Garage

Tuesday, 4 December 2012

Colchester Chipmaster Continental

Goodbye Emco, Hello Colchester
I ended up selling my Maximat V10 which I refurbished so I was latheless. I was on holidays in Australia when I found a Colchester Chipmaster in Sweden. This to me was one of the "holy grail" lathes. The list of lathes I was looking for were:
  1. Emco Maximat V13
  2. Weiler Primus
  3. Weiler Matador
  4. Colchester Chipmaster
The problem with the Emco and Colchester is that since they are no longer in production, finding examples that are not worn out is difficult. When I came across a Chipmaster advertised in Stockholm, I rang them and asked for details. The funny thing is that I waited for 2 weeks and watched it in case it sold. I experienced this with my lathe. It sat for sale for 2 weeks and then I was contacted by about 10 interested parties. Since it hadn't sold I rang from Oz and asked for a run down of it's condition. It seemed to be in good order so I asked them to hold it and assured them I would buy it providing it checked out as they described. I rang again when we were in Singapore on the way home and again when I arrived in Norway to make sure they knew I was serious.

The exchange rate from the Norwegian to Swedish Kroner was 1.21 so it was heavily in my favour. Arriving home from Australia on the Wednesday, I had organized to be in Stockholm on the Saturday to check out the lathe. The jetlag was not fun but I made the drive, staying over in Säffle to break up the trip since I didn't want to risk driving tired.

I arrived in Stockholm and checked out the lathe. It was actually in better condition than I thought, and came with a full set of change wheels, a travelling steady and 7 tool holders for the Dixon quick change tool post. With all things considered, it was an excellent price so I grabbed it. On the long trip home, it started to rain. This in itself wasn't a big problem since I wrapped the lathe in plastic after heavily oiling it. The issue was that the road had been salted previously and the fine spray kicked up by the wheels got into everything. I arrived home at 11:30 pm that night which made it a 18 hour round trip. As tired as I was, the metal was starting to discolour. I had to put a dry tarp over the lathe, and start spraying everything with WD40. After that I lightly went over the bare metal with OOOO steel wool and then oiled everything with engine oil. I then placed an oil heater under the tarp to heat the lathe and drive out the moisture. I ended up getting to bed at 1:30 the following morning. My driveway looked like a shanty town:



Finally in the Garage
I was itching to get the lathe off the trailer however our tenant had parked in front of the garage and I couldn't access it until morning. I needed to go over the entire lathe again. This time I could do it in the comfort of my garage. For a 48 year old Colchester Chipmaster, she was in suprisingly good condition.




The Dilemma
Now I have some issues to resolve with the lathe before I can use it. One is to change the electrical to 230 volt 3 phase. In order to do this I have to change the motor to Delta configuration, and swap out the magnetic switch and overload protection for a 230 volt unit. I have the unit but I am waiting on some engineers at work to give me the final go ahead on the configuration. The next issue is related to the lousy service in Norway. I have tried no less than 6 different places to find the required shell oild for the headstock, and variator. I have been told repeatedly by the people in these stores that, "the amount you need is so small, I will not bother to help you". Literally, this is what I have been told. Those that smiled and said that they would contact me, have not.

Rearranging the Garage
After moving the lathe in, I need to do a re-shuffle of the garage. I have gotten things fairly well sorted out now. I have not taken the lathe off the pallet yet though since it is much easier to move as it is.



So now things are in stasis until I can get the oil and magnetic switch wired in. If needs be I will have to order the oil from the UK, but I am avoiding that due to the cost. I have only needed to spend a little more than I sold the Emco Maximat for to buy the Chipmaster so I don't want to blow the budget now. I'll be sure to update the blog when I get things moving along.

Tuesday, 16 October 2012

Jungner VF-600 Milling Machine

The search began 10 years ago...
As most are probably aware, I like older, manual type machines. I have a soft spot for European machines likely brought on by the rarity of them in my native Australia. I had been on the hunt for about 10 years for a small milling machine and initially was looking at the little Emco FB-2:

Emco FB-2 info

This was mainly brought on by the fact I had an Emco Maximat V-10 which I was very impressed with. Upon surfing the Norwegian equivelent of ebay, I came a cross an elderly gent selling a bigger lathe. I rang him but unfortunately he had sold the lathe by that stage. Jokingly I said, "what a shame you don't have a little milling machine". He replied, "funny you should say that, I forgot to include one in my add...". The rest as they say, is history.

