Had to pick between a $15 heli-coil kit or a $60 helicoil kit for a Mamiya RB67

The cheap one stripped the aluminum threads on the third screw. Spent 2 hours drilling out the old coil. Picked the expensive one next day, it cut clean and held tight. Spent $60 to save a $400 body. Who else has a tool they'll never cheap out on again?

2 comments

2 Comments

james_butler1mo ago

Familiar story. People think the name brand is paying for marketing but the real difference is the cutting geometry and material quality. Cheap taps are ground from soft steel that dulls after a few uses, good ones are cut from HSS that actually shears clean. The expensive kit pays for itself the first time you don't have to drill out a busted coil. Same goes for screw extractors, never buy the cheap twisted ones. The spiral flute extractors from a real tool truck cost triple but they don't snap off in the hole. Your time and your camera body are worth the extra 45 bucks.

ray3241mo ago

Oh yeah @james_butler, I'm with you on the "time is worth it" thing until I'm having a bad day and that 45 bucks feels like a lot. Then I buy the cheap tap and spend twice as long trying to get the broken piece out of an aluminum bracket. Really smart financial planning on my part. I tell myself I'm just "testing quality" but really I'm just cheap and stubborn.