“You can never have too many tools” is a quote you hear a lot of people say. This is true IF you can keep them all organized, a tool hidden in a pile in a drawer that you can find isn’t doing anyone any good! Regardless, we decided to put a list of some handy tools and garage accessories that you might be missing for your shop. Feel free to comment below with some of your ideas!
1. Vise Jaws- Most good vises have knurled jaws and work great for clamping items in place. This is all great except when the item you’re putting in the vice can’t have marks left in it from clamping. We suggest getting a set of soft or aluminum jaws for your vise. These work great for keeping your clamped parts secure AND gouge-free. We like to throw them in a bin on the side of the workbench so they’re at an arms length when working in the vise.
2. Hanging Trays and Shelves- Sometimes you don’t realize you need something until you’re in the middle of a job and getting up to find it is a huge hassle. Planning out your shop by adding hanging shelves, trays, or racks can be a huge time saver. We like to add magnetic trays and hangers to our workbenches near vises, and saws, lathes, and other tools where you may need smalls like razor blades, a tape measure, soft vise jaws, pliers, magnets, etc. Our Magnetic Toolbox Trays will stick to any metal surface so don’t just use them for the side of your box, move them to your work space.
3. MIG Light- Welding in the dark or low light is NEVER fun but sometimes it’s hard to get a light shining right where you’re welding with your MIG welder. A life saver in these situations is the MIG Light. It has a high intensity LED light that goes on the end of your MIG torch and shines exactly where you will be laying your weld. Grab one of these and throw it on your welding cart for your next job.
4. Infrared Thermometer- I’m not much of a cook, but I do know that temperature can be crucial in the garage at times too. Having an infrared thermometer on hand is great for testing the temperature of a part before painting or powder coating, engine or radiator temps, how hot the metal is before continuing to weld, the temp in your powder coating oven, etc. etc. Keep it in a top drawer of your tool box for quick, easy access.
5. Portable High Powered Work Light- A GOOD work light is needed in any shop and we offer one of the best in the industry. This light folds, rotates, and expands to fit almost any surface. We use ours for a bench light during normal use and inside the cabin and engine bay with no hassle other than expanding the hooks on the ends. This can be run off the internal battery or leave it plugged in for bench use on a regular basis. Get multiples and keep one in the shop and one in your vehicle for roadside repairs!