The Jungner VF-600 Milling machine



 
When I first purchased this machine, it was covered in sawdust and hardened oil. It had suffered it's share of careless operators, marring the table and cutting grooves into it's surface. I was not able to test the machine, but when rotating the motor by hand and going through the gears, I couldn't feel any damage. I took a gamble with it I know, but given the price and pile of extras I got, I didn't want to let it slip through my fingers.

Transportation home was difficult the first time. I had to dissassemble the 550 kg beast and load it into the car and onto the trailer piece by piece. It was a big job. When re-assembling it, I noticed the insulation on the wires was tacky and had the consistency of chewing gum. Not good. When I got it all re-assembled, it threw the breaker every time I tried to turn it on. At that point renovations started and I didn't have time to touch it for a further 2 1/2 years.

Moving to Hvittingfoss
Thank God for good friends. 

I needed to move the mill 2 weeks ago and my good friend Jan Rune offered to help. He literally saved me a days work and I am floored by his generosity. Once in the garage, I was able to strip out all the wiring and start from scratch. I had to change everything since despite working after considerable electrical work, it was triggering my earth leakage system.

Details
As you can see, for a 3/4 HP motor, the machine is very heavily built and extremely rigid.


It has been designed with t-slots that accomodate stops. This is a very nice feature and helps avoid mistakes while milling.


This machine was designed as both a mill and a drill. It has a geared down-feed that allows for very heavy drilling. It also has both a handwheel, and a down-feed lever as found on a drill press. The head can also be engaged with a gear drive reduction allowing extra torque and reduced speeds for jobs where the belt drive would slip.The head also has the t-slot stops to ensure you don't bore to far.


The head can be tilted, raised and lowered via these hand cranks.


The controls for the machine are relatively simple, consisting of 2 switches on the front panel. These control forward and reverse of the spindle, and left to right of the table.


The table feed mechanism is a flange mounted motor with a small gearbox. The feed speeds seem adequate for a range of finishes.

Most of the knobs were missing when I bought the machine. At work, people tend to throw away old machinery with control knobs intact, so always unscrew these on the off chance I'll need them. It paid off in this case.

Quality
I love European machines because they seem to be built with a sense of pride rarely found in Far-East machines. This machine, although used still has minimal back-lash, and shows no rusting on the chrome parts. The dials are of a very generous size and are extremely easy to use and adjust


Even the motor is European made.


A refurb project?
It has been a long time in the making, but I finally have the machine up and running. Initially I was going to strip it, repaint it and repair the table. I don't know if I will do that now. I think I just want to use something before I take it to bits and try make it better. Despite the age, this old girl is still silky smooth and I really can't wait to use it.

The instruction manual
I have had the instruction manual translated from Swedish to English. I will upload it as soon as I have time to put the pictures with the text. Apparently, it appears that Jungner first wrote the manual in Cantonese, then translated it to Swedish, then to Dutch, then to German, Japanese, and then back to Swedish. My Swedish friend who translated it for me said that if a dictionary could vomit, it would probably be easier reading than the manual was.

Stay safe.

Wednesday, 18 July 2012

Spam on The Wandering Axeman


 I have been going over comments of late and have had to remove some because of people linking their comments to their online stores or businesses. I don't mind doing this if I have an agreement with you, or, I review whatever it is your selling and it turns out that;
  1. You are a reputable businesses person with anti fraud measures in place
  2. You don`t sell crappy stuff
If you would like me to review a product that you sell or make, by all means contact me and we can arrange something but please be aware that I will be truthful and honest. If it is poo, I will state that on my blog.

Under NO other circumstances will I allow people to link to their businesses / marketing sites.Considering that to date there have been over 43200 visitors to this site the temptation is there to break this simple set of guidelines. If that is the case I will simply mark the comment as SPAM and it will be removed and sent to the fiery depths to dwell with the motivations of politicians and lawyers.

It is my intent that if I link to anything on this site it is because it is worth buying or reading. I have never intended for this blog to be filled with people plugging their wares or websites.

