Tool Lending - Another Sob Story

Wes Bischel

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Aaaaarggg. Today the woman next door had an emergency - her drill/driver had died and she was putting together a new pool table for her teenage sons - a Christmas present. (She didn't ask for help, but I did offer.) So off went my Craftsman drill/driver with an extra battery. She returned it promptly this evening.:thumb: I went to put it away and noticed she left a hex driver in the chuck. So I'm sure you guessed by now - the driver was stuck in the chuck! The chuck was jambed tight - and the grip was torn up. :( Obviously an extension was needed but not used.:(
So I figure, a single Mom putting together a Christmas present for her sons, I can't get mad - in many ways she and her sons put me in mind of my Mom and me. But I later found out it was her new boyfriend that was doing the work!:doh: I know it sounds sexist, but he should have known better!:mad: Ugh. Well I did manage to get the chuck loose, and I'll take a file to the jagged plastic on the grip. Hopefully all will be okey-dokey. Chalk it up to another tool lending story.:eek:

Wes

PS I really can't be mad at him either - a tree fell on his car tonight - no chainsaws involved - honest. I feel really bad for him.
 
Wes,

Ah, well, so it goes. I think it's just part of the game. My neighbor was trying to do something, and I helped him most of an evening a couple months ago. Around midnight, I just had to get back, and I left some of my tools with him, including a nice plane. I still don't know how he managed to crack the plane body. But he's a good guy, and he felt terrible about it... so terrible he went to home depot and got a buck brothers (!) plane to *replace* it. I just laughed. He felt so terrible about it that I didn't have the heart to explain it to him.

Oh, well. It's just a thing, and so replaceable. The day I turn into one of those grumpy old men who won't lend his precious tools is the day I hang up my spikes! ;)

Thanks,

Bill
 
I don't have a problem with lending out my tools, but when I do, I say to the person borrowing the tools, while looking them straight in the eye, and shaking their hand "You break it, you buy it or replace it, you damage it, same deal, it gets returned to me in the same condition it is in now, right?" and if they have any trouble with that, I tell them I'll gladly help them pick out a good tool at the DIY store.

Tools cost money, I work REAL hard for my money, I buy the best tools I can, so why should I take it on the nose for someone busting up my tools?

Wes, you are a good guy, if you did not say nothing before hand, then I guess you just got to take your lumps.

Cheers!
 
I've got a great paperweight in my posession right now... it looks an awful lot like a Makita worm drive saw... with a cut cord. Buddy loaned me his Makita, and while breaking down ply for the shop the saw got hungry and cut its own power cord. I'm going to get it repaired before it goes back to him of course. Knowing him, he'd just shrug, and do a field fix, but I've got the new cord on order, just have to go pick it up.
 
I only loan my tools to one group of people...everyone!!

They are only tools and can be readily replaced, friendships are priceless whether it be a neighbor, friend, relative or co-worker...
 
I have some tools that I'll loan out, and others that I don't. I won't loan something that I don't have a duplicate of, or that I'm not willing to have returned to me damaged.

Lately, I've had problems getting people to take me up on my offers to use my tools, one co-worker in particular. He's had several situations where one of my tools would have made his project much easier, and he says he'll come over to do it (or borrow the tools to take home), then he ends up not following through. For example, for the past 6 months or more he's talked about needing a benchtop router table for a small project he wants to do. I have a working Craftsman router in a benchtop table that I've repeatedly offered to give him -- I don't need it any more -- and he keeps saying he'll take it. But he never manages to make it over to pick it up. (He lives about a mile away.) Ah well, I still try. :rolleyes:
 
I guess I'm the grinch .... I have a very short list of people to whom I'll lend "some" of my tools. Other than the people on that list, I will not lend anything unless it's an emergency (a real emergency) and if it's that bad, I'll likely lend myself along with my tools.

I've made my living with my tools, and if there's one thing I can't abide, it's going to do a job to feed my family and find that the tool I need is missing or broken and nobody told me. I figure if the job the "other" person is going to to do is that important, then they'll have taken the necessary steps to be ready ahead of time. (except in an emergency as said above ...)

Anyway .... I'm ready ... y'all can start pitching rotten fruit anytime .. :)

cheers eh?
 
I guess I'm the grinch .... I have a very short list of people to whom I'll lend "some" of my tools. Other than the people on that list, I will not lend anything unless it's an emergency (a real emergency) and if it's that bad, I'll likely lend myself along with my tools.

I've made my living with my tools, and if there's one thing I can't abide, it's going to do a job to feed my family and find that the tool I need is missing or broken and nobody told me. I figure if the job the "other" person is going to to do is that important, then they'll have taken the necessary steps to be ready ahead of time. (except in an emergency as said above ...)

Anyway .... I'm ready ... y'all can start pitching rotten fruit anytime .. :)

cheers eh?

No casting of stones here John. I may be more conservative than you. I have a box with an old Craftsman circular saw, jigsaw, router and drill that are the "loaners" and my good stuff never leaves my shop. My premium hand tools never get loaned.

