Martin Angove wrote:

Not sure if this is d-i-y or not, but here goes anyway :-) Feel free to
ignore or abuse (be gentle) if you think this is too much OT.

As some of you may be aware, I'm seriously considering "going solo" and
setting up as a jobbing electrician.

Now, I've done all sorts of figures and so on, and I've convinced most
of the people who need convincing that this is a reasonable plan, so I
need to start getting some firm ideas together about what tools and
equipment I need. That's where you lot come in.

Ignore the budget for now, but toolwise, and ignoring the obvious like
screwdrivers and test meters, what would you consider to be the
*essentials* for an electrician?



Forget the list, and do it the simple way.


(i) Go in and gaze at all the things you might ever want.

(ii) Go and look at the first job. Buy from the above only what you
absolutely need to complete it. Cost teh time and cost of getting these
bits into that job.

(iii) Iterate the process for all the jobs you do, for ever. Every time
the cost of a better tool is manifestly offset by the saving in time to
do it, get the tool.

I have fauithfuly followed this process through all my D-i-Y,
gatredening, hobby building and even comercial life as a company
director, and it has proved to be the most cost effective way of getting
the job done.

Example: I needed to clear abot 30 hawthorns, and had blokes standing
idle on teh job. I bought a chainsaw. Out of teh budegt to clear the
trees. Job done, one excellent chainsaw now only used for firewod and
the odd job. Will last for years.

Example: Needed to get pulley of car engine. BIG nut, MUCHO torque,
Bought huge torque wrench and exact size socket. Still cheaper than
garage. Now have both (somewhere...?) Likewise hub pullers etc. Also
impact drivers, and all sorts of other weird tools. They are cehpa
enough at the time to make the job happen...


My list starts like this:

* decent SDS drill, masonry bits, channeling bits, chisels, maybe a
core drill or two. Been considering Bosch GBH 2-24DSR but open to
suggestions.

* decent battery drill/driver, mostly for screwdriving. Been
considering Makita and DeWalt 12V and 14V items.

* decent jigsaw, or some other tool to enable me to get under t&g
floorboards without too much hassle.

* small vaccuum. Having trouble finding one at the moment.

The only other question which is perplexing me is whether to buy 240V or
110V devices. I can see that, should the business expand that way, 110V
(plus appropriate transformers etc.) would be appropriate for work in
offices, factories, schools and so on, and the tools are (mostly)
identically priced, but there's the (smallish) additional expense of
transformers, extensions and so on to consider and is it really
neccessary for domestic work which is my initial target?

So, any suggestions? General or specific I don't mind.

Hwyl!

M.