If you would like me to show a link to your blog, contact me about it and I will check the content and either provide a link to it on the right of my articles, or politely decline. Stay safe and spam free.

Sunday, 15 July 2012

What Powertools for a Garage Workshop?

I have covered what general handtools I think are necessary in a previous post:

Which Handtools?

So I will move on to power tools now. For the most part, I have bought powertools more typical of building and renovating projects. These however are useful in any handyman / tinkerer's arsenal of tools so I will divide the tools up into must-have and nice-to-have.

Must Have Powertools For the Workshop
Bench Grinder
I think every workshop needs a bench grinder. This tool is useful for re-profiling pieces of steel, sharpening drill bits, lathe tools mower blades etc..

I have mine attached to a rolling trolley so I can roll it outside to avoid getting the abrasive dust in the garage which destroys bearings very quickly.

Cordless Drill
Sometimes you just want to drill a quick hole. This is where a cordless drill comes into the picture. They are useful for light work and usually come with 2 batteries so if one runs out of juice, you still have a spare. I don't run a lithium ion drill because in my opinion the cost wasn't worth it at the time.

Despite having a "cheaper" drill, I am very satisfied with it. It has run faultlessly for 7 years now and I have used it to mix grout etc... Buy a decent brand name cordless and you will be set for quite a few years.
Cordless impact driver

When the 10V lithium ion tools came out they were revolutionary. My brother had the ordinary 10V screwdriver and said it was brilliant. I was using my codless drill at the time to drive screws and it was having a hard time with long screws, often stripping the heads. I had it happen one too many times and decided an impact driver would remedy the problem. Despite the small battery size, this little Bosch 10.8 Volt driver has a huge amount of torque, able to driver long screws into wood. I can't comment on how it would perform on hardwoods, but on pine and other softwoods it outclasses the drill.

Angle Grinder
An angle grinder is useful because it cuts and grinds. With different disks, you have the versatility of a grinder, cutter, sander and polisher. I have used my little Makita for a wide range of tasks and it is my go-to tool for axe reprofiling.


Corded Drill
Why would you need a corded drill if you have a cordless? Because corded drills have a lot more power, don't need charging and are much more capable in tough materials. I have 3 corded drills. The first is my general or light duty drill.


This drill has a quick chuck and is lighter than most drills. I use this when I have a lot of drilling to do that is repetative. It won't wear me out since it is so small and light. The next drill is my medium duty drill.


 This drill handles medium drilling and hammer drill tasks. It has more power, a heavier duty gearbox and also more wattage for more serious tasks. This kind of drill is expensive and you should only buy one if you really need it. If you do need this kind of drill and think it will see regular use, get a decent one right away. I am very happy with my metabo and would buy one again if this one fails. My last drill is used for heavy duty drilling and chipping tasks.


It is a Hitachi DH 24 PC3. It is a drill that uses SDS Plus tools and as such can handle much more torque. If I compare this with my metabo when drilling into concrete or stone, this Hitachi does the work in a 5th of the time. It will also function as a small jackhammer used for chipping duties such as removing tiles, concrete dregs dried on the floor etc.. I bought this Hitachi because I had the much larger DH 45MR and was so impressed with it's reliability and power. I have not been disappointed.

Circular Saw
Handsaws work, but who needs all that bother? When you are building a fence or a dog box, a circular saw will save you a great deal of time and effort. You don't need to go extravegant. I bought this one at a second-hand shop 8 years ago and it has been used to renovate 2 houses.


There are better saw available but this one works and I am used to it so I have not bothered to replace it. As a side note, make sure the saw you buy has enough power. This is especially important if you will be cutting hard wood or if your blades won't be changed so often. I would recommend at least 1000 Watts. Every power tool has this info on it:


 New saws have a riving knife to stop kickback from occuring. These saws are unforgiving so make sure you have someone show you how to use it or else risk losing digits.

Heat Gun
A heat gun is a great little tool used for stripping paint, softening plastics, unfreezing pipes etc... I have used mine to soften linoleum before laying it down and stripping paint. They are effectively a hair dryer on steroids. I didn't spend much money on mine yet it haslasted years and despite being mistreated by a friend (who melted my compressor hose with it among a long list of other things he chose to rest it on), it still functions well.


