Hi everyone. I have just been hired on as a 1st year apprentice and before i start on Wednesday i want to make sure i'm fully prepared. So tell me, what's in your tool box? What tools do i really need?

Thanks for the help.

Jesse

What's in my tool box, and what I really need are two different things. The goal in life is to only need a tape measure to use as a pointer, a coffee cup holster would be nice too.

But you can get a good package deal from the supply house of the basics.


A screw gun maybe... That and a good patient additude. If doing resi, you better just get some good knee pads, you're going to go into small dark holes no one else wants to go in.


[This message has been edited by e57 (edited 10-05-2004).]

I remembered about this link
https://www.electrical-contractor.net/ubb/Forum1/HTML/003566.html

There's a pretty basic rule that whatever tools are in your toolbox, they will be the ones you don't need and frequent trips to the truck and the tool store will be required.

jesseh,
Welcome to ECN!.
Congratulations on the Apprenticeship.
What's in my toolbox?.
Well, all sorts of nasty things, the last time I looked.
Seriously though, I'd recommend you get a good quality meter for testing circuits to make sure they are de-energised.

Your most important tool is your mind. Be Safe! PLEASE read the safety section of this site. In my opinion the next two or three most important tools are non-contact voltage pens, and volt meters to make sure what you're working on is dead so you can enjoy another day of the finest trade around.

Dave

You might want to hold off on buying a lot of tools until you work for a few days to see what types of work they expect you to do. IMHO, only buy quality brand name tools (Klien, Ideal, Greenlee). Many tools look the same, but don't perform or last the same.

For your first day, a tool belt, good wire strippers (Ideal t-strippers are cheap, but work great) don't get a multi function stripper, KLIEN linemans pliers, a set of screwdrivers any rand will do if you're on a budget, but you'll want kliens soon. A good tape measure (Fat Max). These will get you through the first few days until you see what they expect of you, they may expect you to master the use of a shovel, in that case a drill would be useless.

Let's see,
hammer
9" Linesman pliers (also serves as a second hammer in a pinch)
small needle nose pliers
diagonal cutters
stripper
good utility knife or equivalent (with extra blades)
tape measure
small assortment of screwdrivers(see as you go)
the Klein 10 in one screwdriver is pretty handy in addition to the traditional screwdrivers as you'll find out.
one (best to have two) pair of channel locks
and
a hacksaw with extra blades (optional for now probably)
Oh, almost forgot, keep some bandaids in your wallet so you don't get blood on someone's new carpet.
Good luck,
Andy

My little motto that I remind myself and others.....

"If you need to borrow it......get to the store after work and buy one of your own."

How did the first day go?
I was going to suggest a pair of gloves, a bottle of Gatorade and a hardhat. Keep the hardhat in your car. Some job sites won't let you on board without a hard hat. Employers are required to furnish necessary safety equipment but won't always be able to afford it [they say]. So if you need one and they won't give you one, then walk to your car and get it. But if they see you already have one, they won't give you a free one.
As for the tools, it is best to find out what exactly you will be doing before investing in expensive tools you won't likely use or need. I still have a $60 Wiggy I bought when I started and I haven't used it once. Most likely you will be on new construction so there's no live wires involved anyway. But Harbor Freight sells meters for about $10 which will tell you volts, ohms and continuity. The motto of Fluke is: "If it works, it must be a fluke."
A cordless drill in an absolute necessity. You will not need drill bits.
Vices are illegal at construction sites.
The only three quality tools you will need are Klein Linemans Pliers, a Klein 600 screwdriver [square shank], and a good pair of wire stripers. The comination cheap ones don't strip wire well.
For the ChannelLocks, get the GripLock type. [GL 6, 10 or 12] These have V shaped jaws and grip really swell. Bit only one pair. Instead of the other, get a big pair of ViseGrips. I like the LC12 but 10WR will do. This way you only have to concentrate on operating one pair of pliers on your fittings.
As for hacksaws, the Chinese kind will last for one day but that is enough to pay for a genuine Lennox. Use 32 tooth blades.
Hammers--Any but no waffle head. Straight claw is slightly better than curved since you can use it as a pick.
Oh, and some toilet paper.
~Peter

?

