What shop tools can you not live without?

[gregfender]

Just curious what some of you folks consider must haves. Be it wood-working tools, mechanics tools, or anything...what occupies a place of honor in your shop?

 

[Chooglin]

not stricly a shop tool,but the sawzall, is a tool I use alot.

 

[zman007007]

my frig to keep the beer cold. lol

 

[RadarTech]

I have been using my dremel multimax so much lately it is my favorite now.....

 

[gwjd]

greatly depends what you are doing

but saws all drill/ driver / circular saw

i second the saws all

then good socket set

hand tools pliers hammers.....

 

[SandburRanch]

I use Quick Grip clamps more than any other individual tool whether it be for metal, wood working or clamping a nut cracker to crack pecans. It supplements nearly every other tool I use such as the drill press. In the pic one was used as a third hand to hold a tubing in place to contain a backer washer for a pop rivet. I find the uses endless.

 

[Baby Grand]

I consider the following one tool:

Medium quality, 12 spd, floor mount, drill press with tooling:

A set of very high quality drill bits - letter, fractional & number sizes.

A very high quality tap & die set.

Various drill & thread guages for selecting the right stock, taps, dies & drills.

A set of Forstner bits.

A few fly cutters.

A collection of wire wheels.

A collection of mounted stones.

A few flap wheels.

 

[TripleR]

Home:

Air compressor
impact wrench
good set of hand tools
4" angle grinder

Farm Shop:

All of the above
Welder, stick and TIG
Plasma cutter
Drill press
Sawzal

 

[whistlepig]

A five pound hand sledge.
Spud bar.
My 16" channel lock pliers.

These are for objects that resist my attempts to fix them. I have found that, with these tools, I can turn any resisting object in to a useless mass. This helps preserve my sanity. Makes me feel better too.

 

[CompactTractorFan]

Wow...where do I start...:confused2:

 

[bakerg]

A sawsall was always a favorite, but come to like a 4 1/2" hand grinder with a 3/32" cut off wheel. Grinder does a lot nicer job then the sawsall whencutting up steel.:thumbsup:

 

[RadarTech]

A five pound hand sledge.

I've been expecting someone to say this one..

We all know the solution is always a bigger hammer...

 

[Johndeere3720]

It depends where I am. At my moms I use my craftsman drill a lot and a hammer is the tool of choice at my dads.

 

[brain55]

That is tough. My 6 1/2" Wilton shop vise, and my 4 1/2" grinder would be up there. My drill press is nice to have when I need it. Heck I used it as a lathe the other day when I needed to make some bushings. I chucked up some steel and used a file to take the OD to the right size (only had to change the diameter by .030"), and then used a hand drill and drill bit for the ID. My welder/generator and wire feeder is important too. I have been buying professional tools for 25 years and at times they are all important. There is no substitute for an air compressor when you need air, but moving to cordless tools has cut down on my need significantly.

I'd say my most important tool is my 25 years of experience as a mechanic.

Brian

As far as hammers, my favorite is my 13 pound rubber dead-blow. It comes in very handy when I'm putting Bobcat T300 tracks back on by myself.

 

[robs660]

I just realized that I could not live without
My MIG welder, grinder, 5lbs sledge, & table saw.

I really REALLY REALLY love my porta-band! That has become my go to saw to cut up all sorts of stuff! If you don't have one you won't know what you have been missing.

 

[CompactTractorFan]

It depends where I am. At my moms I use my craftsman drill a lot and a hammer is the tool of choice at my dads.

My dad loves the hammer...If it doesn't fit, the hammer will make it fit...:thumbsup: :laughing:

 

[Mace Canute]

Tools or equipment? If we can lump them all together, I think I would have to rate an air compressor right up there at the number one position. Although a person can make-do without, a parts washer is just oh-so-nice to have. Its one of those things that you don't realize how nice they are until you've use one. My lathe and mill would be sorely missed too if I had to give them up.

 

[LD1]

EVERY tool in my shop would be hard to live without. It would mean farming out a lot more repairs. Like working on my cars, fixing things that break etc.

So heres a small list

Aside from the obvious hand tools (wrenches, pliers, screwdrivers, sockets, etc)

Air compressor and air tools
Vise
Welder
Torches
Floor jack/jack stands
Drill
Saws
Good fluke meter

And when it comes to woodworking (not the tedious kind) but framing/building/decks, etc

I absolutly could not live without my sliding compound miter saw. Once you use one, you will almost NEVER use a circular saw again unless you are ripping plywood or something. And mine was just a cheapie menards tool-shop brand 10" single bevel slider with stand for $139 on sale.

It has already built 3 pretty large decks (12x16, 12x20, and 10x20) blus countless other things like shelving and benches in the garage. I definatally got more than my money back out of it.

And when it comes to building/framing things, I could also probabally not live without my transit, 4' level, t-square, and a good tool pouch.

 

[jmanatee2]

Besides wrenches, sockets, etc....

In no particular order:

Cordless Drill
Air Compressor
Drill Press
Metal Cutting bandsaw
MIG, TIG, Arc Welder
Vise
grinding wheel
shop Press
Skill Saw
Chop saw (compound Miter)
Saws-All

 

[crbr]

My 11-n-1 multi-tip Klein screw driver.