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Favorite tools

Favorite tools

Favorite tools

(OP)
I have a drawer in my desk that gets opened and closed about 2500% more frequently than any of the multitude of others.

No, I do not keep candy, mints, or the Snap-On tools calendar in that drawer.  I do keep my most useful work tools in the drawer.  I'll give you a breakdown, in order of ascending value and frequent use:

5. My cheap mechanical pencil set, .7mm lead only (lineweights? feh!)
4. A Hegeman Grind Gauge.  (I'm in the paint industry)
3. A set of Mitutoyo Vernier Calipers
2. A roll of toilet paper (for my nose!)
1. My Ti-86 graphing calculator.

I am very curious to read what your most valued tool is.

If you'd like, you can also include the least useful thing in your office!  Personally, I'll have to take an audit first!

Thanks!


RE: Favorite tools

Most used, digital calipers
Least used, drawer full of drafting templates.

Chris
Sr. Mechanical Designer, CAD
SolidWorks 05 SP3.1 / PDMWorks 05
ctopher's home site (updated 06-21-05)
FAQ559-1100
FAQ559-716

RE: Favorite tools

Mathcad
Excel
Word

TTFN



RE: Favorite tools

cell phone
money
wife's photo

RE: Favorite tools

Pencil & paper
Calculator
Computer
Multimeter
Adjustable spanner
Insulated screwdriver

and Eng-Tips!


Useless things get evicted from my office pretty quickly. Future-use junk tends to stay - it has saved me numerous times when called to site in the small hours to have a collection of parts to plunder from. A manager remarked one day that my desk looks like a landfill site.

----------------------------------

If we learn from our mistakes,
I'm getting a great education!

RE: Favorite tools

Measuring tape
6"Adjustable spanner
Electrical tester
Mechanical screw driver

RE: Favorite tools

Dial Caliper, Calculator, pen and paper.

RE: Favorite tools

Most-used:
Sanford ProTouch .7mm pencil
bunch of small triangles and a 35 cent protractor
architect's and engineer's scales
enormous collection of codes, specs, manuals, etc. in .pdf format
a 1 GB flash drive
HP-28S, HP-33S

Least used:
Compass
drawing templates
erasing shields
wooden rulers

RE: Favorite tools

Most used:
(autocad & excel used daily)
mechanical pencil (0.7mm, of course)
eraser (life is full of mistakes)
egnineering paper
straight edge
sticky notes
HP-48GX
cell phone

Least used:
scissors & tape


RE: Favorite tools

My brain, when I can find it.

corus

RE: Favorite tools

Calipers
Small screw driver
Pocket knife
Bottle of aspirin (guess it should be on top of list)
Machinery's Handbook
Change for the machines

No pencils or drawing stuff- since computers came out I can't write anymore and can't draw a straight line.

RE: Favorite tools

My ERCO pipe caliper
TETKO screen mesh size gauge
Cameron Hydraulic Data Book
my contractors gift of a coffee travel cup (it has no handle and fits anywhere!!!)
and my HP 48GX

LOL

Bob

RE: Favorite tools

Favorite Tools
MathCad
Word
Digital Camera
Pocket Knifes (I carry two, one in each front pocket, easy access with right of left hand.)
3X5 index cards
Mobile Phone & two-way radio (When I am calling someone.)
10X magnifier
Laser Pointer {tracing overhead lines]

Least favorite
Positector (dry film thickness gauge)
Mobile Phone & two-way radio (when I am being called or paged.)

Most Used
Mobile Phone

Least used
Drafting Templates
Compass set

Vita sine litteris mors est.

RE: Favorite tools

Most Used: AISC ASD 89 Manual Of Steel Construction

RE: Favorite tools

computer (UG, FiberSim, Excell)
pencil
paper
eraser
calculator
machinerys handbook
ASME Y14.5-1994

RE: Favorite tools

BFH - (big freaking hammer)

Email - easiest way to dump problems off on someone else.