Thanks for all the help everyone. My first day was great, well, as great as first days can get.

It started at 8am, and ended at 4pm, which isn't that bad except for the fact that i only got 5 hours of sleep. Oh well, it doesn't phase me. For the first job we had to upgrade the power stuff for a house, the meter box, the box, ect., all had to be changed. For the second job we had a bunch of stuff to do at another house. I got alot of the odd jobs ofcourse, but i was taught things along the way.

I'm looking forward to my new career.

"Vices are illegal on construction sites."

Please explain that statement,if you would be so kind.

Peter,
Myself and others here would sooner trust a piece of test equipment that has a decent manufacturer safety record, than entrust thier lives to a cheap 50c meter.
My motto is buy once, buy well!.
Personally I've never seen anyone use a Claw Hammer as a pick, I must be missing something here.
I think what Peter means is things like drinking alcohol and smoking and the like.

I have just started as a first year electrical apprentice also. The toolbox consists of:
screwdrivers (flatblade from 5mm to 10mm wide-various length, phillips & Pozidrive from number '0' to '3')
hammers (claw, ball-pein & 4lb sledge)
sidecutters
multimeter (cost me $80 in 1992)
bull-nose pliers
pens, pencils & textas (marking pens)
tape (masking & insulation)
one & two-screw connectors
small notebook
three pin extension cord socket (used to put on the plugs of equipment you might be working on so no-one gives you a 240 volt 'surprise'

In the ute, theres a 1/2" socket set, set of open ended spanners (metric & imperial), a 7' ladder, a total of 80 metres of extension cord, drills, drill bits, crowbar, wrecking bar, 20 litres of water, roll of toilet paper (crap wrap), rope, length of fencing wire for hooking snakes out of switchboards, first aid kit (for when the snake latches onto you), a tin of hardware, shovel, tow hitch, bits of wire, a brick (?) ...maybe thats why the Hilux only does 95kph flat out...



[This message has been edited by 32VAC (edited 10-07-2004).]

just curious?? how is your schedule for the apprenticeship like(how many days a week/hours). And how much do you get paid?

32VAC,
Gee you Aussies sure pack a lot of stuff into your vehicles.
I'd be careful where you poke that fencing wire, mate!.

I guess I better explain the true statement, "Vices are illegal at construction sites." This is based on several observations:
1] There are occasions when it would be very convenient to have a vice on a construction site, for instance holding small parts or sections of conduit while being hacksawed.
2] The American electrician is the smartest of all trades and will go to great intellectual extremes to jerry-rig something that works. Such inventiveness would soon naturally lead to the invention of a couple of large chunks of metal squeezed together by means of a helical device [to paraphrase the Code] for which to stabilize a piece of all-thread whilst hacking it apart with a SawZall.
3] However vises have never been seen on a job site* so I must assume they must be illegal. Otherwise we would have them available.
~Peter
* There is on exception that I know of. We were working in a school, the second most famous high school in the United Staes, and Stu was struggling to use a PortaBand saw to sever of piece of round EMT. This room happened to be a shop classroom and there were a dozen workbenches and each one had two luscious, big blue Wilton vises. I showed him how to clamp the conduit in a vise and then he could use both hands on the saw to make a good controlled cut.

As for the meter. It is fine for a jouneyman making megabucks to suggest to a first day apprentice that he get the most expensive brand of meter possible. But beginners usually are not loaded with cash. I suggested a non-contact voltage tester for safety and the cheapo meter will serve for the time being but will not be as impressive. To make you feel better, I suggest he paint it yellow.
OK. Now that is settled and we have an idea of what he is involved in, let's give him some more enlightened advice.

[This message has been edited by Peter (edited 10-08-2004).]

