Do You Own Any Pompous Tools?

Bolster · Sep 10, 2010

Pompous meaning: boastful, better-than-thou, vain, self-important, snooty, puffed-up, condescending, an ostentatious display of dignity and importance.

A hilarious post in another thread got me to thinking about the pomposity of certain tools...do we recognize pompous tools when we see them? Or do we bow down before them as if they were demigods?

At any rate, this thread is dedicated to showing off your tools that are "all that" as we say here in LA.

I can fix anything · Sep 10, 2010

All my tools are better than everyone elses

Bolster · Sep 10, 2010

I think this is my most pompous tool. It's really quite a humble idea, that can be produced for very little money, and does a limited range of jobs (very well). I paid a huge amount for it, shortly before their patent ran out and everybody started producing one. But the arrogance of this tool, ie, the price of accessories, is breathtaking. I admit to joyous feelings of shadenfreude when everybody started making cheaper copies of this that work just as well (even though I got stuck with the bill).

Although it's a great machine, I would not recommend it to anyone but maybe professionals who would use it every day. Less pompous tools can do the same job.

mrholeshot · Sep 10, 2010

I can fix anything said:
All my tools are better than everyone elses

Yeah but my tools can beat up your tools :bounce:

mjozefow · Sep 10, 2010

Calling AP for a picture of a certain lathe!

Not pompous, just truly superior in every detail of construction.

Bolster · Sep 10, 2010

mjozefow said:
Not pompous, just truly superior in every detail of construction.

I would submit that a tool that is truly superior in every detail is at great risk of pomposity. A Ferrari is an example. Pretty much everything is overdone, and it is therefore worshipped.

I would also submit any tool that you think twice before using ("I sure don't want to scratch it") is also a pompous tool. I am currently that way about my new FLF80.

mrholeshot · Sep 10, 2010

My toolbox doesn't want anything to do with Harbor Freight Tools. It spits them out in the middle of the night

MFortie · Sep 10, 2010

I'd hafta say my Snap On torque wrench. The Craftsman I used since the 70's was fine for the amount of work I do (shadetree mechanic); dropping the coin for a digital Snap On to replace it was bordering on pomposity!

Bruce Lancaster · Sep 10, 2010

I'd carry on with the cotter pin thread...if in a sensible mood when changing my ball joints, I just REMOVE THE DAMN NUT and the two remaining fragments of cotter hiding in the joint stud will have fallen on the floor on their own long before I carry the balljoint to the trash can.
If working in tool freak mode, I reverently get out the BEST COTTERPIN PULLER on the %^%$$#@$# PLANET, a victorian gadget stamped with a patent dated in the 1890's, crawl around in the heap of rust and salt on the floor until I see an angle, and let that tool slide out the pin like it is sucking in a strand of spaghetti. In TOOL MODE rather than JOB MODE, I somehow find this deeply satisfying.
Excuse me, gotta go, I remove the glass display dome and wax my cotter pin puller every September.

lauver · Sep 10, 2010

Bolster,

I don't own any tools that I could label as pompous. In fact most of my tools could be best be described as "Plain Jane".

I have seen one tool, posted many time here on the GJ, that I think could be considered pompous though. How about this Wera Zyklop Ratchet:

Pompous enough?

LAROKE · Sep 10, 2010

I have my Dad's Heathkit Occiliscope proudly displayed in my shop. He built and used it a lot. I have no idea how to work it or even spell it.

warmpancakes · Sep 10, 2010

I have some gold plated tools and I use them

Bolster · Sep 10, 2010

lauver said:
I have seen one tool, posted many time here on the GJ, that I think could be considered pompous though. How about this Wera Zyklop Ratchet

That's seriously pompous!

warmpancakes said:
I have some gold plated tools and I use them

Using the tool doesn't disqualify it from being pompous. I'd say gold plated tools apply as pompous! Unless the plating is in some way essential to their function.

Which reminds me:

ZRX61 · Sep 10, 2010

My ex wifes current boyfriend is a bit of a pompous tool...

american lockpicker · Sep 10, 2010

I believe my Bosch 1590EVSK which is made in Switzerland(thats where Rolexes are made

) is much better than any other jigsaw in the world.

Feel free to :bowdown:

at it.

Bolster · Sep 10, 2010

Bow, puny insignificant human, before the mighty Swiss Bosch:

lauver · Sep 10, 2010

ZRX61 said:
"My ex wifes current boyfriend is a bit of a pompous tool..."

