Tools we all need.

[Jancoe]

Figured I'd start a topic about things we should have in our tool stash that we might not have or think of. Things that make working on stuff easier. I start with my gasket maker/ tube squeezer. I find this tool to be very handy. I get the last drop out of them all. I like this style. There is others out there that just slide up the tube so you can still read the information, but those don't hold the sealant near the nozzle after awhile. The ones branded for the auto industry are more expensive. Look for hair color or toothpaste tube squeezer. Stop into your local hair salon. They probably have a stash of them from the hair color tubes they go through.

https://www.amazon.com/LOVEINUSA-Stainl ... fe1836.jpg[/IMG]

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[DavidBarkey]

telescopic mirrors and magnets for all the bolts, sockets, and wenches we drop in no mans land .

[Eugen]

Figured I'd start a topic about things we should have in our tool stash that we might not have or think of. Things that make working on stuff easier. I start with my gasket maker/ tube squeezer. I find this tool to be very handy. I get the last drop out of them all. I like this style. There is others out there that just slide up the tube so you can still read the information, but those don't hold the sealant near the nozzle after awhile. The ones branded for the auto industry are more expensive. Look for hair color or toothpaste tube squeezer. Stop into your local hair salon. They probably have a stash of them from the hair color tubes they go through.

Someone in our family, I won't name any names, could really use this tube squeezer on the tooth paste tube. I will not dare mention it though, I don't want to sleep in the tent.

Great topic Evan, I like tools. In fact I think my diagnosis is TAS (tool acquisition syndrome).

[DavidBarkey]

The most important special tool i need these days is the one Eugen has .

[Eugen]

The most important special tool i need these days is the one Eugen has .

yeah right! Listen Dave, I'm officially jealous of your milling machine!

In all seriousness though, you are welcome to borrow any tool I got here Dave, of course.

[DavidBarkey]

The most important special tool i need these days is the one Eugen has .

yeah right! Listen Dave, I'm officially jealous of your milling machine!

In all seriousness though, you are welcome to borrow any tool I got here Dave, of course.

I don't think your would let me borrow you and your ambition, energy and ability to work in the cold .

[Eugen]

@DavidBarkey my wife says it's ok to borrow me to work in the cold if you need help

[Jancoe]

Would really like to have a mill and lathe one day. I browse marketplace here and there to get an idea what I want and found some good deals but not having the room currently makes it hard to get them.

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[Eugen]

Would really like to have a mill and lathe one day. I browse marketplace here and there to get an idea what I want and found some good deals but not having the room currently makes it hard to get them.

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Evan, I know that feeling. However, I have also noticed that even the price of used items goes up with time. Now I have decided that even if I don't have a place to put a tool like this such that I can use it, if the right deal comes along I will buy it and simply store it in a tent/portable garage until I may have a proper shop. May not be a good decision for everyone else, but this is what I've resolved myself to do.

[thebuildist]

My answer to this is based on asking myself:. What have I only recently gotten that I now use very often?

To be fair, each of these three things that I'm about to mention I've had for at least three or four years. But that's still recent in terms of my overall work experience.

1:. A flip driver in a dedicated cordless drill.
https://www.acehardware.com/departments ... ts/2100527

By far the majority of the time I use a cordless drill to either drill a 1/8 in hole, or screw in a Phillips head screw. With the flip driver installed I can do either of those things instantly.

2. A really big, at least 18 in, adjustable wrench
A while back I bought an 18 in adjustable wrench from harbor freight. Since then I've gone back and bought a 24 in as well. I almost never use them to turn nuts. But they're big enough and strong enough and provide enough leverage that you can bend and twist fairly heavy steel with them up to like a quarter inch plate. Or half inch rebar. And there's just a lot of times that you need to twist and tweak something made of metal and one of those big wrenches is perfect for the job! And the hole in the handle is great for bending rods as well. Just slip the hole over the rod and use the leverage of the tool to apply a bend. I find myself reaching for that big wrench all the time.

3. A bench mounted porta-band saw

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I first saw this tool hack done by Jimmy DiResta. He took a Milwaukee portaband saw and mounted it into a stand so that you can use it as a stationary tool. I did the same thing with the harbor freight version of Saw, just because it was so much more affordable. Fast forward about 8 or 9 years, and I'm still using that harbor freight small band saw. My best estimate literally speaking, is that I use it an average of four times every time I enter the shop. Hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of times. Often it's for cutting metal. Copper, brass, aluminum, iron, steel. Pipe, conduit, tubing, all-thread, shafting, rebar, plate as thick as 1" or as thin as sheet metal.

But not only metal. If you need to quickly cut a little chunk of 2x4 or plywood or PVC, or... Anything except glass or tile, just throw it on the bandsaw. Way faster than getting out any other cutting tools.

Once this cheap harbor freight saw dies, I'll have to spend whatever it takes to get some other similar saw, and bench mount it like this one is. I can't live without it now

Bob