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#1
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poor quality tools
paghat wrote:
... And such UGLY tools with garish yellow or orange handles... In general I agree about the quality of current tools. However, for those of us who are relatively careless about our tools, those garish orange handles do stand out amid the foliage when we lay it down somewhere in the garden and walk off to do something else and come looking for it an hour later. The bright colors serve a function. Some cheap tools are cost effective. I am death on shovels (or shovel handles, anyway), so I generally buy the $7 versions. One time I bought a $30 shovel, fiberglass handle, etc. The fiberglass didn't hold up well in the sun and after a couple of winters it was all split and hard to hold. It lasted less time than the wooden handled $7 versions. PS: I paint the shovel handles bright red so I can find them. Adds another dollar to the cost (the paint wears off and has to be renewed occasionally). The red handled shovel makes a good marker to let me know where I left off working in a row. I can see it 400' away. To avoid the cheaply made junk I try to buy from displays rather than mail order or online. That way I can evaluate the quality at purchase time. You have to invest the time to get the quality. |
#2
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poor quality tools
"Dwight Sipler" wrote in message ... paghat wrote: ... And such UGLY tools with garish yellow or orange handles... In general I agree about the quality of current tools. However, for those of us who are relatively careless about our tools, those garish orange handles do stand out amid the foliage when we lay it down somewhere in the garden and walk off to do something else and come looking for it an hour later. The bright colors serve a function. Some cheap tools are cost effective. I am death on shovels (or shovel handles, anyway), so I generally buy the $7 versions. One time I bought a $30 shovel, fiberglass handle, etc. The fiberglass didn't hold up well in the sun and after a couple of winters it was all split and hard to hold. It lasted less time than the wooden handled $7 versions. PS: I paint the shovel handles bright red so I can find them. Adds another dollar to the cost (the paint wears off and has to be renewed occasionally). The red handled shovel makes a good marker to let me know where I left off working in a row. I can see it 400' away. I keep two sets of tools. One set for me and the other for the wifie and kids. Mine are cleaned after each use, kept in the shop, sharpened each winter and oiled for winter storage. I still use my grandfather's long handled hoe. My sharpshooter shovel is older than me. I bought my manure fork used when I was in high school Theirs are fiberglass handled, spray painted orange, kept where ever they were last used, rained on, rusty and luckily almost indestructible. Give my wife a wooden handled tool and it will be useless in two seasons. Her set of orange uglies is about eight or so years old and going strong. Keeps the house a little calmer. |
#3
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poor quality tools
In article , Dwight Sipler
wrote: paghat wrote: ... And such UGLY tools with garish yellow or orange handles... In general I agree about the quality of current tools. However, for those of us who are relatively careless about our tools, those garish orange handles do stand out amid the foliage when we lay it down somewhere in the garden and walk off to do something else and come looking for it an hour later. The bright colors serve a function. I'm sure that's the second reasoning behind the horrid colors (the first reasoning is manufacturers believe people will buy even something they don't need if it is garish enough to get the attention). But my sentiment is that if tools are left out in the yard, they oughtn't be eyesoars; they COULD be decorative in & of themselves. I have a "tool tree" in the garden from which I can hang a shovel & rake, it's surprisingly attractive. And one of our porch-arbors (made of alder trunks & branches) is habitually ornamented with a couple of hanging trowels. If a tool is attractive it can look charming when left in the garden, whether by accident or on purpose. The Japanese sawing & pruning tools would rust so have to be brought in & very carefully cared for. But some stuff is either stainless steel, or is vintage & already rust-covered, & I don't need to be kept sharp anyway, so can be left out. Used to drive Granny Artemis a little crazy that I liked to hang rusty tools in the garden, because she feels they're rusting away before our very eyes, but now if we're visiting some junkstore in the hinterland & she sees some pretty but probably duplicate vintage tool, she exclaims, "That'd look good on the tool tree!" & she even mounted some antique iron stove parts on the outer garage wall amidst vines for no other reason than oddly shaped rusty stuff is pretty. -paghat the ratgirl Some cheap tools are cost effective. I am death on shovels (or shovel handles, anyway), so I generally buy the $7 versions. One time I bought a $30 shovel, fiberglass handle, etc. The fiberglass didn't hold up well in the sun and after a couple of winters it was all split and hard to hold. It lasted less time than the wooden handled $7 versions. PS: I paint the shovel handles bright red so I can find them. Adds another dollar to the cost (the paint wears off and has to be renewed occasionally). The red handled shovel makes a good marker to let me know where I left off working in a row. I can see it 400' away. To avoid the cheaply made junk I try to buy from displays rather than mail order or online. That way I can evaluate the quality at purchase time. You have to invest the time to get the quality. -- "Of what are you afraid, my child?" inquired the kindly teacher. "Oh, sir! The flowers, they are wild," replied the timid creature. -from Peter Newell's "Wild Flowers" See the Garden of Paghat the Ratgirl: http://www.paghat.com/ |
#4
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poor quality tools
paghat wrote:
In article , Dwight Sipler wrote: ... The bright colors serve a function... I'm sure that's the second reasoning behind the horrid colors... We seem to have somewhat different tolerance for loud colors. I must admit that I don't really mind the colored tool handles and I rather prefer primary colors to pastels. Probably because I'm male. ... I have a "tool tree" in the garden from which I can hang a shovel & rake, it's surprisingly attractive. And one of our porch-arbors (made of alder trunks & branches) is habitually ornamented with a couple of hanging trowels. If a tool is attractive it can look charming when left in the garden, whether by accident or on purpose... Sounds interesting (and useful). Is there a picture on your website? Is it something you bought or built? ...even mounted some antique iron stove parts on the outer garage wall amidst vines for no other reason than oddly shaped rusty stuff is pretty... I have lots of rusty stuff and it looks good to me. Not all mounted neatly on a wall, however. |
#5
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poor quality tools
On Fri, 25 Apr 2003 13:07:24 -0400, Dwight Sipler
wrote: We seem to have somewhat different tolerance for loud colors. I must admit that I don't really mind the colored tool handles and I rather prefer primary colors to pastels. Probably because I'm male. I'm female and I appreciate the colors for the same reason you do. They are easier to spot in a large garden. We garden on half acre and it has many beds, a border 100 feet long 25 feet wide and that's just the back. I don't decorate my yard or garden with tools unless they are old ones and rusted and look like they belong. It's definitely not a male thing. I really dislike pastels and always prefer darker colors. Not one wall in our home is white or any form of a pastel. Victoria |
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