Recommended Tools and Machinery for Your Team's Machine Shop

[CalTran]

I don't believe this stuff has been mentioned, but how's your electrical tools looking? A good soldering iron, pair of sharp diagonal cutters, auto strippers, and preferably an ideal crimper will alleviate most of your electrical worries in season.

As well, if you don't have a budget set aside for this, make sure before you go buying stuff you might use, that you replenish stock of materials you did use and probably will use.

[ksafin]

Originally Posted by Patrick Flynn

When would your team use these tools? If you can't think of a time that you think you would use these tools most likely they wouldn't end up getting used. It seems to be that if you are building your robot out of metal components that the Scroll saw and Jigsaw might go unused. But if you think that these would be used in the prototyping phase then they would be good purchases.

Jigsaw: we've found that a jigsaw is a great tool to have for anything, really. We'll definitely use it for field construction, and it's also very useful for prototyping with cardboard and wood.

Scroll Saw: We would really like to get one in order to cut polycarbonate and various other plastics and thin sheets into shapes that aren't accommodated by straight-line cutting saws.

Originally Posted by Patrick Flynn

I think that while this is a good list of tools that your team may use i would recommend considering what tools you used last season or wished that you many have.

The list above are some on the tools I wonder if you would actually use. IMO having a full set of taps and dies aren't needed. There are very few times in FIRST where i have even considered using a die to be necessary. And while in some rare cases it might be useful to have a full tap set why not buy multiples of the few sizes that your team uses. If you only use 1/4 20 hardware the other sized taps would be unnecessary.

I would say the same thing about the multi-tool and allen wrench sets if you think that your team may use all these different tools than this would not be a bad purchase, but i think you could better spend your money having more than one of the sizes that you use most often. Nothing is worse than losing the one needed wrench size, and having to make due.

That's true. We used 1/4 20 taps a lot last season and we just figured maybe having a whole set would be helpful and not constrict us - if we had other bolts we wanted to use, then we could, etc.

As far as Allen wrench sets, we mostly use 5/32 and 1/4 but I haven't really seen a place where we can just buy a load of 5/32 allen wrenches or something. So sets made sense.[/quote]

Originally Posted by Patrick Flynn

Lastly the work benches, I think that your team could built much cheaper ones that would better fit your work space. Buying some 2x4's and making some tables could be a fun team activity allowing some newer members to get acquainted to your teams tools and or shop.

That's definitely true. We'll keep that in mind. Good idea.

Originally Posted by CalTran

I don't believe this stuff has been mentioned, but how's your electrical tools looking? A good soldering iron, pair of sharp diagonal cutters, auto strippers, and preferably an ideal crimper will alleviate most of your electrical worries in season.

As well, if you don't have a budget set aside for this, make sure before you go buying stuff you might use, that you replenish stock of materials you did use and probably will use.

In the list I included a soldering station, strippers, and a crimper

Yes, replenishing metals & other materials we'll use comes before our tools budget.

[dcarr]

Originally Posted by ksafin

As far as Allen wrench sets, we mostly use 5/32 and 1/4 but I haven't really seen a place where we can just buy a load of 5/32 allen wrenches or something. So sets made sense.

You can buy a bunch pretty cheap from McMaster Carr.

In fact, we gave out bundles of them wrapped in a bow as alliance gifts last year (our PR lead came up with this )

[PhantomPhyxer]

Our team owns a Band Saw (min. throat), a Drill Press(Machinist Mentor to Teach) a Mini lathe, a cut off saw for wood but can cut Aluminum, a tap set, Bearing Press, Battery Chargers, Battery Tester, Soldering gun, multi- meters, crimpers, rivet guns and plenty of hand tools. I feel we need a Scale that will weigh a complete robot, broaches, and better storage.

We also have plenty of hardware and Aluminum.

[MichaelBick]

One of my favorite tools in a set of ball end hex bits. Ih you have a drill with a clutch it makes assembly really quick.

[Cory]

I can guarantee you that the taps and drill bits you've linked are complete garbage. You simply cannot purchase quality cutting tools in that quantity for that price.

I would recommend buying taps as needed (and high quality ones...we're not talking $10 a piece either, more like $2-3).

If you want to get the all in one drill set, at least buy 5-10 quality individual drills of common sizes (#7, #21, #29, F, etc). Those 4 will probably be your most commonly used drill bits if you use #8-32, #10-32, and 1/4-20 hardware.

[wouldwurker]

Prepare a set-aside for replacement drill bits and taps. Novices have incidents that are tough on small tools. A multitude of 7/16" open end/box end wrenches is a must.
If you are looking for power tools, I'd recommend a machine that will allow precision drilling/boring for precise located hole patterns if you can utilize CAD models for robot design. A lathe would be nice to have (we use 1940's South Bend lathe in a mentor's basement for small cylindrical work) if you suspect that you cannot design using off-the-shelf shafts, bearings and gears/sprockets. Another use for a lathe is for modifying readily available parts that you may want to change diameters on or add or snap ring grooves to.
Our team has been adding tools as the years progress based on a targeted need from our mentors. It all depends on the expertise available for instruction and the past need for abilities.
Don't purchase machines just because resources are available. Engineering is about doing what you can with the resources available. Try to maximize your efficiency.
Good luck, and may your resources remain solid and grow over the years.

