Favorite Tool by Team

[burde1jb]

Didn't see an old thread by this so here goes...

With the season approaching, I though it would be great if teams could share their handiest, favorite tool (please do not nominate a mentor ;) )to use throughout the competition. So I'll start.

A few years ago, our lead mentor showed up to a practice with these (http://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/FS-5-WIRE-STRIPPER_1653651957.html). Handiest wire strippers on the planet! No need to know gauge as it automatically adjusts. Also cuts wire to length. No corn dog maker function yet.

Here is how it strips (https://youtu.be/12avtPzXky8?t=47s) (similar model shown)

Just thought I would pass this along for any team who has had trouble with their electronics and I would love to know your team's best kept secret in tooling! :)

http://img.xxjcy.com/nimg/5d/c3/a386e6749ca5ba1dcd8698b9dfcc.jpg

[bkahl]

https://www.phoenixcontact.com/online/portal/us?urile=pxc-oc-itemdetail:pid=1212150

These Wire Strippers will never be beaten in my book...

[jwfoss]

A pneumatic tubing cutter (http://www.automationdirect.com/adc/Shopping/Catalog/Pneumatic_Components/Pneumatic_Accessories/Flexible_Pneumatic_Tubing_-a-_Hoses_Accessories/TC-12) will save you hours of chasing leaks and is a staple on FRC558.

[GeeTwo]

Our most commonly needed tool is definitely the 5/32" allen wrench.

We talk a good bit about using the precision tuner for percussive maintenance. (the P.T. is the rubber mallet).

Controls was revolutionized in the 2014 season when we bought some real crimping tools, rather than using a multi-tool that's almost decent for automotive terminals for everything from Duponts to Anderson battery connectors.

I think we've used every attachment on my Swiss Army Knife (including the corkscrew) at one point or another.

[cgodzyk]

Met a guy on electric snowmobile team in college, showed us this cool tool for crimping terminals on 6 AWG wire for batteries. Put the wire and terminal in the tool and then either used hammer or small arbor press to crimp, depending on which was available.

http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/MTA3MVgxNjAw/z/m5YAAMXQLs5RuhGI/$(KGrHqV,!n0FG)BBmV8QBRuhGIiRtw~~60_1.JPG

http://www.temcoindustrialpower.com/products/Crimpers/TH0007.html

[IKE]

This is my favorite 25 pitch chain tool:

http://www.davesmotors.com/s.nl/it.A/id.2258/.f

[Jeremy Germita]

A pneumatic tubing cutter (http://www.automationdirect.com/adc/Shopping/Catalog/Pneumatic_Components/Pneumatic_Accessories/Flexible_Pneumatic_Tubing_-a-_Hoses_Accessories/TC-12) will save you hours of chasing leaks and is a staple on FRC558.
I second this. Crooked tubing cuts are a leading cause of pneumatics leaks on systems I've seen.


If you're not cutting small (>14AWG) wire and zip ties with Hakko flush cutters (https://www.sparkfun.com/products/11952), you're missing out. Comfiest cutters I've ever used, stays sharp forever, and has the most flush cut I've ever seen. Great for cutting zip tie ends!

If you do any work with #25 chain, you need to get a Team 221 Dark Soul Chain tool (http://www.team221.com/viewproduct.php?id=70). It's the easiest chain breaking/joining tool I've ever used.

I love this thread. I've been compiling a list of parts and tools for us to purchase in preparation for 2016, so this is definitely helpful.

[MrForbes]

Used to be the Rotex punch. But we haven't been in that shop for five years.

[waialua359]

Zip tie gun made by Panduit!

We even have a sponsor who lives in San Diego that ships us tons of zip ties and guns every year.;)

[bkahl]

A pneumatic tubing cutter (http://www.automationdirect.com/adc/Shopping/Catalog/Pneumatic_Components/Pneumatic_Accessories/Flexible_Pneumatic_Tubing_-a-_Hoses_Accessories/TC-12) will save you hours of chasing leaks and is a staple on FRC558.

So much that they even stole 195's last year! :P

[notmattlythgoe]

Nate Laverdure (http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/member.php?u=11282) :p

[Hgree56]

Personally, my favorite tool in our shop is our 5lb. rubber mallet. It is my favorite because when even someone(more than likely its me) is in a poor mood, we hand them the mallet. On one side it has "Hows your attitude?" written on it. Changes everyone's mood right away.

[asid61]

The mill. I use it as a drill press wit low runout occasionally, and of couse for machining all the time.
But apart from that, probably the socket ratchet set. It's super handy for taking care of locknuts in tight spaces or though a hole.

