Beginners Tool Kit!

[jeepr]

I was out playing with my trailer and I realized what tool I could not do without (well, I could, but wouldn't want to), my 4' drywall square..

[Alfred]

I just did a search to find this thread again. I am wondering if it should be a sticky perhaps?

Very useful to newbie AL, trying to decide which tools to buy. My current list of tools on hand, more or less:

3 Hammers
1 electric screwdriver (Dang, where's the charger?)
Needle nosed pliers
4 adjustable wrenches
Hex key set (I know I'll use it some day)
Mallet (I think its with the camping gear)
Pocket multi-tool thing I got for 99-cents at flea mart
Vice grips
Super Glue (Where is it? Oh, I think the Wife has this upstairs somewhere)
Partially used tubes of JB Weld
Duct tape
Two rolls black electrical tape
Bungee cords
Razor blade box cutter (no blades)
4 tape measures
Jig saw with drywall blade
Hack saw
One big level, one small level
3 wrenches from an old wrench set (Where are all the others)
One electric drill (The corded kind)
A few mismatched drill bits (Can't find the chuck key)
One cheap staple gun
One half used can WD-40 (Lost the red straw)
Umm, did I mention I have duct tape?

I mean, pretty much up to now, I could do most of what I needed to do with the hammer, duct tape, adjustable wrench, super glue...

So, I have a ways to go.

AL.

[Kens]

Didn't anybody use a paint brush?

[Classic Finn]

No Fancy Tools

Belt Sander
Jig Saw
Skill Saw
Router
Hammer
Tape measure
Square
Lots of Clamps

No Fancy Garage. Under the Arctic Skies most of the Time

Lots of Coffee

Talk About Keep it Simple

Classic Finn

[Alfred]

Didn't anybody use a paint brush?

Oh, yeah! I forgot I think I have a paint brush around here somewhere. It didn't get cleaned out right after we used it and now it has stiff bristles. I would think a 99-cent dollar store brush would hold up better!!!

AL.

[Kevin A]

I just did a search to find this thread again. I am wondering if it should be a sticky perhaps?


AL.

Sticky it is....

[Classic Finn]

Ohhh I forgot I do use a drill and electrical Screwdriver

And here at the moment a heater..

Classic Finn

[Gage]

I just did a search to find this thread again. I am wondering if it should be a sticky perhaps?
Very useful to newbie AL, trying to decide which tools to buy. My current list of tools on hand, more or less:
3 Hammers
1 electric screwdriver (Dang, where's the charger?)
Needle nosed pliers
4 adjustable wrenches
Hex key set (I know I'll use it some day)
Mallet (I think its with the camping gear)
Pocket multi-tool thing I got for 99-cents at flea mart
Vice grips
Super Glue (Where is it? Oh, I think the Wife has this upstairs somewhere)
Partially used tubes of JB Weld
Duct tape
Two rolls black electrical tape
Bungee cords
Razor blade box cutter (no blades)
4 tape measures
Jig saw with drywall blade
Hack saw
One big level, one small level
3 wrenches from an old wrench set (Where are all the others)
One electric drill (The corded kind)
A few mismatched drill bits (Can't find the chuck key)
One cheap staple gun
One half used can WD-40 (Lost the red straw)
Umm, did I mention I have duct tape?
I mean, pretty much up to now, I could do most of what I needed to do with the hammer, duct tape, adjustable wrench, super glue...
So, I have a ways to go.
AL.

Please let me know when you start your build. I want to watch your build, using those tools.

[Alfred]

Please let me know when you start your build. I want to watch your build, using those tools.

Hey Gage, I think the 99-cent multi-tool is my best hope!

[clkelley564]

I have a battery drill I use to drive screws and a corded drill for making holes and I would advise doing the same. When you are using screws to hold glue ups in place you don't want to be switching bits or have a battery poop out on you.

Battery drills are also great to take camping. Chuck an egg beater up for pancakes. And you never know when you may have to drill something.

I do the opposite. I have the corded drill for driving screws cause it seems to have the better torque, and use the battery drill for drilling holes, cause as long as the bit is sharp, a little less torque doesn't seem to matter as much.

