Super Tools !

[mcniven]

Going to go mad this week and buy some new tools, these old ones are getting shabby!

The reason i'm starting this thread is that, you know when you get that REALLLY handy tool which has nothing to do with plumbing - but always works a treat when it comes to taps, bathrooms, siphons etc. For example....a socket set for monoblock taps.

So... Can anyone reccomend some handy tools?

 

[gregers]

i always thought those super wrenches they sell on the shopping channels were pants but a couple of years ago i found a set at a boot sale for the princly sum of 5 quid i think there Ggggggreat,i also bought 1 of them wall paper cutters,the 1 that uses either 2 or 4 batteries for a pound summers nearly here hunt the bargains down peeps.

 

[neds]

Ratchet ring spanners, absolute genius! Great when there is limited space when working on cars. I bought some good halfords pro ones and they are excellent.

 

[DoItWell]

Anything with a ratchet is fine by me. Ratchet adjustable open enders are great. Ratchet wheel pipe cutters save fiddling. Those Stanley auto nut wrenches (look like a sort of stilsons).

Pipe olive removers are another great save your bum tool. Pipe slices too. Radiator fixing spanners - ratchet versions. Gun type plastic pipe cutters.

Wide jaw adjustable spanners are superb.

High torque pliers. Wera high grip screwdrivers.

Power tools: Angle drills, Impact Drivers, SDS drills. Spiral Rotozip - don't use it much but gets me out of trouble occasionally.

Lazer temperature guages.

Those auto adjusting pipe wrenches look good. I haven't got one.

 

[^woody^]

I carry a Leatherman Charge daily, and this deals with many jobs.

A Tajima Plumb-Rite is an excellent plumb-bob - way way better than a weight on a string.

The FatMax XL 8m tape is thick and stands out to about 4m unsupported. The Fisco BrickMate tape has brick and block guage and lengths for easy setting out.

Disto Laser for fast and easy measuring

Cordless all-purpose saw gets the 'most useful' award though. Close second are Paslode nail gun and cordless impact driver.

I also have some of those 'super wrenches' and yes they are good

 

[xerxes]

Haemostats (artery forceps): usually quite cheap and well made. I keep a pair in every tool kit, in the car, in the house ...

Automatic self-locking wrenches. Mine are made by LeverWrench; I haven't seen them for sale for a long time.

Long pearl catcher for picking up dropped small parts; I carry one in the car for those times when all the change drops out of trouser pocket and down between the seats.

Dial calliper: the one I use all the time is made of nylon and reads to 0.1mm. Not accurate enough for metal work, of course, but perfect for everything else, easy to read and no batteries to replace.

Short pry bar: my favourite is a bit like this only shorter.

Ball-ended hex drivers for most times when an internal hex fixing needs winding in and out.

Fein Multimaster, which is becoming more useful all the time, especially now that blades (Bosch PMF will fit) are more affordable.

Locking folding knife which goes with me wherever I'm working.

(At the other end of the scale) an air compressor. Yesterday I used mine to open up a sticky brake caliper, undo a difficult fastener on a tie rod joint, and clear a bunged-up windscreen washer nozzle; and it's still there to inflate the tyres when I've finished repairing the car. I'm saving up for a bigger one (compressor, that is).

 

[disinfo]

Fein Multimaster, which is becoming more useful all the time, especially now that blades (Bosch PMF will fit) are more affordable.

.

Do the PMF180 blades it, is it an old type multimaster you have, or the newer type with quick release blades?

 

[xerxes]

Disinfo: I should have clarified, the Bosch PMF blades fit the old type of Multimaster.

 

[disinfo]

Disinfo: I should have clarified, the Bosch PMF blades fit the old type of Multimaster.

 

[DoItWell]

Fein Multimaster, which is becoming more useful all the time, especially now that blades (Bosch PMF will fit) are more affordable.

Is the Bosch PMF 180 worth getting? The Fein Multimaster I found far too expensive for what is little more than a detail sander.

What real use are these tools?

 

[disinfo]

Fein Multimaster, which is becoming more useful all the time, especially now that blades (Bosch PMF will fit) are more affordable.

Is the Bosch PMF 180 worth getting? The Fein Multimaster I found far too expensive for what is little more than a detail sander.

What real use are these tools?

Hardly just a detail sander (fein)

I use the cutting blades more than anything, brilliant for undercutting door frames, cutting floor boards for access with an almost invisible kerf, Making lap joints, trimming skirting, cutting joist notches. The list goes on.

It is an expensive tool, but its built to last. Where as im not sure the bosch is.

 

[^woody^]

I have the Bosch model and it is useful for the situations described. Not sure about the bottom of doors though, as the test door I tried took blody ages to cut.

But I don't think you can say that the Bosch (or any Bosch) is not built to last. It is a DIY model as opposed to the Fein's professional leanings, so in that context there is no reason to suppose that it wont last

 

[disinfo]

Sorry, I didnt mean to imply the bosch wouldnt last, bad use of english.

What I meant to say is that, never having seen one of the bosch models "in the flesh" I couldnt make a judgement on the quality.

I was undercutting door frames too rather than doors, proved very good for this although I was worrying about blades at £10 a throw.

 

[Bilioustrumpstaine]

Fein Multimaster, which is becoming more useful all the time, especially now that blades (Bosch PMF will fit) are more affordable.

Is the Bosch PMF 180 worth getting? The Fein Multimaster I found far too expensive for what is little more than a detail sander.

What real use are these tools?

info here

http://www.feinmultimaster.co.uk/

demo here

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nynD2SfyINU

Expensive but I wouldn't part with mine.

 

[disinfo]

This thread is going to turn into "the fein multimaster appreciation thread"

As they usually do