Tools I've Used
Take it as you wish.
 |
DeWalt Safety Glasses They are
comfortable and have foam guards that come up to your face and
make sure chips can't fly around the lenses and into your eye. $11.67 Amazon |
 |
Pyramex Safety Glasses Moderately comfortable with good protection from flying chips. Get the clear-lenses as tinted glasses aren't allowed in the Lab. On a separate note, only a real idiot would mix pot (or heavy medication) and metal cutting tools. $8.70 Amazon |
 |
Reid Supply Caliper I was dubious of these in the beginning because of their cheap price... and in all reality they don't have the nuts-on accuracy of my Mitutoyo Calipers, but I've dropped them several times on the Lab floor, cracked the display, and they keep hitting within a thou. Big shipping discounts when you order more than one. $11.99 + Shipping Amazon |
 |
Peltor Earmuffs How important is you hearing? These hearing protectors muffle machine sounds but still let you talk with other people in the lab. They are comfortable and compact compared to most earmuffs. $10.24 Amazon |
 |
Aurora Scientific Calculator A handy little calculator with trig functions at a cheap price. Fits easily into your pocket or toolbox. The little button-cell battery went out on me after 3 months, but I was able to replace it with a bigger battery (and the help of an Exacto knife). $6.99 Amazon |
 |
Casio Calculator FX-300MS I just ordered this
calculator because it sounds like a good one to test out for the
Print Reading class. The following sentence is why I
bought it. "The large, readable two-line display exhibits
10 digits, shows the problem as you write it, and then shows the
answer alongside, permitting better tracking of your
equation-solving process." $11.50 Amazon |
 |
Atrax Double End 4-Flute Centercutting Carbide End Mill Handy to have if you are going to be milling steel (probably not most beginners) since you can use a faster RPM. I like to keep 1/2" and 1/4" on hand. Buy them on sale from Enco, and make sure to put in the $25 Free Shipping Code. $10.50 - $27 Enco |
 |
Enco 2-Flute HSS Centercutting End Mill You will want to have some double-or-single 2-flute end mills on hand for aluminum also. Enco usually has something on sale, though it changes from month to month. Handy sizes are 1/4" 3/8" and 1/2" and you can often get all 3 for around $10. $2.50 - $6.00 Enco |
 |
Stow and Go Toolbox I use two
toolboxes that are pretty much like this, but yellow. One
holds my milling tools, one holds my lathe tools. The top
has a big compartment for calipers, calculators, scale and pen.
It's pretty handy to have your tools close at hand so you don't
have to keep running back to the tool-crib. $22-$28 Amazon or Harbor Freight |
 |
Electronic Edge Finder 3/4" Shank These
are handy when you start working on a VMC where it is harder to
see a mechanical edge-finder in the low light. I got a
deal on Ebay for mine, but it has a metric ball instead of a
.400 standard inch ball. You want to make sure it
mostly looks like this. $50 Ebay or $110 Enco |
 |
Spindle Tram Tools These tools will
really speed up squaring the spindle on your setup. The
operation of these things is pretty simple... you set the
indicator on one side to "Zero", spin it around to the same spot
on the table and set the other indicator to "Zero". At
that point, you just adjust the table tram until both sides (X &
Y) read "Zero". Buy or Make
one if your time in the manufacturing lab or machine
shop is valuable. Get past the setup and into getting
things done. The indicators on the cheap ones (shown) tend
to come apart, but are replaceable. $90 - $180 |