- Ethel

Craftsman hasn’t been a “splurge” brand for a number of years, now. Their quality has gone down the tube in the last decade.

Yeah, but I still like their hand tools just fine. I don’t need to be Mr Bigshot with the spendy shininess bought off the Matco or Snap-On truck. I’ve broken exactly one Craftsman socket in my life: a 12-point 1/2″ socket inherited from my Dad that he’d bought back in 1955 or so. I took it to Sears, they took it back with what I could swear was a loving “welcome home” and a fond smile, and handed me a brand new one which I use to this day.

But other than a plunge router and a biscuit joiner which I’ve owned for less than a year (so it’s too early to tell), I’ve never really been a fan of their power tools. I used to like Makitas about 20 years ago, but the Makita screwgun I bought around 1999 only lasted a couple years of fairly light usage before the clutch burned out and the batteries’ lifespan shortened by two thirds.

And Ryobi? I have a Ryobi angle grinder that worked exactly once before it crapped out. I hear great things about Milwaukee, but I’ve been a DeWalt guy for the last 10 years, and every piece of DeWalt equipment I’ve owned in those 10 years still functions like new.

Funny thing, how brand loyalty manifests in men when it comes to tools and guitars… sometimes more than for cars. And even after brands get acquired by different companies and quality standards change, that loyalty can last long beyond the point of logic.

Motor oil, for instance. My dad always used Valvoline after a bad experience with Pennzoil back in the late 60s. For several years I used Valvoline simply because It Was Good Enough For The Old Man. When I bought my first new vehicle, a 1994 Toyota standard pickup with the ol’ 22R-E four-banger engine, I decided to make a real test of the long-term qualities of the oil, and so I only ever used Valvoline Durablend semi-synthetic oil in it, changed every 4,000 to 5,000 miles.

After some 120,000 miles or so, I’d neglected to check the coolant level for a few weeks and while in a Burger King drive-thru, I noticed the engine was running hot. I let it cool down, topped up the coolant, and everything seemed fine, but the following weekend I removed the cylinder head to make sure I hadn’t warped it. While the head was off, I measured the cylinder taper, and was amazed at how little wear there was.

I eventually gave the truck to my niece. She drove it for a few years, and finally sold it this summer. With 250,000 miles on the original rings and bearings and valves and cam, it still runs great, with uniformly high compression in all four cylinders.

Win for Toyota, win for Valvoline. Of course, the recently publicized woes of Toyota’s 21st century vehicles has given me pause; a good example of how brand loyalty should always be re-examined since a company’s practices often evolve, and not always for the better.

But I still use Valvoline for motor oil, and nothing else.

***************Left mounted blades**************

You’ll have to use it for a while before you will master the subtle issues introduced by the difference in rotation, but once you get past the learning curve you’ll never go back.

I love my lightweight Porter-Cable lefty sidewinder even better than the nail-eating Ridgid worm drive; I can see my cutline without contorting my spine into a sideways S!

Right-mounted blades, as on 99% of all hand-held circular saws, are a vicious, sinister conspiracy by left-handed product design engineer who still haven’t forgiven the rest of us for the whole scissors thing.

If you really want to get into it, get A Fistful of Dollars and Akira Kurosawa’s Yojimbo. They’re basically the same movie with entirely different shooting styles. Who knows, you might send him off into a new genre of old samurai films (which are typically just Westerns with swords, but Kurosawa’s shooting is astonishing).

My dad is a photography enthusiast and a great cook. For example, a while ago, he would not stop talking about his new copper saute pan.

@Vasco: I think your suggestion would apply to a lot of people, especially people who’ve made it to the point where they have most of what they want or need. An extravagant gift for me, for example, would be a sign-up for metalworking or glassworking classes.

Honestly, I couldn’t think of a single thing to get myself.

My Dad drinks Port. Stronger than wine, yet not quite hard liquor. He drinks scotch every now and again, but I can’t get him scotch every year!

‘Course, if your ‘paps is a survivor of the Korean war, he might not think it so funny.

As a middle-aged husband and dad myself, I must say that the best presents I have received have happened since we transitioned from physical objects to “experiences” as gifts a few years ago.

I agree, and consumable gifts are good too. I mean, I’m not a drinker (so a bottle of ethanol wouldn’t make sense), but consumable gifts are experienced and then basically go away.

At some point it your life, you have all the “stuff” you want or need.

1. A bottle of Macallan 1926 (only $38,000)

2. Any tool made by Felder (preferably one of their giant all-in-one workstations)

3. Vicuna wool slippers.

With respect to the suggested gifts above: Honey, if you’re reading this, the Laphroaig Quarter Cask I had at the tasting was elegant, I have a circular saw, but a drill press would be nice, and for the non-power tools, remember that you are getting me a pulaski to wreak havoc in the backyard. Slippers? Nah… Smartwool socks.

And remember you still owe me a Santoku…