[Tristan Lall]

Originally Posted by Cory

I would recommend buying taps as needed (and high quality ones...we're not talking $10 a piece either, more like $2-3).

That's absolutely the right advice with regard to taps.

In the past, I've bought a 45-piece (I think) set of metric and Imperial taps, dies and handles on sale for about $30 (CAD)—but those are just for insurance on the day when you absolutely need an oddball size during a late-night work session, and for the cheap but adequate handles. (Canadian Tire's Boxing Day and Fathers' Day sales are good for amassing a collection of FRC-grade tools cheaply.)

Buy high-quality machine-rated straight-flute thread-cutting taps, in each of the common sizes. Unless you know what you're doing, don't use them under power. But take advantage of their strength and precision to avoid worrying about breaking them. (It's not the broken tap that's the problem, it's the part you just ruined on the last machining step.)

[Akash Rastogi]

Originally Posted by Mk.32

The amount of harbor freight I see on that list somewhat worries me... Personally I would avoid HF for any tool that need to be powered, but there are people that have gotten good deals with Hf.

I gotta agree here. We purchased quite a lot of machines and tools this offseason but we made sure not to skimp on the power tools and machines. You don't want to risk quality, robustness, and most importantly safety just because something is cheaper.

If you are on a low budget and are allowed to purchase items online, check out ebay and craigslist. We found some great deals on Craftsman tools on craigslist and plenty of older drillpresses and bandsaws on there as well. Occasionally, you'll find a solid and well priced lathe or mill, but you have to jump on those pretty quick. Tool chests can also be found from Snap-on and Crafstman for around $300-500 on CL.

Don't think you need to purchase everything in one season for your build space. Make a few compromises now for what you'll have in-house so that you may purchase more high quality items and substitute things like mills/lathes by contacting local machine shops. You can always purchase more items as you go along and raise more money.

[Cory]

Sadly Craftsman is not all that much higher on the totem pole than Harbor Freight anymore.

[Akash Rastogi]

Originally Posted by Cory

Sadly Craftsman is not all that much higher on the totem pole than Harbor Freight anymore.

Hmm a lot of the items on sale we found were quite old. Many people were selling tool chests and cabinets as is with many hand tools inside. I would hope the older stuff was still higher quality.

[Mk.32]

Originally Posted by Akash Rastogi

Hmm a lot of the items on sale we found were quite old. Many people were selling tool chests and cabinets as is with many hand tools inside. I would hope the older stuff was still higher quality.

We have had good experience with older craftsmen [6< years ago] tools, in general we have had good experiences with old tools [drillpresses, saws, table saw, radial arm, saw, various power hand tools] we have picked up.
They don't make them like they used to.

[Phyrxes]

Some of the most reliable equipment we have is from the original outfitting of our school's shop in the early 70s.

Depending on your relationship with the school you may be able to get first shot at equipment that is being replaced.

[artdutra04]

Harbor freight can be useful for cheap non-powered tools as long as you take it all with a grain of salt.

Originally Posted by ksafin

16" Variable Speed Scroll Saw $64.99; $59.99 with coupon. http://www.harborfreight.com/16-inch...saw-93012.html

There were about a half dozen scroll saws in my high school's shop. I don't think they were ever used once for FRC in the time between when I was a high school freshman and a college senior. Jig saws were more versatile.

Originally Posted by ksafin

18 V Cordless Jigsaw $29.99 http://www.harborfreight.com/power-t...saw-68242.html

Don't buy this brand. For all your cordless tools, pick a single name brand and voltage, and ONLY buy that. Only needing one cordless tool charger is better than six different brands and voltages. The Ryobi 18v line of tools at Home Depot are relatively decent quality for their price. DeWalt and Makita are better quality (and more expensive).

Originally Posted by ksafin

3 Piece Folding Hex Key Set $6.99 http://www.harborfreight.com/hand-to...eys-94905.html

These are the only Allen keys you should ever buy: http://www.mcmaster.com/#high-torque-hex-keys/

I've used high-torque Allen keys for years and have yet to strip out the hex key on any of them.

[ksafin]

So, I don't really understand what's wrong with HF tools..

We've had a few HF power tools for a few months and there's been nothing wrong with them. The drill press drills, the miter saw saws, and the grinder grinds. They never broke, had any safety issues, or otherwise been a concern.

While they probably could work smoother (the miter saw just has a weird feel to me, after using a Ryobi last year), they work fine and we don't have any major issues with them.