outfitting a shop

[STRENGTH AND POWER]

Currently I have the privilege of using the company i work for's equipment for my projects. Within the next year, I am planning on purchasing a house and outfitting the garage. Since buying a house will probably put a strain on the pocketbook, not leaving a lot for toys, what would y'all suggest for tools. My list so far includes:

1.welder, hood, etc
2. drill press
3. 2-3 additional grinders

I currently have a Milwaukee cold saw and enough hand tools from a previous lifetime

From past experiences, you can never have enough clamps, is there any tool shop y'all recommend?

Thanks in advance for the suggestions

Scott

[2tay530]

if your looking for alot of on the cheap clamps i've found Harbor Freight(harborfrieght.com) has lots of cheap ones but not sure of the quality. as for grinders agian harbor freight has some cheap ones along with Northern Tool(Northerntool.com) has some to but personaly If your looking for long term i would go with a more mainstream brand(Dewalt, Makita, Milwalkie, ect.)

Just my .02, Reed

[DSW]

A set of oxy/acet torches are nice. I cut some with mine but primarilly use it for heating and bending.

Welder- Thats sort of broad... Mig If I could only have one machine, 220v min as big as I could get. Stick, Ok for heavy stuff, inexpensive. Most tigs and multi function machines will stick so skip a dedicated stick machine if you are thinking about one of these. Tig if you want, ac/dc if you want to do alum. You can get a nice all purpose machine like an XMT, does stick, Mig with a feeder, and dc tig with the right parts. The only downside is limited alum ability.

Bench grinder if you do tig. Nice in a general shop also.

Good vice. Type depends on what you do. I have several from heavy fixed vise I can pound on and bend metal to a nice 360 deg rotating adlustable one that wookd great to hold things in odd directions.

Bender of some sort. there are alot of different ones.

Stands and rollers to support materials. Easy to build but sometimes you can find decent ones for a song.

Heavy tooling lathe, mill. not cheap usually but some times you can't pass up a good deal.

Air compressor.

I could go on but I'll stop now.

Good luck.

[KBar]

Get yourself a nice torch outfit and lots of clamps, build yourself a nice workbench. Personally I would not waste my money on the cheaper clamps, spend a little extra and get name brand, you'll thank yourself someday. I try to buy one whenever I have a little extra left over at the end of the week or if she doesnt find the money I stashed for the week.

[MAC702]

if your looking for alot of on the cheap clamps i've found Harbor Freight has lots of cheap ones but not sure of the quality. ...

I have a lot of the HF imitations of Vise-Grips. It's best to pick them out in the store because you can play with them and pick out the ones that aren't as bad as the average. This is good for building up an inventory for when you need a dozen or so for that occasional job. But for the three or four that you will use everyday, the genuine Vise-Grip is worth the extra bucks.

I have the same strategy with my 4-1/2" grinders. I have two DeWalts for the heavy stuff and reliability, then I have three orange HF grinders with the flap-disks, cutting wheel, and other light stuff, so I don't have to change wheels on the DeWalts as often, especially useful when you do a lot of blending and constantly need to change wheels.

[MAC702]

Depending on what you plan to do, you might consider supplementing your dry saw with an abrasive chop saw. It will cut a much greater range of material.

Have you already picked out the welder(s)?

[calweld]

Buy a fire extinguisher !!!!!!!...... it's not one of those things you can wait till you need it and go buy it ........ too late then! Better yet, get several ....

And if at all possible, when you do buy a house, find one with a detached garage ,,,,,

[weld-tek]

it is a never ending process,i kinda outfit my shop as the need arises.

[aametalmaster]

It seems like everyday is a different job and you will always need something. Wait until you break some drills or taps and you have to run and buy them instead of running to the tool crib, big difference. Good luck...Bob

[Burninrod]

it is a never ending process,i kinda outfit my shop as the need arises.

Agreed. Ask yourself what your going to do in your shop most often, and get the tools for that job(s). If your not sure, get yourself the basics. Grinder, saw, welder and start building yourself the shelving and benchs you want. If you can get some side work to do for friends/family and use that extra $ to expand your collection. The work you get will determine the tools you need