Starting tools and workshop equipment

[TNIceWolf]

Buying the tools depends a whole lot on what you eventually plan to do. For just routine maintenance stick to hand tools Socket sets...wrenches ..screwdrivers... and pliers. To dig deeper in a project requires that you decide how deep you are willing to go tool wise. You can spend a good deal of money on specialty tools you may use once....or use several times.

[Kurt Combs]

Buy decent, but not overly expensive tools, if you are not going to make a living turning wrenches. I have had my Craftsman hand tools since 1964 and they still work. The ratchet might need to be replaced, but it still works. Harbor Freight is fine for tools you will seldom use and you can afford to replace when they fail. I wouldn't put a cheater pipe on one of their wrenches, but I do it with my Craftsman tools.

A little about air tools and compressors. I am still waiting to buy my two stage compressor, so I don't have one yet. I have the building wired for it, but no $$$, or time to plumb the lines. I changed the steering box in my F250 with the truck on a two post lift and the engine out. I calculate it took me four hour to swap that box. After I put the engine back in and I didn't like the box, I bought a better one and took it to a shop that charged me for one hour to change it. The difference; they have specialty wrenches and air tools and I don't. Of course, I had broke loose the rust for them and anti-seized the nuts and bolts. But still, one hour compared to four, the right tools do make a difference.

I do ask for tools for Father's Day and other holidays and that seems to work pretty well and increases my tool arsenal.

[BobbyFord]

You can't really go wrong with Craftsman tools. You break them and they replace them. Plus they have good sales about twice a year on various sized sets. You can't beat their price for decent screwdriver sets.

[basshound71]

That is why I use Craftsman tools on the job. For the money you can't beat them.

[basshound71]

And when you buy all of these things you are more than welcome to store them in my shed for free as long I can play with them too

YOu help me pay for the toys and you can use them all you want

What part of the world are you in

[vonburger]

And when you buy all of these things you are more than welcome to store them in my shed for free as long I can play with them too

YOu help me pay for the toys and you can use them all you want

What part of the world are you in

The United states of america my friend, Greatest country in the world.

[sargentrs]

[robroy]

Good morning Vonburger,

I agree with what everybody's saying about Craftsman tools. Also, note that "Sears" brand tools are different, and (I believe) aren't desirable, relatively speaking. Craftsman tools are sold at Sears (and a few other places, like Orchard Supply Hardware in California), but they're not "Sears" branded tools.

During some years of my life I've had money to buy more expensive tools, but I only did when there was some other reason for doing so, other than quality. The quality of the Craftsman tools is well suited to guys like us, who are looking for USA-made tools that will last, without having to spend a fortune. Sometimes, you need a more expensive tool--for instance, sometimes you need a tool that's more low-profile than the Craftsman, to fit in a tight spot.

I've read that a good strategy's to wait until Sears has a sale on Craftsman tool sets. These hand-tool sets can have over a hundred pieces, and the per-piece price is a whole lot lower than you'll pay to buy one tool at a time. If you can save up for one of these sets, you'll come out way ahead price-wise over buying them piecemeal. Plus, the sets tend to come with a way to keep the tools together, like a sturdy plastic carrying apparatus.

Also, used hand-tools are just fine, so long as they're not beat-to-heck, if they're a good brand.

Robroy

[eggman918]

Buying the tools depends a whole lot on what you eventually plan to do. For just routine maintenance stick to hand tools Socket sets...wrenches ..screwdrivers... and pliers. To dig deeper in a project requires that you decide how deep you are willing to go tool wise. You can spend a good deal of money on specialty tools you may use once....or use several times.

Specialty tools and tools for big jobs my rule is get a quote on the job from a couple of shops and then price the tools and manuals to do the job and if it is within your ability range to do
spend the money on tools instead of labor.That way you have the tools forever plus you gain the knowledge and confidence,with the knowledge base on this site makes almost any
project possible

[vonburger]

Thanks for the advice robroy. IT is time to visit my neighborhood sears.

[Whateverman]

starting tools :

-a 2 ton (or bigger)floor jack and jack stands

-a half decent set of combination wrenches (box end/open end) from 1/4" to at least 7/8" - these days you are usually safe as long as they say "crv" chrome vanadium or "drop forged" on em ,even with a load of good wrenches at my disposal i still end up using my 1st el cheapo made in india set more often than not

a good quality 3/8 or 1/2 drive socket set - with deep sockets,a few extensions and u-joints ---sockets crack and ratchets break so if at all possible get a set that has a good warranty
a good set of screwdrivers -
at least one pair of vise grip pliers
a ballpeen hammer
side cutters
10" & 12" adjustable wrenches
a set of pliers -including channel locking or water pump pliers,they are really handy when doing wheel bearings
a propane torch
a can of penetrating oil
a can of wd40

that'll get you able to do most stuff,you'll later want to add:

a 1/4 drive socket set
wire strippers/crimpers
1/2"dr impact sockets
an impact gun - personally i really like my electric impact gun,i hate listening to air compressors so i never even go near my air impact anymore
(min) 4-1/2"angle grinder

etc. etc. etc.

[hdpusher]

One thing to keep in mind is never pay full price for tools if you dont have to. Wait for the tools to go on sale. Check flea markets, auctions, yard sales, look through want adds exct. Lots of good deals on older used US made tools if you know what you are looking for. And get the best air compressor you can afford you wont regret it once you start running air tools with it.

