tool newb is very confused

[Adam9453]

I've generally adopted the tactic described above, I make up a job I'd like to do then I justify buying the tools for the job I might do. Case in point today was a £150 trip to screwfix when I could have used a hammer, nails and punch to put the architrave up, the problem was I'd already bought a nail gun and the compressor I'd borrowed didn't work properly, so of course I "had" to go and buy a new one that being said fitting architrave with the nail gun is so much more fun

 

[Phil Pascoe]

It's different for power tools. An old boy I used to work with said to me one day - You know, people say that power tools make your job easier, but they're talking crapp. - How do you work that one out then, Ivor? - Well, if I didn't have the power tools, I'd have told them to stuff the job.

 

[Adam9453]

It's different for power tools. An old boy I used to work with said to me one day - You know, people say that power tools make your job easier, but they're talking crapp. - How do you work that one out then, Ivor? - Well, if I didn't have the power tools, I'd have told them to stuff the job.

I like that

 

[Bod]

http://blog.lostartpress.com/2014/10/16 ... ool-chest/

A place for everything, & and everything in place.

What can be done!

Bod

 

[paulrockliffe]

Have a look on eBay. I was looking for a set of allen keys to go on my socket set a while ago and couldn't find a set with the full range of sizes required. Plus I wanted two 10mm ones for removing an axle on one of my bikes, but really didn't want two of all the other sizes.

I found Halfords Professional kit been sold individually by quite a few sellers, you could then select exactly what you want and the cost would be broadly the same as buying the kit from halfords, especially as you're not paying for the extra tools they put in the kits that you've either already got or don't need. The Halfords professional stuff is really very good in my experience, though I imagine there are sensibly priced sellers for other makes on eBay too.

If you do buy kits and power tools then the first thing to do is to junk the boxes they come in. They're just a con to try and force you to buy their x y and z so all your boxes match. Next thing you know you'll end up with a garage full of indistinguishable Festool Systainers. These things are great if you need to transport your stuff and want too just hoy it in the back of a van, but they're a real pain in the real world as the cords and plugs never fit in the boxes! You'll also end up with things that don't have a box or somewhere neat and tidy to be stored and it'll annoy you.

I have a set of drawers with very shallow drawers in, all height adjustable that houses all of my non-power tools, I've used cutlery trays to separate things out a bit, though these aren't a long-term solution Think there's 10 drawers, all about 10cm deep, set in an MDF carcass and I picked it up for nothing off a mate. I've then got some old sets of drawers for the power tools, though again these are going to be skipped soon.

Shallow drawers are the answer. Though rather than workshop tool chests, which aren't generally all that big but are pretty expensive, build your own into a bench or table, or as full-height storage . I'd start with 40mm deep drawers, then gradually get deeper to allow you space for every difference size of tool, without wasting space. Add dividers to get it all as neat as possible, or foam, and factor in some space for expansion of your collection. If you put a bit of time and thought into it you'll be surprised how much stuff you can fit into a small space.

 

[Mark A]

I don't use my tools professionally and so far I've got by with a couple of spanner sets from Aldi/Lidl, a 1/2" socket set from Machine Mart, an 8" adjustable spanner, mole grips and various hex keys. I store them in a separate toolbox and have no problems finding what I need.

A socket rail may solve your storage issues regarding buying individual sockets.

Mark

 

[mseries]

I find this thread quite interesting, I am afraid I don't have any answers for the OP though. My tool collection like everyone who is active I suppose continues to grow. I have a couple of socket sets, one with 3/8" drive one with 1/2" drive, the latter was given to me by my father. When I did cycle mechanicing I had to use the 1/2" occasionally for the octalink BB tool. Usually though the 3/8" did the job and I don't recall ever needing a size that I didn't have. Spanners, I don't have a lot, I use the sockets mostly, I have a set of 5 or so small openended spanners, maybe 5mm - 15mm or something and a couple of much larger special ones for special bike fittings such as cones, headsets, pedals (standard size, 15mm IIRC but long lever). I have a couple of adjustables, large and small but don't use them much. Woodwork tools, a couple of router cutter starter sets - to get me started, I mean having bought a new router, you just want to play with it, but many more one off cutters as and when my jobs needed them. I believe one or two cutters in my starter sets remain unused. Chisels, mixed, secondhand tools, no sets.

For me I get the tools I need for a job and lately since I have a little more cash to spare I can buy the tool that'll make the job easiest rather than making do with what I have. My nailer, power screwer and osscilating multitool are a good examples of this.

Storage. This is needs improvement, I know where everything is and everything has it's place but as my workshop has evolved and I have acquired more tools not everything that should be together is together. For example: I have four boxes for router cutters, guide bushes and other small accessories but they are stored at opposite ends of my (small) workshop. I know where each thing is so I am not hunting around to find things but in the course of a session I might be getting 3 boxes out of two locations ! My routers are stored in one of three locations, drill bits are not close to either my drilling machine nor my power drill (I do have a TODO item to make drawers in my drilling machine stand to rectify this). My sockets and allen keys are on one shelf yet the large spanners are in the 'less often used tools' tool box but, the sockets are not used very often now.

My trouble is that my workshop also houses gardening equipment and bicycles and other stuff so everything is competing for space and organisation is the loser.

 

[Trafalgar]

http://blog.lostartpress.com/2014/10/16/on-the-importance-of-the-studley-tool-chest/

A place for everything, & and everything in place.

What can be done!

Bod

Except big saws....???