[Munchskull]

CNC Plasma cutter

[Richard Wallace]

http://www.achrnews.com/ext/resources/2013/05-2013/05-27-2013/IB-830-AdjustableWrench.jpg

[z_beeblebrox]

http://www.troteclaser.com/en-US/Laser-Machines/Mid-Size/Pages/Speedy300.aspx

[Thad House]

Hydraulic Crimper. Never have to worry about bad battery crimps again.

http://www.harborfreight.com/hydraulic-wire-crimping-tool-66150.html

Zip Tie gun is probably more useful though.

[AllenGregoryIV]

I'm going to keep this to hand tools.

1. All of our rivets are set by hand, and some members of the team don't have the strongest grips to use our normal rivet guns (http://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B000BR7JUG?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_search_detailpage).

This one (http://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B0039697ME?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_search_detailpage) makes short work of even 1/4" rivets and can be used by almost everyone. It's smaller than the really large hand rivet guns that Harbor Freight or else wear sell so it fits into more spaces.

2. Another great tool I don't see enough teams using is a simple pair of aviation snips (http://smile.amazon.com/Milwaukee-48-22-4030-Aviation-Straight-Cutting/dp/B005G112HI/ref=sr_1_1?s=hi&ie=UTF8&qid=1443737823&sr=1-1&keywords=aviation+snips+milwaukee).

These combined with 1/16" polycarb can fix a lot of problems on a robot.

3. High Torque Ball End Hex Keys (http://www.mcmaster.com/#=z6l5wb) - These have been mentioned by other people on Chief before but they are fantastic. This year we have added colored heat shrink to all our hex keys to make identifying them easier. I also like the screw driver versions (http://www.mcmaster.com/#ball-end-hex-drivers/=z6l77f) as well.

4. Cheap ratcheting wrenches - if you look on ebay you can regularly get ratcheting wrenches for under $3-5 each. We bought a ton of 3/8" since we normally use #10 hardware.

[Ari423]

Team 423's most used tool would probably be our 7/16" ratcheting wrenches. We have at least 3 of them and a few non-ratcheting wrenches, and there are still never any in the drawer.

Our favorite tool is probably our spring-loaded wire strippers (like the picture but with yellow handles).
19336
They work really well and choosing what size wire you have is easy even without the gauge labeled on the wire. Probably not as easy to use as the gauge-agnostic strippers posted earlier in the thread. We call them cachuk-cachucks after the sound they make when you use them. That sound can be heard from any spot in the room throughout our meetings, even if no one is stripping wires, simply because it's fun to use.

[BBray_T1296]

My personal favorite is the pneumatic rivet gun (http://www.grainger.com/product/SPEEDAIRE-Air-Riveter-3CRH4?s_pp=false&picUrl=//static.grainger.com/rp/s/is/image/Grainger/3CRH4_AS01?$smthumb$) our district bought for us a few years ago. A Godsend for the unfortunate soul tasked with installing 100+ rivets on assembly day. One can install many dozens of rivets a minute working casually

Funny story about this, in 2013 we needed to replace a whole bunch of rivets in short time on our shooter mid-competition. We didn't have our shop compressor at competition (pesky rules) so we installed a quick-connect fitting to our robot and used it to operate the rivet gun. One of my proudest moments.

[hectorcastillo]

We have this hand riveter that we call the "Red Baron". It's named party after the color of its handles but also because the team member who bought it is a red-head and was the original "Red Baron". It might not be the most useful tool seeing as how we own a pneumatic riveter, but the Red Baron definitely has a lot of sentimental value to our team :D

[Seth Mallory]

When they choose to use them the students brains are my favorite tools.

[MaGiC_PiKaChU]

pneumatic dremel... one of my friends accidentally used it on his fingers and got to the bone... He WAS wearing gloves ::safety::

[hectorcastillo]

Metric adjustable wrench! :p

[Briansmithtown]

Mark McLoed (http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/member.php?u=4205)... But seriously, he's a huge help to the FIRST community and especially my team since the teams are neighbors. The best tool for every team should be other teams, only to learn from their successes and failures.

[hardcopi]

Or drive team says duct tape...

[SamcFuchs]

I second this. Crooked tubing cuts are a leading cause of pneumatics leaks on systems I've seen.


If you're not cutting small (>14AWG) wire and zip ties with Hakko flush cutters (https://www.sparkfun.com/products/11952), you're missing out. Comfiest cutters I've ever used, stays sharp forever, and has the most flush cut I've ever seen. Great for cutting zip tie ends!

