Waht's in the shop

[hudson1984]

Ok, so got some money burning a hole in my pocket and an empty garage...

So! I want to start the long road to a half decent tool kit - now i'm not looking at Snap-on or anything yes I know they are great tools and you get what you pay for etc but lets face it my needs aren't really going to warrent the cost.

what i'm really after is some advice on must have items i.e "you can't get by without a good spanner set with 'x' size in several lengths"

any suggestions would be ideal, looking to spend about a grand on kitting the garage out really and would like it to go as far as possible.

Blank page here people so wanting to go from scratch

[dungbug]

Good comprehensive socket set and spanners is a must (Imperial & Metric), same applies to screw drivers (varying length ones are always handy). Breaker bar (for those stubborn little shites nuts/bolts. Set of pliers (long/short nose), wire stripper, solder iron (for leccy repairs), good solid hammer (every tool kit needs one), maybe add some various mole grips too.

If you're not looking to pay Strap-On prices then the Halfords Pro range is pretty descent, ideal for the home/hobby type of stuff. I've got a set of Halfords Pro ratchet spanners (Metric) & they've been great, had them for years & used in all weathers & still work as good as they've always done. Nice, strong and have lasted very well. The guy next door to me has the large Halfords Pro socket set which has 3 different lengths of ratchet which I've used a few times and that set is also strong and works well (I've spotted the neighbour twatting the ratchets with a hammer a few times working on his car and it's still going).

I guess the option is to trawl eBay, local Gumtree etc as some people do sell their Snap-On gear if they're leaving the trade. There's an ad on my local Gumtree for a large collection of Snap-On stuff for £800, a good buy but way over what I'd pay for tools (paid less for my bike ;D)

[TerraRoot]

spanners as long as there not cast crap, any thing will do, two sets, you'll more then one of each spanner.
decent 1/2" ratchet set, something with a rebuild-able mechanism.
hammers, soft plastic one, a claw hammer and a sturdy 1/2lb-er.

those are the very basic tools you have to have.

when/if you get to my level (whether that's good or a bad, up or down is debatable),
you'll need:

A fork leg, a used chrome stanchion is a perfect lever to add to a 1/2" drive (not the ratchet, you'll break the mechanism) and for drifting things way down deep into something.
Bench grinder, the wire wheel is great for cleaning really shitty parts, and a very worn out wire wheel can even polish (to a crap level if you see what i mean) the stone wheel can be used to bring down the OD of a washer or spacer quite accurately, just don't do it in front of a H&S officer, heart attack city.
2x angle grinders, cheapys, one fitted with a grinding disc and one with a cutting disc, one breaks you can keep going and while they both work you don't have to keep swapping disc's.
Gas torch, don't need a massive one, we have a hand held, lasts pretty well. with this you can make and anneal, punches, little hook things for springs and lost nuts, loosening really stuck bolts and nuts, can't live without this tool any more, the amount of specialized tools i have now is silly. "Not that!, thats my LC48 5hp B&S coil earth remover with out having to take the fan cover and tank off!"
Arc welder, get a small inverter type, lays some fantastic weld, and unless your building a bridge get one that can do the least amount of amps you can buy.
Wood, MDF screwed to the wall with all the spanners and hammers hanging off it via some screws, massive time saver when you don't have to dig in a tool box for that 8mm.
Bench Vice, doubles as an anvil if you cro-magnon enough.
Quench tank, for hot bits, fires and dunking people you do not like.
Petrol bucket with a brush for cleaning old grease off bits.

Any money left over?

Pillar drill, at some point down the line it could be fitted with a milling table, so worth getting a good one in the first place.
Compressor is nice to have, even if it's just for blowing dirt off things.

Christ i sound like a right crusty old bodger.

[hudson1984]

Good advice cheers, yeah i'm glad you brought up Halfords as that's really what prompted the question - they have a nice little tool chest on offer at the mo for £49.99 seems ideal as a little start unit to house the tool kit.

as for wall mounting etc, yup, all in hand on that one - spend last year making a workbench, lined the rear wall with thick MDF (it was free so that made it ideal lol) and a steel cover on the top. so the spanner etc will live on the wall

suprised by arc welder to be honest. I was thinking Mig would be the route to take for terms of simplicity but i've been known to be wrong before

agree with the "way too much for what I'd pay" with regards to snap-on, don't get me wrong obviously fantastic tools and have their place but for what i'm wanting to use them for I think halfords will be more than sufficient

the grand aim really would be to do some simple work on bikes maybe one day earn a couple of quid on the side by doing repair work but i'm not looking to go pro so my needs are quite simple. Plus tools are a long process I think you always "need" something else just a case of getting the right start

[bbsparky]

Surely just a hammer and gaffer tape?

