Tools you can't live without in the shop

admin

I've been welding now for a few years and really enjoy it.  I'd like to get a wish list together of tools and machines that I could use in a shop.  So, what does everyone out there find they can't do without?  Or at least what tools or machines really make the process quicker and more efficient?  Now, there isn't really anything to big or small that can't be mentioned here so let's hear it.  Thanks, Nick.  Already on my list is a plasma cutter.
Reply:chopsaw. and a million clamp of all shapes and sizes.
Reply:About a half of truck filled with welding clamps and of course a welder since its kind of hard to run a welding shop without some kind of welder.Co-Own CNC shop:Miller :1251 plasma cutter, MaxStar 700 TIG/Stick, & XMT 456 Multiprocess Welder.&  2 Hypertherm HPR260's Plasma CutterSorry I had a bad stroke but now I am back.
Reply:The one thing I wouldn't want to work without: Education... any and all I can get!Ditto on the clamps. If you have 100, you'll need 50 more.The best things in life all come on a stick!
Reply:I am really enjoying and finding many uses for my American Bender (www.americanbender.com). Quite accurate and versitile machine.  I would like to say my lathe, however I tend to end up making stuff that I could purchase and making up for the $ save in time spent fabbing.
Reply:I also agree on the clamps, you can never have too many. Also a 4 1/2" grinder along w/ a die grinder w/ flap wheels. Of course then you need an air compressor and--------------------- well, you know. The list just keeps growin'!!!!                         MikeOl' Stonebreaker  "Experience is the name everyone gives to their mistakes"Hobart G-213 portableMiller 175 migMiller thunderbolt ac/dc stick Victor O/A setupMakita chop saw
Reply:To the list already mentioned i would add a drill press and hydraulic press with brake.Lincoln 225 ACLincoln Mig Pak 15Lincoln Mig Pak 10Purox Oxy-Acet Outfit20 Ton PressHonda Generator
Reply:A wench to pass me a beer when I get hot ...........
Reply:Originally Posted by eyspyA hot wench to pass me a beer ...........
Reply:Clamps, drill press, drill bits, band saw, work/welding table, more clamps, a couple of vises, several sizes of angle and bench grinders, hammers of all sizes and shapes, tape measure, even more clamps, straight edge, angle finder, square, yard stick, gotta have more clamps and so on and so on!Oh!And a welder or two.#1. If you don't like what I wrote, or if it offends you, then don't read it!#2. I am living life the way I see fit, if you don't like the way I'M living, tough sh**!
Reply:Gotta be this one.Opens dog food cans, AND  beer bottles!!!! Attached Images"Any day above ground is a good day"http://www.farmersamm.com/
Reply:For that once in a while when welding isn't prudent.... Duct Tape
Reply:I buy tools all the time, even tools I don't currently have a use for.  Somehow, they all end up being used once in a while.  My wife used to question the need for such tools, but now she comes to me about once a month and asks, "Do you have a tool that I can use that will..."Overall, I can only remember one tool that was a complete waste of money--an engine moving tool that was supposed to allow me to tilt the engine in my front wheel drive car to access the spark plugs in the back.  It didn't move the engine nearly far enough to do the job.  (The engine has to come out to remove the plugs).America Needs AMERICA'S Oil!!!"Global warming is the greatest scam in history ...There is no run away climate change. The impact of humans on climate is not catastrophic. Our planet is not in peril."--John Coleman, Founder of The Weather Channel
Reply:Originally Posted by steve45Overall, I can only remember one tool that was a complete waste of money--an engine moving tool that was supposed to allow me to tilt the engine in my front wheel drive car to access the spark plugs in the back.  It didn't move the engine nearly far enough to do the job.  (The engine has to come out to remove the plugs).
Reply:The tools I use most often are vice grips, clamps, a square, tape meaure, soapstone, chop saw, flatbar, prybar, crowbar, and several sizes of sledgehammers, mainly 3 and 4 pounders. That's besides the welder, plasma cutter, grinders, O/A torch with a cutting tip and keeping a heating tip handy for bending purposes, and almost forgot a bench vise. Not to mention drill press and a hand drill with HSS bits.
Reply:The ol' Noodle is probably the best tool you own.  Without the Noodle, the other stuff is just a bunch of metal"Any day above ground is a good day"http://www.farmersamm.com/
Reply:I call it liquid wrench - my oxy/acetylene burning outfit. Attached Images
Reply:Looks like a stout rotisserie!!!"Any day above ground is a good day"http://www.farmersamm.com/
Reply:Yes it is.  You must have missed the thread.http://weldingweb.com/vbb/showthread.php?t=28859 Attached Images
Reply:B f hDisclaimer; "I am just an a$$hole welder, don't take it personally ."