If you do any work with #25 chain, you need to get a Team 221 Dark Soul Chain tool (http://www.team221.com/viewproduct.php?id=70). It's the easiest chain breaking/joining tool I've ever used.

I love this thread. I've been compiling a list of parts and tools for us to purchase in preparation for 2016, so this is definitely helpful.
Our wiring team would be kill without those cutters. Love em.

[SamcFuchs]

CNC Plasma cutter
We've been trying to put ours together and I've heard it's a nightmare.

[carpedav000]

The mill is definately my favorite (even though its manual)

[Ryan_Todd]

Top 2:

Yippy-Skippy, the 3-lb. orange dead-blow hammer

concussive repairs are often the quickest repairs (if not the most durable)
named after the student, long since graduated, who decorated it with a sharpie shortly after we got it
http://www.mscdirect.com/product/details/06622716
Roger, the he/she button maker

fully automatic; just put the parts in and press the button
fails frequently, but we love it anyway
don't ask about the name
http://www.badgeaminit.com/autcomkit.html
Both tools acquired in the early 2000's; both tools long past their service lives; both tools still in use regardless.

(For the record, we've named pretty much every one of our tools at some point or another; the general idea is that if a name sticks, then the tool in question must actually be important enough to deserve a name.)

[Munchskull]

We've been trying to put ours together and I've heard it's a nightmare.

Well best of luck to you. Once you get it you will she sheet metal in a whole new way.

[logank013]

Has anyone said a computer yet? Since scouting is what I love most, I'd say a computer for at least myself. Team's favorite is probably the soda machine in the electronics room.

Bonus (least favorite tool by team): My team used these really old PDAs for scouting last year (we plan to get some new equipment for 2016) and if we took a poll, it'd most likely it'd be a unanimous decision that nobody liked the PDAs.

[Bob Steele]

This year we have added colored heat shrink to all our hex keys to make identifying them easier.


Absolutely brilliant Allen.... thank you

We used little pieces of tape or paint which always wore off...
This is genius

[tr6scott]

Seeing the strippers were covered previously.

I'll go with the Weidmuller PZ 6 Roto Wire Crimping Tool for making the ferrels connections all the new Cross the Road electronics use...

No more spider legs, no more lose terminations, no connection failures.

https://youtu.be/lL8AGNDVR2g

But we are fond of our Weidmuller Strippers too.

https://youtu.be/fvjyJvcqJsY

[Michael Hill]

We do a lot of sheet metal work, and these are fantastic: http://www.amazon.com/Original-Fastener-Deluxe-Fasteners-Quality/dp/B0093QWZCS

They're also great for non-sheet metal work.

[Foster]

Seeing the strippers were covered previously.

I'll go with the Weidmuller PZ 6 Roto Wire Crimping Tool for making the ferrels connections all the new Cross the Road electronics use...

No more spider legs, no more lose terminations, no connection failures.

https://youtu.be/lL8AGNDVR2g


I watched the video and going "ho hum, yet another crimper" and then they spun the crimp head around so you crimp from the nose. AMAZING!!!

Great design, but a little pricy, but I can see how it would make life lots easier.

[Ginger Bread]

Every allen wrench ever.

[DaveL]

My favorite tool is a 20v DeWalt drill with a 1/2" chuck. It's light weight, has a good handle with a high and low speed shifter, a great keyless chuck and a torque limiting clutch.
The 18v is almost as good, but its battery is a little heaver.

Is anyone using their new 12v drill?

[Michael Hill]

My favorite tool is a 20v DeWalt drill with a 1/2" chuck. It's light weight, has a good handle with a high and low speed shifter, a great keyless chuck and a torque limiting clutch.
The 18v is almost as good, but its battery is a little heaver.

Is anyone using their new 12v drill?

After watching a tear down of the DeWalt 20V battery pack, it's the exact same as the Milwaukee RedLithium 18V (both have five 18650 lithium ion cells), just DeWalt's marketing team got a hold of the packaging and rounded it up to 20V. Kinda shady if you ask me. I'm sure other 18V lithium ion based drills use the same cells.

[Electronica1]

SolidWorks

[snoman]

Best tool ever

[matthewdenny]

^^ this. We wouldn't have a robot without handheld bandsaws many years.

[jman4747]

Bridgeport 2j head (or equivalent) and a 1/2" two flute end mill. Learned how to use one over the summer. Way better thain a drill press.

[rjhyde]

Sometimes it's the simple tools that matter the most. This is probably the most used tool in the shop and it's the best pair of pliers I've ever used.

Irwin Vise-Grip Groovelock Pliers, 8"

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/710bIZEJSuL._SY355_.jpg