For the box, Craftsman is as good as any. I've got a number of rollaway combos; your first box should be top and bottom, and a simple24" or 36" wide will work great. Most of my boxes have been scratch and dents I picked up for next to nothing...you can go into most Sears stores and find them...good starting point. My oldest rollaway combo is over 40 now, and still trucking. The top box has been all over the country and flown many, many, many thousands of miles through the worst flying conditions known to man...and works great. Try getting MAC or Snap-on to warranty their boxes if they know you'll be doing that.
Make a note that most all tool boxes are made by the same folks. The folks that build Craftsman also build the boxes at your local home depot, and a number of others, too.
I've had a number of mechanics tell me that craftsman is second rate...even had one employer tell me he wouldn't let my tools in his shop because he didn't allow inferior equipment on his floor. Garbage. Go to any large shop, and you'll quickly see that there will be more craftsman boxes than any other kind. If you want a good craftsman, then their pro series with the ball bearing drawers and the latch retainers that prevent the drawers from inadvertantly sliding open are a real bargain compared to the "name brands" out there.
For drives and sockets, quarter inch everything at first. I have full sets of quarter, three-eighths, and half, and some three quarters, and I've used them all regularly. Get a number of socket extentions. A really handy set that craftsman makes now uses socket fronts with backs meant to be turned by a combo wrench; in use with racheting combo wrenches, these make very low clearance sockets with a zillion uses. Fewer tools with many more possibilities.
Get good safety wire pliers. Reversible, 6". If you can afford it, get long and short, but the short reversibles are great for tight spaces. Several sets of dikes in varying lengths; the long ones (snap on) are great for hard to reach spaces.
Wrenches; stubbies are worth their weight in gold, and I carry mac, snapon, and craftsman, as well as other ratcheting brands. A good set of fixed off-set wrenches (eg open end, 30 degree or more at one end, 15 degree at the other end) are invalueable for hydraulics in tight spaces. I've got a great set of MAC that cost me about 750.00, bought one wrench at a time over a year...that have seen a LOT of serviece in the field. This is one place you do NOT want to go cheap.
I learned my lesson after a hydraulic failure in the field a long time ago. I had a set of harbor-freight-type cheapie large combo wrenches I'd been carrying for many years, without hardly ever needing them. This time I need one to pull a fitting for the new pump. Late, I had access to a small tool shed with a table and vice. I couldn't get the fitting loose, and ended up bracing myself against a wall and pushing with both feet as I held the wrench with both hands for leverage. The wrench failed right in the middle, and I went sailing over the work table to hit the other wall of the shed head-on. It hurt. A lot. Never use cheap tools.
Duck bill pliers.
A small ball and pean, and a good soft face hammer; craftsman makes both, and their soft face has two levels of hardness, with replacable tips.
I've bought a lot of tools over the past few years off ebay; I've been burned a few times, but otherwise had some great deals on everything from rivet guns to large batches of clecos, to all types of tools.
Get a good set of picks. And a cotter pin puller...you have no idea how much that will get used. A really large flat blade screwdriver...I have several. If you're changing tire assys a lot, then one that's rounded and polished for use in breaking beads in the field without marring the wheel assy is worth it's weight. A dzus tool...especially handy if you're working on older equipment. I have three or four. A long, long phillips #2...When you can't get a screw to break loose, even if it's not deeply recessed somewhere, that long screwdriver gives a lot of leverage. A 10X magnifying glass; an illuminated one is great.
For torque wrenches; the only ones that we saw consistantly fail in the shop were snap-on. I have a number of torque wrenches; ADT, craftsman, snap-on-mac, and others. The least expensive was the ADT, and it's always tested the most accurate, without any troubles. I also use a calibrated torque screwdriver; I strongly prefer them for small functions such as screws on a spinner (yes, I do torque them).
A good set of various mirrors; small and large, telescoping. A small bag to carry tools from your main box to your work; military canvas bags have always been my preferred bags, and I carry two in my car chock full.
I work on aircraft using metric as well as standard (eastern block)...I carry full sets of both. I find the metric get used more on autos...but when you can afford them, get them.
