Thread: Cheap but indispensable

My awl.

Originally just a nail driven into an offcut and sharpened on a grinder, (I couldn't find a @#$@ pencil at the time... ) it proved so useful I later turned a reasonable handle for it and replaced the orig nail with a concrete nail.

Replacement pencil/scribe/awl/drill-starter/you-name-it. So handy it's been pinched twice already... but simple to replace.

A set of veritas card scrapers.

The most useful is a vice screw I found on the nature strip waiting for hard rubbish collection. It cost me nothing and is used almost every time I am in the shed.

Cheap favourite? It's hard to say. My current favourites includes the Disston No. 12 I picked for less than $10, the Taylor Bros tenon saw I got for $20, and an unkown maker 8" brace ($3).

Ian,
Bl00dy brilliant! I use plastic peanut butter jars but I'm always forgetting where I put the lid down, no lid, no loss.
Cheers,
Graeme

Card scraper - 3 of em at about $5 each have saved maybe hundreds of $$s in paper in the last 25 years!

(And I've still got $15 change! )

In all honestly, the most used item bought for under $30 would be my safety glasses. They are the first thing I put on even before I setup and the last thing I take off when everything is cleared away and cleaned up. I even wear them gardening - no more dirt in my eyes

The next best thing are two lovely, solid, Long T-bar clamps I picked up for $25 each from Mitre 10. Originally $145 each.

Cheers
RufflyRustic

Originally Posted by rufflyrustic

The next best thing are two lovely, solid, Long T-bar clamps I picked up for $25 each from Mitre 10. Originally $145 each.

Cheers
RufflyRustic

Tch! Just like a girl - went over your spending limit!!

i've got an old pair of bull nose pliers that (stupid) me blew the cutter knives out once apon a time on a set battery leads (cut + & - at once). they are an old pair of wattmasters I used to use as a rigger. its amazing how often I use them, they are pretty much the only tool I leave out at the end of the day as I find i reach for them a fair bit for all sorts of stuff.....

a box of tissues

a pack of bandaids

an old milk bottle cut in half with all my pencils, pens and glue brushes in it

an old stanley knife

my favourite is my old pair of sparky screwdrivers (flat and philips)

combined total for the lot is about $30...

I've had a few bargains over the years, but the one that stands out is an open handled Spiers smoothing plane (coffin shape) for $25 - 'tis a thing of beauty and luvverly to use.

Cheers, Durry.

Originally Posted by IanW

Tch! Just like a girl - went over your spending limit!!

Who wouldn't when saving that much money on a good pair of clamps

OK, how's this for thrifty? I once swapped 10 different Geranium cuttings for an old but still-working small hand drill. The cuttings cost me 50 cents.

cheers
RufflyRustic

I hope you took cuttings off the cuttings first.....

Originally Posted by rufflyrustic

OK, how's this for thrifty? I once swapped 10 different Geranium cuttings for an old but still-working small hand drill. The cuttings cost me 50 cents.
RufflyRustic

Orright - you're excused. That WAS a good swap.
(Never did like geraniums, anyway, meself.....)

Actually, I was teasing out of jealousy, of course - $25 apiece for those clamps was a real bargain!

Cheers,

Ah heck, I've gone and gotten someone jealous again Sorry, not what I was intending.

No, I didn't get any cuttings myself in the end, but that's ok.

oooh, another bargain which I do use a lot, a small set of brad bits - about 5 of them - marked down from $30 to $9.

cheers
RufflyRustic

An artist's paint brush. Picked up for a few dollars at Harris Scarfe while SHMBO was shopping for curtains or something. I use if every time I glue anything together to thoroughly coat surfaces. Great for painting glue around dovetails.