MTFCA Forum

I had a bit of a rude incident happen today.
I loaned my hub puller to a local T owner months ago, I explained how to use it properly.
Not a tool I use often so I didn’t mind he had it way longer than he needed it.
Much to my surprise when I requested it to be returned, he dropped it by my shop when I wasn’t there. When I unwrapped it, I found that he had pulled the threads out of it. Now he is not returning my calls.

Lesson learned,
I’m happy to help when I can, and the use of my tools when someone is in need, but the lack of letting me know really leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

Sorry for the rant, but if i borrow a tool, it always comes back in the condition it was in when I got it. If not I offer to replace it.

Scott

You are spot on about condition of a returned tool.

I'm cautious about who I loan things to and expect they will respect and return the tool in a reasonable timeframe. In some cases, rather than loan the tool, I take the tool and assist or supervise it's use. Then again, there are some tools I don't loan and some people I don't loan to.

That person would have just dropped off of my friends list.

Walt

Yup. Some tools, like a wood hub puller are easily damaged if you dont know how to use correctly.
In this case, your "friend" horsed it off instead of leaving on & driving to help loosen.
On the bright side, he probably damaged his hubs threads so it wont come off next time.
I second doing the job for the inexperienced person myself. Live & learn. Most T people are wonderful, a few are not.

I don’t loan equipment or tools.
A few years ago I loaned my 16 ft trailer to a neighbor. When he brought it back the trailer jack right behind the trailer hitch was bent toward the back and upward. What he had done was to let the trailer down just enough to go on his trailer hitch BUT he didn’t screw it up all the way. He drove off with it and bent the jack and went on down the road to do whatever. I repaired the jack mount but he won’t borrow it again.

I can’t seem to recall who I leant my fancy $500 hydraulic tube flaring tool to several years ago… apparently they don’t remember borrowing it either…! Even if it’s broken or damaged, own up to it and make it right!

The quickest way to lose a friend is to loan money or tools

The quickest way to lose a friend is to loan money or tools

Wood wheel hubs are a curse, or at least that fine thread on the skimpy hubcap is.If Henry had made a thicker hubcap with a decent depth of thread there would not be the problem.Rather than lend my hub tools, i volunteer to do the job myself, using my tools. This is especially true if they have damaged threads which need to be dressed with my Stevens T181 thread chaser.
Other tool loans are logged in a notebook so they know I know where they are.

Allan from down under.

I loaned out a rim spreader about 5 years ago. I'll never see that again. Given who it was, I should have known better. There are some people I would loan anything to, and others... not.

Many years ago I loaned a spoke Jack to another club member who felt he needed to insert shims.. years went by…then the Model T club had an event in the “museum” he established behind his house. There on a shelf proudly stood my spoke jack. When confronted, he said “I get upset when people loan me tools and forget to ask for them back”

Neither a borrower nor a lender be: William Shakespeare, Hamlet

I learned a long time ago, thru many similar posted events, that those of us with good tools, or anything for that matter, will never be cared for nor appreciated by those who neither own nor know how to use them, worse, the mindset of "what's your's is mine also once borrowed" is pervasive.

As to the title: commoners have no courtesy. " I don't have that anymore or It's broken and doesn't work". End of story unless I know where to buy one and tell them where that is.

Years ago, I borrowed a sawsall from a friend for demo in my house. It died through no fault of mine. I ended up purchasing two, one for a replacement and one for ME. I learned my lesson.

I'm sorry this happened Scott, I hope they step up and make things right for you.

I agree with John. It seems like every time I borrowed something it was in questionable condition, and inevitably would fail while it was in my possession. So, I too would have to repair / replace the worn-out item and also have to buy one for myself. Now my problem is I have way too many tools.....if that's possible!

Way too many tools.... is that really a problem????

"Neither a borrower nor a lender be: William Shakespeare, Hamlet"

The best advice.

Daisy Mae wrote: ↑

Sun Feb 08, 2026 11:39 pm

Way too many tools.... is that really a problem????

I'm glad you feel that way, I'm looking to borrow a ..................

My father taught me to return a tool, or wagon, or anything borrowed in BETTER condition than when borrowed. that might include replacing a worn wheel or fixing a loose axle, cleaning scuff marks, or replacing a worn bolt.

I agree with the above.

On a side note, I never use those. Knock off on the opposite side is the only way I remove those wheels.

A quick follow up.
Sam in St. Louis, let me borrow his puller.
I ordered a replacement from Langs.
I’m happy to loan it out once I get it, as long as they order a new one to be delivered to me, then they can keep the one they borrowed.
Problem solved, at least in theory.

Scott

There are certain people I'll loan a tool to....others I will bring the tool and help. If loaned, I keep a list on my laptop of who I loaned what and when I loaned it. So far it seems to have worked.

That was a terrible thing to do! This person is probably a newcomer, with no experience, or common sense. I hope he has the courtesy to replace your puller with one that is as good as yours was.

The hobby in part for me, is helping people as much as I can.
I will continue to do so, but be a bit more cautious about loaning tools to folks. I’ll offer to help them with their issue, not send them off to tackle it alone.
Maybe I’ll make some new friends along the way.
That way if a tool is damaged or broken, it will be on me, not them.

Thanks for all the support on this

Scott

A friend of mine mentioned what HE does, when someone borrows a tool from him. He gets out his phone, and under their number listing, he adds the tool they borrowed as their middle name. So he never actually loses a tool, and always knows what tool they have, and who it is that has it.

Also, I learned that SOMETIMES, you DON'T WANT TO BORROW A TOOL FROM SOMEONE. My same neighbor was doing a project, and had borrowed tools from another neighbor. The ONLY PROBLEM, was that every tool was in terribly poor condition, deteriorated, or needed some serious repair. We spent the first couple hours on the project getting the loaned tools into usable condition, before doing the project. That was my lesson to NEVER BORROW OR LEND TOOLS TO THE GUY THAT LOANED MY NEIGHBOR THE TOOLS. He is off my list permanently, and when he asks for a tool, I just tell him someone already borrowed it, and has yet to return it. He is on my "No-Loan" tool list. I also will never attempt to borrow from him, because he has no respect for tools, and fails to do even very basic maintenance to keep them in good condition. Borrowing tools from this nitwit means I BECOME LIABLE TO REPLACE THE DAMAGED OR WORN-OUT TOOLS HE LENDS ME. Since everything he has is already completely worn out and useless, there is no reason to ever ask to borrow a tools, and then be responsible for replacing it.

Contrariwise, I have ANOTHER neighbor just across the street, who I both lend to, and borrow from, special tools on a regular basis. His tools are always immaculately kept, lubricated and in perfect condition, as are the special tools that I loan HIM. And neither of us will loan or borrow any tools from the yokel mentioned above.

The suggestion to do the work with the special tool, FOR THE PERSON WHO NEEDS IT DONE, is also a very good suggestion. I have many precision tools that I do not loan out at ALL, but will happily use them to do special work. One of them is a complete industrial tool set, made for flaring aircraft tubing, brand new from WWII production, that I bought new in the metal box, still covered with cosmoline, from a guy in Texas. It was flawless and obviously had NEVER even been cleaned of cosmoline, or ever tried out. It does an excellent job, with a set of special dies that are perfectly matched and polished. It is a kit I used once where I worked, to completely replace all of the pitot and static plumbing in a Learjet cockpit during a mod. Since then I have used it many times to make special tubes for aircraft friends of mine, but I do it FOR them, rather than lending them the tool, and risking having them damage the tool or the dies by not knowing how to properly use them.