RE: Favorite tools

I'm surprised no one has mentioned their coffee cup yet.

computer
digital calipers
red & blue pen
0.5mm pencil
PDA
cell phone
clip board (just to look busy)

"I think there is a world market for maybe five computers."
Thomas Watson, chairman of IBM, 1943.
Have you read FAQ731-376 to make the best use of Eng-Tips Forums?

RE: Favorite tools


Most Used

SolidWorks
Excel
PowerPoint
Brown & Sharpe Measure instruments
Ti-89 Calculator
Pentel P205 0.5mm M-Pencil with HB Lead
Pentel P209 0.9mm M-Pencil with Red Lead
Dell Precision 370
Machinerys HDBK

RE: Favorite tools

what edition of machinerys handbook heckler???  you know the edition is important to your status here...mine is the 21st....lol

bob

RE: Favorite tools

hey bob, we've got the same edition.  what edition is the latest?

RE: Favorite tools

0.7mm Pentel pencil
6" long clear ruler by C-THRU
HP 48GX calculator
Dell Computer
Reference books and codes

I don't need much else besides coffee to perform my duties.

RE: Favorite tools

...oh, I also have Machinery's Handbook 10th Edition. (my grandfather's book). He dated it inside, 3-2-41.
-.7 pencil
-earphones
-blank disc's

Chris
Sr. Mechanical Designer, CAD
SolidWorks 05 SP3.1 / PDMWorks 05
ctopher's home site (updated 06-21-05)
FAQ559-1100
FAQ559-716

RE: Favorite tools

My Casio FX 180-P calculator.

I got it for Christmas when I was 14 (in 1981) and have used it virtually every day since (through school, University and work).  What really, really lights my candle is that it's STILL running on the original batteries that came with it.  And unlike most calculators, it spent several years running iterative programs overnight (before I could afford a home computer).

http://os36.grafisis.nl/calculators/pictures/casio-fx180p.jpg

RE: Favorite tools

(OP)

25th ed. Machinery's Handbook

(newbie)

RE: Favorite tools

About 5 PM on a Friday;
A nice cold ale from a local micro-brewery.

RE: Favorite tools

monkeydog.  Which city?

RE: Favorite tools

Denver area, it doesn't matter which micro-brewery.

RE: Favorite tools

combo palm-cell phone with spreadsheet program

RE: Favorite tools

My big coffee mug.

The pictures of my wife and boys...it is why I bother showing up for work each day to begin with...and it is what keeps me going most days knowing that I get to go home and see them.

The mini fridge behind my desk.

The radio.

All the junk on the computer.

Brian
Pressure Vessels and Autoclave Systems
www.mcabeeconstruction.com

The above comments/opinions are solely my own and not those of McAbee Construction.

RE: Favorite tools

Why does everyone use a 0.7mm mech pencil and not 0.5mm?

RE: Favorite tools

DanDel,

They are getting old and can't see very well any more! ;)

Should I use a bigger font for you old timers?

Brian
Pressure Vessels and Autoclave Systems
www.mcabeeconstruction.com

The above comments/opinions are solely my own and not those of McAbee Construction.

RE: Favorite tools

thought it was because they were afraid of poking themselves

TTFN



RE: Favorite tools

0.5mm served me well in college, but many moons later, I found myself keep breaking the leads with a 0.5mm.  Thicker 0.7mm is more than two and a half times stronger.

waskillywabbit quoted the other reason.

RE: Favorite tools

Silly 'wabbit.

RE: Favorite tools

Hmmm....

10x lense
70x B&L Stereo Scope
Calipers
Mics
Uni-ball Vision Elite Pen (I pretty much quit using pencils after university)
Sharpies
Machinists Scale
Machinery's Hdbk (21st ed. stolen from my boss)
HP-48GX
Computer.....

Least Used:
hmmm.. dont really have anything that I've not used in a while...

RE: Favorite tools

(OP)


What are the differences in lead width for mechanical pencils?
 
