Tool Appraisal:

Appraising tools is just as much about knowing what level of tool you need as it is the skill to know if a tool in that category is worth the price point.
As a whole the bottom tier of tools is the one most people will need in the home. The only downside is as you grow to use tools you may wish to take on larger projects where better tools are required to perform well.

When buying tools in a store there are 3 tiers: consumer grade, building grade, and commercial grade. You will find overlap in all three tiers, but how you go about determining what is a good choice is the same for each. The largest consideration is comparison, Most companies try to meet a standard the public expects from a given brand. And the companies try to separate their lines. Many companies employ shell’s brands where they test new components for tools or design flaws intentionally to get feedback on price evaluation.

https://youtube.com/shorts/-_pKsd_K8IM?si=_F3uB9X2PBoDZoX5

An example of where this general rule; of a lesser brand being worse is not true, Is in the Ryobi 2013 P102 drill. This drill is made by milwaukee engineers testing a completely metal gearbox and motor for the building grade tools the following year’s milwaukee’s 2014 offerings. The result is a consumer grade drill that has outlasted the building of several decks, a dock, several at home projects, in wet conditions, in dirty muddy environments. Even just flat out abuse of the tool i have left it in the garden for a month. No consumer grade tool for around your home is expected to endure this but yet it persists. This drill has performed like a tool made for builders.

Inspect the Tool Itself

• Avoid relying solely on advertising and box descriptions.
• Advertising can often be misleading or carefully worded to manipulate perceptions.
  An example is how they will often test a motor at 70% load which is peak efficiency for motors, then extrapolate that out to 100% load and claim the tool can perform at the same rate. Giving you weird impossible values like 1hp from a motor that we know is barely able to make .75hp based on the amount of energy it can pull from a battery.
• Check for loose parts.
• Twist the frame: A plastic shell like on the common drill, should have minimal flex being twisted and zero flex in the direction it works in, a drill should slightly twist slightly side to side but never up down to the handle if your strong enough this will always flex but the less it flexes the easier it will be to control and the more likely they used higher quality molds and plastics to make it.
• Assess the weight: Heavier tools often indicate more metal, which absorbs impacts and heat from tool use better, and gives the tool more inertia so it wont twist out of your hands with as much snappy toque.
• Look for internal supports: Long rod bulges in the plastic may indicate metal rods for added support internally which are a common very effective way to reinforce tools.
• Inspect the switch:Test for a safety switch when buying new or second-hand tools. If the tool continues to run at the working end after releasing the trigger, it’s designed for professional’s whom are familiar with its limits.Common on tools like angle grinders, old circular saws, and weed whackers, where the working end is far from the operator or the motor needs to keep running. Modern tools have switches that turn off automatically when you let go, requiring minimal force to hold down
• Test the trigger: Check for smoothness and ease of use.
• Evaluate comfort: Consider if you could comfortably hold the trigger for extended periods, such as an hour.

Simple tool appraisal:

Edge tools, the brighter the steel the faster it will dull but the longer it will not rust. This is a generalization but it is right about 80% of the time. If the polished area of the steel looks like sterling silver or blue, and it’s not an effect from heat treatment. This indicates stainless. In a utility knife stainless is to be avoided. It is simply soft and will dull quickly. The cheapest blades that fit are often the best bang for your buck.

Drill bits also come with several coatings and differing materials.
HSS is the most basic material and the most a person at home will need.
Avoid titanium nitride bits, or the blue variant both are speciality bits. Black oxide bits will cut through anything you want in the home except for glass. Which you will need diamond bits using these is a different skill to drilling and require a lesson or two from a teacher or book. If for some reason you find yourself cutting several holes in steel in a row or brass buy Cobalt bits they deal with heat well.

When looking for hand tools where you will be using for striking such as a hammer. Look for

• Tools with built-in shock absorption reduce the impact on your hands and arms.
• Look for handles with rubber grips or other shock-absorbing materials.
• A hammer you dont use everyday should be lighter than you would commonly expect to drive smaller nails. A 8oz hammer is more than enough to hang a painting or assemble furniture. Although it is tempting to grab the large hammer at the store those tools are meant for people who plan on swinging it a few thousand times per day to the point they don’t miss and dont need to worry about over driving a nail. A smaller hammer will provide more control.
• Last look to how the head of the hammer is attached,  i have bought wooden handled hammers before with loose fitting heads because i didn’t check. The fibers should look compressed, not crushed. Fiberglass and steel core hammers are incredibly durable the fiberglass ones have a tendency to grenade though flaking off tiny fragments on impact if they remain in sunlight for too long like a month or if they get really old.

When looking at tools you will be standing on such as a ladder or a step stool, very important thing to look for on the box will be a weight limit, very often it will be 190-300 pounds. These weight limits are for the maximum weight minus 10-15% before noticeable deformation or failure. So even if you can at 275 pounds stand on a stool that is rated for 250, picking up the cabinet or mirror on the wall may end in failure of the legs of your stool suddenly and without warning.