Most underrated/undervalued tools

[Seth Mallory]

Sleep. Without enough of this all other tools including the brain do not work as well.

[qscgy]

Chop saw. Great for cutting aluminum stock.

[Phoenix Spud]

Printer + Spray Glue

[bobbysq]

Our horizontal bandsaw cuts down long aluminum tubes (and other extrusions) while we do other things.

[Jeremy Germita]

Originally Posted by Everett33

Flush cutting side cutters. Nothing worse than dragging your arm or hand over a sharp zip-tie.

My students know that I will never stop recommending this pair of cutters. Buttery smooth operation, super flush cuts, great for zip ties, wires, etc. The super narrow tip allows you to get into really tight corners. It's a must-have tool for all of our competitions.

Another underrated tool is Google Docs. I use Sheets for just about everything from BOMs, design calculations, todo lists, pick lists, packing sheets, etc.

I'm also slowly becoming attached to Wunderlist. Super useful listing app with a web interface as well as android and iOS apps. One of my favorite features is attaching pictures to list items. You can also share lists with other people. At Las Vegas, our scouting team set up a todo-list of all of the teams at the event. We were able to attach photos of all of the robots to their items on the list while adding notes and other info on teams. Extremely useful during alliance selections. Real time updating on the list allowed me and my scouts to quickly rearrange our pick list as teams became unavailable. Our field rep during selections received these updates within seconds.

Groupme is another useful app for us as it allows us to create team-wide or subteam group chats for competitions. Helped organize logistics like food plans and travel as well as discussing scouting information, robot status, and audience defense selection.

[ctt956]

Originally Posted by Dan Petrovic

Are you sick of crooked cuts in your pneumatic tubing leading to pesky leaks?

There are so many connections! It could take hours to find that last one!

<Gray video>
"There has to be a better way!"
</Gray video>

Well, look no further! Introducing the TC-12 pneumatic tubing cutter! It cuts all of your pneumatic tubing clean and square so you never have to worry about pneumatic leaks again!

That tool looks great, but $4.25 is a lot to pay at one time! Can I get that split into four easy payments of just $1.0625? Is there a 30-day risk-free trial?

Originally Posted by Metalcrafters

An especially strong magnet, for that screw that fell into the chassis rail...

If you have a lot of steel on your robot, good luck getting that magnet where you want it...

Originally Posted by scaryone

Dremel Tool

Dremels are great for rivet mandrels that refuse to break, and probably deburring, among many other things. I've seen an endmill for Dremels, and people even make their own attachments!

Originally Posted by IronicDeadBird

Cellphones.
Download the flashlight app, for a small lightsource. Take pictures and rely information to people on the team, play music, calculator. I know I'm not the only one that downloads the most up to date manual on my cellphone...

iPhones have flashlight software built in, at least since iOS 7(8?).

Originally Posted by Everett33

Flush cutting side cutters. Nothing worse than dragging your arm or hand over a sharp zip-tie.

This. Easy to think you've cut a zip tie all the way down when there's still a very sharp point.

As for my list of undervalued tools...

Drill press. Having only used a power drill for non-precision stuff, I thought it seemed unnecessary. What can this machine do that can't be done with a cordless(or corded) handheld drill? Then I used one to make some brackets. Not only can it drill perfectly straight, but it eliminates hand/arm fatigue if you need to drill a lot of holes or drill one hole through something long.

Angle grinder. May not get a lot of use, but great for heavy deburring, screw shortening, and in place of a file for steel. Must have if you build a lot with wood. Bench grinders are also good.

Bench top belt(and disc) sander. If you have something big to file, a lot faster and much less effort than filing by hand.

Reciprocating saw(Sawzall). Vibrations can make cutting straight difficult, but once you get going in a cut, it's good. Can cut just about anything quickly, and there are attachments for other things. Much faster and easier than a hacksaw.

If you do a lot of screw shortening and cutting small parts or fairly thin pipes, portable bandsaws are surprisingly useful!

TL;DR: Drill press, angle grinder, belt sander, Sawzall, portable bandsaw.

[GeeTwo]

I heartily agree with many of the items above, and am now looking into several of those we do not yet use. Among those not yet cited, I'll nominate Microsoft Office Suite, particularly excel and power point.

MS Excel powers the JVN calculator and a remarkable variety of one-off calculators we've used over the years to determine lengths and gear ratios and such, and it's been invaluable for project management and CAW (formerly BoM) preparation.

We've used MS Power point for everything from quickie CAD and feasibility simulator to team training to fund raising.

[Jeremy Germita]

Almost forgot one thing: Loctite Gluestick! It's really the only way I apply loctite nowadays. It's not runny or drippy and you only use the exact amount you need. We've been using the same stick of loctite since fall of 2014! Mcmaster #1004A12 if you prefer to order from there.

[waialua359]

Originally Posted by Jeremy Germita

Almost forgot one thing: Loctite Gluestick! It's really the only way I apply loctite nowadays. It's not runny or drippy and you only use the exact amount you need. We've been using the same stick of loctite since fall of 2014! Mcmaster #1004A12 if you prefer to order from there.

We will now use this for the reasons you noted. Thanks!

[Chris is me]

Originally Posted by Jeremy Germita

Almost forgot one thing: Loctite Gluestick! It's really the only way I apply loctite nowadays. It's not runny or drippy and you only use the exact amount you need. We've been using the same stick of loctite since fall of 2014! Mcmaster #1004A12 if you prefer to order from there.

Buy this product!!! It will completely change your life. No more spilled loctite, no more overzealous students covering the entire screw in loctite fluid, no more wasted product. It's amazing.

[smitikshah]

Originally Posted by Jeremy Germita

Groupme is another useful app for us as it allows us to create team-wide or subteam group chats for competitions. Helped organize logistics like food plans and travel as well as discussing scouting information, robot status, and audience defense selection.

Similarly, I don't know what I'd do without Slack. If you are looking for easier team communication, it is a miracle.

[346CADmen]

Many here are invaluable.
Another tool we've made very good use of is aluminum cutting lubricant stick. Makes cutting aluminum much easier, quicker, simple to use and not too expensive.

[Mr. Lim]

The bolt cutter/pliers/punch/drill/saw/knife/hammer/tweezers/screwdriver/wrench/crimper/mini-crowbar/afternoon-snack multi-tool made famous by our Grade 9 students.

[Wren Hensgen]

Originally Posted by Jeremy Germita

My students know that I will never stop recommending this pair of cutters. Buttery smooth operation, super flush cuts, great for zip ties, wires, etc. The super narrow tip allows you to get into really tight corners. It's a must-have tool for all of our competitions...

And even better, it comes in a 5 pack from amazon.

Link

[cbale2000]

Originally Posted by Lireal

Left handed *metric* crescent wrench

They actually make these, at least the metric part.


Not sure if it's underrated, but you definately don't fully appreciate the usefulness of a good pair of Katapult-style wire strippers until you've used them for a while, and then had to go without them (we lost ours a while back and have had to use regular wire strippers ever since).