why dont tools last any more

[flying haggis]

my old bosch corded drill gave up on me yesterday.I have only had it for 41 years!!!. took it apart today and it appears that one of the brushes got stuck in the guide and caused arcing and the commutator rings were black, quick rub with wet and dry and cleaned the brush guides. good as new(almost) I have ordered a new set of brushes for £4 as the stuck one was half the length of the other one. so total maintenance over the years has cost 10p/year

 

[Sandyn]

That's the way with modern tools, they don't last. You'll be lucky to get another 40 years from it...just rubbish build quality.

 

[MARK.B.]

Only 41 years Demand your money back

 

[ian33a]

I have stuff that I've had since I was a teenager and it's still going strong.

I've no proof, only a feeling, but, as an example, stuff made in Germany tends to last and has a perception of quality. Generally also, it has a premium price and that's where things fall down: Too many people today are unwilling to pay a lot of money for stuff because they want it now and only want it so as to satisfy a short term need, be it an up coming event or as retail therapy.

Too many companies, also, are trying to maximise their margins by building stuff as cheaply as they can while charging as much as the market will stand and if the market wont stand a high price, the manufacturing and component quality of the product will suffer.

 

[ian33a]

Post moved to a different thread

 

[Gremmy]

Edited - should open my eyes

 

[DBT85]

Think it's a post in the wrong thread.

Should have bought one of the old cast iron cordless jobbies. Only runs off of one 12v battery. Fine its a 100Ah car battery but the tool will still be working in 42 years unlike the cheap junk haggis bought. Plus the extra weight would make you look like a real man in short order.

 

[Daniel2]

my old bosch corded drill gave up on me yesterday.I have only had it for 41 years!!!. took it apart today and it appears that one of the brushes got stuck in the guide and caused arcing and the commutator rings were black, quick rub with wet and dry and cleaned the brush guides. good as new(almost) I have ordered a new set of brushes for £4 as the stuck one was half the length of the other one. so total maintenance over the years has cost 10p/year

I can only imagine your disappointment.
Hopefully you can eke out another 40 years now, but it is shameful that
you have had to spend all that money on it, after such a short time.
What is the world coming to....

 

[ian33a]

Think it's a post in the wrong thread.

Should have bought one of the old cast iron cordless jobbies. Only runs off of one 12v battery. Fine its a 100Ah car battery but the tool will still be working in 42 years unlike the cheap junk haggis bought. Plus the extra weight would make you look like a real man in short order.

oops, sorry - will remove it !

 

[TheTiddles]

Look up “survivorship bias”, that should explain most of your question

 

[spanner48]

I know the feeling. Bought a Mondaine "Swiss Railway" watch to the 1941 Hans Hilfiger station clock design 38 years ago. I've had to change the battery TWICE, and it's already gaining 1/3rd second every day . . . . .

 

[Stan]

I have a wonderful pocket watch from 1902 handed down through the family, unfortunately without a key. No matter, it's right twice a day!

 

[BHwoodworking]

I've no proof, only a feeling, but, as an example, stuff made in Germany tends to last and has a perception of quality. Generally also, it has a premium price and that's where things fall down: Too many people today are unwilling to pay a lot of money for stuff because they want it now and only want it so as to satisfy a short term need, be it an up coming event or as retail therapy.

i bought cheep once with some of my tools.

i then bought expensive, German, and green.

my wallet has never looked so thin..............

 

[ian33a]

An old friend of mine, when I was young, said that he always bought the best he could afford.


A little later, as I went through the usual stuff life mortgages, kids, holidays, etc. I purchased not necessarily the best that I could afford but more the best that I could justify. In those days, I really did have to be careful with cost. I could never see the sense in buying the most expensive of something, even if I could just about afford it, if I was only going to use it infrequently.

Now that we are debt free and retired, I still apply the mantra of the best that I can justify. It simply becomes a little easier to justify spending that bit more and I have become an expert in explaining "man mathematics" to my wife. Luckily, her attitude is that we both worked hard all of our lives so why not have the things that we want, within reason?

Needless to say, I have recently discovered a famous German brand called Festool and my kids inheritance is depleting.

 

[recipio]

I have a 12 year old Milwaukee Mitre saw that suddenly gave up. Here in the ROI I could only find one service agent who more or less told me to dump it ! A bit of searching and a month later I had a set of replacement brushes and sure enough the originals were worn down to the brass. Most tools are easy enough to service - just have a good collection of torx bits. Its now perfect except the digital display is faulty. The repair trade don't seem interested in repair anymore - everything over 10 years old is regarded as disposable.

 

[flying haggis]

new brushes arrived today. old and new

and commutator given the wet and dry treatment

so I should be OK for another 41 years (well the drill might !! )

 

[Yojevol]

new brushes arrived today. old and new
View attachment 106685

and commutator given the wet and dry treatmentView attachment 106686


so I should be OK for another 41 years (well the drill might !! )

But it's made of PLASTIC. Lower your expectations

 

[TRITON]

maybe these rare perfect tools that seem to work forever corresponds with the shift of the most experienced assembler at that plant Used more grease or tightened terminals very tightly.

I think wear and tear and use on site or workshop, or sat on a shelf to come out to put up the xmas decorations with grandads drill, would be a factor in this.

 

[flying haggis]

But it's made of PLASTIC. Lower your expectations

but it wont rust.........

 

[Spectric]

Hi Haggis

You want to run a sharp blade between the copper segments, each one should stand with a clean gap from it's neighbours. The copper looks a little drawn over at the windings end.