# What's your favorite tool to work with?



## Fix'n it (Mar 12, 2012)




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## Gymschu (Dec 12, 2010)

I’m a painter so I’m far from accomplished using tools other than a paint brush. My favorite and the one that solves the most problems is my air nailer (and compressor). I used to install trim the hard way…. Hammer and finish nails. I finally had enough $$$ to invest in a quality compressor and nail gun. It sure extended the services I could offer my customers.


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## Nealtw (Jun 22, 2017)

My thought never goes to the new toy I need for it, I will always try to figure how to do what ever with what I have.


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## gthomson (Nov 13, 2016)

Nealtw said:


> My thought never goes to the new toy I need for it, I will always try to figure how to do what ever with what I have.


Too funny - I saw that in 'use the compressor wheels' - that never would have come to mind for me before.


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## Missouri Bound (Apr 9, 2011)

I'll just start a list.
Table saw, oscillating saw, pneumatic nailers....most used tools for wood projects....and the ones that fit the "favorite" category.
My zero-turn is the most used and most fun yard tool.


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## rogerwh (Mar 1, 2021)

I would have to say my table saw is my favorite, followed by my router and orbital sander.


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## de-nagorg (Feb 23, 2014)

My favorite tool, is the 5# of grey stuff between my ears. 

Solves more problems than any other that I own.

Second favorite tools, are the 4# lumps of bone and flesh at the ends of my arms. 

Solves other problems that the first cannot. 

Seriously folks, if you ain't got either you are in bad DOODOO.

ED


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## smallpierre (Sep 22, 2021)

Gymschu said:


> I’m a painter so I’m far from accomplished using tools other than a paint brush. My favorite and the one that solves the most problems is my air nailer (and compressor). I used to install trim the hard way…. Hammer and finish nails. I finally had enough $$$ to invest in a quality compressor and nail gun. It sure extended the services I could offer my customers.


Nobody told you about the battery only cordless trim nailers? No more gas cartridges like the old Paslode, all battery power. Look ma, no cords! Come in all kind of sizes - 15ga, 16ga, 18ga, 23ga pinners, narrow crown staplers, etc. Way handier than pneumatic unless you're trimming out a whole house maybe - maybe. There are framing guns too, but they're super heavy.


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## Kemper100 (Sep 16, 2017)




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## mark sr (Jun 13, 2017)

Question is too open ended. My favorite tool changes depending on the job at hand. IMO the answer would be the tool that does the current job best.


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## Gymschu (Dec 12, 2010)

smallpierre said:


> Nobody told you about the battery only cordless trim nailers? No more gas cartridges like the old Paslode, all battery power. Look ma, no cords! Come in all kind of sizes - 15ga, 16ga, 18ga, 23ga pinners, narrow crown staplers, etc. Way handier than pneumatic unless you're trimming out a whole house maybe - maybe. There are framing guns too, but they're super heavy.


Oh, yes, of course I have seen them! But owning one is a pipe dream. I may end up getting a cordless trim nailer, but for all the more trim I hang in a year’s time, well, I can’t justify getting one YET! 😆


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## jim_bee (Feb 23, 2021)

My cordless saw


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## Fix'n it (Mar 12, 2012)

i think most of you are forgetting one very important tool = your truck/van . without that, the other tools are nearly useless


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## Two Knots (Nov 12, 2011)

I asked the head knot what his favorite tool was, and he said a vice grip, he always has a vice grip in his tool box. Now that I think about it, along side of a screwdriver there is a vice grip in my kitchen junk drawer.


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## rjniles (Feb 5, 2007)

My oscillating multi-tool. I honestly don't know how I ever worked without it.


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## Mike Milam (Mar 3, 2017)

TV remote.


