Favorite tool/equipment in the shop

[Dash]

So I thought it might be fun to share what my favorite tool in the shop is. Maybe some of you will chime in with your own ideas.

As of right now, it is the Rotary table on our mill. Last year I made a water pump cover that turned out pretty well. Last week I was able to mill out our control arm bearing holders.
see pics (http://www.flickr.com/photos/dsr92/)

[Rotary Sprocket]

My favorite tool is the one that i can actually find when i'm looking for it in our shop.

[MegaDeath]

Originally posted by Rotary Sprocket:
My favorite tool is the one that i can actually find when i'm looking for it in our shop.
But the hunt is half the fun! Especially when the hunt leads you to Dale, that's when things get really exciting.

I'm a big fan of the surface grinder. The HAAS is fun too http://fsae.com/groupee_common/emoticons/icon_smile.gif

[Mumpitz]

The really good lathe with all carbide tools down in the basement of the engineering building (the one in our garage can be stalled at any speed above 600 rpm even under normal use). I guess that isn't in our shop though so it gets trumped by the chop saw, I want to take it off the stand and just have it as a 14" circular saw to rip through anything.
Need that tube mitered? I'll get that!
Bodywork trimmed? Don't breath the dust.
Zombie decapitated? RAHGGLLLALAaaaa!

[AxelRipper]

I happen to be a fan of the belt sanders. I'm rather good with freeform shaping on those bad boys.

[Adambomb]

Hmm, that is a tough one, I consider myself a bit of a surgeon with a cutoff wheel, and of course you can't not like the chop saw (it's really just a cutoff wheel on steroids anyway), but I think I'm going to have to go with these for my tops:

Favorite hand tool:
The Hinsdale!!!
http://www.sae.stuorg.iastate.edu/zenphoto/cache/formula/engine/around-the-shop/P2130022.JPG_595.jpg
-Its short length and open ends prevent noobs from over-torquing everything, as well as allowing optimal (yes, I dare use the "o" word...but for the Hinsdale it is justifiable!) access to bolts.
-90% of the hex-head fasteners on the car are either 7/16" or 1/2"
-It is beaming with "olde worlde craftsmanshippe"

Favorite Power Tool:
The Navy Lathe!!!
http://www.sae.stuorg.iastate.edu/zenphoto/cache/formula/engine/around-the-shop/P2130021.JPG_595.jpg
-Logan model 825. The manual for it is a U.S. Navy publication. It's somewhere around 50-60 years old, and in a previous life was probably used to make parts for WWII Navy ships. SAE shop protocol calls for singing "In the Navy" whenever it is in use.
-It is the only piece of powered equipment in the shop that has survived more than 5 years of SAE use without needing rewired, overhauled, or completely falling apart. In fact I don't think we have ever spent ANY time performing any maintenance or repair on this baby, other than cleaning it after it starts rusting. Except for that one time an over-zealous noob decided to take the turret apart because he didn't know the "magic touch" required to get things perfectly concentric in the 3-jaw chuck. Everything is 85-95% worn out, but you can still make good parts with it, and it just won't die.
-It is beaming with "olde worlde craftsmanshippe"

[Lorenzo Pessa]

The first balance we used to weight resins.

We were in hurry, we took a threaded rod, several nuts, some strings, two beakers.
We found the equivalence between nuts and washers to calibrate it.
In few minutes we got our balance ready.

It worked so good that we finished the 2009 car with it!

[Ben Coburn]

Impact Wrench.

[BrendonD]

Waterjet for sheer badassery. The Haas and the Okuma CNC are close seconds.

[Mazur]

I'm split between Haas VF3 and SL20. Both are great.

[Mbirt]

Originally posted by BrendonD:
Waterjet for sheer badassery. The Haas and the Okuma CNC are close seconds.

Grr. I settle for a PlasmaCAM as my favorite.