In fairness I have done the wall mounted tools and its a god send when looking for something. Also have a compressor (just cos i like the f1 style sound when taking the wheels off! ) and looking for a welder at some point. I started off with one of the complete tool kits you can buy. Quality wasnt great but it allowed me to work out which bits I used the most and then replace them with decent quality kit. Have mainly been using the halford pro range as I can stretch to the snap on stuff and cant be bothered to key a constant eye on ebay for them.
Agree with the 2 grinders idea as it can be a pain changing discs mid job.

[dungbug]

Jan 10, 2013 23:18:54 GMT TerraRoot said:

Quench tank, for hot bits, fires and dunking people you do not like.

I think I need one of these.......

I think you'll probably be better buying the Pro stuff separately, i.e socket set, spanners, pliers, drivers. More so if you're going to mount everything on the wall, the box will just be another thing knocking around in the way, as Sparky says, the box sets aren't usually that great. I need to add to my tools this year & will be buying the Halfords Pro stuff. Terra makes some good points with the power tools as well, grinders are great & everyone should own one (or more).

[hudson1984]

definately i mean I looked at the teng tools range and they have some resonably priced complete sets but without knowing what I want i'll only end up having this massive tool box full of tools i'll never need

www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_storeId_10001_catalogId_10151_productId_811705_langId_-1_categoryId_255214

going to go get that this evening, yeah I do take the point that it's another think getting in the way but the lower cupboard is ideal to store the grinder and other bits that won't be hung on the wall

other than that it definately seems like the halfords pro stuff is the way to go in terms of hand tools

[david4949]

Got some Halford pro stuff myself good value and quality. I use to work for Snap on tools as a salesman so i have some of theirs to and for just tinkering in the garage with the occasional project halford will do the job nicely.
There are 2 things i find invaluable an angle grinder with several attachments(but 2 grinder would be handy) and the other is a hydraulic work bench,having the bike off the floor is awesome! much easier to work on.

[TerraRoot]

Re the welders, i've a big old ARC and wireless mig and an inverter in work,

the mig is easier but it also has tons of things to go wrong in them and if you at the cheap end/very occasional use of the scale you'll probably want a gas-less one, and they are really hard to get nice welds with.

my old AC ARC is quite powerful and all you need is a steady hand to start the arc and maintain the weld.

the inverter can make use of very low amps and thin sticks, it quite a lot easier to avoid blowing holes in stuff and is a massive space saver. Some day i'll convince the boss we really need to buy the few parts to convert it to a scratch start tig welder. sexy sexy tig welds mmmmm.

Arc welding is a russian invention, so yeah its robust simple and versatile all you need add is a bit of skill!

www.mig-welding.co.uk/ < loads more about melting metal.

[hudson1984]

yeah been on there a few times but much like everything else - when you're adament about something i.e a mig welder being correct you can generally find something to support it lol so it's handy to have someone to steer me on the right track.

plus the idea of tig welding is very appealing (was my favourite at college)

definately don't want to be blowing holes in stuff so the inverter seems the best choice.

I've actually made a start now! bought the little halfords box - it's ok, little small but for £50 was a bargain, the top box is sitting on my bench and the trolley has now got a wooden insert and has become my workshop trolley tempted to buy another and convert the bottom to act as sturdy shelves on the lower section of my workbench.

[TerraRoot]

good stuff, any thoughts yet about the bike your getting?

best thing for the welders would be to find someone near by with a welder(s), bring your own scrap steel and have a bash.

[hudson1984]

I'm definately swaying toward the VT750 or something similar just like the cruiser style of bike - although that being said i'd really love to have a track day bike and blast it around some tracks everynow and then

[jasonb]

Some good advice on here.
Agree with the Halfords pro range for quality kit at half decent prices.
Now regarding the compressors / welders and other more pricey kit I'm going to stick my neck out and say keep an eye on aldi / lidl websites to see what comes up.
I realise some people may be shaking their heads but if your not relying on it for serious commercial work then they are good value.

I've had the compressor for about 4 years now and buy the tools as and when they come. Bought one ratchet that was faulty and was replace in store immediately.
They generally have a 3 year warranty, so for the money ain't half bad.
I've even had good service out of the hand tools - solid & flexi head ratchet and stubby spanners, 1/4 drive socket sets, screwdrivers - all cheap and pretty decent.
Used to keep my cars and bikes on the road with no major problems.
Car boot sales are nother source of cheap tools but it's a gamble as to what is there. Generally keep your eye out and buy up stuff as it comes around...... and then look after it.
Extending ratchets to crack off stuff will ruin them so use a breaker first.

Regards,
JB