Starting your own toolkit - what's the best way?

The time has come for me to sort myself out with a proper toolkit. As
there's folks out there who have seen their toolkits evolve over time,
I'm after a spot of advice on how to go about it.

From previous threads about this sort of thing, I gather one way is to
buy a toolkit and replace the things that break with better quality
ones. Now, is this the case? If so, what's a semi-decent kit to start
with? Who's tools are good, and what's made from cheesium? Also,
what's the deal with torque wrenches (ranges, cost, recommended names)?

Is it best to just go out, buy a decent set of regularly used tools,
then buy cheap additional ones, replacing with better if they get used?
FWIW, I'll be doing stuff up to at least minor servicing, brakes, wheels
out, that kind of thing.

Also, I'm after a paddock stand, so if anyone's got one they'd like to
offload give me a shout.

I'm aware that we're nearly up to the winter bike-show time, hence
getting this post in to see what I'll need, what names are good and bad,
and about what I can expect to pay normally.

So, what say you?

 

This is what I've done. Although I've not replaced anything yet...

A Halfords socket set; the one up from their budget range. Seems
good so far. I've got an open ended spanner set, which was
dirt cheap. But doesn't get much use, so is okay...

 

I'd agree with the Halfords socket sets. I've had one for about 10 years
now, and if anything breaks I just take it back and get it replaced... comes
with the life time guarantees you see!

So far I have gone through 2 medium (3/8") socket wrenches, and nowt else.

Their professional range of ratchet spanners are excellent too.

HTH

--

KillaHedgeHog AKA Paul Hendrick
YZF750R Bultaco Sherpa Fantic200
BONY#3 BOTAFOT#101

Remove KHH to reply by email

 

KillaHedgeHog wrote

Their professional range of tools all seem to be very high quality.

I would have no hesitation buying them as and when my tool kit needs
replacements.

Just a fucking pity they don't sell anything to kill people who persist
in having broken sigs.

 

What 'e said.

Get combination spanners instead.

 

Hmm, yes, that'll actually be 11& half years that you've had that
toolkit........Out of my Nova ;op

 

Works on my computer

 

I wouldn't bother with buying a toolkit.

I'd buy the things I needed, when I needed them (it helps that I have
multiple vehicles...).

I wouldn't buy the most expensive stuff but I definitely wouldn't buy
cheap stuff. I would probably suggest Halfords Professional range,
whilst it's pricey they replace stuff you break for free.

Failing that I'd look at anything with a branded name; Draper (a bit
cheap and cheerful but ok), Stanley etc.


So... what do you want:

Sockets, selection from 8mm to 19mm. Some sizes you won't ever use
(18mm, 15mm I think) but you never know. Can't have too many tools.
I would suggest you got 3/8 drive rather than 1/2. Spark plug wrench
from bike toolkit should be good enough.

Socket ratchet, short and long extension bar.
Torque wrench- don't get a very very cheap one, check that the range
goes *low* enough for your planned use. (I'd only use it on stuff like
heads and things that have to be oil tight and might warp).

Screwdrivers - Pozidrive numbers 0, 1 and 2. Blade, appropriate sizes.

Hammer. Rubber handled for when the blood starts to flow.

Rubber/Wooden mallet

Impact driver- Very important!

Allen keys

Oil filter strap wrench or socket adaptor.

I think that's probably enough to keep you going.

Why do I have so much more than this then...

I wouldn't buy the cheapest tools, they slip on fastners rounding off
the fastner and making work for you.

They should be cheap anyway.

I've got an Abba stand that I don't use:

http://www.abbastands.co.uk

You'd need to get appropriate adapters, these aren't expensive.

I'd be looking for about 40- for it. They're 90 new.

I've never seen tools cheap at a show, well not decent tools anyway.

 

Oh, I think one of their screwdrivers would do the job admirably

 

wrote

The Model Engineers Exhibition in the new year is where you want to go
then.

 

Serious response?

You do, of course, know that Outlook does sigs wrong, don't you?

 

This is more or less how I went about it: full spanner set and a socket
set came first (always seem to have loads of screwdrivers around and
other things added as required (like imact driver for seperating brake
calipers..)

Most of my tools began as draper, although when my 1/2' ratchet broke I
replaced with Halfords.

IIRC, 15mm can be useful if you have a Landrover (fits 5/8' nuts)

Quite.


--
John

SV650
Black it is
and naked

 

wrote

If every there were tools where you should really only buy the very best
you can afford then these are they.

and screwdriver bits.

 

On 08/11/2003 at 11:35:36, christofire typed:

You can have mine for 20 quid but you'll have to collect from Windsor
which may not suit a norvern monkee such as yourself. It's a universal
type with cups which slip underneath the swingarm. It's far from brand
new and has scratches etc, but you don't buy a paddock stand for its
aescethic qualities, do you?

 

I can see your point, but cannot agree with this. Chris doesn't know
what he needs, nor probably the range available and wouldn't know what
to ask for when he comes up with a task that needs a tool but he
doesn't know which one. I'd suggest one of the "expanded" socket sets
that come with spanners, pliers etc, which work out cheaper than
buying all the individual tools.