Soldering Iron
This should be on anyone's list of power tools. This little tool will help you repair or make electronics, shrink heat-shrink or even burn your name into the kitchen table. When my washing machine stopped working, this $10 tool allowed me to melt the solder and remove the burned-out speed controller and solder in the 50 cent replacement. This saved me a $300 call out fee or a $1000 replacement machine. You can get fancy soldering irons but I just have a cheapie because it does not get used very often.

Sander
You should have at least 1 sander in your tool list. These save you a huge amount of time and effort and given their relatively low price, it isn't hard to get a few different types for differnt tasks.

I have a half sheet, a quarter sheet and a belt sander. The half sheet is used when I have a large surface that needs finish sanding. It covers a wider area than the quarter sheet. When I need to sand small areas and I have to be a little more carefull, I use the quarter sheet. If I need to remove large amounts of material, I use the belt sander. This bad boy will rip through paint and wood without mercy. This is used for rough work and care needs to be taken not to gouge the work. I bought the green "handyman" Bosch sander because unlike other brands, it is made in Switzerland which is renowned for producing excellent tools


Hole Saws
Although these are not power tools, they are used with drills and are a valuable accessory to have. I would consider these as necessary as a good set of wood drill bits. I have a Starret set which is HSS. These will cut through steel as well as wood and as such I don't have to be worried if I hit a nail with them as they will chew straight through it.


Nice To Have Power Tools
Now that I have finished with what I consider to be essential tools, I will move onto the nice-to-haves.

Air Compressor
This tool is so nice to have it is borderline compulsory in a handyman's kit. I have nail guns, rattle guns and air driven drills. They save trips to the petrol station if you have a flat and you can use an air-gun to blow dust out of your tools when you are finished with them  

My compressor is 2HP direct drive unit. It has a water seperator so I can spray paint with it and it has 2 regulators in case I want to use 2 different air tools at once. When looking at a compressor, you need to decide how much air you will use and buy one with the appropriate tank size. Belt driven units generally last longer, but, they need higher current so if you will run it from a long extension lead, a direct drive will have less chance of triggering your circuit breaker.

Router
Routers are nifty little things that are used for joinery or profiling the edges of wood. I have used mine to manufacture my own architraves and skirting boards so I didn't have to run back and forth to the hardware store. Mine is a Bosch GKF 600 and is pretty tiny. I bought the full kit which allows me to trim laminate or use stencils. I have been really happy with mine. 


Make sure you buy a good set of router bits since it spins at 33,000 rpm. You don't want a piece of tungsten carbide flying off at that speed.

Planer
Sometimes you just need to shave a few mm from a piece of wood to make something fit. Sometimes you want a pice of wood to have that glassy finish. This is where the planer comes in. Instead of using abrasives to remove wood, it uses knives to shave a layer of wood away. I never realised how nice it is to have a planer before I bought mine. I used it alot for preparing rough stock or getting windows or doors to fit. It has been used to make door floor plates and furniture. I bought a mid range Bosch because it handled the depth of cut I needed.

Saws
Sliding Compound Mitre Saw
I have a lot of different saws. Each serves a different purpose. The most used of these is the sliding compound mitre saw.




I bought a Makita LS701 because the larger Bosch I had previously was too hard to manuever up stairwells. When I first moved to Norway I worked as a carpenter and it became back breaking. I replaced the Bosch with this lighter Makita and couldn't be more pleased. It is a very accurate saw, has great dust collection and the laser makes life much easier when trying to make accurate cuts. It will trench cut too which is a bonus. The relatively small blade size means that there is less wasted material and less dust. They are also cheaper to buy. I attached mine to a set of Bosch saw feet so it will attatch to my portable saw stand.

Jigsaw
A jigsaw allows you to cut curves due to the small thin blade it employs. A circular saw blade will catch if you try to turn the saw but a jigsaw will not. A good saw will have orbital cutting, variable speed, quick blade chang and tilt function. It may even have a built in light which is a huge bonus. I chose the Makita because it had all these features. I have been really happy with this saw and use it for installing floating laminate floors since a jigsaw blade is cheaper to replace than a circular saw blade (the laminate trashes blades!)


