The “General Purpose Toolbox” Challenge!

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Here’s the challenge. In this thread well build a general purpose toolbox.

Everything needs to fit in a regular ol’ toolbox. Weigh a reasonable amount. Have most every hand tool a person needs.

The toolbox will prefer multipurpose over specialty. For example, a hacksaw will cut a 2x4 (if you had to), but a wood saw will not cut a nail. So wood saw is likely out. But maybe a hacksaw with a variety of blades.

Do we put in a full set of combination wrenchs? Or socket set? What cutting tools? A combo screwdriver? Or a nut driver and a variety of bits?


As we go through the options, I’ll update this first post with a list.

Thread inspired by this thing on Amazon. I thought “we can do better than that!”
1710115769855.png

The nominees are (until you contribute)
Vise Grips
Channel Locks
Hacksaw and variety of blades
Six-way screwdriver/nut driver
Quality set of metric, SAE, and Torx Allen wrenches
Claw hammer
Needle nose pliers

-=Added to the box from thread suggestions=-

File
wire strippers
small flat crowbar
utility knife and spare blades
adjustable wrench
voltmeter (digital Ideal meter)
tape measure
A Chisel or flat screw driver that have the metal top you can hit with a hammer to use as drive tool prefer both but can make do with one.

Socket set and ratchet
Pull bar (wut?)


A set of hex bits ( various screw drivers , torx , hex , and common nut drivers ) plus a tool to use them
Small set of needle nose pliers w/wire cutters
Wire fence hammer
 
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File, wire strippers, small flat crowbar, utility knife, adjustable wrench, voltmeter, tape measure.

In addition to you list that's pretty much what I have in a carry tooinbag in the truck all the time
 
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adjustable wrench
Vise grip style locking pliers
A set of hex bits ( various screw drivers , torx , hex , and common nut drivers ) plus a tool to use them
Small set of needle nose pliers w/wire cutters
Small hammer
Small pry bar
If room permits a self contained socket set
 
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A Chisel or flat screw driver that have the metal top you can hit with a hammer to use as drive tool prefer both but can make do with one.

Small needle nose pliers
Socket set and ratchet
Pull bar
 
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Which wire strippers?

Which volt meter? Digital or analog? You know when you go to use it, batteries will be dead!


What’s a pull bar?
 
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Me. said:
Which wire strippers?

Which volt meter? Digital or analog? You know when you go to use it, batteries will be dead!


What’s a pull bar?
Click to expand...

I have a digital ideal meter i keep in the truck and batteries last pretty well on it honestly surprising. Either would work though.

Pull bar is the longer handle you can attach to a socket to gain more leverage
 
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What is the 4-way doodad that opens any water tap, knipex made a nice one.

Wire stripper is a luxury item, the side cutter built into your pliers or the utility knife will do the job.

Few pair of nitrile gloves.

Teflon tape, electrical tape, duct tape, a few types of shims, mason’s string.

3/8” metric sockets 6mm-14mm, standard and deep, drivers in standard and short.

AA or AAA LED flashlight with gooseneck.

Garbage disposal wrench (unless you’ve included large allen wrenches)

Pencil
 
Knife/wrench……for kids.

IMG_5550.gif
 
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Electrical tape
Duck tape
Zip ties
Gloves
Flashlight

I have a set of Gear Wrench pass through sockets that work great.

One of those universal sockets

Mule tape
 
Me. said:
I can’t put a flashlight in the box. Too many people have cell phones.



We can’t answer while we’re upstairs. Head on down to the basement!
Click to expand...
I’m not part of the basement so I had to give him the PG answer 😉
 
Baby wipes to clean up after, put them in a plastic baby bottle to keep fresh.
 
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That is the problem…

There’s room in the world for the perfect tool for every job. But in this hypothetical toolbox, there’s a finite amount of space, and it probably shouldn’t weigh over 25 pounds.

Everything needs to fit in here (or similar).

1710167915445.png
 
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5-in-1 painters tool. Scraper, paint can opener, drywall repair, has a metal end, screw driver if must, small pryer tool.

Cresent wrench.

Channel lock pliers, both large and small.
 
Me. said:
That is the problem…

There’s room in the world for the perfect tool for every job. But in this hypothetical toolbox, there’s a finite amount of space, and it probably shouldn’t weigh over 25 pounds.

Everything needs to fit in here (or similar).

View attachment 754437
Click to expand...
One of these at my mom's house. But it has two drawers that wont close. This is a better idea. Was given to me as a Xmas present probably 50 yrs ago and I never got it back.
 
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Me. said:
Here’s the challenge. In this thread well build a general purpose toolbox.