Reply:WFM-  Now I remember!!!Tozzi-  The coolest stuff you got was, if I remember, the deals for lifting plate.  I can't remember exactly"Any day above ground is a good day"http://www.farmersamm.com/
Reply:Originally Posted by Atomik777Let me guess some version of either the pontiac 6000/ corsica/lumina series. Or a v6 rav 4
Reply:angle grinder, cut off tool, hack saw, jig saw (i use that for everything) A WELDER OF COURSE! torches, bench grinder, and a good set or sockets and ratchetsAHP alphatig 200xclarke 130en MIG (first welder i ever bought)NT Plasma 375craftsman 240/180 ac/dc ARCcustom 60x30x30 powder coating ovenhttps://www.facebook.com/pages/Rossi...18853401526643
Reply:Originally Posted by farmersammWFM-  Now I remember!!!Tozzi-  The coolest stuff you got was, if I remember, the deals for lifting plate.  I can't remember exactly
Reply:That's the one!!!"Any day above ground is a good day"http://www.farmersamm.com/any tool that makes a job easier even if you use it just once it paid for it self and i would say imagination would be the 2nd tool some of the tools that are home made ive made a welding cart out of an old lawn mower just so  i didnt have to lug my miller ac welder to that back of my houe where the 220 is to do a job that takes 5 min to do
Reply:shop tools ?i like my combo sander i use it all timea lot less mess than a bench grinder Attached Images
Reply:I can't live without my Welding Tool Set complete with C-clamps, locking pliers, etc.Midwest Metal ProductsMetal Wire Forming Fan Guards Delta-Larm
Reply:And good lighting for the shop. And exhaust for the welding fumes. Every thing else has bee covered...... Not you will all ways find one more thing you need, even after you get that one more thing that you need.Let us know how you do, and what you figure out ( cause I probably need one too ).Miller Thunderbolt 225Millermatic 130 XPLincoln HD 100 Forney C-5bt Arc welderPlasma Cutter Gianteach Cut40ACent Machinery Bandsaw Cent Machinery 16Speed Drill PressChicago Electric 130amp tig/90 ArcHobart 190 Mig spoolgun ready
Reply:Tools I can't live without:Pretty much all of them..--hand tools--bandsaws--angle grinders--clamps--squares --welding tables--welders (all of them)--drill press(s)--pedestal grinder--mill--lathe--etc..--etc..
Reply:There is one more tool I forgot to mention in my first post!Templates!I have a lot of things I build and sell and make templates of everything, saves a lot of time over reading the prints and measuring everytime I make something again.#1. If you don't like what I wrote, or if it offends you, then don't read it!#2. I am living life the way I see fit, if you don't like the way I'M living, tough sh**!
Reply:His name is victor.   he cleans up after me most days and is a hole drilling/punching machine!Vantage 500's LN-25's, VI-400's, cobramatics, Miller migs, synch 350 LX, Powcon inverters, XMT's, 250 Ton Acurrpress 12' brake, 1/4" 10' Atlantic shear,Koikie plasma table W/ esab plasmas. marvel & hyd-mech saws, pirrana & metal muncher punches.
Reply:Oh yeah!Did I mention clamps and lots of them! #1. If you don't like what I wrote, or if it offends you, then don't read it!#2. I am living life the way I see fit, if you don't like the way I'M living, tough sh**!
Reply:Did anyone mention clamps?   I remember the day my wife (bless her heart) came home with a bundle of clamps for me.  She was so happy, but I couldn't hold back the giggles.  She got me some carpentry clamps, you know, plastic with rubber pads on them.  Still haven't found a use for them.
Reply:Originally Posted by ed macshop tools ?i like my combo sander i use it all timea lot less mess than a bench grinder
Reply:I would say the scotchman Iron worker. - I've depended on it for the last 18 years. For a welding shop it really makes life easier.          But going back 30 years,  to a Wyoming ranch 20 miles from town, Party line phone that didn't work for months at a time.  Where some days we didn't even have an old truck running to go get parts.......... That was heaven........            We had a pipe framed slab sided shop that the wind would blow through, and in it we had a 180 amp "Ranch Rite" welder, half a box of 1/8" 6011, a Harris cutting torch, a 1/2" sears drill, half a set of bits, a 2 drawer tool box we picked up off the side of the highway and brazed back together, air compressor and tire changer.  Some wrenches, pliers, screw drivers and hammers, an old anvil, worn out vise with a ready rod screw, a hacksaw, some files, a dryer motor and a threaded adapter to hold a worn out wheel to grind the drills, a pile of home made chisles and punches- I made them from old springs and rake teeth, every shape and size. And next to the shop a big pile of old tires and machinery. - With that impressive shop full of  high end tools we kept 2 John deere mowers, 2 morrell rakes, 2 farmhand rakes, a farmhand loader, an old plow, disk, grain drill, 3 old ford and IH trucks, Morrill ditcher with steel wheels, some wagons made from truck axles,, 2 ford 8n and 9n tractors, 3 two cylinder and 2 four cylinder John Deeres, 1 Farmall A, a two man OMC chain saw, a bulldozer with a loose backhoe, a pull behind grader, and 3 old "turned around"  truck chassis 1930 -1950 with pushrakes welded to them.          We did full overhauls, rebabits, rewelded castings, and blocks,, recut broken gears, welded transmissions, weld worn out holes up and recut them with chisles, patched and booted tires, welded up rusted out rims. patched gas tanks. Rebuild drivelines. Everything it took to keep machinery going.           We harvested about 1,500 tons of hay stacked loose off of 1000 to 1200 acres of land in about 30 working days each summer with 2 men and 5 boys. cleaned 15 miles of ditch each spring and plowed snow off 10 miles of dirt road all winter. Ran 500 cattle on 50,000 acres of shared BLM range. Had 25 horses, some fantastic, others, well,  "if a horse had been sadled, it was considered well broke" Fed hay for 6 months each year in -60deg degree blizzards, whiteouts, fall and spring rains and mud.           Some days I wonder what in the h@#$%^ I did to not be there now. Wish my kids could have been there, done that.             Tools are what you have, you do what have to with what you can get.past work toys; lathes,mills, drills, saws,  robots, lasers ironworker, shears, brake, press, grinders, tensile tester,  torches, tigs, migs, sticks, platten table, positioner,  plasmas , gleeble and spot. Retired June 30, 2009.
