Your favorite/most useful tool?

[Gabe]

It's going to break the rules, but I have three favorite tools, because they are so useful to me everyday:

1. 12" single-cut mill file with an adjustable handle. A big file is not only easier to hold, its length removes more metal in one pass and finishes the job quickly.

2. DeWalt 18V cordless XRP hammer-drill/driver. It's so handy to simply reach over and pick up the tool when I need it. It also has plenty of power for hard jobs like drilling through thick steel. (Only used hammer-drill once, but I was really glad that time!)

3. Custom folding pocket Allen key set with ball-end. I bought a folding ball-end set and switched the keys into my compact metal handled set. It really excels at driving screws at an angle, but easy to carry around. It is my most useful tool during build season.

[Nuttyman54]

Dremel, hands down

[1902_Battery_SGT]

well my personal favorite tool has to be the drill press we got half way through build. not only did it do our drilling but it also helped us press on beartings adn rotar things out. but then again their is the chopsaw. at 1902 the robot could have never been built without the trusty chopsaw.

[joshsmithers]

spell cheker is a vary usefull tool

[Rohith Surampudi]

- Allen Wrenches
- Reciprocating Saw

[Francis-134]

I'd have to say the deburring tool is the most used on my team. With about 1000 speed holes in the frame and CNC all around, we all get a lot of practice with it.

[artdutra04]

• CAD drafting program - either a 2D-based one, like CADkey ver. 21 (which they have installed on every computer in my school's computer lab) or a 3D-based one, like my favorite - Autodesk Inventor.
• Heat Gun - so useful for anything, including warming up cold leftover food during the build season
• 7/16" wrench and 5/32" T-Handle allen wrench - because they are used on almost everything on our robot.
• Loctite - Sure beats having to check every nut and bolt after every match.
• Computers / Internet - can be used for anything from researching particular ideas, or surfing ChiefDelphi

[anna~marie]

umm zip ties?
really now, they are so useful!
(they came in handy when my team stole my hair ties to put them on the robot )

Zip Ties and Dikes/Side Cutters.

[bear24rw]

Being programmer.. my favorite is defiently the parallax screw driver lol

[Pavan Dave]

Multimeter or Electrical Tape.

Usually 99% chance of them being in my pocket during the build season. And a 99.9% chance of them being in my pocket during Competition.

Pavan.

[lukevanoort]

I would say miter saw, but then I got to thinking, instead of what is the most useful at the time, what would be the worst to be stuck without for the season. You can substitute other things for wrenches and such, but the thing we actually ran out of and spent the last 3 or so days of build season without tops my list, zip ties. Without them electrical work ground to a halt as did prototyping mounts.

[lbarger]

The optical center punch and a plotter that prints 1:1 scale for templates.

[sand500]

Dremel. So helpful in melting stuff.

btw, Ididn't want to make a new thread about this when there was already one.

[LBK Rules]

Wow... Talk about thread ressurection!

Thinking back to my time with FRC, I'd say the best tool was self-tapping screws.

[roystur44]

This year I brought a pneumatic pop rivet gun into the lab. We had our frame locked down in a few minutes. The year before we had to take turns popping the big rivets and it took us hours.

Roy