My 16 year old son is planning on applying to the electrician apprenticeship program after high school. He's 16 now, and in his junior year of high school. I want to start putting together a tool bag with the stuff he is going to need to start out in his career. Thinking about buying a few at a time over the next few years. I know there are a lot of knowledgeable electricians on this site, can anyone give me any recommendations of what to look for in starting a list? Thank you in advance.
I own a LOT of Klein tools, many of which I purchased early in my apprenticeship and are still going strong, but Knipex is growing on me more and more in this trade.
I was pretty much all Klein until I bought a pair of Knipex cobra pliers and a set of Knipex plier wrenches, after which I have yet to touch my Klein water pump pliers.
Many of the basic hand tools, with a little care will last an electrician well into their journey and even possibly master licenses, so I would suggest going with Klein or Knipex for cutting / stripping tools, Klein or Wera for screw drivers.
I know its not on the "required" list for most apprentices, but I would suggest buying them an
Ideal 1/2" EMT bender (avoid the aluminum benders, especially for smaller conduit and especially if they are going to be working off a scissor lift, I've broken the foot off a few pairs before I finally bought iron heads and haven't had an issue since) and encourage them to buy a bundle of 1/2" EMT and learn to bend pipe early. If an apprentice can efficiently make basic bends and knows the basics of routing conduit, a lot of journey workers are much more willing to take the time to train them on other things in the trades earlier than if they come in very green, where they will likely be used more commonly as a labor than as an active apprentice.
Some good basic hand tools of the trade would be
Strippers are all dependent on what they start in (residential or commercial / industrial) and the type of wire they working with (stranded or solid, single conductor or romex)
For residential work, these are the most common among the coworkers I work with
For commercial / industrial, these are my go-to strippers
I haven't used Knipex strippers, so I can't really give an honest opinion on them, but if they are anything like Knipex's other tools, they are likely better than Klein.
This is a pretty "comprehensive" list, and by no means will any employer require a new apprentice to have all of this on their first day, but this is roughly what I had when I started and much of what I started with I still have. The only tools that didn't really last through my apprenticeship were wire strippers because I made mistakes early on and blew up a few pairs of wire strippers cutting energized circuits.
A lot of the larger electrical distributors have apprenticeship tool discount programs. Utilize these!
I hope that this can help guide you into a general sense of the needs of a first - forth year apprentice in regards to tools.
Edit: As a side note, I would also highly encourage them to "break in" new cutters, pliers, strippers by applying WD-40, PB plaster and a little marvels mystery oil or 3-in-1 oil to the hinge pin and working it back and forth to loosen up the hinge pin and allow for the tools to easily open on their own. I always got a bit of grief from the old crew members about having all new tools, which they associated with an apprentice being 'green' to the trade / not using their tools / not knowing how to use their tools. Being familiar with your tools, having them "jobsite ready" and being ready for work are important for any new apprentice.
Just my two cents.