I've always liked the David Powell tool chest and derivatives. Here's one:

http://www.finewoodworking.com/item/323 ... fts-legacy

The "original" Powell tool chest was featured in FW back in its black and white days. I don't see the article on their online archive which is too bad. Maybe I missed it.

I can easily envision working out of a Powell-type chest. The Studley chest not so much, though clearly it is a tour-de-force. To work effectively out of the Studley chest I would imagine one's work would have to be highly regimented and that may have very well been the case with Mr. Studley.

 

[Dee J]

The dream of owning every tool you'll ever need for any job is an implausible pipe dream (unless you're rich, have lots of space and have an obsessively organized mind). Get some basic stuff from the sheds, augment that with boot sale and junk shop boxfulls and you'll be able to 80% of what you need to do. Then buy specific specialist tools as the jobs require. You'll soon find out that you'll hit critical tool mass and the local gravity distortion will cause random items to appear in your workshop.... Gifts, inheritances, finds etc.
Plus you'll learn that there are often ways around not having the perfect tool - creative workrounds can be a very satisfying way of subverting the consumer system.
By then you'll have joined the rest of us and won't question the wisdom of 12 hammers, 3 saw sets, 4 hand braces, 27 chisels, several ancient but functional footprint grips and numerous hand forged chunks of steel which work as punches, sets, wedges, drifts, hot chisels, cold chisels .....
I'll leave quantities of planes to some of the more acquisitive members of this forum...

 

[undergroundhunter]

The key to efficient and happy working is being able to find everything you need when you need it.

Your socket drawer is magnificent, and I agree that's the only way to work. Did you buy that as a set, or is it just a generic box where you keep everything organised? I was hoping for a moulded box where everything has its place. Either way, that box is a thing of beauty - teach me how its achieved because that's precisely how I like to operate.


Not bought as a set as in all of them, each of the different drive sizes and socket styles were bought as "sets" but not as a full drawer. I do have slight OCD when it comes to things like this, spanners is another of my obsessions. For the typical DIYer there is no sense in spending thousands of pounds on tools and tool boxes just so you have a set of everything. My tools box empty was £3500 and then there are all the tools to put in it.

Matt

 

[Cheshirechappie]

How times have changed. My grandpa served his time as a master mechanic in the 1920s, and worked in the trade all his life. His toolkit consisted of a few Snail Brand black open-enders, three or four King Dick ring spanners, a little packet of BA spanners for magnetos, a few chisels and wedges, several screwdrivers (some wooden handled), a couple of hammers and a very early (hexagon drive) Britool socket set. All Whitworth and AF - no metric at all. Mind you, he retired in the late 1960s.

(Actually, to be fair, he did have a fair collection of things like valve spring compressors, axle stands, screwjacks, ball-joint splitters and so on. But certainly no diagnostic computer, beyond a lifetime's experience!)

 

[undergroundhunter]

How times have changed. My grandpa served his time as a master mechanic in the 1920s, and worked in the trade all his life. His toolkit consisted of a few Snail Brand black open-enders, three or four King Dick ring spanners, a little packet of BA spanners for magnetos, a few chisels and wedges, several screwdrivers (some wooden handled), a couple of hammers and a very early (hexagon drive) Britool socket set. All Whitworth and AF - no metric at all. Mind you, he retired in the late 1960s.

(Actually, to be fair, he did have a fair collection of things like valve spring compressors, axle stands, screwjacks, ball-joint splitters and so on. But certainly no diagnostic computer, beyond a lifetime's experience!)

Thats the problem these days I'm afraid, I spent my days finding faults uisng computers to then replace parts instead of fixing them, no longer mechanics just fitters.

Matt

 

[Cheshirechappie]

Matt - I think there's still plenty of skill required in the motor trade. It's just different, that's all. Not many outside vintage restoration are called upon to scrape in crankshaft bearings or de-coke cylinder heads, but the knowledge of electronics and such things as automatic transmissions is a basic necessity now. Complexity has increased hugely, and I suspect that a lot of vehicle design is more about making initial assemby easier rather than easing maintenance - hence the enormous range of fasteners compared to Grandpa's day, and the resulting demands on a mechanic's wallet just to kit himself out to do the basics. It's progress, but I sometimes wonder if it's really better all round.

 

[woodpig]

I never had the money years ago just to go out and buy tools just because I thought I might need them. These days I make a mental check of the tools required to complete a particular task and then buy any tools needed that I don't have. The same applies to materials, I do keep some "stock" and do buy stuff I like the look of if I think it's likely to be useful or the price is good. Pretty sure I need a rotary table and a boring head but until I come up with a job that requires them they're staying on the want list!

 

[rafezetter]

I never had the money years ago just to go out and buy tools just because I thought I might need them. These days I make a mental check of the tools required to complete a particular task and then buy any tools needed that I don't have. The same applies to materials, I do keep some "stock" and do buy stuff I like the look of if I think it's likely to be useful or the price is good. Pretty sure I need a rotary table and a boring head but until I come up with a job that requires them they're staying on the want list!

Pretty obvious advice but this is what I was going to suggest - unless you have the funds for it, buying as you need it is the way to go - nowadays online shopping as it is, you can have virtually anything within a few days - even quicker if you are prepared to pay the postage. I rarely tackle anything home / DIY related on the spur of the moment, so a few days is plenty to ***** and order as necessary.

As an example I bought a dremel hot glue gun for £20.00 in 2010 knowing "it would come in handy"... even for an avid DIYer and maker like me I used it for the first time on saturday - 5 years after I bought it, and the "for sale" section is rife with people selling tools they just don't use.

 

[bridger]

https://wordpress.com/post/70918327/97/