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50 tools everyone should have

Kev442

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Jan 15, 2009
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5,386
Location
Wi
I own a mattock. I feel so superior now!:lol:

I would say the number 1 item the suburban homeowner should buy to feel competent is a 10" miter saw. I was a hack before I got one.
 
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iamhomeless

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Jul 6, 2009
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336
Location
Indy
PM is a good read at the doctors office, that is all. The only tool that is a must for their reader base is a roledex with the numbers of guys on here.
 

hammergodthor

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Joined
Oct 10, 2009
Messages
475
Jack stands. Can't get through life without 'em.

Don't have a pick, though I think I can substitute a hoe, or two, in it's place.

Methinks its a strange list:
6 different kinds of saws, but no table saw?
Two different kinds of crow/wrecking bars, plus a claw hammer?
No lawn mower?
Only one screwdriver? (What happens if you loose it?)
No floor jack or even ramps, but sockets? You can't even change your oil in most cars without a jack or ramps. (The emergency jack doesn't count)

I can't be the only one here who has stopped at multiple gas stations on the way home to re-fill a leaking tire, just so I can use my floor jack at home, instead of the emergency jack! :beer:
 

Woogie_MCW

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Joined
Mar 21, 2010
Messages
6
No kidding a Tool Chest what a good idea!!!!! I guess most of this stuff would lay in the floor of the garage and the rest somewhere im the Kitchen drawer!
 

quneur

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Joined
Dec 5, 2009
Messages
195
rotory tool (for small spaces), precision screwdrivers (for household items), air compressor (many many uses), sander (any type of sander, manual or electric), shop vac, clamps, wire strippers (hey, they put DMM on there) and a hardware store (so you can run there to buy stuff you really need.)

Forgot, a good lawyer to argue with the building department when they slap a red tag on your project.
 
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Bolster

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Jul 8, 2008
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4,056
Location
Mexifornia
It's a decent list. What's with all the criticism? I know, all of you are smarter than the author...but that aside, it's a good list. They primarily stayed to affordable hand tools...lots of you guys are recommending $500+ stationary tools, which isn't realistic for the average homeowner.

One way you can tell it's a good list is...people who really DO use tools a lot, have most or all the items on this list. (I own every one of them and duplicates of many.)

Even the lowly mattock is a good tool to have. It's indispensable when you have to tear up a lawn, cut a path, dig in clay.

If I could only have 50 tools, this would be a good start.
 

jvitez

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Joined
Nov 30, 2009
Messages
2,429
Location
Big Sky Country, Canada
At least this suburban tool list is actually a list of tools. I can't count how many guys I know with a decade of university who cannot tell a Phillips from a Robertson, and actually don't care that they can't.

Ooooo, I guess that was rather Canadian of me :lol_hitti
 

lauver

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Joined
Nov 11, 2007
Messages
1,433
Location
Belton, TX
It's a decent list. What's with all the criticism? I know, all of you are smarter than the author...but that aside, it's a good list. They primarily stayed to affordable hand tools...lots of you guys are recommending $500+ stationary tools, which isn't realistic for the average homeowner.

One way you can tell it's a good list is...people who really DO use tools a lot, have most or all the items on this list. (I own every one of them and duplicates of many.)

Even the lowly mattock is a good tool to have. It's indispensable when you have to tear up a lawn, cut a path, dig in clay.

If I could only have 50 tools, this would be a good start.


I have to agree with Bolster, this is a good list for people who have few or no tools at all. You'll notice the authors of this list specifically did not post it on the Garage Journal - General Tool Forum (aka "the black hole of tool excess"). Instead, they posted it in a magazine with a broader audiance who probably have varied interests.

To be fair, the list of 50 must-have tools, contained some of my personal "absolutely-must-have tools", including:

1) needle nose plier,

2) groove joint plier,

3) diagonal cutter,

4) screwdriver (6-in-1),

5) ratchet & sockets,

6) combination wrenches,

7) center punch, and

8) combination square.

I certainly can't argue with these 8 recommendations. Can you?
 
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