Dollar Store vs. Home Depot vs. Amazon. Conserving cash in economically strapped times.
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I am always tempted to pickup a few things while walking through the tools aisle at the Dollar store. But now I know what to get and what to pass!! Thanks Steve for somewhat wasting your $25 for the greater good 😝😄
I was given those yellow striped handle screwdrivers in a stocking stuffer and I use those for tons of electronic repairs. so far great for light-duty work. We also stock up on their paint brushes super cheap throwaways that work great.
Their electric tape compares well to the lower end lines at the big box stores at a much cheaper price.
Fun video. FYI: foam brushes are available in a 12 pack of various sizes at Walmart for around $2.50.
The magnetic strip on my small level was invaluable to me when installing drawer slides in an old cabinet that was out of square.
I used mine this week when putting up my Intex pool. The magnet was nice for attaching to the steel legs and then tapping them into plumb.
One thing about the cheap sandpaper is it doesn’t last long, the grit falls off right away, it’s worth spending a bit more to get something that won’t just disintegrate . Also harbor freight sells that style screwdriver you showed for 1$ (or it was a dollar, not sure anymore)
There’s also the coarse particles that are left behind / embedded that make it difficult (impossible?) to smooth the surface.
3M Cubitron for the win. More expensive but last longer and cuts faster.
Watch out for those spring clamps, they’re tragic. The spring is good, but the plastic is not very strong.
It will spontaneously broke and shoot pieces into your face. Proven in practice… 🙂
Great video, I’ve also wandered down those aisles in the dollar store. That’s generally where I buy my masking tape ^^. Another source of decent but cheap tools is Ollies if you want to save money or just don’t have the time to scrounge Amazon or Ebay. Also for sandpaper for the finer grits check your auto parts stores. Wet/dry sandpaper can also be used dry 🙂
If we think back to our early days (like, 60 years ago?), all that stuff discarded on the floor was useful because we had no alternatives or experiences. As time goes on, we find what works, and what doesn’t break, and we get a more sophisticated array of implements, mostly through a process of survival. To someone who has next to nothing, the “dollar store” option is pretty terrific. Periodically I spend a half hour or so just cruising the shelves at Harbor-F, finding all sorts of little useful devices for next-to-nothing. If I use one of five purchased, it’s still a good deal. Spring clamps: I have 22 on a portable rack and they are invaluable when I’m doing 3/4-to-3/4 glue ups for jigs: most used clamps I have. Cheap tape measures: on average I misplace one tm a year, so periodically I just restock with a half dozen; They work. The magnet-on-a-stick thing will be helpful picking up all those driver bits you scattered on the floor (assuming they’re not plastic?); sometime in your 70’s you find out just how far away the floor can be.
I’d recommend testing that sandpaper compared to regular brands to see how long it actually holds up
As a former scaffolder, magnetic strips on bubbles are for sticking them to scaffold tubes so you can use both hands for truing the tube, and using your podger or spanner.
Wouldn’t use that dollar store bubble though… Stabila every time, buy once, lasts a lifetime 👍
Also, levels are self proving. Rotate 180 degrees on the surface and should get same reading. Or not.
@Robert Bamford yeah, I was surprised he didn’t do that
Some tools can be made, too. My “magnetic pick up tool” is an old radio antenna with a small speaker magnet glued to the tip 😁👍
When I first started in carpentry in the mid 1960s there was a tool company named Globemaster I believe they were a Japanese made tool that was cheap…I bought several till one day I was cutting lumber and the other carpenter complained about it not being square cuts we checked my combination square against a framing square and found it was extremely out of square that was the last of those tools I bought….I went to Stanley which at that time was professional grade tools not the cheap crap they have today.
I remember Globemaster, they were usually all in a big box for a display. Mostly complete junk, cheapest metal made at the time. I think I still have a couple of their screwdrivers setting in an old tool box that hasn’t been opened in years.
I’ve never bought any of these items at my local dollar store with the idea that they would be long-lasting, though I have found a gem or two. You’d be surprised how long some of those “flimsy plastic” tools last. I have several tool boxes and organizers I’ve used for 8+ years now. It’s the ideal spot when you need a quick tool in a pinch or can’t afford better until later.
Amazon has dramatically changed the game on “cheap tools”, but if you’re shopping at the dollar store, it may be that Amazon Prime shipping is not an option for you. Or in my case, it didn’t exist with the same efficiency as it does today. Or I had no car and for some basic items, the dollar store or Kmart was a closer walk.
Gotta say, this is one of my favorite videos of yours in years. This video, the tape measure test & the handful of woodworking projects are all pretty much neck & neck
I definitely fell for the hack saw a number of years ago and have never used it. My favorite purchases are zip ties, the micro screw driver set, and the rubber mallet. I do use the bigger level as well. Drain snakes are the best deal there too, though admittedly that is not a woodworking tool. Great video!
Caution about the foam brushes: I used them for my very first lacquer application on a table I made after finding your channel- the brush head fell off into the cup of lacquer and started to disintegrate…
Try them first before you go out and buy more.
I have a dollar tree tape measure that’s going on 15 years old. It works. It’s held up well. I don’t use it everyday, but it’s in my garage and it gets a lot of use. I’ve dropped it many times, and it still works – yea some plastic has cracked on it but it’s 15 years old, I paid a dollar for it, and it still works.
Thanks Steve! I miss your regular videos. But you forgot the most important woodworking tool at the dollar store: the silicone basting brush used as a glue brush!
About fifteen years ago I took a £1 drill bit set back for a refund as a matter of principle. It was not just low quality, it was actually fake. Just drill shaped mild steel that wouldn’t even drill into pine! They just bent.
Other than that the £1 & 99p products have mostly been ok. One true bargain I got once was half litre cans of Hammerite type metal paint for £1. I bought ten cans. They never had them again.