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## smallpierre (Sep 22, 2021)

Gymschu said:


> Oh, yes, of course I have seen them! But owning one is a pipe dream. I may end up getting a cordless trim nailer, but for all the more trim I hang in a year’s time, well, I can’t justify getting one YET! 😆


That's the thing - they're so much more efficient than dragging out a compressor, rolling out hose, etc. for running small amounts of trim. Then theres tool maintenance for compressor and a nailer... the cordless ones aren't THAT expensive. Pancake compressors - nailers are about all they're good for too. By the time you buy compressor, hose, nailer - that cordless starts looking more affordable. Or you can wheel around a belt driven / gas compressor, but those things are mighty heavy and expensive. Then add up your time not dealing with loading, unloading, fighting hoses, and the beating it puts on your eardrums and the cordless is an outright steal.


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## Two Knots (Nov 12, 2011)

Mike Milam said:


> TV remote.


Haha..mine too…


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## smallpierre (Sep 22, 2021)

Kemper100 said:


>


Ok, I'm sold!


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## raylo32 (Nov 25, 2006)

Who ever said there were no dumb questions??? ;-)


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## rjniles (Feb 5, 2007)

raylo32 said:


> Who ever said there were no dumb questions??? ;-)


I think it was you


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## huesmann (Aug 18, 2011)

I love my Ryobi impact driver.


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## raylo32 (Nov 25, 2006)

Couldn't have been me. When my GF asks me if I had to pick my favorite (food, vacation destination, whatever) or a binary choice between 2 arbitrary things without the context of reality I always tell her I don't have to pick and that that is a dumb question.



rjniles said:


> I think it was you


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## huesmann (Aug 18, 2011)

How comfy is your couch?


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## raylo32 (Nov 25, 2006)

Better than the doghouse!



huesmann said:


> How comfy is your couch?


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## RTFD (Jun 23, 2021)

My Impact Driver followed closely by my Reciprocating saw (SawZall)
The first will put almost anything together the second will take almost anything apart.


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## GCTony (Jul 21, 2021)

This a a pretty open ended thread. If you would have asked me when I was a young lad my favorite tool would have been.....oh forget it.

Favorite tool to work with would probably be the hollow chisel mortiser. Something very rewarding about drilling square holes. A close second would be a hand plane, something very rewarding about making wood curls 6' long. 

Most favorite most useful tool would be the cordless drill and a close second; table saw.


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## wrangler (Oct 9, 2008)

Kemper100 said:


>


That's how my wife likes to kill spiders!


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## raylo32 (Nov 25, 2006)

That's a BFH on steroids. Poor spiders!



wrangler said:


> That's how my wife likes to kill spiders!


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## colin123 (Oct 9, 2014)

Some tools are just so good at what they do. like a speed square or a flat bar.


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## HotRodx10 (Aug 24, 2017)

Impact driver, and channelocks top my list of the most used. Table saw is probably the one I would have the hardest time doing without.


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## lexxx (Sep 27, 2021)

gthomson said:


> Could be for wood, metal, gardening, etc...
> Power or manual doesn't matter.
> 
> Actually, maybe make that favorite two tools to work with - a chisel doesn't make much sense unless you have a hammer to work with it.
> ...


ok, perhaps this is due to my having just recently purchased it buttttt…i’m reallly liking it.. milwaukee m12 fuel right angle die grinder (2”)


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## XSleeper (Sep 23, 2007)

I think my favorite tools are 2 tools that I received as gifts. (Not Christmas gifts either)

Kreg K2000 pro kit. (Older version of what's like a combination of today's K4 and K5.) I use this all the time.

Makita 2012NB thickness planer (with dust chute). This has undoubtedly saved me hours upon hours of sanding. 

At the time, these were things I probably would not have gone out and bought myself, but having them is pure joy... made better because it was someone doing something nice for me after I had done something nice for them, and I was blindsided by it because I was not wanting or expecting anything in return.


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## de-nagorg (Feb 23, 2014)

XSleeper said:


> I think my favorite tools are 2 tools that I received as gifts. (Not Christmas gifts either)
> ... made better because* it was someone doing something nice for me after I had done something nice for them, and I was blindsided by it because I was not wanting or expecting anything in return.*



This shows true Character of both parties.

Congratulations on having such a relationship.