Reciprocating Saw
This saw is the Ivan Drago of hacksaws. It will outcut and outclass a hand hacksaw. I used mine for cutting out windows and door. It sliced through screws and nails and since it had a 4 way adjustable blade, it could cut very close to wall. I bought a DeWalt because it was manufactured in Germany where as the others were Chinese. I wanted a quality saw since my last experince (an Ozito Recip Saw), shook the freckles off my face.


Fein Multi Master 
This little guy is a saw that relies on an oscilating blade. I have used this tool when I have been faced with a job with poor access where I need to make the neatest cuts possible. This tool is in class of it's own. It comes with a vast array of attachments from scrapers to grout removers and is the best multi-use power tool I have ever used. It's not a tool you use everyday, but when you need it you are very glad you have it. 


 Since the patent ended for this saw, many companies have begun making copies including Bosch. There is an adapter available so you can use Bosch blades on the Fein:

adapter

Why is this a big deal? Because the Fein blades are super expensive wheras the Bosch blades are not.

Drill Press
The drill press can handle heavier drilling than a hand held drill. It also has a table so that you can drill at 90 degrees. A good drill press will have a belt or gear system so that you can alter speeds. It will have a depth indicator and a depth stop to help you measure how far you have drilled. These can be expensive but are very useful tools to have. I bought a rusted up junker and fixed it. With a drill press, mass equals more rigididty and less viabration. Mine weighs about 60 Kg.

Once you have the press, get yourself a good vice or clamp set-up. I use a vice grip type with a T nut. It slides along the cut outs and locks work to the table. It's fast and convenient.

Well, I didn't intend on this post being so long and in honesty, I have used several hours putting this together so I hope you guys get some use from it. The tools you need are always dependent on what type of projects you undertake, but for a general handyman, this guide will be a good starting point. Stay safe.

Friday, 13 July 2012

Online Machine Manuals

I have taken an interest in tools that are no longer in production. This has meant going to great lengths to get the instruction manuals for these machines. I will continue to update this online manual section as I get more machines and their related manuals. The goal is to have an online reference so you good folks won't have to waste as much time as I did finding info on these machines. Enjoy.

Emco Maximat V10 and V10P Online Manual
Emco V10 Manual

Emco Maximat V10 and V10P Parts List Online
Maximat_V10P_spareparts

Inca 340 Bandsaw / Euro 260 Bandsaw Online Manual
Inca 340 Manual


Inca 510 Jointer Thicknesser Online Manual
510 343.190.01 Hobelmasch. Aut.190.01


The Inca Woodworking Machinery Handbook Online - How to use the Inca jointer planer
Using the Jointer Planer

What hand tools do I need?

I was asked by a friend recently what tools I would recommend to a person just starting out with tinkering / repairing of mechanical equipment. I wasn't really prepared for this question because from a young age, I had always had tools around due to my dad being a builder and a diesel and petrol mechanic. In an effort to try answer his question, I will give a breakdown of what I have and give some justification for why this would be necessary. Please remeber, I have collected these tools over the last 17 years and many (if not most) I have bought second hand. DO NOT USE CREDIT TO BUY TOOLS!!! Be patient and check garage sales, ebay and cent sales. Deceased estates are also rich in tools. Avoid buying new if you can and give an old handtool new life!

Work Bench
This is probably the most important piece of equipment for the garage tinkerer. The workbench needs to be solid and must be able to withstand the weight of the projects and the wear and tear caused by dragging things over it's surface. My work bench has a steel covering so I can weld or solder on it without damaging it. It is also large enough to fit several projects at once. The addition of drawers and a shelf below are handy for items that would otherwise clutter the work surface.

 Steel benches that have welded joints make much better tables than wooden benches in general. Wooden benches end up with play in the joints making them a rickety alternative to a steel bench.

Bench Vise
There are loads of cheap vices available now. They are Chinese variants of popular brands. For the most part though, the cheap knock-offs don't hold a candle to a decent quality vice. I have a Record No. 3 vice and recommend the Record vices. If you don't have a vice, do yourself a favor and buy a decent one first time.
You can find used vices at reasonable prices but check them carefully. The jaws should be parallel to each other and the screw should be smooth, free from dents and chips. The jaws are generally replaceable but given the cost of parts, unless you have machine tools to manufacture them hold off until a good one comes along.