ZRX61,

Outstanding observation! I've met a few myself.

sarel.wagner · Sep 10, 2010

My tools ain't, but owning both PB Swiss gold plated screwdrivers and a 1/2" Wera Zyklop makes me one eh? Also a Nepros and Facom rotator ratchet

Some of these tools are to be framed as a display tho

Rgrds

FoMoCoPower · Sep 10, 2010

I am a pompous tool.

imok · Sep 10, 2010

LAROKE said:
I have my Dad's Heathkit Occiliscope proudly displayed in my shop. He built and used it a lot. I have no idea how to work it or even spell it.

My Dad built one of those too!! I wish I had it now. He built many kits that Heathkit offered including the television. I have no idea what happened to all of his electronics, but he probably threw/gave away everything when they downsized from a large house to a small apartment.

ricleh · Sep 10, 2010

american lockpicker said:
I believe my Bosch 1590EVSK which is made in Switzerland(thats where Rolexes are made ) is much better than any other jigsaw in the world.

Feel free to at it.

I have the Bosch and seldom ever use it. My Fein jigsaw is just in another class altogether.

Beerman · Sep 10, 2010

I have a Facom 3/8 drive palm control ratchet that is too pretty to use. I bought it to use around 12 years ago, but find it so beautiful that I can't expose it to grease, dirt, etc. Maybe because it's brand new. I bought a 1/4 drive version of the same ratchet at the flea market for around $5 before I purchased the 3/8. The 1/4 drive version was already nicked up a bit and I didn't hesitate to use it. The 1/4 drive is pretty, but not to pretty to use.

Beerman

milkovich · Sep 10, 2010

I was about to say I don't have any pompous tools that I don't abuse. I like to think all the tools in my garage have a jail mentality. The more scars and marks on them, the tougher they are. Even the body hammers look like they want to kill you.

Then I remembered I have a Koken whitworth socket set. They're clean because they almost never get used. If that's not pompous, i don't know what is.

lauver · Sep 10, 2010

Beerman said:
I have a Facom 3/8 drive palm control ratchet that is too pretty to use. I bought it to use around 12 years ago, but find it so beautiful that I can't expose it to grease, dirt, etc. Maybe because it's brand new. I bought a 1/4 drive version of the same ratchet at the flea market for around $5 before I purchased the 3/8. The 1/4 drive version was already nicked up a bit and I didn't hesitate to use it. The 1/4 drive is pretty, but not to pretty to use.

Beerman

Beerman,

You got any photo's of your pompous Facom 3/8 drive palm control ratchet? This is one of those threads that demands photo evidence. Pompousity is a visual quality...

eborcim · Sep 10, 2010

I would say anything gold plated is pompous.

OccupantRJ · Sep 10, 2010

I have a gold plated Stanley claw hammer in a case that I got in 1970. Finish is going south on it though. Maybe it's time to start driving nails with it.

JSBriggs · Sep 10, 2010

Ive got an Metabo sander. Its old, it works. Its got to be worth a few pompous points.

-Jeff

jwitt · Sep 10, 2010

ZRX61 said:
My ex wifes current boyfriend is a bit of a pompous tool...

That's funny.

How about imitation gold plated tool jewelry..........

Jim

DanCo · Sep 10, 2010

I own many pompous tools (mostly Snap On), and I work with many pompous A-holes.

A_Pmech · Sep 10, 2010

mjozefow said:
Calling AP for a picture of a certain lathe!

Not pompous, just truly superior in every detail of construction.

This one you mean?

I also submit this:

Ben Iv · Sep 10, 2010

I have a few at work including my tool box, tools other people had made so i had to make one much better... :thumbup:

chadster1 · Sep 10, 2010

My Chrome Edition KRL1022 might be considered pompous.

reinhardt · Sep 10, 2010

i have a 1/4 ton chain lever hoist. it weighs in at 5.5 lbs and lifts 550 pounds. made by cm. comes in very handy at work (ship repair) when i dont have another person to hold something.

american lockpicker · Sep 10, 2010

Would AP's hammers count... :bounce:

rayzor32 · Sep 10, 2010

I would like to see the gold craftsman wrenches and the dale earnhardt screwdriver set :thumbup:

Bolster · Sep 10, 2010

Titanium Ratchets...

Bolster · Sep 10, 2010

chadster1 said:
My Chrome Edition KRL1022 might be considered pompous.

Show, please!

chadster1 · Sep 10, 2010

Bolster said:
Show, please!

dankicksass · Sep 10, 2010

I can't keep up with all this pomp.

BerninicaCO3 · Sep 11, 2010

I have a drill with an ebony and ivory (genuine) handle!
Though it's not quite as .... ostentatious as all those gold plated tools!

As far as undeserved pomp, I had bought years ago a set of drill bits off ebay. Titanium nitride plated to be shiny gold-- and these particular bits were milled out of mild steel with burrs hanging off the "cutting" edges! Ah, but titanium nitride makes everything better,...right?

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