Buying Tools February 6th, 2006
After I had a decent compressor, I needed to start buying tools. Initially I thought I would just buy one of the ‘builder’s kits’ offered by some of the tool companies like Avery, Cleaveland, Browntool, etc. After going to the Orndorff’s workshop, I decided I would instead make a list of the tools I thought I needed, and shop around to get the best price.
So, I started an Excel spreadsheet, like a good engineer. My starting point was the Avery Tools toolkit. I added things I thought I needed, like a pneumatic squeezer, and remove things I didn’t think I’d need, like a hand squeezer. I then had several columns with prices from different companies.
I ended up buying my tools from three places. Most of my money went to The Yard. They have rebuilt pneumatic squeezers for about $350 and all sorts of other cool things. Their prices are very reasonable too. I must admit I was just a little nervous I wouldn’t be getting quality tools’, but after getting the tools and using them on the training projects, I was pretty happy with them. The only exception was a $15 flush swivel set. The rubber guard protrudes too far beyond the flat metal piece, and when pushing against a rivet with a bucking bar on one side and the set on another, I couldn’t fully push the rivet into the hole. This resulted in the rivets being set with the head protruding from the manufactured head side. Not pretty. So, I bought Avery’s $35 set and was very pleased with it.
I also ordered a few tools from Avery Tools. There’s no question they have nothing but quality tools, some of which are their own creations. I bought things like the vise-grip dimpler, fluting pliers, etc. I also bought a 6″ scotch-brite wheel for my bench grinder and a smaller one for the hand-held pneumatic die-grinder.
Finally, the rest of my money went to Brown Tools. I bought a C-frame from them (which is actually manufactured by Avery Tools!), all of my clecos, etc. Shortly after receiving my tools from them, I got a flyer in the mail saying they had a special on Sioux Tools, so I ended up buying a Sioux drill from them as well.
I’ll be happy to share my spreadsheet with anyone interested.