Your Favorite Tools

I'm sure that this thread has existed before, but let's revisit.

I'll start:

Craftsman has become the butt of internet criticism lately, but I have really fallen in love with the Flexhead Ratchet. It has been a godsend for getting to hard-to-reach places in the engine bay, and its head is lower profile than a lot of others that I use. I give it a hearty recommendation.

The one between my legs..

I am rather smitten with my Pink Snap On Ratcheting screwdriver, and my old Round head 3/8 Snap On Ratchet neither of which I paid these prices for, but might if I had to replace them.

Any cordless half inch impact drive. The battery helps make it way more balanced than a traditional air impact. Granted less torque than air drives and as for air drives, I love the titanium Ingersoll rand impacts

My new ryobi electric impact gun.
I'm not cool enough for an air setup, this works well for most everything I need.

My old Snap-on cordless impact (with re-cored batteries). Or one particular Philips-head screwdriver with a red and black grip that feels just right in my hand. It's the only screwdriver I have (out of about 100) with that grip design, oddly.

I also consider a big box of various sizes of zip-ties to be an excellent tool for many purposes.

irish44j wrote: My old Snap-on cordless impact (with re-cored batteries). Or one particular Philips-head screwdriver with a red and black grip that feels just right in my hand. It's the only screwdriver I have (out of about 100) with that grip design, oddly. I also consider a big box of various sizes of zip-ties to be an excellent tool for many purposes.

Haha when I showed a guy at my old job!who was saying this zip tie isn't going to work its not big enough that you could hook the zip ties together to make a bigger zip tie it blew his mind like I was some kind of wizard.

My HF ball joint tool, that thing has paid for itself many times over.

I really like this screwdriver, an Enderes 4-in-1. It was my first tool ever. Its bits fit perfectly snug in the shank, and the shank fits perfectly snug in the handle. It was in great shape until I forgot it under my motorcycle seat for over a year. Despite its frequent use, the tips are all in really good shape. I can't say that about my other screwdrivers.

Mitchell wrote: I really like this screwdriver, an Enderes 4-in-1. It was my first tool ever. Its bits fit perfectly snug in the shank, and the shank fits perfectly snug in the handle. It was in great shape until I forgot it under my motorcycle seat for over a year. Despite its frequent use, the tips are all in really good shape. I can't say that about my other screwdrivers.

I have one of those but with a wooden handle. One of my favorite screwdrivers. But my tool of the moment is my 12T HF hydraulic press. I made do with half assed set ups for the past 20+ years. I don't know why I waited so long to get one.

3# Craftsman mini sledge. My BFH and 18th birthday gift from my Father.

After today it is this. It made 6 months of leaking oil and dirt almost disappear. I can use it inside a closed garage without choking.

Estwing 2lb short handle sledge. It'll berkeley up all kinds of E36 M3 and make you happy while doing it.

Easy choice

An electric impact, 36" breaker bar and my 3 1/2 ton jack.

Millermatic 185

... and a Synchrowave 300

DeWalt cordless drill.

I was going to say something like lathe or brain... but I'm clumsy. This one has probably saved the day more times than anything else in my garage.

I just ordered one of these:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B003UM8VV0/?tag=googhydr-20&hvadid=27053779683&hvpos=1t1&hvexid=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=3497109666510846154&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=e&hvdev=c&ref=pd_sl_4ot4ecmugw_e

There have been so many times I've run into bolts that are essentially impossible to get a breaker bar on, I'm hoping it'll become my new favorite tool. I really don't want to disassemble half the drivetrain of the TDI to get to the down-pipe nuts on the turbo.

Right now, it's the $20 made-in-the-USA Craftsman snap-ring pliers I bought over the weekend. I screwed around for 60-90 minutes with the $5 H-F set that I bought a while ago and they just couldn't do squat. Five seconds with the new pair and smooth sailing.

I'm pretty fickle about favorite tools, though. Usually it's the newest one or whichever one I just used creatively to solve some sort of tough problem. My air compressor is probably the one thing that I spent the most time thinking "man, I'm glad I bought that".

LainfordExpress wrote: DeWalt cordless drill.

+1

Ryobi router mounted in a Bosch router table with a Whiteside pattern bit.

Currently it's this: http://www.amazon.com/Craftsman-Impact-Battery-Charger-Included/dp/B003A9HGIM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1397047422&sr=8-1&keywords=19.2v+impact

Little bulkier than I'd like but much better than dealing with a hose. It makes short work of just about anything.

I have a lot of tools I really like. Some are necessities and others are ones I could work around if I had to. Although it is in the latter category, I think my favorite would have to be my MaxJax two-post lift.