Tools....

[rtbcomp]

Kamasa sockets sets are quite good, worth the money.

Yes, I've got an AF/Metric Kamasa socket set. The ratchet soon packed up, as did it's cheapo replacement!

 

[Hitch]

Alex, have you used the cordless impact drivers? (good ones) like Makita/Hitachi/Bosch?

Get them in 1/4" female hex or 1/2"square drive. Maybe a bit much if its only for hobby use, i have and earlier Hitach 12v one, will do up an M10 bolt tight. The newer models will strip an m10 if you get carried away.

 

[scottc]

What I normally try to do is buy a middle/low end kit and then replace the bits with high end when they break.

Things like ratchets buy the best. You'll appreciate a 72 tooth ratchet over one thats half the price with only 24 teeth.

But how often will you use an 11mm socket that you paid £5 cos it has a lifetime guarantee?

Basically what I'm saying is spend the money on the things that get used most.

oh and get a rubber mallet. Never hit a tool with a hammer.

 

[Drains]

Everone laughed when i spent £100 on a set of prybars. Im the one laughing now, break it, just give it back, no questions asked.

I had a workmate who'd worked at IMI Witton (Imperial Metals). He'd made himself a titanium prybar. That never broke!

Si

 

[Drains]

My first major project will be ripping apart a mates knackered Escort, trying to make it work, then making it look mean and chunky... lol, it'll probly be uninsurable and certainly wont pass an MOT, but it'll be fun
Ceraphim

I think you need a gas axe or a plasma cutter, a decent sized engineering hammer, a load of scrap sheet and a mig. And maybe a tin of black paint! Nothing else at all!

 

[MrFluffy]

I had a friend who played with escorts, but he had a real axe not a gas one. Seriously, he used to cut the bloody bad bits out by thumping this bloody hatchet into them!
Proper nutter...

For the quality discussion, snap on off ebay (but be prepared to have flats on them where peoples initials have been removed with a grinder, which do look dodgy in the toolbox), halfords professional stuff (although Ive had one branch refused to replace a broken head on my prybar, solution, go the next town where the staff arent quite as stupid) and of late facom because i'm in france nowadays. Id buy a decent set of combi spanners, then look at a basic socket set, then build out from that..

Id also invest 20 quid in a set of monodex hand nibblers, which will leave you with the grip strength of a large gorilla after a while of useage, however they will cut neatly and cleanly from one side of a panel and leave a edge safe enough to work with without dressing. I used to do everything with my nibblers when I was a poor student doing bodywork...

 

[Drains]

Mr F, You were a student of bodywork and did everything with your nibblers????
Tell us more...?

 

[Lippyp]

It does also depend what you want the tools for, if you're a pro thats going to be using them day in day out then sure you need tough top quality tools. If you're a hobbyist thats going to use them at the weekend then it's not quite so crucial. Don't let people tell you that you "must" have snap-on or Mac, much of the cheaper stuff is fine for weekend use. My toolkit has been made up over the last twenty years or so and some of it is good stuff, some of it less so although I've always bought the best I could afford at the time. As has been said, spanners, hammers and sockets can often be bought cheaply at car boot sales, particularly if you're looking for imperial stuff. A lot of older stuff will be far better quality than todays. You can also pick up some bargains at car shows. I got a set of Halfords pro ratchet spanners last year for half what they cost in the shop.

 

[Alex]

Whenever I tighten bolts into cast aluminium or iron I always use the cordless at the right torque setting, I've too bad experience of stripping threads into cast metals.


Its a shame about your Kamasa, mines served me fine no problems for over 10 years

 

[Lippyp]

Thats what I forgot, a decent torque wrench.

 

[scottc]

or two!

Ideally you'll need a 1/4 or 3/8ths and a 1/2"

My 1/2" Torque wrench doesn't go low enough for my cam covers

 

[MrFluffy]

Mr F, You were a student of bodywork and did everything with your nibblers????
Tell us more...?

I meant, when I was a poor engineering student (did general + mechanical + automotive engineering nd's (well you have to keep your free tool access open)) and was doing bodywork on the heap du jour. I think I first used the hand nibblers on a moggie van I flip fronted and cut into a pickup amongst other mods. I could cut by hand following the swageline with them in a gentle curve, and it came out really well.
I did a lot of oxy acetylene welding on that and other projects with a rented BOC portapack and I liked the finish the nibblers and gas welding gave and the way you wasn't picking metal splinters out or removing slag afterwards...

