Need Tool Advice

[pxbacher]

Volume

Construction guys can get away with running those little pancake compressors, because they're mostly using nail guns. Unfortunately, the various air wrenches all require fairly large volumes of air at pressure.

I have a little Craftsman tankless compressor I picked up at an auction for a couple bucks that I use all the time with an air stapler and it works great. But it won't run an air wrench at all. For that I use a vertical tank job.

Sorry, I can't give you a recommendation on tank size, but IIRC when I was shopping for mine, all the tools have minimum ratings on them that you match up with the compressor to be sure you have enough pressure and volume.

HTH

-Pete

 

[AngryLepercon]

torch with mapp gas?

uke:


Acetylene is the way to go. Mapp last longer but totally not worth it. Nowhere near as easy and doesn't burn hot enough. Especially for rusted items.


I would use a carbon/air arc over both though. With the arc its precise, quick, easy, no real heat needed and an 1/8 inch rod will cleanly blow through 1 1/2 thick steel with ease.

 

[cvar]

Most useful tool after basic sockets, hammer, drill, hacksaw, files, screwdrivers, is ... a big bench vise. Then a bench-grinder having wirewheel/grindstone pair for removing rust. Air tools are a handy extravagance, but not really necessary. A solid worktable in your garage is one of the best "tools". And portable LED lighting that won't shatter.

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

I have all the air tools that I need/want, but if I was starting over as a home/hobbyist type mechanic I would go with a corded electric 1\2" impact and a cordless 3/8" impact. With the corded look for the highest amp rating you can find. With the cordless-the highest milli-amp/hour rating. I bought a ryobi kit but don't like them as the quality is lacking, I would go milwaukee or dewalt or ?

 

[CurtisP87]

Id get a decent volt/ohm meter...none of those fancy tools will help out much if you can't diagnose your issues...

 

[4.0B2]

i didn't read everything, it's 1:38 in the morning...let's be serious. lol

My newest addition to my collection is the Power Probe 3. AWESOME tool.


AIR TOOLS... GOOD COMPRESSOR. I actually have 2 compressors, one is a 2 stage awesome one. Other one is a normal 120 psi vertical. A good impact, if you buy cheap... you'll hate yourself.

another big one for me is my OBD 1&2 computer. I have the Innova 3120 for that one, plus a newer Innova that does ABS and other stuff to, but it's not OBD 1 also, which is useful! Check Amazon for these.

another favorite of mine is my DeWalt 4.5" cutoff wheel (electric) MAKE SURE you spend the extra money on the 10 amp one, not the 7 amp.

torque wrenches--buy quality stuff. I have Snap-On...but I needed to finance them, as most of my tools.

also check out this website.
http://www.searsoutlet.com/Tools-and-Tool-Storage/d/category.jsp?md=ct_md&cid=84&SetOmVert=true
thing is, the outlet's best prices are only in certain areas.. if you look around they can will list where each item is.

 

[97RangerXLT]

ahhh tools.... I love tools... I have an excell spreadsheet that lists all of mine, and it is huge.

+1 (or even more) on the proper worktable/ workbench with a good vise. always nice to have a space where you can work on a part or assembly out of the vehicle or object you are working on.

As for what I would recomend? after you have a basic SAE/Metric 3/9 and 1/2 inch socket set, a basic set of SAE/ Metric combination wrenches, I would buy some of the off sizes that are not included in the set. I found that 15mm, 18mm, 21mm and 22 mm sockets are not included in most sets, and you will have a use for them in working on your car. for wrenches, 18mm and 21 mm. If you can afford it, get an extra of each commonly used wrench (7/16, 3/8, 1/2, 9/16, 5/8, 3/4, and 13/16; 10mm, 13mm 15mm, 18mm, 19mm, 21mm, 22mm wrenches, and for reference, 3/4 and 19mm are the same size. I believe that 21mm and 13/16 are very close.

another additional item, get a craftsman or snap on flex head 3/8" ratchet with the bent handle. This is quite possibly the most awesome ratchet ever. I have one and it is the best 30 bucks I have ever spent.

http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_...ame=Tools&cName=HandTools&sName=Ratchetsmv=rr

how it is bent and how the head flexes allows you to get into some really tight areas and use it as a quick wrench once you get the bolt broke loose.

also get a set of bolt and nut extractors. you *will* come across some nuts or bolts that are so rusted/ beat to hell that a wrench just won't work. a tap and die set is also a nice thing to have.

and for the rest of them, buy them as you need them.

AJ

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

As far as compressors go, I have an oiled 10 gallon Harbor Freight one (I don't think they have the exact one I got anymore). According to the specs, it should have been enough to run a 1/2" impact (according to the CFM numbers) but it never lived up to it's billing.... or at least until I was talking with Holyford86 one day and he recommended removing the stock air regulator and running full pressure to the impact. So I pulled the line off back to the pressure box, got some new fittings and put in a T so I have full tank pressure on one port and regulated pressure on the other. It runs my impact but I often have to stop and let it catch back up. I could really use a bigger, better compressor. But since I do construction work, the 10 gallon is portable and is big enough to handle running two nailguns at once - which two skilled carpenters both running nailguns can bang together a project in no time. I was working with a half-skilled guy building some sheds one year and once I convinced him that we should both be running nailguns, we managed to cut a couple hours off of assembly time.

But at any rate, I would recommend at least a 30+ gallon compressor, preferably an oiled compressor. IMHO, Ingersol Rand is the way to go for air tools (at least for an impact and air ratchet). I use Goodyear air hoses, Harbor Freight often will put them on sale, the rubber hoses are well worth it, they don't get stiff like the plastic ones.

For hand tools I have a mix of Craftsman, Duralast (Autozone's brand), S-K and Snap-on. I have a handful of stuff from Harbor Freight, mostly stuff I picked up because I needed to modify it for a job and I didn't want to use a more expensive tool. The Duralast stuff is surprisingly decent quality - I would rate their ratchets at better than the current Craftsman stuff, and they are lifetime warrantied. I like the few Snap-on and S-K tools I have, but for me the cost is largely prohibitive. I'm not a regular mechanic (although sometimes it feels like it, lol). And the cheaper stuff is easier for me to replace. Any time I've broken one of the more expensive tools, it ends up riding around in the truck for a couple months till I can track down the appropriate truck - which isn't too bad as long as you don't still need the tool for what you're doing.

I started out back when with a 21 pc Craftsman screwdriver set, a 180-some piece Craftsman ratchet set, and a couple of wrenches. Now I have an overflowing 14-drawer Craftsman toolbox. I've just bought tools as I found a need for them after the original starter set. I also spent some time here and there cruising through estate sales - if it said they had tools I'd take a look. Often you'd find a box full of misc hand tools for like 50 cents each or something like that. I'd rummage through looking for anything lifetime warrantied and see if it was something useful. Got a bunch of duplicate sockets, wrenches, ratchets, screwdrivers and the like in the most common sizes. Sometimes you'd find ones that were broken or stripped out that they were pretty much throwing away. I'd just swing past the local store on the way home and go home with a shiny new tool, lol.

Oh, and a good Oxy-Acet. torch set can be a serious help for heating, cutting - and with some practice even brazing and welding (I'm actually faster and neater welding with gas rather than stick).