Just wondering if anyone has some tool lists on word or excel they would like to share. I need to come up with some list for some of the more common jobs that I do.
I hate traveling for an hour to a site to work on a skylight only to discover that I have forgotten my t-square (etc.)
Thanks
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Replies
I'll get you started.
#1. T-square . . .
;>) Greg
I'm not sure where I got this list from. I didn't create it, but it seems pretty good overall. I think I've got just about everything on this list, and then some, in my van.
Simple.
Key to my box van.
I couldn't carry all the tools I might need from concrete to finish work. I keep a notebook and write down everything I need for the next day, or I'll forget something. I do have a bucket boss that holds the most commonly used hand tools and it always goes with me. I have a bunch of boxes for power tools with all the bits, etc., a router box, sander box, masonry drill box, sawzall box, and so on. I make note of which ones to bring.
One picture is the minimum must haves for carpentry. I often have more in the bucket but it's organized and everything goes back in it's spot. Larger items, squares, levels, cords, sledge hammer, chop saw, lights etc. are always on the truck. I also have a bucket with stackers for all kinds of nails, screws and fasteners.
Don't forget the Advil, Tums, tweezers, bandaids, duct tape and a bullet to bite on.
Like Hammer1, I can't carry everything to every job, so I make notes each evening for the next morning's load-up.
What does help, though, is that I've organised my tools by 'department'. The basic carp's hand tools all go in a 19" metal tool box which is pretty much always on-board. I've got a 16" hip-roof toolbox for my plumbing hand-tools, and an open canvas carry-all for the MAPP torch and sweating stuff. Drills and the small pneumatic and electric drill motors are in another metal toolbox. The big power tools mostly have their own tool cases (those few which do not live in a large Rubbermaid Commercial footlocker, which I think of as the poor man's Knaak box...).
For bigger, lighter stuff like gyprock or tile tools and my stocks of electrical boxes and miscellany, I use the sort of flip-top transfer cases you see big-box stores use to do shelf-stocking. I've got separate cases for each 'department'. Those square 5-gallon plastic buckets you get laundry detergent in are perfect for ABS plumbing fittings. And of course the heavy stuff like air nails, bulk nails & screws, and the copper & brass plumbing fittings goes in milk crates. I have also built two HD plywood cases to hold 7 drawers of hardware assortment; both of those pretty much live on-board the truck all year, too.
Dinosaur
How now, Mighty Sauron, that thou art not brought
low by this? For thine evil pales before that which
foolish men call Justice....
First thing to do is make a list of "jobs you do."
Then for each job, think of as many tools that you can that you use for those jobs. For each, assign a "frequency."
No two people will have the same lists because
a) they don't do the same jobs
b) they have different styles of work and tool preferences.
I have one box that I have refined to be my 95% of the time all I need tools. I do a lot of short jobs on location. In and out in an hour or so. One thing I've learned if even if I think I only need a screwdriver, the hole box goes in because invariably, I need something else and I'm there less than 5 minutes before I'd have to run back out for it.
A second box carries the more unusual tools, the 5% solution. If I know I need one of these going in, I dig it out. Otherwise, I stop and run out for it.
I am a little more generous with hardware. About twice a year, I get some odd hardware that I don't have and have to stop a job and hit the nearest store. I say my hardware is an inch deep and a mile wide. I don't have a lot of any one thing, but I have a lot of different things.
I also have a few specialized kits that contain what I need to do specific jobs and nothing else. When I'm doing that type of work, that box goes in and the toolbox may never get invoked.
I am a big fan of organized boxes: soft-sided boxes with pouches or pockets, boxes with drawers, etc. I know exactly where everything is without having to root through a pile o' tools. For things that look close to the same, a package of six colors of plastic tape is a good way to grab at a glance a #2 Framzit and distinguish it from a #3.
The other thing to remember is, "If there was no redundancy, the world would only have one hammer." It is OK to have duplicates of the same tool in different kits.
Edited 4/17/2008 9:47 pm ET by byhammerandhand
byhandh, I use your basic system (95% rule) and find it very efficient.