(On a recent Scout Camping trip, we needed to do some repairs on one of the patrols tables, and on of the dads had a set with a battery powered drill, circular saw, jigsaw, and sander :-))

[Alfred]

Hey Gang,

Bought a powersaw/generic skilsaw kind of thing today from Harbor Freight, for their "Day after Thanksgiving/Black Friday" sale. It was $29. It has 7.25 blade and a laser, which I hope will help me cut straight without lopping off a finger. The salesperson talked me into buying a better blade than the one that comes with it, which he said was a rough cutting blade. The blade he sold me he said was a cleaner cutting blade, it was another $10.99.

But now I can say I have an actual woodsaw in my TD-building tool kit!

Al in Asheville

[Alfred]

Hi Gang!

Found a guy on Craigslist who is clearing his garage. He sold me a drill press tonight for $10, and we got to talking about my project, he is going to sell me his used router/stand next week for $30.

I bought my electric skilsaw/handsaw last week on sale at Harbor Freight. And I bought big kerosene floor heater to heat where I am going to do the build.

So slowly but surely, I am building my little workshop.

AL in Asheville

[Podunkfla]

Well... here's a little more of my experience with power tools...

Cheap tools versus pro quality tools? Is it worth spending more money on name brand quality power tools? Being a long time admitted "tool junkie" I feel somewhat qualified to speak on the subject. The fact is you can build a teardrop with little more than a hammer, hand saw, screw driver, muscle powered drill and something to measure with. Many a fine house and a lot of beautiful furniture was built with these simple tools. Power tools just make it faster and somewhat easier to do (and maybe a bit more accurate).

A $39. skilsaw with a good carbide blade will cut wood about as well as a $129. saw... It just won't last near as long. But, if you will rarely ever use it there is little need to spend the extra money on a pro quality saw. On the other hand, a really good skilsaw is a joy to use. They are far more powerful, easy to follow a line with, and last forever for most folks. Plus, you could prolly sell it for 85 or 90 percent of what you paid for it if you didn't need it any more.

The same scenario is more or less true with other power tools. If you are not going to use them much in the long haul... inexpensive are not a bad way to go. The one exception, in my book, is routers. I really don't like cheap routers (even though I do own a few). Routers are hard enough to master even using the pro quality tools. Cheap routers often won't stay adjusted well. There is little more frustrating than finding out you router has "self-adjusted" itself and ruined that project you just spent the last two days building? The other thing about cheap routers is the collets often don't hold the bits as tight as the should... And, even if they do, they are sometime almost impossible to get the collet loose again to change the bit? The most exciting thing is when the bit comes completely out doing 23,000 rpm and flies across the room... (if you are lucky). So, the cheap routers I have are dedicated to one job so I rarely have to change the bit until it is worn out. For general purpose shop use I will only buy routers that accept 1/2" bits. These are usually the better quality variety. The collet chuck is much beefier and better made. They will all accept collets for 3/8" and 1/4" bits as well. Actually even good routers are not expensive... It's the bits that end up costing you the big bucks anyway... If you accumulate many.

As for table saws... I have worn out at least a dozen portable saws with the built in universal type (brush) motor. Why? Because they are light and portable. They do, however, wear out fast if you use them much... and generally the motors aren't worth replacing. The better way to go is to go up one notch to a "contractor saw" that has an induction motor with a belt drive. These saws are not all that much more expensive and yet are built with much heavier trunions and gears so they will produce better cuts and last most folks a lifetime.

[Wolffarmer]

I have a battery drill I use to drive screws and a corded drill for making holes and I would advise doing the same. When you are using screws to hold glue ups in place you don't want to be switching bits or have a battery poop out on you.

Battery drills are also great to take camping. Chuck an egg beater up for pancakes. And you never know when you may have to drill something.

I do the opposite. I have the corded drill for driving screws cause it seems to have the better torque, and use the battery drill for drilling holes, cause as long as the bit is sharp, a little less torque doesn't seem to matter as much.

(On a recent Scout Camping trip, we needed to do some repairs on one of the patrols tables, and on of the dads had a set with a battery powered drill, circular saw, jigsaw, and sander :-))

I tired to drive screws with my cheap corded drill and didn't get as good control as with my cheap battery drill so went back. The battery drill will do pretty good with a charged battery. And when it gets low that is a good reason for some "refreashments" while the battery charges. But it seldom held back progress. Usually there was other tasks to do while it charged. 2nd battery would be nice though.

[bobhenry]

No Fancy Tools


No Fancy Garage. Under the Arctic Skies most of the Time

Lots of Coffee

Talk About Keep it Simple

Classic Finn

No fancy garage just a driveway under the hot Indiana sun.

Lots of Beer