Reply:......Well.....can't have too many clamps.....and then a 25# sledge for when you need to 'disturb' something......Dougspair
Reply:I agree!     A big hammer!       a BIG pipe wrench would be on the list!     A housemovers jack and some heavy chain would be there as well.past work toys; lathes,mills, drills, saws,  robots, lasers ironworker, shears, brake, press, grinders, tensile tester,  torches, tigs, migs, sticks, platten table, positioner,  plasmas , gleeble and spot. Retired June 30, 2009.
Reply:1. A big hammer that I can swing with 1 hand.2.  My shop compressor.
Reply:When I get to work in the morning I usually throw my welpers in my back pocket.   A black ink pen, round silverstreak, and Starrett C606R 6" scale (6R graduations, 1/10" and 1/50") all go into my left shirt pocket, occasionally joined by a black sharpie, #3 pencil, and 3x5 memo pad.  Other tools I use on most days are my 42 oz Armstrong deadblow hammer, 2 AA cell flashlight (lots of things in a shop to cast shadows right where you need unobstructed light), a Stanley 12' fractional/decimal tape measure, chipping hammer, and chisel blade putty knife for scraping spatter.  Most of the other tools I have are things I don't use every day, but make some task easier or faster that they are worth the real estate in my overcrowded toolbox.
Reply:id say bench grinder (with one grinding wheel and one wire brush) and chop saw
Reply:http://www.stronghandtools.com/products/vises.html Attached Images
Reply:I probably use my Shop-Vac more than anything.
Reply:Originally Posted by TozziWeldingB f h
Reply:I would have to say a big belt sander.  I have a Grizzly 2 inch bench top sander/grinder that I use to make knife blades, but I use it for just about any grinding/finishing.
Reply:Originally Posted by gclampHammers, Hammers and more hammers, oh yea lotsa clamps, I like besseys the best.
Reply:A real good noodle is useful alright. My noodle just ain't what it used to be, course once it's as good as it ever was. Apologies to Toby K.I think I use my tape measure more than anything in the shop. Got several, one on the belt, another in the Tool box, a coupla giant ones and one li'l bitty one. I go to Lowes without it and feel nakedLincoln Power MIG 215Lincoln WeldPak 3200HDLincon ProCut 25Lincoln WeldanPower 225 AC/DCIf all else fails... buy more tools
Reply:Anyone useing a 25lb hamer needs to learn to work from the shoulders up
Reply:Wes that ranch could be in Montana, Wyoming  or just as likely 20 miles South West of Big Bend near Sanderson or Marfa Texas on the Pecos or the Rio. I've been out to places like that for a day or two at a time and you do wonder how they got so lucky as to just be able to live there, be there, sleep smelling that breeze, eat such good food,  and see the shooting stars every night. U can keep the greenbrokes however, I like 'em well tamed down a lil past their prime  and EZ on the butt.  Better yet a Jenny mule who knows everything and you're just along for the ride.enjoy, BretLincoln Power MIG 215Lincoln WeldPak 3200HDLincon ProCut 25Lincoln WeldanPower 225 AC/DCIf all else fails... buy more tools
Reply:I'm old school, but the thing that I found was the key to more jobs was the O/A torch.  Not just for welding & cutting but mechanical repairs, freeing stuck fasteners, bending and straightening stock etc.  I'm saving up to buy a plasma cutter and I have lots of welding machines but I'll always keep a torch around, I just feel like I have one hand tied behind my back when I don't have access to one.The way I see it if I was forced to sell each of my major tools one by one and try to keep the most versatile until the end it would be an O/A torch for me.That said it is hard to see any I would sell and could do without unless I upgraded them with something newer/better.Just wish I had a bigger shop. Last edited by norite; 10-05-2010 at 11:28 PM."The reason we are here is that we are not all there"SA 200Idealarc TM 300 300MM 200MM 25130a SpoolgunPrecision Tig 375Invertec V350 ProSC-32 CS 12 Wire FeederOxweld/Purox O/AArcAirHypertherm Powermax 85LN25