Favorite tools

[lou sansone]

the starrett double t

[Mike Seals]

Well I have so many that I sometimes forget they are there, even when I need them. I've ventured of into the speaker building world and with all the test equipment I have the one I love the best is my PC. I purchased some software for it that allows me to do in 5 minutes what used to take hours and hours. My PC is so many things, a source of information, an assistant, relaxation, plays my music and streams my radio stations. As some one said before, once they are in the shop, they are in the zone, that's me.

[Bob Marino]

Besides some crazy German tools I happen to own I would have to say, it's my Starret 12" combination square.

Bob

[Mike Waddell]

I have two that I'd rank as my most favorite. My father handed down an old hand saw that I de-rusted, cleaned and polished. It cuts straight and true to this day and causes me to do by hand what I could easily do on a my slider. As many have said, every time I use it I think of him and how he is truly what a man is supposed to be in my mind.

The other is a LN 102 block plane. It is the first nice hand tool that I purchased, and it is the first tool that my son used when he first came into the shop and started the process of becoming a man.

Holy cow! Am I a sap or what? It is amazing how much of our lives has revolved around these little objects and what they have come to mean to us.

This is a great thread, Mark.

Mike

[Justin McCurdy]

I am going to speak for my dad on this one as he is still learning the internet. He has fine tuned more kitchen cabinetry and countertops using a 1960's era Rockwell Belt sander than I have driven screws and the thing just keeps on kicking. Recently it made light work of my uncle's kitchen countertop when the wall was found to be not so square.

My favorite tool has to be my new Steel City table saw. I just feel safer ripping larger stock than I did with the old Craftsman.

[Bert Johansen]

The Veritas Sliding Square has replaced my combo square for all-around usefulness. It has markings on three edges, and is perfect for marking mortises or hinge layout. I also use it as a depth guage for setting router bit and table saw blade heights.

[Jerry Olexa]

I just like being in the shop working on something. The tools are the means for me them to actually accomplish something so there is no #1 favorite. But I do really love all 4 of my routers and the router table, as well as the Kreg system, as well as the PC Biscuit joiner, as well as my new 12" CMS Delta w twin lasers, as well as....You get the idea

[Larry Fox]

Wow - tough one.

I would have to say that in the small tool category it would go

1) My stanley #4 smoother
2) My Klien 9" lineman's pliers - If I can't find these the first place I go is to ask my wife as she uses them also for cutting flowers and such.
3) A Craftsman medium-sized straight-blade screwdriver. I do quite a bit of electrical work and they just got this one right for that application.

In the big-tool side

Without a doubt my 8" DJ-20 jointer. I bought it used and it is the best money I have spent in the shop.

[Dan Clark]

No question. It's a rare day in the "shop" (wherever I'm workin') that it isn't used. High quality, quick-release chuck set, light weight and great torque for a 12V.

Dan.

[David G Baker]

The tool I use the most is my computer the next in line is a speed square. The speed square has spoiled me. I have one in each work area.
David B

[Brad Trent]

Gosh, the list is long.

- The stack of sharpened #3 pencils that I keep everywhere
- A 4" engineers square that is used for almost every setup
- 4 1/2 smooth plane that felt like it was made just for my hands when I first picked it up, and has gotten better ever since
- Virtually every "good" tool that has replaced a "make-do" tool. You really appreciate the better tool after working with, and around, the limitations of some of the budget choices made previously.

I could go on ...

[Luciano Burtini]

OKAY, I don't actually know if it is, or will be, my favorite but it is something that I have waited a long time to acquire. Actually, I have been acquiring individual pieces for the last several years, but stumbled across this set recently. At about $18 each with a free case, I was pretty happy. Contains 6 pieces from 1/4" to 1-1/4" all appear to be little used with the possible exception of the 1-1/4" one. Genuine E.A. Berg Shark Brand socket chisels.

Thank You ePay$ Patience does sometimes pay off....

[Reg Mitchell]

If I have a lot of tenons to make this is the tool I love to use

Its a real fun machine to use and i look forward to makeing them
Reg

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

Mark,

As silly as this is going to sound, my favorite tool is my humble shop. Everything in it is a bi-product of the shop itself. The joy of opening up my shop doors and walking in will still be a "joy" to me for a long, long time. I wish I had one favorite of an actual tool, but I honestly don't. For me, it's my shop. Nothing trumps it!

Dave

Ditto......

[Doug Shepard]

I guess my favorites would include a Bridge City 6" Combo square, Incra 3" Tiny-T marking rule, LN Adjustable Mouth Block Planes, LN LA Jack, Stanley UK Bevel Gauge (locking knob on the end), 4" Engineers Square, 10' LV RH Rule Tape, 0.5mm mechanical pencils, and a small chip carving knife used for marking lines. Those ones always seem to get a lot of use.