[vonburger]

One thing to keep in mind is never pay full price for tools if you dont have to. Wait for the tools to go on sale. Check flea markets, auctions, yard sales, look through want adds exct. Lots of good deals on older used US made tools if you know what you are looking for. And get the best air compressor you can afford you wont regret it once you start running air tools with it.

Thanks, I will make sure to do so.

[ultraranger]

I don't necessarily have the most expensive tools money can buy, although I do have some tools that are pretty expensive and (at the time) when purchased, I figured I would probably only use them just once --maybe twice. Cheap tools are generally cheap in both the sense of price as well as its quality of constuction.

My philosohpy on tools is to buy the better tool --even if you think it will only be used once. It's much easier to sell a quality tool, after you're done with it, and be able to recoupe much of your initial cost, than it is to try and unload a cheap tool that no one wants to buy --for which you would get nothing.

My most expensive tool; 80-gallon, 7.5hp, 2-stage Husky compressor. By the time I paid for the compressor, sales tax on it and bought 60 feet of 6-gauge 2-conductor with a ground romex to wire it with, I have about 2 grand invested in it. I bought it to run the most demanding tool I have --a bead blast cabinet. I wanted an air compressor that would allow me to blast continously without having to stop and wait for the compressor to catch back up, before I could continue on. With this compressor, I don't have to wait on it to pump back up. I can blast continuously until the job is done, without stopping to wait on it.

Compressor unloaded off the truck, just after I got home with it from Home Depot: (I was a pretty happy camper considering I had waited for years to finally get something like this. )





The compressor wasn't cheap, but I have used it a LOT for my own personal stuff. I also did a lot of work on a local guy's '67 Mustang. I made enough money from that project that it paid for the compressor.


This is the 48" wide TP Tools bead-blast cabinet I bought to mostly work on my own personal stuff with. But, again, I've used it to do things (for hire) for others to make my money back on it. Delivered, it was about $1,030 dollars.



I didn't have the money to buy a bigger (wider) cabinet but, I had an idea of a way to expand its capacity by using a couple of 30-gallon drums, 14" in diameter.

I cut a hole in the wall of the cabinet, on the opposite end from the cabinet door.


I cut one of the drums off about 2-1/2" from the top and welded it to the hole on the side of the cabinet.


I can take the full-length 30-gallon drum, butt it up to the cutoff drum, and band them together with the drum head's band clamp.


This takes my cabinet width from 48" wide to around 6.5'. --with the extension (drum) attached, It's wide enough I can put a 9-inch rear end housing inside.






When I don't need the added blast cabinet capacity, I can remove the drum and cap off the hole with the drum head, so that the blast media isn't depositing into the extension.



I have a 20-ton press. I gave $250 dollars for it back in the early '90s. I bought it because I got tired of having to take axles to a shop some place else and pay to have axle bearings pressed off/on . (at one time, I did a good bit of Ford 8 & 9-inch rear end work). I have used this press for lots of other things as well --personal & for hire.


I have an engine hoist (cherry picker), (4) 6-ton jack stands, (4) 3-ton jack stands & a 3-ton floor jack that I bought from O'Reilly's. Don't remember the total cost (didn't buy everything all at once), but it's several hundred dollars worth and I have used all of them extensively. --My tip on this is to NOT get any jack stands under a 6-ton rating if you are using them to hold a vehicle up --particularly on a truck that generally sits higher than a car would. Short jack stands are great for supporting something like a rear end housing you're working on (for example), while the rear end is out from under the vehicle. The 3-ton versions are just too short and generally only extend just high enough to piss you off if you're using them to hold a vehicle up with. The 6-ton stands will extend to a good workable height of about 25". This gives you a lot more room if you are having to work under the vehicle.


...Also have the matching engine stand the wife got me for Christmas one year.


My Lincoln 140T MIG & cart. I gave around $780 for them.


OTC slide hammer set. I gave about $330 for it from O'Reilly's --again, for when I was doing a good bit of Ford rear end work. --got tired of encountering axles that didn't want to come out of the housing and not having the proper tools to make my life and the job easier. It works on a lot of other things too and again, I have used it a lot so it has more than paid for itself time and time again.


Mastercool brake/fuel line hydraulic flaring tool set. I gave about $300 for it, have used it lot for personal and for hire use, makes production-quality flares each and every time, and has also more than paid for itself.


Vehicle rotisserie I bought off ebay. Delivered, it was around $1,032 dollars. --Currently, the bare hull of my '68 Mustang is suspended on it.


This isn't all the tools/equipment I have but it's some of the more major things I have. Collectively, there are thousands of dollars invested in what I have. I'm by no means a wealthy rich dude. I'm a common work grunt like most everyone else on here and often times I hope that I don't have too much month left at the end of the paycheck. Many of these things I have now I had to wait for years to obtain and, I had to scrimp and save a little here and there to finally be able to slowly collect them over time. I've also been fortunate that I've had a good number of other people bring me their vehicles as well as their dollars to pay me for the work I've done on their vehicles. If you have a skill that others are willing to pay you for, this is also a very good way to make the money needed to fund purchasing the tools you need, without having to dip heavily into the paycheck you depend on to pay the bills with. --Helps keep the wife off your back about spending all the paycheck on your 'toys'. --in that regard, I have a cool wife that doesn't freak out about me buying tools or parts for the Mustang or the '69 F100 but some guys are not so fortunate with their wives.

As it has turned out, in spite of buying any expensive tool I have with the thought I would only use it once or twice, that hasn't happened, yet. After I have been able to buy any tool I have, I've found that I ended up using it many times after obtaining it.

[vonburger]

Cool collection of tools and workshop equipment!