[wagemd]

Definitely the Haas VF3, particularly with a half inch, coated carbide, 3 flute endmill http://fsae.com/groupee_common/emoticons/icon_smile.gif

The ST20 would be cool if it were running yet...

[exFSAE]

Toss-up... three way tie between

a) Plasma cutter

b) 3/16" allen key (more valuable and harder to find than gold)

c) Death stick
http://www.medfordtools.com/hammers/deathstick/dscurved.jpg

[coastertrav]

Heat gun, particularly when it's raining in Michigan...again.

[BrendonD]

Originally posted by Mbirt:
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by BrendonD:
Waterjet for sheer badassery. The Haas and the Okuma CNC are close seconds.

Grr. I settle for a PlasmaCAM as my favorite. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Oh snap. Waterjet requires way more maintenance though. How accurate can you get a PlasmaCAM machine? we have a decent kerf compensation, but it's still not the best.

[Xeilos]

Earl's Performance Braid Spreader

for SS/Teflon brake line.

For those of you that have assembled flexible brake lines (and bled for the effort), you know exactly what I mean.

[jd74914]

I think our most valuable is the 4.5" angle grinder. With enough skill you can make almost anything; just ask the guys on my team.

[Boffin]

Our favorites:

The "pedo" file
The "Miami" Vice
The FEA tool (Big F'off hammer)

[Hector]

Face mills have got to by my favorite. I love watching a good face mill send chips flying everywhere.

My least favorite are hole saws. I like precise, clean tooling, of which a hole saw is neither.

[Wesley]

Lathe threading tools.

There's nothing like cutting a beautiful thread on that part that took you 3 hours to machine.

There's also nothing like scrapping your 3 hour part by screwing up your threads on the last pass.

[Xeilos]

Originally posted by Wesley:
Lathe threading tools.


+1 to above.

I do not think I have machined anything for FSAE that is so much fun as threading titanium using a carbide threading tool. No, it really was quite fun.

[ESaenz]

Best tool ever=.9055" spiral cut reamer.

[Dash]

Originally posted by ESaenz:
Best tool ever=.9055" spiral cut reamer.

Sounds awesome... I tried using a reamer on our mill this year, but the machine doesn't spin straight enough. It wallowed the hole out to .9065 http://fsae.com/groupee_common/emoticons/icon_frown.gif

[JasperC]

I like our 100% steel hammer. Not because I have ever used it in a useful way, but just because I like slamming it on a workbench to make some noise every now and then.

My favourite though, is our self-made suspension rod test bench that was welded together by I-don't-know-who, several years ago and long before I joined the team. Unfortunately I don't have a picture available, but basically it's a 2 metre lever with bolt holes so that you can vertically install a suspension rod (the top is attached to the lever, the bottom is attached to a fixed bed). Because of the giant moment arm, it is enough for one person to hang on it with his full body weight, and the rod is tested to a few kilonewtons. This way we can check all the bonded rods in like 20 minutes before putting them on the car.

I like this tool because it's so brilliant in its simplicity. http://fsae.com/groupee_common/emoticons/icon_smile.gif

[ESaenz]

Originally posted by Dash:
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by ESaenz:
Best tool ever=.9055" spiral cut reamer.

Sounds awesome... I tried using a reamer on our mill this year, but the machine doesn't spin straight enough. It wallowed the hole out to .9065 http://fsae.com/groupee_common/emoticons/icon_frown.gif </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Yes!

[ibanezplayer]

http://i.imgur.com/jWmqml.jpg

Favourite Tool - Used primarily for the things I don't want to / can't be bothered to do. Precision and accuracy depends on mood however and needs constant recharging.

Also sufferes from small & frequent loss of memory for NC programs.

Second best is the 5mm T-handle hex key for almost anything on the engine.

[P. Jayaraman]

Our handheld plasma cutter.

There's something about sparks and the destruction of metal that I like all too much for the well-being of our team.

[PabloH]

Originally posted by Wesley:
There's also nothing like scrapping your 3 hour part by screwing up your threads on the last pass.

