Tools you can't live without

[Danakona]

Hi everyone,

So recently we were quite fortuitous and came upon a grant that will allow us to buy some tools. We don't have much time to spend the money, so I wanted your opinions on the best tools you have in your shop, or ones you definitely couldn't live without.

So far, we're going to try to buy some more CAD software for off-season practice, a mini-mill and lathe, and some nicer hand tools that we always seem to break or lose. One team recommended a miter saw with metal blade, another recommended re-stocking our supply of various screws nuts and bolts - so we're really up for any suggestions.

We can also look towards electrical equipment and we're really open to any out-of-the box ideas, I just need them soon. Thanks guys!

[jdunston94]

load tester.
As soon as you start having matches where you cant charge a battery fully in between you want to be using a load tester and even if it is a full battery, says the charger it might not be good enough under load.

[Karibou]

Originally Posted by jdunston94

load tester.
As soon as you start having matches where you cant charge a battery fully in between you want to be using a load tester and even if it is a full battery, says the charger it might not be good enough under load.

And buy additional batteries along with the load tester. We cycled through 6 batteries at our competitions this year, which seemed to be a good number. Having 6 new batteries is significantly less stressful than having 6 that are a few years old.

[artdutra04]

Don't buy liquid Locite, buy the semi-solid type (such as Loctite 248) that comes in stick form.

[Trent B]

Originally Posted by artdutra04

Don't buy liquid Locite, buy the semi-solid type (such as Loctite 248) that comes in stick form.

I am guessing that is a little easier to work with as it cannot drip? Is there much of a difference in how well it holds? In some cases I think I would find liquid loctite better (tight spots where you are having a bolt run a long distance through a nut.

[artdutra04]

Originally Posted by Trent B

I am guessing that is a little easier to work with as it cannot drip? Is there much of a difference in how well it holds? In some cases I think I would find liquid loctite better (tight spots where you are having a bolt run a long distance through a nut.

Holding strength is the same, but it cannot drip or be spilled (which is the main reason why we switched, as our students used to go through tubes of the liquid Loctite like there was no tomorrow). It's also a lot easier and faster to work with, and trying to apply it to tight spots wasn't a problem for us because we always apply Loctite to every bolt (only exception is for bolts with nylocks) before we do any final assembly.

[cire]

A vertical Band saw (with metal cutting blades) and a drill press I find the most useful things to buy first. After that, Taps (and drill bits), hand drill, Calipers, Squares, safety glasses, a bench top vise if you don't already have one. Once you have all that, a lathe is very useful, there is a lot of stuff you can't do without one.

What tools do you already have?

[Danakona]

Originally Posted by cire

What tools do you already have?

We just moved to a new room in our school and it came with a band saw and two drill presses - no joke. Aside from that, just some basic drills/hacksaws/taps.

Thanks for the advice on the load tester, didn't even think of that.

[Grim Tuesday]

Wago. Name one thing that a WAGO can't do.


...so buy 10,000 of them, so you never lose it!


More seriously, I would suggest getting a lathe, it is really extremely useful, as well as some good CAD software. Our team uses Autodesk Inventor, though that might be a bit pricey if you can't get your school to get it...

[Colin P]

Miter saw is a must. If you ever plan on cutting 1x1 aluminum tubing, you can't beat a miter saw.
Look into getting a break, they're pretty useful.

[scottydoh]

Originally Posted by Grim Tuesday

More seriously, I would suggest getting a lathe, it is really extremely useful, as well as some good CAD software. Our team uses Autodesk Inventor, though that might be a bit pricey if you can't get your school to get it...

Please don't spend a single dollar on CAD software of specifically Autodesk Inventor. Autodesk provides about 30 of its products for free to students and FIRST teams.

[Vermeulen]

I would also suggest a good miter saw. I've found that they're much better than band saws when you need to make a square cut. Plus, they're much more steady than band saws in angled cuts.

[Kevin Sevcik]

I'll vote for the compound miter saw with metal blade as well. We have a nice 10" Hitachi with a diablo blade, and it makes framing with 1" aluminum a breeze. The only problem is standard miter saw will only cut aluminum. Evolution Tools makes the FURY 3 which claims to cut steel as well, though.

7/16 wrenches. Life without them would be meaningless.

[scottydoh]

Originally Posted by SuperNerd256

7/16 wrenches. Life without them would be meaningless.

And 5/32 allen key