Thread: tools of the fitter and machinist

Hi
When you are indentured to a firm you will be given a idea of what is required.

Theres a tool allowance that goes with the indenture so each year the apprentice buys what he needs .

It is never enough enough and cuts out when you go into the ranks of the tradesmen.

The need for more tools never ever ever stops.I am near 60 and stil want and need more,more,MORE!
cheers
Grahame

Depends what the boss supplys,
but a,
Scriber
150mm rule
vernier
for starters

I would suggest that if at all possable to buy used good quallity hand tools,markets garage sales and the auction sites are allways good.

In my opinion and experience as long as the tools you buy are quallity tools it dosent matter how old they are,the most important thing tp look for is allterations or damage especially with shifters.

If a spanner or socket has been ground reducing the thickness of it also give this a miss.If you get the apprentership you desire as stated the government give you an allowance for tooling,but it wont get you much.

Your employer may subsidize or even supplier a certain amount of tools for you.

In most situations after becomeing a tradesman there is the expectation that you will have a reasonable set of your own hand tools.

Generally you would be required to supply tools up to 1" 25mm with spanners and sockets.

Other larger sizes or special tools would usually be supplied by the employer.

Items such as screw drivers pliers circlip pliers up to a certain size hacksaw rule scriber pin punches centre punch tap wrenches up to a certain size chiesels hammers ball peen and block upto 4lb shifters to 15" tape torch 'O' ring picks needle files stillsons upto 12" etc would be supplied by the tradesman.

Consumable items are generally supplied by the employer.

Would not be a bad thing to also have your own 8" or 12" verniers and mics from 1" to 2" at least or metric.

for starters, i was considering
scriber
centre punch
ball pene hammer
verniers
0-25 and 25-50 mics
combination spanner set
socket set
allen keys
screwdrivers
shifters
150 and 300mm rules
vernier protractor
mathematics set used in schools
calculator
a folder to hold tables ( tapping sizes, hole tolerances etc)
a decent and extensive set of files
hacksaw
scrapers
chisels
roller toolchest
dial indicator with stand
depth gauge

a good friend of my dad was a toolmaker, had his own company and all, and said that at the end of the year if i get an apprnticeship he will give me all his old tools. everything above and its all 30 year old Mitutoyo quality stuff, including a set of gauge blocks worth $5000

That has to be a good insentive for you.
Dave

What tools you need will be determined which path you take ie: machinist , or fitter .
The list your mate is going to donate looks good.

Don't buy files or a dial indicator both should be supplied by the employer ,files are condsidered a consumable item .
Kev.

As a basic starter tool set.
Don't worry about expensive tools at first. No employer would expect a brand new apprentice to buy his own mics etc first up. I modified your list. This is basically what I got when I started my apprenticeship. Kit was supplied by the company but we paid it off out of our pay. There was probably a bit more but after 35years I'm going just to remember this.
If you start checking out garage sales you will probably pick up a lot of tools 2nd hand, in good nick, pretty cheap. Check new prices first so you have an idea of what things are worth.

scriber
centre punch
150 mm dividers
Jenny caliper (odd leg caliper)
Inside & outside calipers (150 - 200mm long)
Engineers Square (150mm)
ball pene hammer (1kg essential) (1 real small one, handy to have but not essential to start with)
combination spanner set (AF & Metric)
allen keys (AF& metric)
screwdrivers
shifters (150mm & 250 -300mm)
150 and 300mm rules
8 Metre Tape
Stanley knife or boot knife
Tin snips, straight and curved (at least a pr of straight)
pliers, 200mm combination, 150mm long nose
side cutters 150mm
hacksaw
wetstone (oilstone)
oilcan

mathematics set used in schools
calculator
a folder to hold tables ( tapping sizes, hole tolerances etc)

chisels - As Kev said about files - should employer supplied but if not a 25mm flat, a 12mm flat, a crosscut and a round.

roller toolchest - expensive when you are first starting and you won't need all the room at first. I'd be inclined to have a look at some garage sales and pick up a smaller toolbox that you can put a padlock on.
Also put your name on your tools. Another good idea is to get some full gloss enamel paint in an unusual colour. Not std off the shelf red or yellow, blue etc. Make it a real unusual colour. 1 litre would be enough. paint all the heavier tools like spanners, screwdrivers etc. Really give them a good coat. That way when you are working on a job with other people your tools are instantly recognisable as yours, from a distance. Also if someone else has "borrowed" them. Always lock your toolbox when you are not close to it. Unfortunately not everyone you will be working with will be 100% honest.

hope this help
bollie7

thanks bollie, the list looks better, thankjs alot

Just saw this while looking for some tooling. Might be of assistance.

APPRENTICE TOOLS - Millers Tooling, Brisbane, Australia

thanks guys, really helpful

are the mit machine shop training videos available on dvd?

In my opinion if you are hopeing to get an apprentership as a Fitter/Machinist,you maybe better off not delveing in to dvds or videos of machine shop practice.

You would be better off going into it with what you have allready learnt at school,be it more than likely only basic stuff,and learn from the training on the job and tech as well as the experience you could gain from other tradesman you are working with.

Not saying that there is anything wrong with the MIT stuff but being US based some of there terminology may or will be different to ours as well as some of there work practices.

yeh your right pipeclay, bit in over my head haha

but a few of the first ones would be usefull for home

I suppose in what I say im probably wrong but I have found that sometimes with young apprentices they at times think because they have seen something that they know it all.

Some do,some think they do and most dont.

A lot of tradesman dont like to have an apprentice tell them what they should or shouldnt be doing based solely on what they may have read,seen or heard,without a reasonable amount of experience to back it up.

Im not trying to shoot anyone down by my comments and yes no harm in looking and trying for home use,but I would tread the water somewhat slowly and approach what you may have picked up in an around about way.

Have seen a few apprentices and young tradesman muck a lot of jobs up because they THOUGHT they new how to do something and didnt need instruction or supervision.

How much longer have you got to wait to find out if this employer will offer you a position?

until the end of the year, is when the employers in the illawarra start accepting apprentices