Tools

[west-end-wonderer]

Hi

 

I'm starting a Tech Theatre course in September and I was wondering what tools/equipment I might need before I start?

I know the college will provide them but I'd rather have some of my own just so I know I've got them if I need them.

 

Cheers

[gareth]

There are lots of topics on the Blue Room on the subject of what people have in their toolkits - I'm sure you'll find the answers you need somewhere among them. Your best bet is to use the search function (top-right of the page) to find the old threads.

[PhilT]

If the college offer a toolkit, just go with that one. They've probably done a deal with Flints and it'll be a lot cheaper. It also prevents tool envy if everyone has the same.

[w/robe]

W-E-W

 

Do the college supply a tool kit for you personally (as PhilT assumes) or are they supplying tools to be used by the students generally?

 

 

Which ever is true ask the college before you get anything as they may have H&S qualms about tools which are not theirs.

[Bobbsy]

Yeah, I think the best advice it to actually get to the school and see: first, what they recommend and, second, what you think you need.

 

My university days were 30+ years ago but I got through without ANY tools of my own. Where they were required, they were provided by the university.

 

During this time, through experience I worked out what was useful and what wasn't, and gradually built my own kit for things I did outside uni. This kit is still being added to and modified...in fact the only original part is a single electrical screwdriver which has attained mystical properties...the day I lose it, I shall probably melt like the wicked witch!

 

Bob

[the kid]

Franky its not really worth it. I did the same course ( or type of course) you are going on, people will take stuff, and things will disappear. As a college we have a pretty good stock of things we need if we need extras there either hired or borrowed off another department or we buy them.

 

You'll find that a scalpel will be invaluable if you do any form of design so get a good one. Thinking about it we had a list given of what would be useful to have before we started or at least in our induction week.

[GridGirl]

A multitool and a maglite And maybe a decent AJ. With those as a starting point, you can build from there as you need stuff.

[mal421]

Most loudspeaker hanging points are M10 and all my lighting clamps are M10 so get a couple of 17mm combination spanners .

[soundo26]

A leatherman

17/19mm Podger

Adjustable Spanner

decent Screwdriver set

precision screwdriver set

Cutters/pliers set

Multimeter

Maglite

Soldering iron/solder

A toolbag to put it all in

 

The basis of a decent toolkit

[Andrew C]

If you are going to buy tools, don't skimp on price. Buying cheap will cause you to curse and wound yourself later on. Bendy blades, stiff pliers, poorly designed grips on screwdrivers all lead to misery! Good tools on the other hand will last a lifetime (unless they grow legs) and can make even the worst jobs tolerable.

 

Cutters/pliers/AJ - Bahco

Screwdrivers - Stanley Magnum

Leatherman - Gerber :P (Joke, buy whichever you feel comfortable with)

Multimeter - Fluke are great, but maybe more than you need

Soldering iron - Weller

Maglight - Mag industries

 

There are other good manufacturers, but these have served me well.

[mac.calder]

One very useful piece of equiptment is a decent rubber mallet - find one that does not leave marks.

 

Main uses are percusive mainenance, getting rid of unsavoury charactors, and getting things into spaces they are not sure they want to be in. Seriously though: often overlooked, but they have so many uses - not so many for lighting (no matter how few marks the mallet leaves, bubbles don't like them), but most other tech theatre jobs have a use for one.

[musht]

Cutters/pliers/AJ - Bahco

Screwdrivers - Stanley Magnum

Leatherman - Gerber :P (Joke, buy whichever you feel comfortable with)

Multimeter - Fluke are great, but maybe more than you need

Soldering iron - Weller

Maglight - Mag industries

 

There are other good manufacturers, but these have served me well.

 

Other options

 

cutters- Bahco are great also consider Knipex,very highly rated. Cheap nippers will always be a waste of cash, want to cut a cable not chew through it.

 

screwdrivers-Magnum really aren`t that great TBH, much as like Stanley in general, the tips are painted which chips off and leaves a looser fit, Facom have ground and plated which dosent chip and Wiha and Wera have phosphated that dosent chip.

 

Soldering Iron- also Antex, consider a gas portable iron one of greatest tools ever.

 

Maglight- Puhleeze this is the 21st century not 1974 ;-), Mag with LED conversion or something made as an LED light from beginning, standard AA incandescent Mag is like using an oil lamp. Because of battery life and lamp replacement, LED can be brighter as well. Sure Lightnix could write a dissertation on this.

[Frag_Me]

As has been said, DON'T buy cheap. I had a cheap screwdriver set which I had lightly used for a year on computers, but as soon as it went near a tough wood screw it mashed the heads up something rotten :(

[musht]

Excellent point, cheap drivers , spanners and sockets may not fit a fastener that well, if its a bit tight quite liable to chew the head up and make it even harder to move. Decent tools really do make life easier.

[Modge]

A seconding for not using screw drivers brought very cheaply for I.T. work on anything which is any effort to turn - mashes them to peices. In defence of Stanley they made my side cutters which have takern really quite a hammering over time (though I have some cheapo cutters I use for stuff that you probably shouldn't be cutting with side cutters - just to save the good ones)