The vast majority of my "Buffalo" brand socket set (purchased who knows where)
is, thankfully, gone. Broken, not lost. I purchased that socket set around
1987 to do my first solo wrenching - changing a water pump, in the parking lot
of our apartment building. Naturally, it rained.
I never had any of my own tools before that, as my dad (GT6 racer Jerry Barr)
was always a short drive away, with a bottomless toolbox and decades of
wrenching experience.
The tools sold at Harbor Freight these days seem of higher quality than that
old Buffalo brand socket set, but I try to get Craftsman or better.
Scott B.
(must be winter, if we're down to talking about tools. Is it time for The
Great Transmission Debate again?)
-----Original Message-----
From: fot-bounces@autox.team.net [mailto:fot-bounces@autox.team.net] On Behalf
Of TeriAnn J. Wakeman
Sent: Tuesday, January 08, 2013 8:54 AM
To: FOT
Subject: Re: [Fot] Harbor Freight
On 1/7/13 10:29 PM, Bill Tobin wrote:
> Funny how "China Freight" always uses cutesy names for their stuff: US
> General, Chicago Hydraulics, etc.
After WWII and well into the 1960's Japanese products for export to the US
followed the same strategy. Provide a name that Americans would be comfortable
with that would give the impression of quality and reliability.
Growing up my first sewing machine was made in Japan and carried the brand
name "Stradivarius" .
My first tools were acquired on an as needed basis one at a time as I needed
to get something done when I could not afford a pro to perform the task. I
would go to a shop. They would diagnose the problem and give me an estimate I
could not afford. I would then go to the library and read everything I could
find about that part of a car. Then I would go to the parts store and
purchase the part. Then I would give it a go. Usually the process would look
more like a keystone comedy skit from the Lucille Ball show with me
accidentally taking off wrong parts, breaking things because I didn't know how
to use a tool properly or taking off too many parts. I once or twice had a
spark plug launch itself off the engine whilst driving down a road because I
didn't get it on tight enough. And of course by the time I stopped work on a
project I had more grease and grime on me than the vehicle had on it.
At first a car project would usually include multiple trips to purchase a tool
I did not have but perceived I needed for the next step of the project. My
first breaker bar, short extension and spark plug socket carried the brand
name "J.C. Penny". Yes Penny's used to sell tools that carried their name.
TeriAnn
If I'd had enough money back then to pay a mechanic I would never have learned
how to turn a wrench.
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