By the way Wes, I had nearly the same experience yesterday when my next door neighbor sent his wife over to see if she could borrow some tools for him. I said I would be happy to loan out from the "box" or if anything else was needed to bring it to me and I would help them with the work. The guy sent his wife back over with a board asking for a 6" hole to be cut in the center. 1 minute on the DP with a circle cutter and she was headed back home. Funny, I never see the husband unless there has been some kind of problem that he needs help with...
 
I must scare people away or sumptin'. Mebbe it's the shotgun. :rolleyes:
I don't have any really close neighbors. Don't believe anyone has ever asked to borrow my tools. I would probably loan if asked though.
 
I don't have too many people ask to borrow my tools. But I'll offer a lot of what I have if someone needs it. I did get a chuckle a couple weeks ago though. I'm doing some work for my neighbor's son, who just bought his 1st home. Needed a lot of fixing. We were going to replace the counters, the old ones had that little metal strip running around the back and My neighbor took one of my chisels and started prying the strip off! Good think my beater chisels are the ones that make it to a job site!
 
I don't much care about loaning them. But a hate to borrow things. Just last week I used the cousins chop saw to cut some steel tubing. second cut it makes a god awful racket and quit cutting. :( It stripped the gear on the end of the armature. $115 bucks for a new armature, the bearing where shot, and the trigger switch was working interminably.

Now never mind that it was over ten years old. The place it was bought from has been closed at least that long, Never mind it's probably wore out who knows how many abrasive blades. The darn thing chose to take it's death leap in my possession. I had a $250 gift card from the mall so he got a new Craftsman one. No big deal. I use it all the time. He did come over the next night and give me about 3/4 of the cost of it though :thumb:
 
I feel a bit guilty for my rant now. The gentleman's car is outside and though drivable, the rear window is out, and it looks like it has some damage to the trunk and C pillar.:(
I wasn't really mad, more like peeved. If it had been my neighbor, she admits she isn't super handy around the house, but she does what she can. So I can't fault her for trying, and would have mentioned I had an extension. But to think someone that is supposedly handy abused it - well. . .
On a side not, her youngest is mechanically inclined, so I try to foster his interests when I can. When he kept stopping by to borrow screwdrivers to fix a toy, I figured it was time he had a set of his own.;) I got him a starter set of Craftsmans - I figure they can be replaced when they are abused.:thumb::rolleyes:
As far as my portable tools go, most aren't nice enough to worry too much about. As I mentioned my main drill/drivers are older Craftsmans - no great loss, more inconvenience (and expensive to replace!). Oh, and no, I didn't say anything, so I do just need to suck it up.:D And as others have mentioned, if I made my living with my tools, they wouldn't leave my possession.
Hey, it still works, and was returned in a timely manner - I guess I'm lucky!
Wes
 
Put me in with the grumpy old men. I will happily help anybody with anything (as long as they can fit with my work schedule) but will not lend a tool unless I would be willing to give that tool to the borrower as a gift.

By the same token, I would not borrow a tool from anybody.
 
I have three neighbors that have over the years borrowed tools from me. Each one burned me at some point by abusing my well cared for tools. I tend to get a bit snakey when that happens so consequentially, each neighbor hasn’t been back to borrow anymore tools. We all still get along fine though.
Ps., I never borrow tools!
 
From Shakespeare's Hamlet, 1603:

LORD POLONIUS:
Neither a borrower nor a lender be;
For loan oft loses both itself and friend,
And borrowing dulls the edge of husbandry.

I grew up with this saying and I try to avoid lending or borrowing. I never borrow anything unless I am prepaired to replace it with a new one if need be and I never ask to borrow anything, it has to be offered to me. The small amount of things that I have loaned out have returned as good as if not better than when I lent them so I think that a lot of people live by this advise. It sure saves a lot of hurt feelings.

It is kind of a balancing act as I also would never turn down anyone that had a real need for some help. Another concept that I grew up with. I think that the key word is need.
 
I have a variation on Stu's approach. If the situation demands that I lend a tool, I make it clear that it returns EXACTLY like it is now or just bring me a new one, then I'll be happy and you'll have one of you own.

My preferred approach is "where go my tools, so shall I go". This is a win-win for me as I know my tools are well treated and I get to give some of my time and skill to help someone else which I feel is very important to do.
 
I will only loan my tools out to one person my best friend we have been friends for 45 yrs & I'm 49 yrs old now. I know he will take care of it like it was his own.

I have let my son & his friends use some stuff & I also told them flat out if you don't put it back exactly where you found it I shove it up your @@@ to show you that I take care of my stuff. They laughed at me but mostly put it back in good order.

27 yrs ago I bought about $2,500 worth of Craftsman tools I used to keep them in the basement either my brother or father used something & either lost it or ruined it. I have about $100 worth of my original tool set left. You can imagine how many tools I bought with that much money that long ago. I also work to dang hard to keep replacing my tools when someone breaks them. So no I do not ever loan out my tools.

Chuck
 
WES, When I lend tools they come with me attached. I would rather do the deed than suffer the loss. Besides, when someone wants to "borrow" a tool it is because they don't have one and if they don't have one then they don't know how to use one (my assumption but more than likely a true assessment) so why not offer my skills and get the task done correctly and safely both to the user and the tool. A little time and use of my skills is often better than the alternative. I don't mind helping out friends and neighbors, even is I am always the one "helping out". Paying forward is really without expecting a return but pleased if it does occur.
 
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