Everything needs to fit in a regular ol’ toolbox. Weigh a reasonable amount. Have most every hand tool a person needs.

The toolbox will prefer multipurpose over specialty. For example, a hacksaw will cut a 2x4 (if you had to), but a wood saw will not cut a nail. So wood saw is likely out. But maybe a hacksaw with a variety of blades.

Do we put in a full set of combination wrenchs? Or socket set? What cutting tools? A combo screwdriver? Or a nut driver and a variety of bits?


As we go through the options, I’ll update this first post with a list.

Thread inspired by this thing on Amazon. I thought “we can do better than that!”
View attachment 754256

The nominees are (until you contribute)
Vise Grips
Channel Locks
Hacksaw and variety of blades
Six-way screwdriver/nut driver
Quality set of metric, SAE, and Torx Allen wrenches
Claw hammer
Needle nose pliers

-=Added to the box from thread suggestions=-

File
wire strippers
small flat crowbar
utility knife and spare blades
adjustable wrench
voltmeter (digital Ideal meter)
tape measure
A Chisel or flat screw driver that have the metal top you can hit with a hammer to use as drive tool prefer both but can make do with one.

Socket set and ratchet
Pull bar (wut?)


A set of hex bits ( various screw drivers , torx , hex , and common nut drivers ) plus a tool to use them
Small set of needle nose pliers w/wire cutters
Wire fence hammer
Click to expand...
I can do better

 
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Tube of Polysporin and a dozen band-aids.

Pad of paper and a pen.

Safety glasses.

Crimp terminals and ratcheting crimper ("decent" $17 one from Amazon is fine; NOT one of those 1/16" thick POS non-ratcheting ones...)
 
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I have 3 tool cabinets and 3 tool boxes that are almost full.
The tool boxes are for quick access to special projects or when I have to be away from the big stuff. One small tool box has home electrical stuff, another has automotive electrical stuff, and one has a mixture of ratchets, sockets, open end wrenches, pliers, etc, for mechanical projects. I am more comfortable working from the tool cabinets that have the standard and speciality tools (brake tools, torque wrenches, etc.) and most of the woodworking stuff.
 
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Can of WD40, roll of Duck tape, flathead screwdriver small enough to also fit in Phillips.
 
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Jp8819 said:
Pull bar is the longer handle you can attach to a socket to gain more leverage
Click to expand...

a breaker bar?

never heard it called a pull bar.


my contribution to the thread

A set of picks like this but not specifically like this

www.harborfreight.com

Professional Radiator Hose Pick Set, 6 Piece

Amazing deals on this 6Pc Radiator Hose Pick Set at Harbor Freight. Quality tools & low prices.
www.harborfreight.com www.harborfreight.com
 
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GymB said:
Forceps
Tweezers

How about bifocal safety glasses (or a magnifying glass) for us old timers?
Click to expand...
I have an OptiVisor at work, one at home, and a pair of 1.5 reading glasses in my daily work backpack...so I endorse this.
 
I am an admitted tool junkie! Woodworking, metal working, equipment repair - you name it - I have a plethora of tools.

For around the house, I use a heavy duty tool bag. Darn thing weighs 56 lbs! But for home projects I like having everything clean and together, so as to avoid 20 trips to the shop (and to avoid bringing a greasy tool into the house).

The bag that I use is a very heavy duty one designed for someone who works in the trades. It's a CLC Work Gear bag and I've had it for several years. My previous bag was a Veto - also a heavy duty bag but one of the zippers broke after a few years and they wouldn't warrant it, so screw them....

Here are some pix of my bag. First pic is overall bag.

20240313_113519.jpg

Here are the tools contained under one of the flap sides. Various allen / torx wrench sets in standard and metric, various wiring stippers, crimpers, needle nose, etc.

20240313_112139.jpg

The inside of the flap has some storage compartments too.

20240313_112000.jpg

Here is the flap on the opposite side. This one has wrenches (std and metric) and sockets, adjustable wrenches, stud detector, bubble level, scraper, really small screwdriver set (eyeglass size), etc.

20240313_111821.jpg

Inside the flap on the second side

20240313_111910.jpg

And here are the tools that I keep in the middle section of the bag.

20240313_112830.jpg

I don't keep the special wrenches for doing faucet replacement in this bag, since I so rarely use them and I had to start thinking about overall weight and capacity. It's served me well for basic appliance and household repair - including electrical. If I used it more often I'd probably replace the Ryobi stuff with Milwaukee M12, but I have a separate bag with them in the shop that I can grab if needed. The Makita bit set includes screwdrivers with 1/4" drive that will go into the Ryobi driver. Probably one thing that I should add is duct tape, but I don't use it very often for household repair.
 
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