I am captain of Rocket Robotics team 1064 in Milwaukee Wisconsin, we were inactive for 3 years and have lost all old people from our team, BUT we have a sponsor who is willing to buy us almost anything we need as far as parts, so what drills, tools, shelving, carts, laptops, ect… any and all help would be loved.
Also if u would like to check on our website we should be up and running in a month or so with Pic’s of all the new gear we got and logo’s and such.
Our equipment is pretty basic: a chop saw, a drill press, a few hand drills, clamps, an assortment of hand tools. We tend to use a lot of 1/4" bolts with locking nuts. We have several 7/16" wrenches to go with the 1/4" bolts (running joke - all new students should be issued a 7/16" wrench.)
If you have other teams in your area it’s probably worth your time to visit them and see what they have and how they organize.
The pit area is another challenge . There is probably a thread here somewhere on pit areas.
For basic machines we have a band-saw, drill press, and a belt sander, along with hand tools.
I’d say those 3 machines would definitely get you started.
We also have a lathe and a CNC mill, but you probably don’t want to hit your sponsor up for that right away…
For electronic parts, definitely get some:
Solder
Soldering Iron(s)
A good pair of crimpers
Various connectors
Heatshrink
Heat Gun-If you get Heatshrink
Wire Cutters + Strippers
Something else that can be very helpful are some vices.
Oh, and zipties. You can never have too many zipties.
And if you can find it, some magic. Magic is a great thing to have.
Safety glasses and other PPE.
Training on any tool you get.
These are the most important things you can get. They can prevent injuries if used properly.
Now, as for tools:
Drill press and drill bits.
Cordless drill and second set of drill bits.
Allen wrenches (1+ set of both English and Metric sizes)
Phillips/flathead screwdrivers of various sizes–a 4-in-1 might be a good option.
Chopsaw or bandsaw.
Hacksaw.
Hammer/mallet in various sizes.
Crescent and box wrenches in various sizes.
Tape measure.
Level.
4x block of wood (for putting the robot up for testing).
Scale. (Trust me, many teams have weight problems. Don’t join them…)
Well, if your sponser will really buy you anything I’d go for one of those fancy new five axis mills. With one of those you could mill your entire robot out of a big block of aluminum. If thats not awesome I don’t know what is.
With that said, I’d also buy some pool noodles.
Get a low-power TIG welder and learn how to use it. Miller, Lincoln, or Everlast.
Wow, that’s a heck of a sponsor! Very cool.
Small (and not so small) tools and parts have a way of accumulating on teams. Many of them even prove useful at some point. 
I’d recommend touring local teams and even other facilities (university machine shops are great). Perhaps also just walk through hardware stores. That’s always fun! Team 1640 (large) tool list.
I’m no Wisconsinite, but as far as teams, Milwaukee makes me think 1714, 1675, and 1732. I’m sure there are others around that might give some insight. If you can, not only make detailed inventories and organization descriptions, but ask them what they’d change (though what 1714 would ever want to change is beyond me).
And now for my NEMO plug of the day. Tools are very important, organization even more so. (Less frustrating to know you don’t have something then to not be able to find it.) Don’t forget about things like cleaning supplies, safety (glasses, gloves), food/serving stuff, transportation (trailer, bus/van), spirit items, handouts, posters, buttons, CDs/DVDs (for sponsors) etc, though.
There are several great wish lists/examples out there that may plant some ideas, too: 294, 228, 1511 (for Rookies)
As for pit layout, I believe “Go MOE!”](http://moe365.org/moepit.php) is a good phrase to start with. Many other teams out there have great layouts as well (especially the crate-to-pit setups), but as of yet I haven’t found any as thoroughly documented as MOE’s. Not just the design, but the methodology.
um… slightly excessive, but a small mill and or lathe wouldn’t be a bad investment (and both could probably be bought for a few million dollars less than such a behemoth 5-axis cnc mill:eek: , which, I must admit, would be awesome.
EDIT: I almost forgot to mention unobtainium, a flux capacitor, a turbo encabulator, and an adjustable metric crescent wrench.
My team builds out of my garage and as such our equipment is very basic. I would recommend you have: (warning: this list may be excessivly long)
At least 1 bandsaw (12" or 14" min.) Have spare blades.
