Loaning out tools and equipment, a bad idea!

jack of all

A number of years ago I loaned out some hand tools to a friend who had just moved into his new house; he didn't have much in the way of tools and I wanted to help him out as he was young and eager. So I dropped over with some basic tools like a (top of the range) hand plane, block plane, handsaw, some chisels etc but also a good cordless drill, a wet tile saw, tiling trowels and many other small bits and pieces. Without exception each item was returned with some minor damage (good chisels were struck with a steel hammer, deep scores on the plane soles, damage to the drill chuck, a blunt saw, kinked trowels etc) none of it caused by fair wear and tear, and the blade on the tile saw was worn out having cut many linear feet of hard porcelain tile. All were returned to me in a heap, in a damp cardboard box.

I was chatting with another friend recently and the topic of loaning stuff came up, he too had loaned out some tools to a family member and they were not returned at all or were broken or worn out. How my own heart sank when my tools were not returned in the condition I had last seen them! We both agreed that the type of people who always look to borrow something of yours are generally the type of people who themselves would never have anything worth borrowing! Sure why buy something expensive yourself when you can get it from someone else for nothing?

After my bitter experience I resolved never again to loan out anything of quality or value to anybody, no matter who. As somebody who likes to buy good quality tools and gear I also like to look after them; knowing how expensive good quality tools are I expect them to last me my lifetime and with proper use and care I hope to pass them onto my own children in time. If approached for something now I say: "I don't loan out my toothbrush or my tools, sorry". Have you any stories to share?

phelixoflaherty

Never loan things of value to anyone.
They never treat them with the same care and when you get them back it just leads to aggro.

woodturner

Any time some asks to borrow something from me I give them the cheapest roughest one I have. They tend not to come back to look for anything after that.

cork2

Oh perfect example, I loaned somebody my new 305mm sliding dewalt mitre saw ( I know, I don't know what possessed me) Literally it was 6 weeks old. Me thinking this guy is also a carpenter it'll be grand, but it came back and he never slid out the extendable fences so when he slid the saw in it cut through the fence and he did this 5 times!!!!! Thankfully he was a close enough friend that I could hold suit for his wedding at ransom till he replaced the fence But I now agree with ye apart from a screwdriver or a pliars or something I'm done with loaning tools!

PeteEd

I find it difficult to even give colleagues a lend of my tape measure!

karltimber

Never again.

Gave out a chuckless drill - never worked the same again. Used a vice-grip to open the chuck !!

There's also a legal side to loaning a circular saw never mind a chainsaw to a neighbour. Things could go downhill quickly if they had an accident and decided to get compensation for not giving training etc with the loaned tool !!

"it's broken" or "getting serviced" is the answer.

K

woodturner

I gave a friend of mine a loan of a Scheppach contractors saw when he was building his house. Got it back with parts missing and broken. It was the first and only time I leant anything to anyone.

woodturner

I gave a friend of mine a loan of a Scheppach contractors saw when he was building his house. Got it back with parts missing and broken. It was the first and only time I leant anything to anyone.

jack of all

karltimber wrote: »

There's also a legal side to loaning a circular saw never mind a chainsaw to a neighbour. Things could go downhill quickly if they had an accident and decided to get compensation for not giving training etc with the loaned tool !!

"it's broken" or "getting serviced" is the answer.

K

That's a very good point, in fact that argument could be extended to a lot of standard equipment- say you gave a loan of a ladder and someone had a mishap? I often wonder how or why Aldi/ Lidl and DIY stores sell chainsaws; I'm happy and experienced enough to use most power tools and equipment but would not be happy to use a chainsaw, shaper/ spindle moulder or motorized post hole auger (for example!)- simply because I've never used those before. Anyway I'm probably dragging this off topic!

karltimber

I suppose I'd let someone use my "gunther" set of screwdrivers/sockets/spanners/hammer but I'd never give out my good set of screwdrivers/sockets/spanners/hammer. Ther are just for me

Tokyo

I'm a firm believer in the old saying "if you need a tool once, borrow it; if you need it twice, buy it", and because I almost always need something more than once, have built up a decent collection of tools over the years.

Unfortunately friends of the family follow the old saying "borrow it continuously from the mug that shelled out to buy it". My old man in his generosity has always been good at lending out tools, and now it's pretty much an established pattern where the same faces appear in the back yard every few weeks looking for a con saw/welder/kango hammer, which invariably come back caked in ****, cables cut through, or in more bits than they went out.

It's a neverending cycle of me repairing/servicing tools, they get lent out, come back broken/in need of a service but the old man still won't say no, regardless of the fact that if *I* need to use them, I've to spend half a day repairing them first. Drives me up the bloody wall....

bozd

I used to lend so much out that I had to have a list - chainsaw was returned blunt, ride-on with blade broken off etc., tractor with dent in bonnet - that ended it - told everyone who had nothing I could borrow from I dont pay for other peoples holidays anymore. Meaning - I choose to have tools over going on foreign holidays - I am subsidising their holiday by them not going to a hire company and paying for equipment hire. For those with stuff I could use I ask straight away to borrow whatever - they ask once and tend not to ask again.

jack of all

bozd wrote: »

told everyone who had nothing I could borrow from I dont pay for other peoples holidays anymore. Meaning - I choose to have tools over going on foreign holidays - I am subsidising their holiday by them not going to a hire company and paying for equipment hire. For those with stuff I could use I ask straight away to borrow whatever - they ask once and tend not to ask again.

One of the best answer yet I think, thanks!

jack of all

Heard this from another guy recently: "a man that borrows tools will never buy his own"!