95% of my needs are met by a 20" Contico box (best plastic box out there imho) and a parachute pocket bag. The parachute bag comes out of the van for every job, as does the cordless drill-driver case; a bucket carries whatever longish or heavier special tools will likely be needed.
Levels and big squares stay in the van within quick easy reach, safely tucked or toggled away so they can not rattle or get tweaked. My two pouches are belted around the passenger seatback, right next to van's side door.
Power tools that have useless or no cases ride snuggled together in a couple Rubbermaid containers set on the van floor.
Also use Dinosaur's 'department' system for plumbing, drywalling, painting, tiling. I've seen Dinosaur's truck and basement tool crib and can vouch for his system.
Lately, have taken to carrying (and bringing into customer's home) some quick adjust ratcheting poles. These versatile and strong poles hold up heavy poly to partition off the worksite from the rest of the customer's home. Wow, do customers ever love seeing this rig deployed along with multiple canvass tarps. Both are now regularly deployed along with the shop vac and are well worth (in goodwill) the small extra time and effort.
I need to improve how I store and retrieve my compressor hoses and extension cords: they sometimes fornicate and get intertwined in their plastic bin.
<I may post a new thread on the use of the 95% rule as guidance for buying power tools.>
Edited 4/18/2008 10:57 pm ET by Pierre1
Everday I have my three tool boxes:
Hand tool box-- 110 items, including tapes supplies of sandpaper, several saws, levels screwdrivers cats paws squares,, on and on and on.
Power tool box,, circ saw, jig saw, sawsall, and power planer,, will all needed blades to do any power tool stuff.
screw box- with cordless and hammer drill and full array of #8 and #6 wood screws, and tapcons, and misc other stuff for wiring, a fuse,, misc etc.
These three boxes are heavy,, but are needed to do basic repairs/ punchlist.
After that, a plumbing bucket with basic abs and copper fittings and glues/torches- or
electrical box with lots of electircal stuff,,
or grinder box,, or sanding box,, or chisel roll, or timberframing bag, or steel roofing box, or aluminum brake and tools, or compressor and framing nailer stuff or compressor and finish nailer stuff,, or compressor and shingle nailer stuff,,which often has shingle shovel near by,, or set up for keeping dust into a confined area stuff,, or
depends on what it is you set out to do.
Well, I did it again. I was putting up crown molding yesterday and forgot my sawhorses for my cutting bench. I ended up using a couple of lawn chairs.
Thanks for the input. I will work on my lists this weekend.
If it wasn’t for the Bank Payments,
Interest, Taxes, Wages, and Fuel Costs,
I wouldn’t have to charge you!!
holy ####. Forgot the horses?
Man, that's the first thing. That tool wagon won't go far w/o the horses.A Great Place for Information, Comraderie, and a Sucker Punch.
Remodeling Contractor just outside the Glass City.
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BTDT!
And it makes us look soooo professional too.The best reward for a job well done is the opportunity to do another.
I used to load tools the morning of the job, taking pains to write up what I would need the night before. Then I bought a 12' utility box van with 8 lockable boxes.
Now the only things I don't carry are plumbing sweating tools and tiling tools.
There might be a specific tool that is rarely used I might have to dig up, but for the most part, everything I need for almost all work is on board.
It wasn't cheap ($34k) but it has saved my back and untold amounts of time.
"I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul." Invictus, by Henley.
if it's not on the truck....
you probably don't need it or can do without...
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming
WOW!!! What a Ride!
Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
Do you have/use a PDA? I have a Palm based smartphone. I use a 'checklist' application (there are a number of them) for just what you talk about. I have special tools for some sites I go to, plus an 'overall' list for things I don't need to forget. You make and save a checklist for each different site and when you get ready you just check off the items (you can have them disappear when you check them). The lists are reuseable of course. Once you get them 'refined' -- if you are faithful to use the checklists -- you will never forget anything again.
Edited 4/19/2008 11:18 am ET by RustyC