Must have tools

[JohnnyEgo]

When I purchased it, I never foresaw just how much I'd use my Lee Valley saddle square. 

 

[Huxleywood]

What tools other than Festool have you found to be irreplaceable and must haves? Can be portable or shop machinery.

[unsure]

 

[Paul G]

Must have tools...lets see... tape measure, pencil, chalk line, plumb bob, level and square are good places to start.

 

[Mort]

My DeWalt scroll saw. Couldn't live without it. It'd be nice to have a 30" Excalibur sometimes but this DeWalt is the perfect price/feature combo. And I use it all the time.

 

[Cheese]

A sharp mind...without that, everything else is just an encumbrance and white noise.

 

[aloysius]

My most used tools are:  Nobex folding square.  The smaller one is the only truly pocketable square I've ever used.  This automatically makes it the most useful too.

Lufkin Multi Read measuring tapes.  My preference is the smaller 6m x 25mm (20' x 99/100"), because its smaller form factor is more pocketable.  It simply, easily & accurately measures both internal & external measures, without any gimmicky dust prone windows like the BMI measures do.  It's cheap, too, & much more robust than even the best & most expensive laser (which are pretty good too).

English Stanley 60 1/2A block plane with holster.  This short lived English "prototype" plane launched a legion of imitators some 40 years later from the likes of Veritas, Lie Nielsen et. al.  A low blade angle for end grain, greater lever cap support of the cutting edge, extra long & wide sole lands for accurate shooting, narrow form factor for ergonomic ease and advanced (for the 70's) composite construction of cast iron, brass, steel & alloys & clever lateral thinking in design make for a "better mousetrap".  Never popular, and marketed in Commonwealth countries only, this "unfashionable" tool consequently still sells S/H for almost giveaway prices, making it ideal as a daily user, more than capable of withstanding rough usage & not too upsetting to lose, break or damage from falls.

 

[Rustys]

A couple of tools I used often are shown below. One is more for organizing but it helps to find drill bits quickly. I had drill bits everywhere and now they are in one place.

Drill Bit Cabinet and Drill Bit size gauge:
View attachment 1
View attachment 2
View attachment 3

Drill bit guide for drilling straight holes:
View attachment 4

New non-gear Driver which has just about every bit you could want in handle. Love this thing:
View attachment 5

I use this DelVe square all the time:
View attachment 6

 

[rubber_ducky]

First post from a new DF500 owner... as the DF500 itself is disqualified from this thread, my other contribution would be the super scraper. This thing truly is awesome...
http://www.carbideprocessors.com/su...ational-ss1/?gclid=CLCUvPmS-dECFYmLswodV2wJzg

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Holmz]

[member=63757]rubber_ducky[/member] welcome and hats off on the reading comprehension.

I have looked at that super scraper... I like it.

 

[Spud]

A good quality sliding miter saw.

I have the Makita LS106L but would rather have the Kapex . In the not too distant future I will get the Kapex.

 

[Stone Message]

A good quality sliding miter saw.

I have the Makita LS106L but would rather have the Kapex . In the not too distant future I will get the Kapex.

Hi Spud

I know the OP said non Festool kit but have to agree that you are making an excellent choice. I am in the middle of a video about zero clearance inserts for the Kapex and never cease to marvel at the quality of the cuts even after 5 years in the workshop.

Peter

 

[Owego]

My work table.  It's a 4x8 sheet of 3/4 oak plywood arrayed with an  "MFT" hole matrix.  It's mounted on a pair of 2"x4"x 8' closed steel channels, which, in turn, are mounted to an old oak office desk (desk alone weights close to 100 lbs).  This along with four Festool MFT clamps and a pair of clamping elements allows easy and quick clamping for cutting, routing, sanding, and glue ups.  I had thought the top would need to be replaced annually but it's almost three years old and still in great shape.  The old desk's draws are also great for storing my most used hand tools.

 

[Alan m]

i couldnt live with out my cordelss dewalt bandsaw.
it is so handy . it cuts all sorts. threaded bar perfectly, pipe , conduit, wooden slips, angle iron  aluminium threasholds etc