When to Send a Tool Back

If you get to know some toolmakers as friends, you’re likely to hear all kinds of wild stories about people who return tools for odd or non-existent defects. Think sidewalls of a handplane that are different in thickness by a few thousandths of an inch. Or cutting bevels of a tool that are ground 1° out of square.

But sometimes tools do need to go back to the manufacturer. Students would ask me all the time about a tool: Is this a defect? Should I send it back?

It’s a delicate balance. For me it comes down to this question: Is fixing the “imperfection” my responsibility? And can I repair it easily? If the answer to either of these questions is “yes,” then I tell them not to return the tool. Examples:

1. Bevel is ground out of square: Owner’s responsibility. Always.
2. Flash of metal on an edge: Easily fixed.
3. Iron plane sole perhaps out of flat: Not easily fixed. Send it back.
4. Bed of plane ground out of square: Not easily fixed.
5. Rough bit of lacquer or tear-out on wood: Easily fixed.
6. Tool won’t hold an edge. (See photo above.) Sharpen it a few times to ensure it’s not just a carbon-starved edge. Then send it back.
7. Tool’s weight is slightly out of spec compared to description. Keep it.
8. Rockwell hardness of tool is two points out of spec. Are you sure you’re not a machinist? Keep it.
9. Chisel’s sharp arrises cut your skin. Easily fixed with sandpaper.
10. Chipbreaker won’t seat on the back of the iron. Something is warped, poorly tapped or bent. I’d send it back.
11. Wedge won’t seat. Easily fixed.
12. Wooden sole of plane out of truth. Easily fixed (and something you need to learn to do).
13. Mouth of wooden plane clogs. It’s almost always your sharpening. Sharpen it and try it a few times.
14. Socket handle of chisel keeps coming loose. Easily fixed with hairspray.
15. Hammer or mallet head is loose. Easily fixed.
16. Metal combination square is not square. If you didn’t drop it, send it back.
17. Metal straightedge is out of truth. Same as No. 16.
18. Coping saw won’t hold blade tight. Welcome to the world of coping saws.
19. Your fretsaw won’t hold blades. Easily fixed. File the blade clamps to rough them up.
20. Mechanical pencil malfunctions. Would you take a gerbil to the vet?

I’m sure everyone defines what is “easily fixed.” My definition is something like: Do I have to tools and skills to do this in less than 10 minutes.

Oh, and one more reason not to send a tool back – you don’t want to become part of a story that a toolmaker tells to a group of people at a bar.

— Christopher Schwarz