May or may not have totally done this today. Twice.

I'd have to go with the the Boring Head.

[Will M]

I'd have to say our 2"CL 1.125"D 6 tooth carbide end mill. I call it shredder,and it has a material removal rate of a god.

[AxelRipper]

Another one: the 5/16" nut driver, also known as the "Size Yellow." Between that, a 10mm,8mm, 7/16, and the corresponding allen wrench multitool, our car can be almost completely disassembled.

[Whis]

THE 7/16"!!!!!

Typical conversation between me and somebody who is working on the car for the first time:

Them: "What size is it?"
Me: "Um... Not sure... Start with a 7/16" 1/4" drive rachet and a 7/16" wrench and go from there."
Them: "But what if it isn't?"
Me: .....

Repeat this about ten times and then they stop asking. Unless its on the engine.

Also, favorite tool by far is the "Mexican Speed Wrench". Also known by the lesser name of "Cresent Wrench".

[Spetsnazos]

Bandsaw http://fsae.com/groupee_common/emoticons/icon_biggrin.gif

[KyleD]

Originally posted by Whis:
THE 7/16"!!!!!

Typical conversation between me and somebody who is working on the car for the first time:

Them: "What size is it?"
Me: "Um... Not sure... Start with a 7/16" 1/4" drive rachet and a 7/16" wrench and go from there."
Them: "But what if it isn't?"
Me: .....

Repeat this about ten times and then they stop asking. Unless its on the engine.

Also, favorite tool by far is the "Mexican Speed Wrench". Also known by the lesser name of "Cresent Wrench".

Or the usual response if somebody asks where a 7/16" wrench or socket is
"if it's not in the toolbox check the chassis table/floor around the dyno stand/any place in the shop except the toolbox"

[ESaenz]

Any takers for a metric crescent wrench?

[D.J.]

I avoid the metric system like the plague. I just don't have the same tolerances for visual FEA and eyecrometer measurements.

Although the engine guys want the switch. Maybe when we move to a single cylinder or forced induction. (aka never)

[Lorenzo Pessa]

I avoid the middleage systems like the plague.

A different point of view! :-)

[RobbyObby]

This is an easy one: 1" steel round welded to a 4" steel round billet dubbed "The Annihilator". As quoted by our team manager, "Its the only tool in the shop that does exactly what I want it to do, 100% of the time."

[Adambomb]

Originally posted by D.J.:
Although the engine guys want the switch. Maybe when we move to a single cylinder or forced induction. (aka never)

I've run into several dirty hippies that tell us we should really switch to metric. Their reasoning is that "everybody else is doing it," and that the only reason we use standard is because "we did last year," and that is just foolish, and that making the switch would somehow make the car get done faster and for less money. Apparently they have never been to a U.S. hardware store or supplier.

If anyone ever suggests our team switch to metric, I simply ask them to find me a metric drilled-head fastener for sale anywhere within a 250 mile radius. Then they end up being the ones drilling out bolt heads for safety wire. US-sized drilled head bolts, on the other hand, are on the shelf at a local industrial supply store. http://fsae.com/groupee_common/emoticons/icon_biggrin.gif Then I proceed to ask them to convince all the materials supply stores to quit selling material in inch/gauge sizes, and for Iowa Machinery to give us free metric tooling instead of free US tooling. http://fsae.com/groupee_common/emoticons/icon_smile.gif

[Francis Gagné]

25.4mm OD tubing and 4.7625mm grip diameter aeronautic bolts are widely available in north america!

Here in Quebec (the french canadians) we are weird and calculate everything in SI because it is usually simpler to work with multiple of tens and no need for slug. But all car dimensions are imperial. We even are bilingual in unit systems!