All human beings should have such good character,


ED


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## raylo32 (Nov 25, 2006)

Yes. I don't do a lot of wood projects and always used a regular flat 90 degree angle square. When I got started on my recent door/floor project I somehow learned about speed squares and picked one up. Damn. So simple and effective. That tool is pure genius. If the job was a math problem you could say the speed square is part of the most elegant solution.



colin123 said:


> Some tools are just so good at what they do. like a speed square or a flat bar.


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## Old Thomas (Nov 28, 2019)

Torches and welders. Cutting steel and fastening steel with fire and lightning, lots of fun.


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## raylo32 (Nov 25, 2006)

Also soldering copper water pipes and brazing HVAC tubing. And you'll have hun, fun, fun till your mama takes your propane (or MAPP or acetylene) away!



Old Thomas said:


> Torches and welders. Cutting steel and fastening steel with fire and lightning, lots of fun.


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## KHouse75 (May 14, 2008)

I built a CNC wood cutting machine. It's pretty fun to use. My favorite is my SawStop Professional cabinet table saw. Next favorite is my 12" Dewalt compound miter saw. I get absolutely perfectly cuts from both.


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## GCTony (Jul 21, 2021)

Old Thomas said:


> Torches and welders. Cutting steel and fastening steel with fire and lightning, lots of fun.


OH, I agree, lots of fun burning stuff. Some of us men never really grow out of being a boy. I'm pretty sure that can be a good thing, sometimes anyway.


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## ratherbefishing (Jan 13, 2011)

In between reading the question and the last answer, I changed my answer a half a dozen times. I'm going with this one:


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## tabora (Apr 23, 2018)

#1










#2


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## drawde (Mar 29, 2011)

Seems I always need a bigger hammer!


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## mbakdewi (Nov 20, 2021)

My favorite tool, however, is my garden kitty, who keeps a watchful eye out for other neighborhood felines who might encroach on our yard or for the UPS or mail people. Gardening/policing is a stressful job that often requires frequent naps and delicious treats and she takes full advantage of both.


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## rjniles (Feb 5, 2007)

rjniles said:


> My oscillating multi-tool. I honestly don't know how I ever worked without it.


Redoing the floor in my master bathroom, installing Coretec LVT. Took up sheet vinyl, easy only stapled around the edges. Under that was 12/12 vinyl self stick tiles and they were really stuck. My Rockwell oscillating tool with a scraper blade made it an easy job with no damage to the plywood underlayment.

Sent from my Lenovo TB-X606F using Tapatalk


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## MTN REMODEL LLC (Sep 11, 2010)

rjniles said:


> Redoing the floor in my master bathroom, installing Coretec LVT. Took up sheet vinyl, easy only stapled around the edges. Under that was 12/12 vinyl self stick tiles and they were really stuck. My Rockwell oscillating tool with a scraper blade made it an easy job with no damage to the plywood underlayment.
> 
> Sent from my Lenovo TB-X606F using Tapatalk


 All my tools are my BFF's (except maybe my carpet kicker who is necessary but a PIA).

However, my most ingenious tool...I'd have to agree with RJ.

Sure wish that baby (actually several) had been born (invented) years before. Sure solves alot of difficult applications/jobs, rather than my hand chizels etc

Never had a jamb saw, ....don't miss that handcutting on my hands and knees.

Also like my bisquuit cutter...sure nicer than my old doweling jigs


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## mark sr (Jun 13, 2017)

rjniles said:


> Under that was 12/12 vinyl self stick tiles and they were really stuck.


Last saturday I helped my son replace the subfloor in his walk in closet. He told me he thought the stick on tiles [which came up easily] were holding the plywood together, I didn't believe him until we took up the tiles and I promptly fell thru.


MTN REMODEL LLC said:


> like my bisquuit cutter...sure nicer than my old doweling jigs


I like mine too! Not sure it's as stout as using dowels but sure is easy to use.


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## Nut'n'Done (Nov 28, 2021)

wrangler said:


> That's how my wife likes to kill spiders!


That's rite up their with...
Miss Peacock, did it with the lead pipe, in the ballroom!


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