 2004
Posts: 74
C
CRM Offline
Member
I feel your pain, I have thousands and thousands of dollars invested in high quality tools (Klein, Greenlee, makita, amprobe), and I used to loan tools out to co-workers with similar results as you. Now I just don't loan them out. I need these tools to make a living. Now I keep all my tools under lock and key in the service truck, so no one can get to them. If it means being the bad guy then so be it.

#43898 10/24/04 11:20 AM
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 206
C
Member
I got tried of the same results, so now the answer is : You need to borrow a tool that means you need to own one! Go buy one. I don't mind buying tools I break, wear out or misplace, but do not need help from others to spend my $$$$$$ If that makes me a bad guy, I can live with the title.

On the other hand a young apprentice starting out & working with me daily can use tools while he builds up his inventory. He will also be taught how to use them correctly so they last.

Al

#43899 10/24/04 11:52 AM
Joined: May 2004
Posts: 697
D
Member
The last tool I loaned out was to a plumber or plumber's helper. He asked for a 1/2" drill bit, which I gave him. He used it on masonry, so you know what it looked like. Of course, I also have a 1/2" masonry bit that would have held up to his job a little better, but that's not what he asked for. I haven't loaned out a tool since.

Dave

#43900 10/24/04 01:35 PM
Joined: May 2004
Posts: 49
J
Member
i too have borrrowed tools and broke them .but i replace them as soon as i can . like once i borrowed my formans klein tap tool and broke it i went out that night and bought 2 of them and gave him one the next day . i dont like to borrow tools so like u guys say if i have to borrow something i buy one as soon as i can. i have two other guys eho borrow tools all the time but i dont mind sometimes they lose them sometimes i lose them but we find them. our company supposed to supply tools but i have to use my own any way just my thoughts

#43901 10/24/04 04:34 PM
Joined: Sep 2004
Posts: 6
L
Junior Member
I have similar views to Al. will only lend tools to my apprentice with instructions on how to use first. I ve also learned (from experience) that lending tools to apprentices of other trades is pretty much asking for something bad to happen to your tool...but then again journeyman can be just as bad. another thing that gets me is when somebody borrows tools "real quick" and you lend them out while also letting them know that you will need them shortly also. and they never bring them back. you then go look for your tool only to find them on the ground right next to the person you lent them to, while they keep working and your waiting for your tool.

#43902 10/25/04 12:36 AM
Joined: Jun 2003
Posts: 1,143
D
Member
Unless I can vouch for the other tradesman, I'm more likely to tell him "I'm on break in a little bit - I'll (cut/tap/pry/drill) it for you then - buy me a pop from the roach coach" as long as it's not an hour project.

That way I know where my tools are, and if they get broken, then I'm the one who did it.

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#43903 10/25/04 03:53 AM
Joined: Jul 2002
Posts: 8,443
Likes: 4
Member
I don't as a rule lend out tools, I never have and don't intend to start now, sorry if that sounds rather cold, but I had to buy my own tools.
Thing is, if a guy can't be bothered to have the right tools for a days work......
It's like going to school without your books. [Linked Image]

{Message edited to remove typo's}

[This message has been edited by Trumpy (edited 10-25-2004).]

#43904 10/25/04 09:18 AM
Joined: Nov 2001
Posts: 328
B
Member
Maybe if you tape a photo or two of your returned broken tools in the top of your toolbox labeled "Hall of Shame" it might be a deterrent to people borrowing or the tools being returned in poor shape. Take a photo of an empty table, empty tool slot in the toolbox, or the bare ground and label it "The ones that didn't come back at all" and maybe list them at the bottom of the pic. Maybe it would help others know and understand why you don't loan tools or help them to comprehend that you really do value the tools that help you earn your living...

[This message has been edited by BuggabooBren (edited 10-25-2004).]

#43905 10/25/04 07:15 PM
Joined: Oct 2003
Posts: 259
J
Member
I didn't buy thousands of dollars worth of tools so you don't have to.

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