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My father in law told me to use a cheap level from the hardware store. He was dead wrong.
He kept saying levels are levels, and spending more than $15 was a waste. So I bought a basic Empire brand level for a shelving project in my garage. After I finished, every single shelf had a slight tilt that I could see with my own eyes. I borrowed his old Stabila level to check, and sure enough, the cheap one was off by almost an eighth of an inch over four feet. Has anyone else had a similar experience with budget tools that just don't work right?
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jakewilliams4mo ago
The same thing goes for tape measures, screwdrivers, and just about any tool you use to measure or cut stuff. People always say "a tool is a tool" until they try using a cheap one and it costs them twice as much time fixing their mistakes. I've noticed this pattern everywhere, not just with tools. People who have never used a quality version of something just assume the cheap one works the same, but they don't know what they're missing until they try the real deal. Your father in law probably learned that lesson thirty years ago with his Stabila and just doesn't remember how bad the cheap ones really are.
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mary_wells4mo ago
Cheap tools are just false economy. You buy a $5 tape measure, it breaks in a month. Meanwhile the $25 one lasts a decade. Seen it a hundred times in my line of work.
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