Lighting
I can't recommend good lighting highly enough. It's depressing working in poor lighting and it ruins your eyesight. Do yourself a favor and get a good bench mounted lamp to light up your projects. I have 5 different Luxo lights and a flouro light attached to the bench. I also have a flouro light with magnifier which is used when working on small projects.

Hand Tools
Now we get down to the tools themselves. It's hard to recommend tools because the choice depends on the type of projects a person works on. I do general tinkering and mechanical / electric / metal work so I have a mix. The following picture will be used as the reference:
  1. Pliers and snips. Get good quality first time. Cutters I recommend are Knippex and Bahco
  2. Slotted Drivers. If you have an option have 2 sets. 1 for rough work, one for clean work
  3. General cutting tools. I have an Olfal knife which has snapable and replaceable blades.
  4. Steel ruler. This is absolutely necessary in every garage workshop. I have an adjustable block for repeatable measurements and scribing on sheet stock.
  5. Cold chisels. These are often overlooked but are extremely useful for shearing bolts, unfreezing nuts etc... I have a variety of sizes and patterns. I tend to use Stahlwille chisels because their steel seems to last a long time under use.
  6. Adjustable / slipjoint pliers. These are useful for general crimping, bending or holding tasks. I also have a Norwegian "Kongsberg" pipe wrench to the left of the pincers. 
  7. Philips head screwdrivers. I have 2 sets. This set is my PB Swiss quality set reserved for clean work.
  8. Calipers. These are used for measuring the depth of holes, diameters and thickness. These are indispensable in a workshop. This is my rough set as I also have some digital Mitutoyo calipers that are used for more accurate measuring.
  9. 1/2" ratchet and breaker bar. These tools are compulsory in a workshop. In fact, the first tool set I ever bought was a Sidchrome socket set. What you pay for in a set is the ratcheting mechanism. If you go cheap, you will regret it due to the course teeth in the mechanism and the potential to break teeth or slip under load. Avoid the dollar store specials here and get a reputable brand. The two you see in the picture are Hazet (breaker bar) and Stahlwille (ratchet). These are my heavy-duty or rough use tools.
  10. Misc flat blade drivers. These are my stubby and long flat bladed drivers. Theyare  useful when trying to get at hard to reach screws. Spend some money on these to make sure you get good steel. Once the blades wear a little, they will cause cam-out making screws difficult to remove. Since these drivers are used for screws found in difficult places, don't compound the problem by using drivers that cam-out.
  11. Philips head screwdrivers. This is my rough set.
  12. Bolt cutters. These small bolt cutters are used to clip screws, nails and hard wire. They save my pliers from getting damaged since they are designed for heavy cutting.
  13. 12" Wrench. This gets used when I need to put serious torque onto a large bolt or nut.
  14. Universal joint socket adapter. These are used for hard to reach nuts and bolts. They allow the socket to reach around corners in a sense, making life easier in general.
  15. Magnetic bowl. If you don't have one,you need one. This will keep all your screws and small parts in one location and save you having to look for bits on the floor.
  16. Micro screwdriver set. These are necessary for electronics and small mechanical components. I have reviewed these tools here: PB Swiss screwdriver review  I also have a centre punch which is used for marking metal surfaces so drill bits can get purchase instead of skating on the surface.
  17. 6" Wrenches. These are handy if you are unsure what size a nut or bolt is. Adjustable and a handy size for general mechanical work.
  18. Alan key / hex set. I have 2 sets, one in inch and one in metric. It is necessary to get good quality hex keys. Many times that is the difference between getting a rusted hex bolt out or snapping your key
  19. Magnetizer / demagnetizer. This tool needs to be in every tool kit! Many times a magnetized screwdriver is a major annoyance, other times you wished the driver would just hold that difficult screw so you can get to that hard to reach spot without it falling off. This little gem will both magnetize drivers when needed. then de-magnetize when it isn't needed. They are only a couple bucks and are a must.