Shadow your boxes as you go. You can get fleeced if you use the snap-on brand name shadow foam...what I did is use the foam flooring you find at any auto parts store (or harbor freight); the interlocking 1/2" thick high-density foam. Lay your tools on it, draw around them with a ball point pen, cut out with an exacto knife. The cut-outs will be a little ragged, but heat it slightly with a lighter; the foam pulls taught and shrinks slightly around the edges. Spray the whole thing with black krylon or some other paint. Then glue colored foam sheeting from wallmart (craft section) to the back, and you have very inexpensive, easy to make, cheap to replace, shadowing for your box, that's two color. I go so far as to make inventory sheets for each drawer in the box, and I use a label maker to identify the tool in each cutout.
Tool control becomes a snap.
Some will tell you to not label your tools, in case you leave one where you shouldn't. Listen to them if you will, but I've always found that advice to be stupid. Label your tools. I engrave them all. I've never had a problem leaving a tooll, but I've had problems with others trying to claim my tools are theirs...an engraved tool stops that right away and eliminates any hard feelings that might develop on the shop floor. If your shop has any kind of decent control system, then if you leave a tool behind, you'll be found out no matter weather your tools are labled or not...label them, engrave them.
Enough for now...but don't let anyone tell you that you need the most expensive...it's not true. Don't buy cheap, either. A good policy I always used is buying off the truck where I could...but never overextending myself. Buy one good tool, pay it off, then get another. Never build up debt. Go for the special off the truck each month; build your tools slowly, bit by bit...and don't ever stop. Over less time than you think, you'll have a great collection.
Wipe your tools; keep them polished and clean. Get a good multi meter with an assortment of leads. You'll need them. A good set of racheting crimpers; don't use any electrical crimpers that aren't racheting. Get a small butane powered soldering iron; invalueable in the field. Same for a small torch with different tips. You can never have enough screwdrivers. Racheting types, especially sprague types, are wonderful; get quality ones with changable bits, and you'll be happy with the purchase; you will also take up less space.
Home depot sells a nifty little offset screwdriver with interchangable bits that also doubles in a pinch as a really small quarter inch rachet handle, using racheting box ends...runs about nine bucks and everyone ought to have oen. Get stubby screwdrivers. Carry a leatherman. Good luck.
Make a note that most all tool boxes are made by the same folks. The folks that build Craftsman also build the boxes at your local home depot, and a number of others, too.
I've had a number of mechanics tell me that craftsman is second rate...even had one employer tell me he wouldn't let my tools in his shop because he didn't allow inferior equipment on his floor. Garbage. Go to any large shop, and you'll quickly see that there will be more craftsman boxes than any other kind. If you want a good craftsman, then their pro series with the ball bearing drawers and the latch retainers that prevent the drawers from inadvertantly sliding open are a real bargain compared to the "name brands" out there.
For drives and sockets, quarter inch everything at first. I have full sets of quarter, three-eighths, and half, and some three quarters, and I've used them all regularly. Get a number of socket extentions. A really handy set that craftsman makes now uses socket fronts with backs meant to be turned by a combo wrench; in use with racheting combo wrenches, these make very low clearance sockets with a zillion uses. Fewer tools with many more possibilities.
Get good safety wire pliers. Reversible, 6". If you can afford it, get long and short, but the short reversibles are great for tight spaces. Several sets of dikes in varying lengths; the long ones (snap on) are great for hard to reach spaces.
Wrenches; stubbies are worth their weight in gold, and I carry mac, snapon, and craftsman, as well as other ratcheting brands. A good set of fixed off-set wrenches (eg open end, 30 degree or more at one end, 15 degree at the other end) are invalueable for hydraulics in tight spaces. I've got a great set of MAC that cost me about 750.00, bought one wrench at a time over a year...that have seen a LOT of serviece in the field. This is one place you do NOT want to go cheap.
