Tradesman's Tools

[DanP]

Interesting to note your name for this (franchise?) - are they really a latter day pawn / crook shop?

In a word, YEP.

I would say 50% of stuff put through the books would have shady origins. Crooks don't even bother to use aliases when selling.

Dan

[journeyman Mick]

Also, if theft from construction sites is as much of an issue as it would appear, would a tradesman's insurance cover such losses, or are the premiums just too high?

I looked into this a few years ago:
Premium = 10% of insured value
Only covered for theft if taken from locked toolbox inside locked vehicle
Theft on site not covered

Prohibitive premium, unrealistic requirements ( so I've got to have a locked toolbox inside my tool trailer or make a lockable canopy on the ute to get cover), ridiculous exclusions (time spent on site about 60 hrs per week, time spent travelling and out about 20 hrs per week, rest of time locked in shed at home) meant that I'd be paying about $3K a year to protect against theft while driving or parked at the shops. I bought a savage dog instead. I also used to have an electric fence unit rigged up on the tool trailer :eek:

Mick

[Schtoo]

I'd say all of the above could be true.

Some tools, who cares what the heck it is. I used to use the $2 bunnies hammers on the job. I think we buried at least 10 of them. Still cheaper than losing a single Estwing. Also buried a few angle grinders (all cheap crap), plenty of tape measures and knives and a few pairs of pliers along with other various bits and pieces.

When it really hurts (and becomes really stoopid) is when some lowlife scum (concreter, and I know who it was too) knocks off a 6 month old Panasonic 12V drill. The drill. Just the drill. Leaves the charger plugged into the power box, the case with it and the extra battery there as well. Luckily, I was able to offload the batteries and charger for a few bucks, but still had to come up with about $500 to replace the drill. Being a sparky, battery drills is one tool you don't cheap out on. Did it once, big mistake.

But on things like that, you do buy the good stuff because you use every day and you use it hard. A cheapy will not deliver even 1/10th of a decent one. An angle grinder or a hammer, they be dumb tools so cheaper the better.

Doesn't mean I didn't have a variable speed Metabo 5" grinder hiding somewhere though...

If it's because the chippy is a cheapskate, then I wouldn't trust him to build a doghouse. If he's been knocked over a few times, then he needs to pay more attention to how he works. If he just has the case, then his theory might be working.

But we won't know unless he tells us now, will we?

[Jack E]

If it's because the chippy is a cheapskate, then I wouldn't trust him to build a doghouse.

I disagree. We as woodworkers are chasing a high degree of accuracy and that is why many of us purchase top of the line tools (although these alone do not produce good results)
A chippy in the construction industry works to different tolerances and more often than not a high degree of accuracy is not required.
Obviously there are times a chippy will need to be accurate and that is why you won't find a good chippy without a Makita SCMS stashed somewhere.
On many construction jobs cheap tools will produce the required results so why risk the expensive ones.

I am an Electrician / Refrigeration Mechanic so I don't have the luxury of going cheap on my work tools. As Schtoo said, sparkies can't afford to scrimp on a cordless drill (I also use a Panasonic), and anyone who trys to save a dollar on test equipment is an idiot. As far as fridgy work goes there are some cheap tools available but they are so bad they would make ozito compare to Makita.

The average chippy probably can't afford good tools because he spends all his money on work clothes, have you seen how expensive board shorts are these days.

Cheers, Jack

[AlexS]

He has a fear of tools being stolen and yet leaves the trailer open.

Saw a tradie's ute parked outside the pub in Orange NSW. Looked like a mobile blacksmith, with welding gear + all sorts of expensive stuff, all locked up like Fort Knox. Unfortunately, he'd left his keys hanging in the door :eek:

Then again he may have been 8' tall and only 17 stone, and watching his ute from inside the pub with a few of his mates

[Skew ChiDAMN!!]

I looked into this a few years ago:
Premium = 10% of insured value
Only covered for theft if taken from locked toolbox inside locked vehicle
Theft on site not covered

*Theft on site not covered*

It's ridiculous, iniit? Of course, in my experience this is exactly where 90% of my tools are knocked off (by other tradies) and where I want coverage.

