This was discussed for a bit in a WDT a few weeks back, and I know we have a DIY thread but I thought we could talk about the things we use to construct our mediocre projects. Plenty of focuses here: Do you have a tool collection, are you addicted to certain brands, highly recommended items and deals, are you considered a "handy person", do you like to design/craft things, etc. The typical topics. Focus: Everything tools. From carpentry to mechanic to gardening. Powered, portable or old fashioned. All that good stuff.
Cleaning out the Suggestion Board. I'm fairly brand agnostic when it comes to tools. I have mostly Dewalt handheld power tools and kind of a mishmash of larger ones. I don't have the room for a table saw or other woodworking stuff I want to pick up yet, but I'm having a large shed/workshop built this summer so I'm pumped about growing my collection a bit. Bump.
Man, I thought this was going to go in a whole different direction. Nevermind me, move along. I have my little set of "girl tools" as the SO refers to them. They get used more than all his big boy crap in the shop. Why you may ask. He can't ever find anything out there.
My Milwaukee power tool set I got on sale is the best purchase in the past five years. Before that it was my sous vide cooker that is an indispensable kitchen tool.
I’ve slowly converted all of my Snap On electric over to Milwaukee - the warranty and performance of the Milwaukee stuff is far better than Snappy. Grey Pneumatic is the way to go for sockets Fluke makes great stuff for electrical work Klein makes a good hand tool, the work backpacks are top quality as well. Leatherman Wave Plus is the last multi tool you’ll need, add a clip n carry and your set. I carry mine daily, the warranty is great and painless to use. Pocket knives, Benchmade are of course fantastic but real spendy, CRKT is a great value for the money.
This. Love my CRKT pocket knives, moraknives for fixed blade for a cheap hunting/fishing/whatever, and my Leatherman Free P4 is fucking amazing. Imo the FREE series is worth the extra money for the convenience. Doesn't do everything, but might save you a trip to the truck or tool box. I've slowly became a dewalt guy, by nature of the batteries going on a crazy sale a while back. Honestly any of dewalt, Milwaukee, ryobi, makita are great, just invest in the batteries and buy the tools as you need them. Love the larger stuff from dewalt though even before I got into the cordless, such as their wheeled box fan, shop stools (thanks @Nettdata), miter saw and stand, etc. I'm also that asshole pounding the john deere drum. The two most reliable pieces of equipment I own, besides my cock, are my JD mower and JD UTV. I know with the larger Deere farm equipment there's an issue with the right to repair movement but... I don't own any of those.
Sounds like a qualified third-party repair center to me, unless someone holds a cock patent I'm unaware of.
Tools... yeah, I have a few. My day-to-day tools for wrenching is a combination of Snap-On and Wera. When it comes to powered tools, non-woodworking, it's all DeWalt battery powered. When it comes to woodworking, it's all Festool. Sanders, mitre saw, track saws, routers, Dominos, and more. It's taken a lot of years to get here, but that's where things have ended up. The only few exceptions I have are my table saw (Sawstop), and some big woodworking tools are Laguna (bandsaw, shaper, planer, etc).
I am not a handy person, not in the least. So the tools I have match my skill level: Basic. Screwdrivers, hammer, wrenches, a circular saw, Dewalt cordless drill about it. I’ve got some specialty tools for small plumbing and electrical jobs, but I definitely stay in my lane on those jobs.
wera and knipex definitely for hand tools. Forgot about those. My table saw is sawstop as well. I’ve heard all the complaints, but with my injury history, I need their tech as an insurance policy. I’ve also seen it in action accidentally (not me) and it fucking works
I'm so abusive and neglectful with my sockets and hand tools. I think it's because I do most of my paying work in my driveway, because I don't move my stuff out of the shop to work on someone else's boat. So I like a mediocre tool set in an organized case that I can easily carry to a boat. I don't spend loads of money on them, usually pick up a kobalt or huskee set for black Friday every year because of the sale price. I take better care of my power tools and air tools. I have probably 250 lbs of loose sockets in old buckets and tool bags I picked up from various places, for when I break or lose a socket out of my set for the year. I have a pretty good assortment of diagnostic tools for cars, which I mainly use on boats. Compression and fuel pressure gauges, a few obd scanners, specialty tools for our cars, Sea-Doos and mercruiser outdrives. I bought the wife quite a few entry level woodworking tools because she likes to try an make stuff occasionally. Mostly benchtop stuff, smaller, not for big projects. I can set her up on the porch in her wheelchair with her lathe and such, it gives her something to do.
For light electric and torque tools Jet makes possibly the best cost-to-reliability ratio. They make outstanding bench grinders and ratchet/sockets sets. They aren’t as widely available but worth a look if you see them. And I am Milwaukee guy. Largely because I work in manufacturing facilities which often use blue/yellow colour schemes, so red stands out. Owning Dewalt would be a nightmare to find— looking for camouflaged tools in a large facility.
I've painted tools with neon orange marking paint to make them easier to find. Especially surveying gear that might get left leaning against a tree in the middle of 400 acres.
Oh yeah, I forgot I had about $8,000 worth of surveying equipment that I've used exactly once in the last seven years. I've had it forever.