lets talk TOOLS

[rossvtaylor]

Swag Offroad makes some nice stands, too. https://www.swagoffroad.com/SWAG-Por...ries_c_35.html

[Booyah45828]

I really like the looks of that. I've always thought about buying one of those bandsaws, but wasn't sure if I'd be steady enough to make decent cuts with it. With that portabandpro, I could use it in place of the abrasive chop saw in the shop.

[Kevmiami]

Originally Posted by rossvtaylor

Swag Offroad makes some nice stands, too. https://www.swagoffroad.com/SWAG-Por...ries_c_35.html

Yes they do! I was originally going to get one of these, but the Portaband will actually function like and replace my old (and very inexpensive) HF floor model, which I love for cutting box & L sticks.

[Kevmiami]

OMG!!! I would not even dream of doing electrical for an RV or Boat without one of these bad boys! After some 30 yrs, I finally wore out my original (lived in 30' sailboat for 15 yrs). It has a compound action, so it's way easier to get a good crimp. I find it to be faster than twist connectors and easier to use in tight places.

I just purchased a new one: "Crimping Tool Set 5 PCS by Wirefy - Ratcheting Wire Crimper Tool with Interchangeable Dies - For Heat Shrink Connectors, Non-Insulated, Ferrule Terminals." This one is expense ($75), because it includes the 5 different mandibles, specific to each kind of connector - sooo cool! It was always a pain, when my old one would not do a good job on uninsulated connectors. You can just use a vise grip, if you are doing lots of connections, this makes live go so much faster!

[Demonknight]

good way to cut thick wood in a hurry when its all you have besides a skill saw

[Kevmiami]

Every good carpenter can easy add/subtract different measurements which include fractions and can also remember them while walking to the saw, while be asked questions. Not so much for me. I have found it is way easier to use a metric tape and remember and communicate whole metric measurements (e.g. 1,137 mm). The tough part is finding a tape that just has metric on the top-side. Lots of tapes have hard to use shared tapes or metric on the back-side. This is a good tape, but only wish it was 1” wide. Cheers, Kev

[musigenesis]

Originally Posted by Kevmiami

Every good carpenter can easy add/subtract different measurements which include fractions and can also remember them while walking to the saw, while be asked questions. Not so much for me. I have found it is way easier to use a metric tape and remember and communicate whole metric measurements (e.g. 1,137 mm). The tough part is finding a tape that just has metric on the top-side. Lots of tapes have hard to use shared tapes or metric on the back-side. This is a good tape, but only wish it was 1” wide. Cheers, Kev

This is a good thought, but dang ... what the heck did I learn fractions for in the first place?

Years ago I was friends with a surveyor and he showed me his tape measures that had the feet subdivided decimally (instead of into inches and fractions of an inch). Not sure if surveyors still do that or if these kinds of things are still available.

[Simplicity]

I love my deep throat Milwaukie band saw! It sits on the shelf of my welding table, jus below my vice, and always plugged in.

Chainsaws, their for more than cutting trees! Hey, cut your own counter slab!

If I were to do it again, I'd spend the money on the following:

I wasn't impact drive savvy and took out about 1,500 screws with my corded heavy porter cable drill. Then my friend loaned me his little battery impact driver and 2 20v drills. Sooooo nice not to have cords!

Light - Magnetic, LED, bright, adjustable positioning and rechargeable.

Really sharp and heavy duty metal hole saws. Expensive, but they will make the job so much easier and better looking.

Other than that, most of my estate sales tools have done me fine.

Good luck with that chainsaw!

[ChrisTX]

Broom
Dustpan
Vacuum

I find that keeping my work space clean has been incredibly worthwhile.

[Fast1one]

Lots of great suggestions here.

I already owned a couple Ryobi 18v tools including a drill and 1/2 impact gun. I added:

- Brad nailer: Use it a lot more than I thought. But I don't rely on the nails to hold things in place. I use construction adhesive for that and simply use the nails to hold things in place temporarily. The holes are easy to fill before paint. We nailed our entire ceiling this way after adding furring strips.

- "Corner cat" sander: I didn't want to invest in multiple sanders so the corner sander works well for nearly anything. Eats batteries but I have a 30 minute charger that typically keeps up.

- Cordless trim router: This is been awesome for cabinetry. It's obviously not very powerful and you may need to do multiple passes with larger round over bits. Eats batteries as well but makes things look NICE.

Additionally I have a Milwaukee 12V mini impact I got as a gift that has been really useful for self tapping screws, driving pocket screws and anything else that I want to quickly screw/unscrew.

[Jolly Roger bus 223]

Originally Posted by ChrisTX

Broom
Dustpan
Vacuum

I find that keeping my work space clean has been incredibly worthwhile.

i do commercial/industrial construction for a living and deal with mess under my feet everyday and sometimes it drives me crazy when others come work in my area and just leave there junk laying there.
when working at home on my busses before i quit at the end of the day everything is cleaned up and picked up to a respectable point for working and walking for a fresh start next time i get back to it.
yes cordless tools are great.
no extension cords and splitters under your feet or wrapped around everything.

