On Sep 19, 12:35*pm, polygonum wrote:
On Mon, 19 Sep 2011 12:09:40 +0100, John Rumm *









wrote:
On 19/09/2011 10:07, Clive Page wrote:

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).

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.

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

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.

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.

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,

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.

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