House Tools Everyone Needs.

[kurt]

Originally Posted by Worth1

The end on a tape measure moves back and forth the exact thickness of the hook.
It is made this way so you can take measurements off the edge or against a wall or board.
They are very accurate.
Worth

I hears you on the hook part,I have experimented with different tapes and ages,they will fluctuate.When I need long measurements I prefer using the one inch mark,and adding the one inch.I have proven it millions of times to other "Master CarPREtenders"

[MarkFog]

Originally Posted by Worth1

Salt I had a neighbor once that came over and wanted to borrow my skill saw.
I always ask why and he said he needed to cut some sheet rock.
Are you #$%&^# kidding me I said, here use this and handed him a utility knife.
How am I supposed to use that he said.
Never mind just let me do it for you.
A skill saw on sheet rock, what the heck.

The poor kid had spent most of his life in prison and didn't know how to do anything.

Worth

I'd say the kid was pretty smart. Who did the work?

My gotta haves for gardening are:
A big, heavy, knife (really a piece of old lawnmower blade ground to shape with duct tape for a handle) with a dull hefty blade for hacking, splitting, digging, weeding, self defense
Army surplus Entrenching tool. It's a shovel, hoe, mattock, stake pounder, prybar, etc all in a small package
A Smart phone w/earbuds. It's a walkie talkie, music player, camera, light, calculator, web searcher, etc while working outside
An old blue tarp loaded up and pulled by one of the short ends used for dragging small pruned limbs, leaves, debris, etc to the curb or wherever you dispose of stuff not meant for the household garbage or too bulky for a wheel barrow
Big brimmed straw hat with an evaporative cooling bandana
#50 sun block
Crocs

[bower]

Originally Posted by Salsacharley

I've had many tree stumps to dig up, and I've found the best tool for digging and cutting roots is a cutter mattock. I keep it sharp with a grinder (another good tool). You can really bust through a bunch of nasty roots with a sharp axe end of one of these. I like it much better than a regular axe because of its weight.

I'm with you Salsacharley - the mattocks I have though have a pick on the other end. Best tool ever for digging stumps and rocky ground... and general all purpose garden swingin.
An axe for cutting roots has to be an old one - none of that new cr#p - the good old blades can ding a rock without getting chipped. It's a good thing I don't go to yard sales, because if I did, I'd have everybody's old axes in addition to my own (and I inherited a few).

[Tracydr]

Sounds very close to my list. I need to put my own tools on my wish list so that I don't have to go in the man cave to borrow.
I'm looking for a pink,cordless circular saw,drill,etc,lol!

[AlittleSalt]

Originally Posted by Tracydr

Sounds very close to my list. I need to put my own tools on my wish list so that I don't have to go in the man cave to borrow.
I'm looking for a pink,cordless circular saw,drill,etc,lol!

https://www.google.com/search?q=pink...g&ved=0CFQQsAQ

They're Pink

[pauldavid]

Sorry if I missed these in other posts. Not exactly house tools, but these are used around our homestead regularly. Saw horses, miter saw, sharpshooter shovel, logging chains, come-along, welding machine, caulking gun, grease gun, bolt cutters, crowbar, nail puller, splitting maul and wedges, electrical dykes, electrical multimeter, handheld grinder, rope, tractor(does this count?), ratchet straps, and my must have: a good headlamp!

[Worth1]

Also a good helper spouse.

Worth

[Cole_Robbie]

Sometimes cheap tools do the job, and other times there is a huge difference between cheap and quality. I was just using a pair of Craftsman needle nose pliers that I have had for ten years. They were I think $12; the cheap ones are 99 cents, but they only last me a few minutes before I bend up the tips and make them unusable. Craftsman makes some nice hand tools. I'm not a fan of their cordless tools or power equipment, but their wrenches and pliers are very high quality.

I think Estwing makes the best hammers. I won't have any other brand.

[bower]

Dunno how many of you are into the Dremel high speed flexible shaft multitool... great machine, the trouble is, you really want ten or twenty of them, unless you want to spend a lifetime switching from one bit to another (if you're carving something, for example).
Anyway they are way too expensive to have ten. But I picked up a competitor model - Jobmate - for $15!!! Since it isn't so versatile, no problem, I set it up in a clamp for some several polishing tools, and it works just fine for that. Scratch one Dremel I don't need...

[Cole_Robbie]

I like my oscillating saw. It vibrates to cut, which makes it very hard to cut one's self with it. Dremel makes one. Mine is an off brand.

[rhines81]

A flashlight, plastic gloves and a 5-gallon bucket or two.
... this is to search your property for toads at midnight to get them off premises.

[MissS]

And for the Ladies out there... Well all you need is a good 'Stud Finder'. Once you get it to work all of these other things will follow along.

[Salsacharley]

Originally Posted by MissS

And for the Ladies out there... Well all you need is a good 'Stud Finder'. Once you get it to work all of these other things will follow along.

[taboule]

Good thread, much has been said and covered, so now the few items left get more specialized.

Re saws: a thin Japanese handsaw that cuts on the pull stroke comes in handy in many situations.I have one with two super sharp working edges, the coarse side could zip in a 2x4 in seconds. The fine side has no set on the teeth, so you could cut close to a finished surface flush with no/low risk of damage.

For sharpening: a thick/flat slab of glass with different grits of black SiCa paper to hone fine edges on knives and chisels. A small right-angle hand grinder (4 or 4.5") works great to sharpen or recondition edge on heavy tools such as shovel, mattoc, axe...

Sieves and strainers (re purposed from kitchen) to drain cleaning fluids/mixes used for de-rusting or de-greasing. Best not to put them back in normal use and circulation.

Hex allen wrenches, both metric and US.

[kurt]

I was lucky enough to get a good shed when I bought this land(8x16)to put all my tools in.When configuring new layout and benches(work surfaces) used a old school method of taking small and large mason jars,screwing the lids in between the rafters(upper storage bay)sorting all my screws,misc small fittings etc for easy sight/storage.In lieu of the old pegboard, magnetic strips (2-4ft. bars)to arrange most common hand tools for easy access.