I learned my lesson after a hydraulic failure in the field a long time ago. I had a set of harbor-freight-type cheapie large combo wrenches I'd been carrying for many years, without hardly ever needing them. This time I need one to pull a fitting for the new pump. Late, I had access to a small tool shed with a table and vice. I couldn't get the fitting loose, and ended up bracing myself against a wall and pushing with both feet as I held the wrench with both hands for leverage. The wrench failed right in the middle, and I went sailing over the work table to hit the other wall of the shed head-on. It hurt. A lot. Never use cheap tools.
Duck bill pliers.
A small ball and pean, and a good soft face hammer; craftsman makes both, and their soft face has two levels of hardness, with replacable tips.
I've bought a lot of tools over the past few years off ebay; I've been burned a few times, but otherwise had some great deals on everything from rivet guns to large batches of clecos, to all types of tools.
Get a good set of picks. And a cotter pin puller...you have no idea how much that will get used. A really large flat blade screwdriver...I have several. If you're changing tire assys a lot, then one that's rounded and polished for use in breaking beads in the field without marring the wheel assy is worth it's weight. A dzus tool...especially handy if you're working on older equipment. I have three or four. A long, long phillips #2...When you can't get a screw to break loose, even if it's not deeply recessed somewhere, that long screwdriver gives a lot of leverage. A 10X magnifying glass; an illuminated one is great.
For torque wrenches; the only ones that we saw consistantly fail in the shop were snap-on. I have a number of torque wrenches; ADT, craftsman, snap-on-mac, and others. The least expensive was the ADT, and it's always tested the most accurate, without any troubles. I also use a calibrated torque screwdriver; I strongly prefer them for small functions such as screws on a spinner (yes, I do torque them).
A good set of various mirrors; small and large, telescoping. A small bag to carry tools from your main box to your work; military canvas bags have always been my preferred bags, and I carry two in my car chock full.
I work on aircraft using metric as well as standard (eastern block)...I carry full sets of both. I find the metric get used more on autos...but when you can afford them, get them.
Shadow your boxes as you go. You can get fleeced if you use the snap-on brand name shadow foam...what I did is use the foam flooring you find at any auto parts store (or harbor freight); the interlocking 1/2" thick high-density foam. Lay your tools on it, draw around them with a ball point pen, cut out with an exacto knife. The cut-outs will be a little ragged, but heat it slightly with a lighter; the foam pulls taught and shrinks slightly around the edges. Spray the whole thing with black krylon or some other paint. Then glue colored foam sheeting from wallmart (craft section) to the back, and you have very inexpensive, easy to make, cheap to replace, shadowing for your box, that's two color. I go so far as to make inventory sheets for each drawer in the box, and I use a label maker to identify the tool in each cutout.
Tool control becomes a snap.
Some will tell you to not label your tools, in case you leave one where you shouldn't. Listen to them if you will, but I've always found that advice to be stupid. Label your tools. I engrave them all. I've never had a problem leaving a tooll, but I've had problems with others trying to claim my tools are theirs...an engraved tool stops that right away and eliminates any hard feelings that might develop on the shop floor. If your shop has any kind of decent control system, then if you leave a tool behind, you'll be found out no matter weather your tools are labled or not...label them, engrave them.
Enough for now...but don't let anyone tell you that you need the most expensive...it's not true. Don't buy cheap, either. A good policy I always used is buying off the truck where I could...but never overextending myself. Buy one good tool, pay it off, then get another. Never build up debt. Go for the special off the truck each month; build your tools slowly, bit by bit...and don't ever stop. Over less time than you think, you'll have a great collection.
Wipe your tools; keep them polished and clean. Get a good multi meter with an assortment of leads. You'll need them. A good set of racheting crimpers; don't use any electrical crimpers that aren't racheting. Get a small butane powered soldering iron; invalueable in the field. Same for a small torch with different tips. You can never have enough screwdrivers. Racheting types, especially sprague types, are wonderful; get quality ones with changable bits, and you'll be happy with the purchase; you will also take up less space.
Home depot sells a nifty little offset screwdriver with interchangable bits that also doubles in a pinch as a really small quarter inch rachet handle, using racheting box ends...runs about nine bucks and everyone ought to have oen. Get stubby screwdrivers. Carry a leatherman. Good luck.
