Cool Tools To Giveaway for a Blog Review

Another set of very important tool set for me. Not very expensive and does the job quite well.

Cheers,

My favorite tool is a Victorinox Forester knife. Victorinox has many models with different tools, but I got this one about 15 years ago. Still works flawlessly. I can't count how many times did I use it to cut, open, screw or unscrew anything. At home, in the nature, in a car, I can't really remember all the places I used it at. My variant has a Phillips screwdriver instead of the corkscrew (I don't drink wine, but I work with screws every day).

Special occasions require special tools, but this really help to solve many situations quickly. I also appreciate the secured blade, so it can't close itself during cutting.

I try to live by the "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle" rule and I have to say, this tool will not even get to the Reduce point I am sure my grandchildren will be able to use it (if there will be any).

If I could choose, I would be interested in testing the ESR meter. I started reading How to Diagnose and Fix Everything Electronic by Michael Jay Geier and he claims that ESR meter is one of the most essential tools in repairing electronics. I never had one, so this could be a chance to prove the claim

David

Update!!!

We are ordering my tools to give away on Monday.

Randall

My favorite tools are the ones that I have performed modifications on. When you twist a tool to your own purposes you make a special bond with it.

Here are three of the tools which I have modified to do special jobs. The old crimp tool has been fitted with a couple of special wedge blades which allows me to open a connector on a Cavitron handpiece cord so that the wiring can be repaired. Since the new cords cost about $300 the ability to repair them is always appreciated. The channel locks have special blades attached that allow them to be used to operate the chucking mechanisms of dental turbines outside the normal handpiece housing.  The nose of the vise grips has been modified so that one nose is round and tapered and the other nose is concave and clamps down on the round nose. This tool is used to repair round tubing ends that have been bent or damaged so that they are no longer round. These modifications were made to fit specific needs. They are just the opposite of the little kits with attachments and blades to fit all applications as they are focused in one one specific application.

John

I started with 'making'(tearing down) stuff at a tender age and have gone through a lot of stuff. Unfortunately, I lost a big chunk of my tools in a burglary years ago and am left with only a large hammer that my grandfather gave me.(Yea he was bold to give a 10 year old a heavy piece of metal )

My current tool box itself is something I am quite happy with. I did it as an upcycle challenge but never got around to posting it. Here is a few pics.

As you can see, it has cardboard boxes for drawers and small boxes for all the tools and bits.

There is a bit of wire going around (initial photo up-top) with space for the Tenma Soldering StationTenma Soldering Station and lots of space at the back for other tools

Some LED panels with a 555 for PWM brightness control is used to illuminate the desk.

And yes... it is actually my old Desktop cabinet which still has the floppy drive in place. I am quite happy with the final thing which can be customised every now and then to keep things fresh.

Ah tools!!! And the search for the right tools has been going on since the first human smashed 2 stones together.  We all have our “special” implements of construction or, in some cases, destruction.  For those in the western United States, there is the California screwdriver (i.e. a hammer). For myself, I always carry with me a Leatherman and a Swiss Army knife, except when I fly or entering a federal building.  And I have the holes in the back pockets of my jeans to prove it.  Nothing fancy (my tools, not the holes), but enough to get the job done.

Many of the tools mentioned are great and I even have some of them, but here’s a few I have found useful.

1. Wearable magnifying lens – Not just because I’m getting older, but in part as circuit components get smaller, I find having a pair of wearable magnifying glasses/lens is very helpful.  The glasses free up your hands for working on your project.  The magnifying lens helps in identifying components and defects, as well acts as a safety shield.  You can find glasses with various options (i.e. glass vs plastic lens, lights, varying magnification, etc.) and price ranges.  I bought my current pair at a local discount store for under $10 US.  They offers multiple power plastic lens and has some clarify issues, but still worth it.  A former coworker has the older glass lens version.

2. Mountable magnifying len – In comparison to the wearable glasses, a single mountable len may offer a larger view of your work area, but normally only available in a single power.

Both tools are individually worthy of a blog article, but a comparison blog would be better.

Regards, Gordon

i would love to test that esr meter i have a capacitance meter at the moment  but sadly only goes to 2000uf. I do a whole lot of work with audio circuits including designing and building my own audio circuits. I learned completely from just jumping in a doing, i didn't go to school for it and didn't have anyone else teach me other than the circuits that others had made that i literally learned from nothing on by experimentation. as i continued learning i would then look for tools that would help me either diagnose or interpret circuits and an esr meter has always been on my list but never knew what a good one or bad one would be and with very limited funds didn't want to buy a tool i knew nothing about when there have been so many other tools that were absolutely needed that took priority. I know this tool could help me by lessening the time taken to diagnose many problems i face day to day in part making my business more efficient and leading to growth. and growth is my main concern as of now. i would like to grow my business to a point that i could have an employee or two and maybe get a day off which i have not had in the last 3 years. getting to test one of these would allow me to see at least an example of a tool i know i could really use on a day to day basis. and i  have to say the coolest tool i own is made from a pen and a part of an old extendable antenna and obviously is homemade and its for retwisting the wires around posts in vintage amplifiers. i made this tool mostly because i didn't have the money for commercially made ones and had to finish my work on this customers amp so i just made one. yes i could have soldered the connections but i have found that doing so changes the sound of many amplifiers and i like to stay true to the original assembly Technics as much as possible.

Are they nut drivers?  I have a similar, but alas smaller, set that doesn't have the socket type bits...

A bit nerdy but after seeing this last week I actually checked to see if my set had them over the weekend!

Cool idea for working in tight space.  I am going to adapt this to my workbench as well.

Cheers

The ESR meter looks neat. I'd have a look at it and write a blog about it.