I won't bother with Toolstation again

A few months ago I read a longish thread here on Screwfix vs Toolstation, in which at least some people seemed to think that Toolstation were better, or at least cheaper. So when I needed to drill a few holes in plastic (polymethylmethacrylate) I thought I'd give them a try, as their prices were indeed cheaper than others I could find.

For the 14 mm hole I bought an "HSS Balcksmith Drill Bit" said to have a reduced shank (item 73936). There's no information either in the catalogue or online as to the diameter of the shank, but the illustration shows the shank to be *much* smaller than the drill. So I got one - it's in an opaque package so I couldn't inspect it in the shop. When I got it home I found it to have a 12.5 mm shank, so the transition in size from shank to drill is barely perceptible. I didn't have a chuck that would take a shank that big, so I could use it only by grinding the shank down to a sensible size (not easy with my primitive grinding skills).

I also needed to make some larger holes, so got 10-piece a holesaw kit (item 23014) which was a lot cheaper than any other I could find. I can't remember the last time I bought anything of such poor quality. The hex key rotated without gripping the grub-screw in one of the arbors (though the other one worked). The saws themselves had a hole with flats designed to fit one arbor or the other: one of the saws had the flats too small i.e. the hole was nearly circular, so the saw rotated on the arbor unless it was done up extremely tightly. Two of the others had the flats so large so they wouldn't even fit on the arbor designed for them without being filed down. I took the whole kit back back and got a refund.

The service from the counter at Toolstation seemed faster than with Screwfix and they gave me a refund without problems, but if some items are as poorly described as my drill, and others are of this appallingly low quality, then I won't bother with Toolstation again, it was a complete waste of my time.

Reply to
Clive Page
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description does say 'to enable use in standard drill chucks'

All of my drills have 1/2"/13mm chucks which I believe have been standard for 30 years or more

a quick google for blacksmiths drill bit would have told you the shank size although many suppliers describe them in the same terms as toolstation

regards

Reply to
TMC

IIRC, reduce shank drills are commonly 1/2" nominal. This is or was the standard max for that size of chuck. A device fitted as standard with a smaller chuck normally wouldn't have enough power for a larger drill.

Reply to
Dave Plowman (News)

I recommend the Bosch holecutters - better than any other make.

Reply to
Tim Watts

They do sell some crap at TS, but for very occasional use I might put up with that rather than pay 3 times as much for SF's cheapest comparable set.

Reply to
GB

They certainly do, but the problem is more with Silverline etc. than with Toolstation, and I don't see Screwfix as being generally much different. The market is unfortunately hungry for crap tools at low, low prices, so that's what they sell.

A better quality (broadly) can be found at Tooltastic (there's a trade counter in Bristol), which is the new retail arm of Buck & Hickman. You can get top quality stuff here, but you will have to pay for it.

Reply to
Andy Dingley

Silverline is a bit like Draper. I doubt they make everything themselves but simply source it and put on their own brand name. And as such, like Draper, the quality varies. I have a few Silverline bits and pieces which are fine. But it is a gamble.

Reply to
Dave Plowman (News)

To be fair a 1/2" shank is exactly what one would expect on a drill of this type. Fits nicely in a 13mm chuck - which is what most decent drills, drill presses, and lathes etc will have.

Yup, the word to watch for here is "silverline" - TS do lots of it, and at best the quality can only really be described as barely adequate. Much of their stuff is pretty poor. Still the price was probably a clue as well.

Having established that they do fast service, and change defective products without complaint, that would seem like a good read *to* use them again. The lesson worth learning I would have thought is to keep away from the implausibly cheap stuff made by silverline, blackspur, forge steel etc,

Reply to
John Rumm

I happen to live near the formerly well-thought of toolshop Isaac Lord. Yes - they still sell Festool, etc. But they have remodelled and opened up a significant part of their tool floor. And that is heavily branded Silverline- which I don't remember them selling in the past. I suppose their advantage over Toolstation is the ability to see how bad it is before you buy. But given their significantly higher prices, I don't see where they are going. Except downhill.

Festool and Silverline make very strange bedfellows.

And in general I now prefer going to Axminster. Which is also local. Not that I can afford Festool from either of them... :-)

Reply to
polygonum

Because it's in base 20, not base 10. See today's XKCD, also counting in French (mostly) and Danish (almost entirely). Base 20 is still widely used as the source for spoken counting.

Reply to
Andy Dingley

Caters for a range of tastes I suppose...

Glad I don't have a local Axminster in a way... it would be too tempting!

Reply to
John Rumm

Perhaps the buyers were trained by the same people who trained the counter staff in dealing with the public? Despite it being an easy lunchtime outing I will NEVER spend money at Isaac Lord.

MBQ

Reply to
Man at B&Q

Have to say, last time I was there, wanted a blade for a hand mitre saw which had been bought there several years ago. When served I had longer and shorter ones offered, obviously useless - and told to get the length I needed from the internet. Went to Axminster and got two for about half the price of the ones Isaac Lord had (i.e. wrong sized ones).

Isaac Lord's trade counter is still very useful, but having Axminster and Screwfix within a few hundred metres of each other certainly diminishes the usefulness/acceptability of the shop itself.

Reply to
polygonum

Silverline drill bits are actually made from recycled cheese. Trust me.

Reply to
The Medway Handyman

Silverline stuff is normally functional. Black Spur OTOH...

NT

Reply to
NT

Axminster? You're not thinking of Cyril Lord are you?

Reply to
Tim Streater

Definitely wasn't.

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I am now, damn you.

Reply to
polygonum

Not all. I bought a Silverline 'helicoil' set off Ebay and that included the correct size drill. Which drilled several holes in mild steel without problems. As I said, their quality varies.

Reply to
Dave Plowman (News)

Branded as Silverline any of them? If so, no real surprise- their stuff is seriously crap.

Tim..

Reply to
Tim..

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>> But I am now, damn you.

"This is luxury you can afford... By Isaac Lord!"

No, that's not quite it.

With apologies if there's anyone under 50 trying to make sense of this. Unlikely, I know.

Reply to
Kevin Poole

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