[Kevmiami]

Forstner Bits are the “Bee’s Knees” for cutting super clean holes in wood! Wouldn’t leave home without it!

[BeNimble]

I've taken to the Ryobi cordless tools, have all kinds of them. Been somewhat disappointed the batteries seem to die/degrade faster than expected. Some just don't last, whereas others going strong 3 years later.

My tool king is the angle grinder, and have the battery one, but anything big I gotta go back to the Harbor Fright ones, always have a spare on hand and a pile of broken ones.

I am now waiting for delivery of a 3d printer, so I can make a CNC machine with it, and join the kiddies having machines build things for them.

[TJones]

I have been very happy with my evolution chop saw. I have used it to cut all of the metal that is in my bus including some 1/2 bar stock. After a little shimming to get the blade exactly 90 to the table it has cut very accurately. The cut quality is very good usually requiring little to no deburring. The carbide teeth on the blade look new except I did knock one off. It was kind of my fault as I was trimming off a short piece of tubing the ended up getting pulled into the blade guard and binding. It still cuts fine even with the missing tooth.

Ted

[nailtechie]

What a description! Way to go!

[Doktari]

My 20 volt brushless cordless drill is heavily used. It still works after 6 years of beating. Then someone gave me a 18 volt cordless angle grinder they found on the side of the road. It’s been very useful. So I started collecting more 18 volt tools. And a decent solar energy system to charge everything is very useful. I found a electricians tool belt at a thrift store and it’s been great for doing the solar.
Decent multimeters and a clampmeter with DC current are useful.
Ive been wondering about the portable battery powered welding kits? Has anyone tried any of these? I want to be able to do basic fabrication even parked out in the woods.

[Rwnielsen]

"Ive been wondering about the portable battery powered welding kits? Has anyone tried any of these? I want to be able to do basic fabrication even parked out in the woods."

I can only imagine how large the batteries must be and the time it takes to recharge them.
I think you'd be better off using a small generator.

[HamSkoolie]

Ahhh tools.....Well let's see..... SO FAR (already had most)



CORDLESS TOOLS:
20VMax (replaced my worn out 15 year old 14v B&D system):

Drill driver
Impact driver

"Skill" saw
Recip saw
Oscillating tool
14" chain saw


USB CHARGED
NOTE: You need to document your build even if you're not putting it up on YouTube. Pics/vids of how and where things are installed. Particularly photographing things that an insurance company of potential buyer down the road may want to know. It's also quite helpful in keeping you from drilling or screwing into a buried behind the wall pipe or electrical circuit when you're making a change down the road.

GoPro 4
Nikon digital cam
Sony digital recorder
Sony handi-cam


110 VAC TOOLS:
Hand held band saw -- AWESOME

Circular saw
Recip saw
Angle grinders (2)
Makita 3/8" drill (35 years old.... my first power tool)
Makita 1/2" hammer drill

10" table saw Wood chop saw
Drill press
1500 watt heat gun


Work lights - halogen
Work light - drop light on spring reel type

SOON: metal shears, punch/flanger, or nibbler for up to 16ga



WELDING GEAR:
Flux core welder
Plasma torch
Magnetic welding holders
Auto darkening welding helmet
Slag chipper and wire brush





Air Tools:
Air hammer with various attachments
3/8" impact
3/8" ratchet
Die grinder
Blind rivet gun


Electrical kit:
multi-meter with clamp amp meter
Test light
Jumper wires with alligator clips
Good solid dedicated side cutters
Quality wire stripper/crimper tools - manual or "auto" per your liking
Romex shield stripper tool
Assortment of shrink wrap for insulating, redesignating color codes, etc.

110 VAC circuit testers (the plug in type that check proper wiring)
Lot's of electrical tape including a set of different colors.



Hand tools:
4" vise

Wrenches and sockets
Hammers and mallets
Hacksaw
Picks, files, screwdrivers, and all that stuff

Hand saws
Hand miter box


MISCELLANEOUS:
LARGE drill bit set of decent quality but need not be great
Indiv drill bits for high use sizes - spend some bucks on these

Scan Gauge for large vehicles...provides codes, gauges, fuel flow, etc.
Wire brushes for the angle grinder, large and smaller

[Bus'n it]

I just ordered the Milwaukee 1" drive D-handle impact gun. From online reviews, it will take off the worst rustiest nuts from the wheels. At the very least, doing a tire swap on the side of the road will eliminate long wasteful roadside appointments.

[HamSkoolie]

I don't plan to do any tire changes at all but we will be carrying a spare (planning on two before Alaska).



PLAN A - call roadside service, make a meal, relax, enjoy the controlled environment of the bus we built while awaiting the service truck.



PLAN B - a manual torq multiplier and a 20 ton bottle jack.
NOTE: Plan B is only for emergency situations and when absolutely in
the wilderness. Call phone coverage not there? No problem, I can call

in with my HAM radio.


We plan to mount the spare(s) in front to act as critter and Prius/Smart car deflectors.