Gunsmithing tools, like any other tools cost. Low cost tools that don't preform are not worth having and can only make the task more difficult. I've managed to break cheap end wrenches, twist the tips on cheaply made screwdrivers, bent the shafts on cheap punches. Cheaply made tools usually don't cost much, except for your time and frustration! Brownells isn't the only place to find gunsmith tools. Look around, you may find a comparable tool at a more competitive price. After you get into actually 'cleaning up' that checkering, you may discover that its not so much the cost of the tools, but the skill the person using the tool has developed that commands the $$$$. Traditionally, many of the tools a gunsmith uses he made himself, according to his needs at the time. Now days, most tools are bought. Count that off to our tax policies. Buy a tool and deduct the cost, make a tool and deduct only the cost of the materials and any tooling you had to buy to make it. 'Experience' is either gained or lost in that example. On some experiences the 'gain' can be priceless! and then applied to many, many other tasks.