I'd go along with Halfords Pro gear. I know several people who are
very happy with it and it certainly looks and feels right - and of
course the guarantee, which I understand they stick to. I have
several Clarke Pro tools, from Machine Mart. Same guarantee and
quality, but cheaper ;-)

Absolutely. 3/8 drive socket set, you'll not need anything else. I
regularly use smaller sockets too - 5/6/7mm if for nothing else, they
fit the hexagons on Jubilee (Gubile ;-)) clips. A pukka spark plug
socket does the job better and comes with a rubber insert to protect
the porcelain - but make sure it will fit your bike ... you'll need a
different size for the car, most likely.

Additional sockets to fit wheel spindle nuts and bolts come in dead
handy too. Between us, Loz and I can cover hexes from 5mm to about
32mm with sockets - and then some odd ones up to 50mm.

A decent quality universal joint (or two) - very handy when working on
bikes (and French cars). A T-bar for cracking off tight nuts (only
use a ratchet once it's loosened) would be proper - and a FOAD breaker
bar intimidates tight stuff very well. Dead useful for wheel-related
bolts, that. And clutch centre bolts.

Spot on. The lower-range item is vital and decent quality (read more
expensive) is more likely to be accurate and to retain its accuracy.

Yer Dad's old flat-blade screwdrivers for use as levers, too - don't
forget them. Regular screwdrivers are consumable items - when the
pozi (or Philips, prodrive etc) head starts to wear and slip - chuck
the fucker and buy a new one. Using inappropriate, worn or damaged
tools is asking for trouble and skinned knuckles or destroyed,
rounded-out fasteners.

Aye. Ball pein engineer's hammer. Couple of sizes, cheap and
cheerful.

Double headed nylon mallet, mate. One hard white nylon end, one
softer grey rubber end. Nice heavy steel head that the nylon/rubber
ends screw into. Move with the times ;-)

Absolutely. Don't be afraid to use it, and hit the fucker like you
mean it. Make sure it is set to the appropriate direction of turn
first, though ...

Buggroff. Keys are cheap and nasty - and unpleasant to use,
especially considering the number of recessed-head hex socket head
bolts on bikes. A decent set of hex drivers is what you want. Like a
socket, but inside-out - with a bit of hard hexagonal bar protruding
from the socket base, fit onto a ratchet/extension. Dead handy.

Aye. Vital.

A nice set of cold chisels and drifts would be a suggestion. Many
uses especially when faced with reluctant cheese-headed bolts or
pre-rounded nuts.

'Cos you're like me - and one acquires tools as one goes along.
Bearing in mind that my toolkit was entirely adequate for building
rally cars from the ground up, including building engines, I was
stunned at how many more items were required for efficient bike
spannering.

Absolutely. I learned some very basic lessons the hard way - the
least accessible bolts will always seize and once you've strained a
couple of tendons cracking them off and come to limit of your stamina
twice when winding the little fucker(1) down the thread - then they'll
shear off ... or yet worse, round off. Good quality kit is your
friend here - "wobbly" socket extensions are the dog's very bollocks
imo. The locating peg that goes into the socket doesn't have parallel
sides - it has a trapezoidal shape that still transfers all the
torque, but allows the socket to "wobble" by about 10 degrees,
allowing access to bolts that are largely obscured by frame rails etc.

"Flank Drive"(tm) is a fantastic concept. Six-point sockets as
opposed to the crappy twelve-point type. The corners inside the
socket are machined out so they cannot make contact with the corners
of the fastener, obviating the ripping-off of corners and subsequent
rounding off of tight bolts. Instead, the torque is applied to the
flats of the fastener, making it very difficult to round off. This
also minimises wear on frequently-adjusted fasteners. I believe you
can get even open-ended spanners which use this concept now.


I reckon the bottom line to equip yourself adequately would be a good
3/8 drive socket set with all the above additions; two sets of
combination (open end/ring) spanners; large and small screwdrivers
(with comfortable handles) in flat and cross head; hammers and things
to hit.


And an angle grinder.



1. I'm specifically thinking of Mini rear subframe bolts, here.

 

Weeell, I've got a handful of tools wot I've accrued over about 20 years.

The ones that have served me best are actually a cheap and cheerful,
unbranded, prolly Chinese/Taiwanese, set of about 120 pieces that my dad
bought me when I was ~17. More San-Pon than Snap-On.

These have lasted surprisingly well although there have been a couple of
sockets and two spanners needed replacing when I've broken them.

I've always replaced with Halfords or Draper stuff and in recent years,
the Halfords "Pro" range.

My (only) torque-wrench is a big beastie (prolly too big for most bike use
-- entirely suitable for murrican cars) and made by Draper. It too is
over 15 years old and has behaved itself.

I keep promising myself that one day I'll buy a decent set either from the
aforementioned Halfords Pro range or maybe Facom and ensure I include a
smaller torque-wrench.

If I were to do it all from scratch, I'd want a basic ratchet set which
can be built upon, rather than a huge set with stuff you never use.