  1.  Ratcheting Flex-head Wrenches. This is a stellar gift idea for any woman wanting to impress her hubby with her gift ideas. They are expensive, but make the perfect tool to convince the man to help assemble all that Ikea furniture.
  2. Specialized pliers. In this case they are pliers for removal and installation of circlips. These are not necessary but are handy to have. They are the kind of tool that you can buy as you need them.
  3. Small hacksaw. This little guy is useful for shortening screws, bolts and small metal things. It has fine teeth and causes less damage to parts than a larger hacksaw.
  4. Spanner set. For years I have used a Chinese spanner set that although was functional, was not a pleasure to use. It was made with sloppy tolerances and the metal was a little soft. I finally upgraded to a set of Stahlwille spanners and am very happy I did. I have all sizes from 19mm - 6mm and have a quarter inch just in case.
  5. Vice grips and aviation snips. Vice grips are necessary in any tool kit. They allow you to close the jaws and the mechnism holds them clamped onto the object. They are adjustable and extremely useful. Aviation snips are used for cutting sheet metal and are also a handy addition to a tool kit.
  6. PPE. This stands for Personal Protective Equipment. You should have eye, hearing and dust protection available at all times. Your health is not worth risking so these are one of the most important pieces of equipment.
  7. Stubby spanners. These are shorter than normal spanners and allow you to work in tighter spaces.
  8. 1/2" Ratchet and extensions. These are my clean 1/2" tools when I am working on equipment that isn't greasy and dirty. These are kept in absolute pristine condition. They are made by Sidchrome.
  9. 1/4" Ratchet and extensions. 1/4" ratchets are less robust but are much smaller than 1/2". They allow you to work in confined spaces and are very useful. I have a 1/4" driver as well for when I don't need the ratcheting feature.
  10. Misc tools. This magnetic strip is where I have the miscellaneous tools. I have my thread gages, open ended spanners, weird wrench, scriber, dividers and screwdriver / bandsaw vice handle. 
  11. Sockets. A full metric set in both 1/2" and 1/4"
  12. Hacksaw. This saw will handle steel and is used for shortening bolts or removing metal stock when making tools.
Hammer Time!
Having the right hammer is vital and I have a wide selection of hammers for different tasks. In the the image below, you can see a claw hammer used for carpentry, a cross peen hammer, and a dead-blow hammer. The dead-blow hammer is filled with sand to avoid recoil when it strikes an object. This is especially useful for seating things in vices or tapping metal parts that have a tendency to "bounce" out.


The top hammer in the below picture is a small sledge hammer. This is a heavier hammer that packs a lot of whallop when swung. The next down is a soft face hammer used when I don't want damage to a surface. The final hammer is a rubber mallet which I use when I need to distribute force over a large area and I don't want to marr the surface.


Metal Removal
 At some point in time you will need to drill or file. There are different tools required. First we'll talk drills. If you need to drill holes in sheet metal, do yourself a solid and get a step drill set. These make drilling sheet metal a breeze and prevent tearing or twisting of thin stock.


Files are esential. Get a set that covers round, rectangular and triangular profiles. These need to be looked after so don't just throw in a drawer together. Keep them rust free and maintained.


Heat
When metal parts seize and get stuck, heat makes life easier. Heating the parts and undoing them while hot will save hours of time. I use a self starting torch.

I bought this 4 years ago and I am still on the same gas bottle. It has seen a lot of use in various projects.

Work Holding
It will be necessary at one point in time for you to clamp materials together or to the bench. Sometimes Vice-Grips are sufficient however most times the parts are too big. This is where the Irwin Quick Grip and the F clamp come into their element. The Irwin is fast to use and holds reasonably well. The F clamp is better suited where serious pressure is needed or you will be applying heat. I have a range of F clamp that spans 6 inch to 2 1/2 foot.

Oil Can
A good oil can is a useful item in the workshop. Oil is needed to un-seize things, stop rust or just lubricate joints. Cheap cans leak and have poor quality pumps. The can below is about 25 years old and still going strong. It pays to get quality.

So there you have it. This is a very basic run-down of the tools every tinkerer should have. If you find yourself asking, "what hand tools do I need?", then you can use this as a guide. Feel free to comment or ask any questions. This list was created with mechanical repairs in mind. I have not gone through carpentry tools and machining / grinding although I probably will at some point in the future. Stay safe.