nancyramirez•5d agoProlific Poster

Is it smarter to buy cheap tools once or cry once on the good stuff?

I was at a hardware store in Phoenix last week and overheard two guys arguing about this exact thing. One said his $15 putty knife works just as good as my $40 one and he replaces it every few months. The other guy swore by paying up front so he never has to deal with wobbly handles mid-job. I've got a 10 year old drill that cost me $180 and it still runs like new, but I also bought a $20 sander that died after 3 projects and I just bought the same one again. What do you all do when you're starting a new build, go cheap first or invest big the first time?

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barbaradavis4d ago

so what happens when that $15 putty knife finally snaps on you mid-project, do you actually stop and go get the good one or just keep the cycle going? the real question is whether youre counting the time spent going back to the store plus the frustration, not just the dollars on the receipt. i mean i had a cheap level that was slightly off and it messed up a whole cabinet install, so cheap stuff can cost you more than money sometimes.