At least 1 drill press
2 or 3 good battery powered hand drills
1 air-hammer hand drill
1 table saw
1 or more jigsaws
1 Sawzall
2+ Dremel tools
4 or 5 complete sets of wrenches (metric and standard)
1-2 Sets of screw drivers (Phillips and Flat head)
5-6 ratching socket wrenches and several complete sets of sockets
1 or 2 Ratcheting Screw drivers
Several sets of screw driver bits
1 complete set of TiN drill bits
3+ sets of High speed steel drill bits
1-2 Counter Sinking Tools
1-2 Deburring knives
Tap Magic (lots of tap magic)
2-5 vices
Lots of clamps (QuikGrip and C-clamps)
1-2 Right angle T’s
1 set of Files
Several Taps and Dies
Sand Paper (maybe even electric sander)
1-2 Rubber mallets
Several Hammers
Millions of Zipties
Duct Tape (preferably military-grade duct tape)
2-3 Robogrip Pliers
2-4 Channel Lock Pliers
2-3 Vice Grips
1 set of Needle-Nose Pliers
1-2 Tin Snips
Several pairs of Wire Cutters
1-2 wire stripping tools (the nice ones that hold the wire and strip it)
1 good crimping tool
1-2 soldering iron
1-2 Good Chain Breakers (#25 and #35)
1 Hand Rivet Gun
1-2 Exacto knives
Several Hacksaws
1 Miter Saw and Miter Box
Several cans/bottles of Dust-Off, WD 40, Goo-Gone, Loc-Tite
A scale (we use a Fish Scale, the ones for weighing fish)
You could try a small table-top mill or lathe (we haven’t really had a need for one though)
I am sure I am forgetting something but this is good enough to get started with, plus you can get most of these parts pretty cheap if you buy in sets.
One of the places I have had the best luck finding cheap sets of tools is Costco and Wal Mart (even though I prefer Craftsman but those aren’t as cheap). I bought a complete set (100-150 pieces) of TiN drill bits and Circle cutter things for about $70. The only problem is they do not always have this stuff, I think the best time to check is around Christmas. I also would recommend Skil as a good brand of hand power tools. I bought a set of from them having a Hand Drill, Circular Saw, Sawzall, Light, and various attachments for about $200. The saw had a laser guide, drill had lights to illuminate drilling area, and the other tools had other cool features.
I cannot think of anything else right now. The great thing about having a lot of hand tools is that you can get all of the team to participate in building which is not always possible. We do this on my team and we have 25-35 students.
For nuts and bolts I would reccomend you buy sampler kits from McMaster because that way you will get a decent sized assortment of many sizes of bolts, screws, and so on; plus these generally come in a nice box that is already sorted which is great for organization. Have lots of spare nuts, bolts, wire, screws, connectors, and other parts of various sizes and types. This way you can always have parts on hand.
Another good investment is buying lots of those fancy fishing tackle boxes. These boxes are great for sorting parts because they have tons of slots but also are portable. These are great for competitions because you can carry everything you will every need pretty easily.
You can buy shelving or build it. Building shelving can be a good way to teach new kids how to use drills and saws, as well as keep them busy at practices.
I do not know what kind of computer would be best but I would recommend looking into some nice workstation or gaming computers (for CAD of course), I prefer laptops but desktops generally are better. I do not know if your sponsor does this, but many companies have contracts with companies like DELL or HP and recieve special discounts on purchasing computers and software. Your computer does not need to be all powerful to work well enough for FRC (it does help), I use a 5 or 6 year DELL Inspiron 6000 and have inventor running “fine” on it.
Hope these help.
P.S. sorry if I rambled a bit.
I heard of this newfangled metal called “aluminium”, they might take a look but I doubt they’ll use it 
Though seriously, 1714’s a bit of a special case since we haven’t used fabricated metal parts… ever, really. You can check the team’s website and send an email if you wanna get in contact with them keeping that in mind…
And … A few simple tools for building two, dead simple, but consistent/predictable, rugged robots - One to ship, one to practice with
Blake
He was actually on our team for a year or two, so he already knows us
Ethernet and Ethernet Crossover cables, in sections of 1ft., 5ft., 10ft, and 20ft, for tethering the robot, and connecting the PC to the router
PWM cable making kit- We got last year, and it made life a whole lot easier
Craftsmen brand hand tools (wrenches, screwdrivers, hammers, etc.) Not only do they last awhile, and are infinitely useful, the warranty makes them a must
Electrical tape and Duck tape
Multimeter
Several external hard drives, for pictures, movies, code, and back-ups of all that was previously mentioned
Internet connection in your workshop, for quickly checking CD
Safety glasses and gloves
Zip ties
Cathode tube kit, for retrofitting “street glow” (under-body kit) on a robot after the competition, so it looks cool for demos
Check out the $1500 dollar machine shop thread.
http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/showthread.php?t=85568&highlight=machine+shop
Or if you have the money the $10K machine shop thread.
http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/showthread.php?t=85588&highlight=machine+shop
These threads have a lot of good info and discussion to look at.
Pete
Most of the suggestions here are good. Remember that if you can’t get any of the machines because they’re too big/too expensive (CNCs, welders, large mills) that the school we (1675) work at probably has it (except for a waterjet). You guys are always welcome to come to our shop. (That goes for anyone, of course)
yes, check out the NEMO website - resources section - for white papers that might help you. Your adult mentors can join NEMO at www.firstnemo.org.