Peter your thoughts need to be relooked at, to consider the fact that it is new construction and nothing is live, is far from the truth (its gotta get powered up sometime for you to get paid or your boss!! secondly if you are willing to only front out $10.00 on a tester to chance your life you need to go get your head checked!! And as far as the vice thing i have seen many of plumber trucks with vices on the rear bumbers and i have used them my self. I have seen many comments on this web site , for the most part all are great, And there are always a few that make you just laugh and say what the Hel* is this person talking about. And no offence to you, but that was for sure one of the dumbest replies i have ever seen on this site. As for the new girl best of luck, buy things as they are needed, a good mech. will help you in picking what to buy! Welcome to the the sparky world.

Jesse, welcome to the forum. Calvo148's list is pretty close to our list for apprentices, except we have banned utility knives company wide after numerous stitches verses a good solid 3" folding or duck billed type knife.

For your fist tester you will only need a solenoid type (wiggy) with a continuity function.

You shouldn't need a true meter for a while, and you can do some research before this investment.

To add to the list, I keep a fork, spoon, knife, and can opener in my tool box for serving potted meat (electricians steak).

Roger

You know what they say when you assume:you make an a** out of you and me,and I can tell you I have made an a** out of myself more than once.

Down to potted meat eh! Personally, I have a worn out glove, MAPP gas torch, can opener, and spoon for job site Chili, in a little kit under the seat for when I am out of range of the many resturaunts that deliver that are on my cell phone speed dial. I have at least one in most neighborhoods. A folding chair for behind the seat make for a nice sit-down lunch.

I've got a case of MRE's at the door as walk out in the morning. I'll throw one on the truck if I think it will save time.

They aren't exactly the ones in the link. They are suprisingly good. I paid just around $5 each for a case of 12.

"I keep a fork, spoon, knife, and can opener in my tool box"

I forgot I had these in the centre console of the ute. Also, a tin mug & a tin plate reside in the toolbox.

A handy hint for the vice: I am in the throws of making a vice bracket that slides into the towbar (I believe its also called a 'hitch reciever' in North America (?)) of my ute with a 4" vice on it. Just chuck it in the back of the ute when you aren't using it so no-one can 'souvenir' it.

Corruption is a VICE

A tool for holding and gripping things is a VISE

yep, the thing with 2 jaws; VICE or VISE depends where in the world you are, just like CENTER or CENTRE, COLOR or COLOUR

Well to start with, we have a 2500w inverter in the truck so we can run a microwave and small fridge....along with the 'big' tools. (Hole hawg, circle cutter, rotohammer, and keep the battery chargers going all day for the drills and sawsall).
Of course, as far as what to carry, everyone's ideas may vary. My pouch consists of 'basic' stuff, depending on the job: Sidecutters, strippers, hammer, 5 way screwdriver, my 9v DeWalt drill and asst'd bits, assorted sizes nut drivers, wiggy, plug-in tester, level, toner, voltage tester, and depending on the job, locknuts, assorted amounts of staples, screws and wirenuts of various sizes, etc etc etc. Heck the list can go on and on. We dont bring in anything more though than what may be needed for the job but you get the general idea? Hope all goes well in your new job!!
A word of advice, too, for other female sparkies: Per my own experience, you can take stencils, paint or markers and mark your tools with little hearts and flowers....this will keep other people from grabbing your tools (inadvertently) at the end of the day or even on the job. What guy wants to use a drill with little pink flowers painted on it? Its funny, but it works for me!

Jps1006,
Them MRE's look pretty good.
From the website:
I could think of a few work sites here where a lot of these would be eaten.
Mind you, on the down side, I can't help but think that the crackers look like a piece of Veroboard.
Eh Paul!.

MRE's can get old really quick. Especially 3 X's a day! I ate the for months at a time over a four year period. The do make a MRE Cook-book, which can spice them up a bit. With a little creativity some really odd things can be made from them. For instance, Peach Liquer, and if you have the heater packs, a small bomb.
http://www.jackwalters.com/mrecookbook.html


[This message has been edited by e57 (edited 10-09-2004).]

Doesnt "MRE" stand for "Meals Rejected by Ethiopians".

What IS a MRE?

MRE=Meal Ready to Eat
A military improvement over the old c-rations, or k-rations for troops out in the field. Just open the bag and dig in. everything is sealed in thick plastic pouches. Great for hiking/backpacking, too.