 

[Lippyp]

Yeah, I keep meaning to invest in a 3/8 torque wrench and tbh my 1/2" Sykes Pickavant one has seen better days as the stupid printed scale is wearing off. A set of punches/drifts is useful as is a soft faced hammer, brass etc and an impact driver is a good alternative to an air one if you don't have access to a compressor. Ball joint breakers and spring compressors would be needed for suspension work.

 

[SC_BK]

I actually think Draper do quite decent tools. I used to work on the "frontline" of a large tool supplier so I got to know what was good and bad from what was returned and playing about/getting a feel with things in the shop. We sold from the cheapest of cheap makes like City all the way through Silverline, Laser, Kamasa (part of laser), Draper, Stanley, SIP, Teng etc etc etc. I used my staff account to build up a reletivly large collection of tools/equipment in my workshop

I have stuff from most of the makes we sold, like decent screwdriver from stanley/draper to the cheapy ones for using as scrapers/wedges etc etc!
Most of my sockets, spanners and ratchets are from Draper & Laser (middle of the range) and I've never really had a problem with them.

I'd say get a feel of the tools before buying them, some of the cheaper spanners can be quite sore on your hand as they are poorly designed.

The cheap make silverline offer a "lifetime guarentee" on their tools, if you gonna go for cheap tools make sure you have a local supplier you can take them back to if they break

 

[scottc]

I did buy a cheapo Aldi compressor, something like £110 cos i bought a ratchet, impact wrench, drill and nail gun at the same time.

Only ever use the ratchet on really long bolts, or when working under the car. impact wrench removed my seized sump bolt, that my 3ft breaker wouldn't.

TBH it gets more use as an air blower or tyre inflator. was well worth what i paid for it.

 

[marknotgeorge]

Alex, have you used the cordless impact drivers? (good ones) like Makita/Hitachi/Bosch?

Get them in 1/4" female hex or 1/2"square drive. Maybe a bit much if its only for hobby use, i have and earlier Hitach 12v one, will do up an M10 bolt tight. The newer models will strip an m10 if you get carried away.

The Hitachi impact drivers are standard issue for team leaders at Toyota for on-line repairs. They can drive in anything!

 

[Ceraphim]

I gotta say, thats a seriously large amount of replies...

damned useful though!

having said that...

My mother (in an unprecedented display of generosity) has bought me the more expensive of the afore mentioned tool kits... so now i'm left in a bit of a sticky situation, i'm annoyed that she has spent that much money on me(without asking me first... lol) yet rather pleased about getting a bloody expensive present and i cant really complain about it can i... lol

either way, twas a fecking big shock opening my bedroom door to find two *very* large boxes sat there...

apparently (real time update here...) she bought it as a moving out present in the hopes that it will encourage me not to move back home this time... (i've left three times already, something always seems to screw up...)

so i've decided that i should keep the draper kit and slowly replace the not so great tools as and when i can afford the better quality ones... seeing as i'm not paying for them it doesn't really matter that much i suppose... lol

Ceraphim

 

[Ratty]

Sounds a perfect situation to me! I bet you find that a lot of the tools will last quite well, and as someone said earlier, the bits that get knackered are the ones you use most so you simply replace those with good ones. Better to have some sort of tools than none at all and no point having a bunch of mortgage priced tools that you never or hardly use. I bought a huge socket set for £2 from a garage about 20 years ago!!! I'm not a mechanic so they don't get massive use but I've given some of it a lot of welly on some serious big steel structures and use pretty often on my sculpture work and the only thing that died - very early on - was the small ratchet handle. I think I've replaced about 3 or 4 of the sockets..lots never get used of course or come out once a year but I'm continually amazed that it still exists at all.

 

[Ceraphim]

'Tis a brilliant situation really... i just dont have anywhere to keep them in parents house... i'm moving into a house with a decent sized garage though, so i will soon

Ceraphim

 

[snowcat]

like the picture ratty, is that what si and cappy were quizing you about?