For my favorite tool, it's the baja 8lbs hammer. It works as an anger management tool for broken or obsolete parts. Also been used as a frame shaping tool for engine fitment (Cover bolts were not included on CAD)

[ESaenz]

Originally posted by RobbyObby:
This is an easy one: 1" steel round welded to a 4" steel round billet dubbed "The Annihilator". As quoted by our team manager, "Its the only tool in the shop that does exactly what I want it to do, 100% of the time."

How many cm^3 is that? And what process does this go under?

[Nath_01]

My fav is the "one grit" aka a chisel.

Used for almost everything in producing our car.
From preping the buk, producing molds, releasing moulds, surface finishing, quick and dirty hammer, screwdriver, shimmy bar, door stop, resin and paint mixer, shoe horn, tire de beader and scribe.... There is nothing it can't do...besides drive the car!

It's the one essential in any fsae toolbox

[Big Mo]

All time favorites:

-personal 7/16" ratcheting wrench
-shaviv mango
-the super concentric and quiet collet lathe that I learned to work on 3 years ago


current favorite:

-the secret Rotex punch and my home made dimple-die set

[Mikey Antonakakis]

None of these tools are in our shop, but they're in my garage at home:

-Makita cordless 3/8" drive impact wrench, there is no tool that saves me more time than this

-Snap-on ratcheting screwdriver for 1/4" bits, just feels so good to use

-3/8" drive extension with the wobbly head, for those times when you don't have a straight-shot to your nut/bolt

-Favorite tool ever, Dad's old metal Panduit cable tie gun... it is the most satisfying tool to use in the history of mankind, and it makes a perfect cut on zip ties every single time. If only I could convince our team to spend the money on one... Our cars are traditionally held together with zip ties, and we have one or two guys who without fail cut zip ties with cutting dikes at a perfect 45 degree angle, 1/4" from the ratcheting part. Our car is full of razor-sharp menaces. And as I type this on a shop computer, I look to my right and notice that the slack in the Ethernet cable has been taken up in exactly that manner.

[murpia]

Originally posted by Mikey Antonakakis:
old metal Panduit cable tie gun... it is the most satisfying tool to use in the history of mankind...
Yes!

Regards, Ian

[RobbyObby]

Originally posted by Big Mo:
All time favorites:

-personal 7/16" ratcheting wrench
-shaviv mango
-the super concentric and quiet collet lathe that I learned to work on 3 years ago


current favorite:

-the secret Rotex punch and my home made dimple-die set

Can't forget the Red Dykem! I dont think there's a single suspension or chassis bracket that isn't colored a faint shade of pink from that stuff. (Assuming it wasnt outsourced of course. http://fsae.com/groupee_common/emoticons/icon_wink.gif)

[Nicky]

Its the hot blower for the wiring harness... Well more like for lighting the cigarettes...

[Ben K]

Low power laser cutter for cutting out woods, acrylics, etc. Great for mockups and bodywork.

Ben

[murpia]

Does anyone have a CNC cutting table for cutting composite pre-preg?

That would be pretty high on the list.

Regards, Ian

[ibanezplayer]

Originally posted by murpia:
Does anyone have a CNC cutting table for cutting composite pre-preg?

Might have access to one soon...just need the pre-preg. Fashion students with the connections http://fsae.com/groupee_common/emoticons/icon_wink.gif.

[jordan.k]

Originally posted by murpia:
Does anyone have a CNC cutting table for cutting composite pre-preg?

That would be pretty high on the list.

Regards, Ian

I love the Gerber table at the CAPE Lab!

Jordan Krell

SDSM&T FSAE
www.hardrockerracing.com (http://www.hardrockerracing.com)

[Dash]

So I had to change my favorite tool yesterday. Check out this special 3-flute finishing end mill we got. It even comes with powdered coolant on it. As a bonus, they are SUPER cheap. Like $1 for a dozen at Taco Bell.

Looks like i don't know how to post a pic, so please follow the link!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/d...98484/in/photostream (http://www.flickr.com/photos/dsr92/5624498484/in/photostream)

[Dash]

Bump for link approval.

[Sly]

haha, that is awesome