Friday I laid into the kids doing assembly because they kept using #1 philips drivers on #2 screws and buggering the heads.
I figured I'd swing by swing by Sears on Saturday and get another handfull of #2 philips screwdrivers so there would be no excuses. I've bought the screwdrivers with blue/clear handles for years and found that they last a long time. Well, I get to Sears and look at them and what used to be a nice crisp tip now looks like a poor sand casting.
But not to worry, Craftsman now has a "Pro" screwdriver that has a nice crisp tip and costs $3 more.
Check carefully the brands sold at Sears. Sears brand is the standard imported crap, while Craftsman has become standard imported, but only slightly better. I quit shopping at Sears a long time ago for tools. I can go to my local tool store or HF and buy Pittsburgh (sp?) or CK tools which are decent for the money. I wanted to waste my money, Sears would surely be the place to go. They seem to feel like HF is their direct competitor!
You mean HF is NOT their direct competitor ???? There is a reason their tools (especially the power stuff) has been called "crapsman" for a long time. Do a search on "Craftsman Routers" and see what kind of comments you find !! ;-)
Their power tools are junk, but are the Pittsburgh wrenches and sockets really comparable to Craftsman? For a lot of tools and products I do agree that what you get at Sears or Home Depot, especially from no name imported brands, has been HF quality or less for a long time. Only difference is you pay retail prices for it.
Those Blue/Clear handled tools are Companion brand. Basically import crap sold at Sears. I use the Black handled ergo grip drivers a LOT and they are worth the money, I did manage to break one but it wasn't being used as a screwdriver at the time.....
Most of the current Craftsman line is now Stanley tool made. With some being S&K. Air tools are imports from the same outfit that makes 90 percent of Snap-On air tools. Even CP and IR are over 90 percent imports now, they just assemble some tools in Carolina.
I think you would be better off with the screw driver handles that hold hex inserts. Then buy a box of inserts. Wear them out (they are tough) and just buy some inserts.
Philips are common to the building trades and are packaged in various volumes. Dry wall screws are just some uses...
Just my opinion based on various fractured screw driver heads - seems to be a powered composite to make the Philips... hum. Bad process maybe.
I have used the trade type for some time now. Put them in screw guns and even battery drills.
Your point is well taken and I use inserts alot at home. The problem is that I'm working with
18-19 year old kids and they don't see the big picture. We use #1 tips to assemble one product with power screwdrivers. We use #2 screws on another product that has to be assembled with hand screwdrivers. If I give them #2 inserts, they will put them in the power screwdrivers and I'll have more problems.
I know it's a stupid reason, but I gotta work with what I've got.
Not true. Hire someone who has a clue. Isn't it true that you get what you pay for, wouldn't it also be true in hiring employees, not just tooling? Just my opinion, and possible rant. Lane
Excuse me for saying so, but it sounds like you have more of an instructional problem (and perhaps, a disciplinary one also) than a tooling problem. I'd rather opt to teach the children to do the job correctly, than trick them into doing it correctly by limiting their tooling choices.
Remember: at some point, they will be on their own and having to make their own decisions. Guide them now and rest assured that they will make the right choices later on. On the other hand, if they're only doing the job correctly now because of your artificial constraints, what will happen once they no longer have you imposing those constraints upon them?
Believe me, I'm trying. But I can't be watching them every minute and I've got too much invested in them to let them go.
They are good kids. They keep the stockroom in order and they don't steal from me or argue with me. I'm teaching them and they are learning. They are the best I've found so far and they know that the job beats mucking out the fat fryer at Burger King.
Nobody starts out knowing it all. You sound like you have some potentially good material there to mold and work with. In today's world, that is not the norm. Many of today's young people are just eaten up with apathy .......... the "I don't give a shit" approach.
When I first read you post, I thought you were talking about your own children, not employees. That said, the priciples of mentoring and managing are the same: teach, reward, dicipline, and punish.
Tell them how you want it done, period: no exceptions. For those who do it right, reward them with praise, a raise, and/or a bonus (doesn't have to be cash: it could be a hour off early on Friday, your treating them to lunch, movie tickets, etc.). For those who do it wrong, discipline with some one-on-one performance reviews. If they still don't learn, then apply punishment (e.g., deduct the cost of their damage from their paycheck). If ultimately, an employee is unwilling to do it the right way, then I'd fire him because there is a bigger problem involved than just your buggered screws.
Simply lay down the rules, explain the consequences, and then stick to your guns. (This, btw, is perhaps the greatest failing of parents and employers alike: they either don't make the rules and consequences clear and well-defined, or they fail to enforce them.) Your employees, like children, will be happy knowing exactly what is expected of them in their jobs, you will have your management duties clearly outlined so you'll never have to wonder how to handle a problem situation, and you will ultimately benefit from a well-run shop.
And remember: always praise in public, and reprimand in private!
Maybe some Companion stuff is Blue/Clear, but so is Craftsman. I have a 'sand cast looking tip' #2 Blue/Clear Phillips right here on my desk... a number 41295, and plainly marked 'Made In USA' right on it.
It's a warranty replacement, and I haven't actually used it yet. However, after reading this thread, tried it on for fit in a couple of screws close at hand... fit feels a lot better than it looks, to be honest.
At least they seem to be plating their screwdrivers again.
This seems to be a worldwide problem for all products. Value analysis is running amok. Sears lost their once dominant retailing position because of the continual slow slide in their product quality in tools, paint and clothing. The same thing is true of autos made by General Motors and Ford.
In the short term, a little additional profit may be made by imperceptible cuts in quality, service and innovation, but in the long term, it is a sure-fire receipt for disaster for the company and the long-term employees. For the short-term company executives and their hedge-fund cohorts it is a quick buck, and the devil take the hindmost.
Yup. That's something a very early boss of mine taught me - great guy. Told me "If your boss doesn't do that, find a better boss".
This is the same guy whose idea of a job interview was to hand me a part and a micrometer, and say "measure this". I held it right, used the slip-clutch to tighten it, and gave him the answer down to tenths. "OK, great. I start you out at (number), next week that'll either double or I'll be looking for someone else."
Later, he set my hourly wage to be double my grade point average. Theory being, I could work as much as I wanted, but if my grades started to suffer, my pay would reflect that. As this was the '80s, and I was a college student, it paid pretty damn good to keep my grades up, so I did. The right kind of motivation for the right reasons, there. Didn't hurt that we were building airplane components, so it was interesting work.
And if you're in a country where employees have strong rights (UK, Europe, Canada, Israel, etc.) keep written records of the reprimands and be careful that the praise is factual and deserved.
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