SHTFElectronics Basic Tools
PART ONE: Small Hand Tools
After I wrote up the little“SHTF Radio” article for wirecutter, I started to think a little bit further,and started to think about how I could support other people who might haveelectronics problems after the SHTF. I started to think about what’s in mytoolbox, and on my bench, sort of like the “What’s In YOUR Range Bag” articles that my fellow bloggers have posted.
Now, I’m sure most of youreading this already have quite an assortment of tools. People like us, whetherwe work on old cars, guns, airplanes, or just tinker around the house, havetools. Lots of tools. My wife used to say TOO MANY tools until she saw me pullsome weird looking stuff out of one of my toll boxes, and fixed a problem onher car in 15 minutes that the dealer wanted all day and $450 to fix.After that episode, wheneverI say I’m buying another special tool for something, she just smiles.
A lot of the common toolsmost of you have are “kinda sorta” suitable for electronics use, but buyingsome specialized items will make your electronics hobby far more pleasurable,and will surprisingly come in handy for a lot of other things, too.
I’ll start with small handtools first, and move on up to the more expensive, specialized stuff later.
As a general rule, I stay FARaway from “pre-packaged electronics technician’s tool kits” sold by companieslike Jensen Tools and others. Over the years I’ve found their assortments to belacking in variety, they include tools you’ll rarely (if ever) use, the qualityquestionable, and the prices outrageously high.
Build your own tool kit, onepiece at a time, and buy only the highest quality tools you can afford.
When I mention a specifictool company, keep in mind that I get NO kickbacks, free tools, or otherinducements. I’m just recommending tool companies that I’ve used, and own,tools from, and I’ve been doing this stuff for 50 years now. I know what works,what breaks, and what you can get away with!
Gee, where have we heardthings like that before?
And BTW....sorry for the crappy formatting of the pictures, and their placement. This damn blogger interface won't let me size and place things where I want to!
Looks like I'll have to crack out the HTML books again, and start doing it that way.
I have a very nice Micro$oft Word document, but when I imported it, it dropped ALL the pictures.
Oh, well........
PLIERS
You need some GOOD QUALITYlong nose, or ‘needle nose’ pliers, about 4-1/2 to 6” long. There are manydifferent kinds (smooth jaw, chain nose, serrated jaw, end nipper, flat jaw,curved jaw, etc), and the Xcelite catalog has SEVEN PAGES of long nose pliers!
The same applies to sidecutters. You NEED a good, sharp pair of them. If you do a lot of circuit boardwork, get a pair of flush cut pliers. They clip the leads off right at thesolder joint, and don’t leave a sharp point of the cut off lead sticking up,just waiting to snag your hands as you maneuver the board around on the bench.The Xcelite catalog also has seven pages of side cutters.
For long nose pliers, Iprefer the Xcelite ELN54 thin long nose model, and for more delicate work, Ilike their LN542 plier
ELN54 LN542
Get the “Cushion Grip”handles if you can. Your hands will thank you!
For side cutters, I use theMS549J flush cut with a small head for restricted spaces, and the MS54J forgeneral use. For cutting larger leads, I use the S54NS, which have a coilspring to force them back open.
MS549J MS54J
Keep in mind that these smallpliers are NOT to be used for cutting, bending, or forming anything other thansoft copper wire! I loaned a pair to a guy at a job site once who brought themback with a series of round dents in the jaws, complaining that they wouldn’tcut anything. After I calmed down a bit that he’d ruined my $20 pliers, I askedhim what he was cutting, and he said “Wire, why?”. He showed me the “wire” hewas trying to cut, and it was copper-plated STEEL wire for his MiG welder. Thepliers looked like he’d tried to cut small screws with them, and they werecompletely useless for their intended purpose. If you want to install Cotterkeys (“Split Pins”) in your car, use your big old honkin’ Craftsman pliers, NOTyour rather delicate Xcelite electronics pliers!
You can download the entireXcelite catalog at:
www.apexhandtools.com/PDFs/Xcelite%20Catalog%20550620.pdf
WIRE STRIPPERS
Please, don’t use your teethto strip wire on a regular basis! When I was 10 years old or so, I was havingmy teeth cleaned, and the Dentist dug out a small piece of red plastic, andwondered out loud what I’d been “eating”. I looked at the piece, and told himit was from some small wire I had to strip, and his jaw about hit the floor.Besides running the risk of aself-extraction of your incisors, remember what Mom always said…”You don’t knowwhere that’s been!”, and keep your teeth for eating things.
While you can strip wire with your side cutters,it takes skill and experience to do so, and you’ll wind up cutting the end offa LOT of wire before you get the hang of it!
I have two differentstrippers, for different sizes of wire. They’re not with me now, but one pairwill handle up to #10 wire, while the other pair goes down to #24. They overlapa few sizes, but nobody makes a single pair that covers all the wire sizes Iwork with, so I have two pair.
They look like this:
The pictured ones are made byKlein Tools, whose catalog you can download from here:
http://www.kleintools.com/content/tool-catalog
You can also use one of the“Automatic” wire strippers if you have the room to do so, and these are reallynice if you’re stripping a lot of wires, like to make a wire harness. You’veprobably seen them, and they look like this:
These are made by IdealIndustries, and go by the name of “Stripmaster”. I’ve been using these since myhigh-school days in the 60’s, and if they’ve been around that long, they musthave something going for them!
Ideal is another fine toolmaker, and you can download their catalog here:
http://www.idealindustries.com/support/catalogs/
Snap Ring Pliers
You won’t need these veryoften when working with electronics, but when you do, you’ll need them. Get a smallpair, with changeable tips, and you should be good to go. Most consumerelectronics uses “E-rings” or “C- clips”, but occasionally you’ll find smallsnap rings used, especially in military equipment.
The dreaded “E-Ring” or “C-Clip”
I’ve never seen the two-piececlip in the center, but I’ll bet it’s fun to remove/install. Most of the onesyou’ll find are similar to the two in the upper right of the picture. You canpop them off using a small flat blade screw driver, and snap them back on withsome long nose pliers.
Be care, or they’ll go flyingacross the room, leading to their other name, a “Jesus clip”!
That’s it for this chapter.I’ll cover things like nut drivers, precision screwdrivers, hex keys, splinekeys, ball drivers, and other “drivers” in the next chapter.
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