Essentials for me would be:
Set of combination spanners, too, in common sizes, i.e. 8mm up to 24mm.
Most bolts on my last three bikes (from three different manufacturers)
have had 8, 10 or 12 mm bolts, predominantly.

1/4", 3/8" and 1/2" drive ratchets, preferably with an adjustable head; my
primary ratchet is a 3/8" drive one with such a head and I have adaptors
for 1/4" and 1/2"; not ideal, but it's worked for 15-odd years

Sockets in common sizes; again, prolly only use half a dozen, regularly.
There are sockets in my old set that have /never/ been used.

Set of /good/ allen-keys (also known as hex-keys by some), preferably the
T-handle ones. Allen-sockets aren't a bad idea, either - 5mm and 8mm.
Might need Torx, too, depending on how annoyed the manufacturer wants to
get you (Triumph...).

A Nammer. Ball-pein, 1lb - does general hitting things well.

A Nuvverammer - Rubber or hide/copper faced - for 'itting fings wot you
don't wanna mark.


Pliers. Regular, Electrical and some side-cutters, too. Add some
electrical crimps in there, too.

A decent knife - for, er, cutting stuff.

A Stanley knife - for /really/ cutting stuff.

Screwdrivers. I tend to use a rather nifty ratchet screwdriver with
interchangeable bits and a magnet tip, mostly, but there are some times
when a regular one is the only one that'll do. A couple of No1 and No2
Phirrips variety in "normal" and "stubby" sizes plus a handful of
flatblades from ickle to "chisel".

Vernier calipers. You can get some half-decent digi ones these days for
~£25. Good for accurately measuring stuff (diameters) inside and out.

Steel rule. '12", but I don't use it as a rule'. Oh dear.

Tape measure - need you ask.

And that's about it. There is stuff I have had to purchase 'cause of a
particular job like the /enormous/ socket required for the rear wheel nut
on the Triumph and a 13mm Torx socket for, iirc, the headlight bracket on
the same.

Oh, and get a decent toolbox, too -- something else that's on my shopping
list. Metal, IMO, is still the best; these plastic ones are often very
clever, but I've managed to break two in 10 years whereas my old dad has
still got his first (metal) toolbox which is now nearly 60 years old.

Phew.
--
| Wik -UKRMHRC#10- 2000 ZX12R-A1 -DC#1 -'FOT#0 'FOF #39 - BOD#12 BOB#12
|# You don't believe me | "Experience is the worst teacher.
|That the scenery | It always gives the test first
|Could be a cold-blooded killer. | and the instruction afterward."
***** human response from wik at blueyonder dot co dot uk *****

 

Unless it's a Triumph triple and then it'll be the only thing that fits
and yet will break as soon as you look at it... Aaargh! The flashbacks!
Noooo!

/Very/ good point, that.

[ker-snip]

Whoo, yes. Forgot that. Bloody useful things.

[snip]

Heh, you and me, both.

[snip]

They are the dogs bits, IMO. We've had one for 3 years now -- it makes so
much more sense than having to have two different types of paddock stand
and then another new one when one of us changes bikes...

--
| Wik -UKRMHRC#10- 2000 ZX12R-A1 -DC#1 -'FOT#0 'FOF #39 - BOD#12 BOB#12
|# You don't believe me | "Experience is the worst teacher.
|That the scenery | It always gives the test first
|Could be a cold-blooded killer. | and the instruction afterward."
***** human response from wik at blueyonder dot co dot uk *****

 

On Sat, 08 Nov 2003 13:27:06 +0000, Pip yammered:

[ker-snip]

Agree, can't imagine doing a Triumph rear wheel without one...

[big fookin' snip]

[snip]

Couldn't agree more.

Would sir recommend 'lectric or petrol?
--
| Wik -UKRMHRC#10- 2000 ZX12R-A1 -DC#1 -'FOT#0 'FOF #39 - BOD#12 BOB#12
|# You don't believe me | "Experience is the worst teacher.
|That the scenery | It always gives the test first
|Could be a cold-blooded killer. | and the instruction afterward."
***** human response from wik at blueyonder dot co dot uk *****

 

Good ratcheting magnetic bit screwdrivers used with top quality bits
are a good investment, bits are inexpensive[1] to change and there is
a wide variety available from standard types inc small allen key to
torx tamper resistant, scrulox, triwing etc.

Bit holders are also available for use with both power tools and
socket sets

[1] Snap On bits are at times cheaper than some of those sold on the
high street, and they don't fail very often either.

--

Kevin - Basildon
XV535
CG125 GPZ305 (her's)
BOTAFOT#67 BOTAFOF#23
OSOS#29

 

Nope. 16mm is almost exactly 5/8", and of course that makes an 8mm
socket a decent fit on a 5/16" (as found on Jubilee clips).

5/8 * 25.4
15.875

5/16 * 25.4
7.9375

I can't remember ever finding a 16mm fastener on a metric bike,
you migh possibly find one on an Audi or a VW, but certainly
not on any American or Japanese car. 15mm are common enough on
metric machines.