In the long run, it's proven cheaper to tell 'em to shove their insurance and only buy "bottom-of-the-range" trades quality gear. By "bottom-of-the-range" I don't mean hobbyist tools, I mean tools that'll do the job and last for a while but aren't at drool level.

Less gear is knocked off now, the odd occasion is more some bloke "borrowing" it and leaving it elsewhere on site than someone saying "I want." And it has worked out much cheaper to replace this gear than to pay the premiums. Sad, but true.

Of course, the tools that don't leave the shop... now that's another story!

[Skew ChiDAMN!!]

Saw a tradie's ute parked outside the pub in Orange NSW. Looked like a mobile blacksmith, with welding gear + all sorts of expensive stuff, all locked up like Fort Knox. Unfortunately, he'd left his keys hanging in the door :eek:

AFAIK I've only ever had one thing knocked from the ute. 'Twas (and is) full of orange coloured gear (no names will be mentioned) and the item that was knocked off? A slab of beer. Some people have no sense of value... thank god!

[Cliff Rogers]

Trick I saw one bloke do to try & 'scare off' the crooks after he had lost an outboard off his boat while it was tired up at the wharf.
He taped the lid on with duct tape & then painted a brand new 45HP Johnson dull pink with a 4" paint brush.

[Cliff Rogers]

I had an older model PC come in to be "re-programmed".
I asked some questions & got some vague answers.
Customer said they had replaced the HDD themselves but couldn't "re-program" it.
It was an IBM & should have a recovery disk so I asked if they had it at home.
I got another vague answer that meant they didn't or they would have run it themselves.
I pulled the lid off for a quick look, it still has it's original HDD but it has been 'cleansed'.
The HDD has been wiped clean & the Model/Serial No. sticker has been reomved from the computer.
I suspect it may have had a 'past life' elsewhere.
I'm going to run it by the owner in the morning & see what they have to say about it now.

[vsquizz]

I looked into this a few years ago:
Premium = 10% of insured value
Only covered for theft if taken from locked toolbox inside locked vehicle
Theft on site not covered

Prohibitive premium, unrealistic requirements . I also used to have an electric fence unit rigged up on the tool trailer :eek:

Mick

Mick, recently got the same answer from my broker. On Monday I went through the Flinstone Trailer (so named because its so badly rusted out). After the $2,300 QuikCut, $700 Rotary Hammer, $1,800 Laser and $1,100 mixer there was only about another $10,000 worth of gear. If somebody knocked off the whole trailer I'd get $500 for the trailer (less excess) and nothing else....But the trailer is a POS worth nothing ...geez I'm ripping those insurance guys off aren't I .

I always tell my offsider , if I die on the job make sure to park the Bobcat on top of me before the cops come because SWMBO picks up the loot if I'm shifted off my mortal coil in an accident directly related to the use of the machine. I love insurance.

Somewhat more seriously, I'm constantly on the guys backs to not leave tools lying around the site. Some of the hobo's working in the industry these days will take anything. I only buy the best tools I can afford and expect to have them for years.

Cheers

[journeyman Mick]

The average chippy probably can't afford good tools because he spends all his money on work clothes, have you seen how expensive board shorts are these days.

Dunno about the board shorts, but on the occasions when I've worked for a large company on commercial construction jobs it really irked me that I got the same hourly rate as a plasterer or a tiler when my dropsaw was worth more than their entire tool collection. Carpentry would have to be the most expensive trade to tool up for but the return isn't any better than the other trades.

Mick

[Schtoo]

Jack, buying cheap stuff is fine, heck anyone on the tools for a living doesn't always buy the very best unless they have waaay too much spare cash. It's drawing the line that defines cheapskate and being economical.

It's why I had 2 $7 Jaycar multimeters floating around in the tool box, but a $400 Fluke locked in the glovebox. The cheapies did the job most of the time (checking lamps, inconsequential voltages, etc.), but when it counts, the real tools get unpacked.

Most of the chippies I worked with used mostly good stuff, but when it was something they didn't use much and didn't need the best, then they saved a buck.

Heck, we used to give them our old pliers sometimes for a couple of stubbies. Once they don't cut cable anymore, practically useless to us, but virtually any other trade can keep using them for years.

What I meant by cheapskate is buying all cheap junk and working to the standard that cheap junk limits you to.

I like dogs more than that.