0.3mm ­ extra fine line, ideal for writing in small spaces. Used primarily for drafting and engineering
0.5mm ­ produces a fine line and is the most popular lead size. Ideal for accounting and general writing
0.7mm ­ writes a medium line and is well suited for heavy-handed writers. It’s ideal for sketching, shading and general writing
0.9mm ­ sets down a thick line. This lead is thicker and less prone to breakage and is perfect for first time automatic pencil users.
 
from: http://www.liquidpaper.com/sanford/consumer/papermate/jhtml/faq/faqpencil.jhtml

Do we buck the trend, or is this company's information inaccurate!?!

IMHO, Work done with .3 makes the paper look like a punchcard after all the breaks, you reload .5 lead by the truckful to finish your papers, and .9 is like writing with a tree trunk, similar to brain surgery with a machete.

.7 is about the best size for writing, it doesn't break every three seconds, you can bevel the tip and keep it, and you can manipulate pressures to get differing lineweights.

\most attention paid to pencils since Faber, apologies...


RE: Favorite tools

I use 0.3 and 0.5mm.

I give my kid 0.7mm.

TTFN



RE: Favorite tools

I always use 0.7, 0.5 breaks too much and is too light.

Chris
Sr. Mechanical Designer, CAD
SolidWorks 05 SP3.1 / PDMWorks 05
ctopher's home site (updated 06-21-05)
FAQ559-1100
FAQ559-716

RE: Favorite tools

But... that's the whole point

a demonstration of restraint and finesse

TTFN



RE: Favorite tools

I prefer the 0.5mm; the 0.7 makes my awful writing look even worse. 0.9mm is like writing with a crayon.

Guess I'm just one of the average Joe's liking 0.5mm.

----------------------------------

If we learn from our mistakes,
I'm getting a great education!

RE: Favorite tools

Most of above + a pack of Aspartame which I use during my numerous tea-breaks. Not that I am a diabetic but just scared of physical exercise that I might have to do if I consume all that sugar.

Gluesticks, staplers, punches etc. to handle a few papers I dispatch to their destiny. And a whitener to cover any telltale signs of my stupidity.

Ciao.

RE: Favorite tools

This is way TMI on mechanical pencils and you guys sound like nerds/geeks! Oops, I didn't use a bigger font for all of you who need the 0.7mm line size to see w/o your bi-focals! ;p

I prefer pencils that you can sharpen w/ a pocket knife if need be (I've chewed a couple sharp too), put behind your ear w/o needing an ear the size of Dumbo to hold it up there, still use when they get about 2" long from over-use/mis-use, chew on when the anal retentiveness kicks in from time to time, and not worry about losing.

Brian
Pressure Vessels and Autoclave Systems
www.mcabeeconstruction.com

The above comments/opinions are solely my own and not those of McAbee Construction.

RE: Favorite tools

Any tool that is electronic...the HP xw 8000 with dual 3.2 Ghz processors and 3 Gb of ram...no more pencils, erasers (not that I had to use one of
those anyway ).

The online catalogues that used to litter my desk in hard form.

All my old tools are at home in a box in the basement including my 21st edition Machinery's Handbook. I access the 26th edition at the following site:

http://knovel.com/knovel2/Toc.jsp?BookID=309

RE: Favorite tools

  Computer with SolidWorks and a web browser.

  Coffee cup.

  ASME Y14.5M-1994.

  Machinery's Handbook 26th Edition.  I retired my 19th edition a few years ago.  

  USB stick.

  Fountain pen.  My printing has deteriorated since I left the drafting board.

  0.5mm mechanical pencil.  I have a 0.3mm which I used a lot on a drafting board along with a couple of 2mm lead holders.  0.5mm pencils are reliable if you have a sliding lead support.  I have never had a 0.7mm.

                               JHG

RE: Favorite tools

25' Tape measure
Volume Calculator by Lightnin Mixers
TI-85
Crane TP-410
Elementary Principles of Chemical Processes (1st Ed.) by Felder and Rousseau - I was taught by Felder when it was in manuscript form!
Process Heat Transfer by Kern
Liquid Agitation and Advanced Liquid Agitation - Brochures from Chemineer
Webster's Dictionary
Perry's Chemical Engineers' Handbook (5th Ed.)
0.7 mm mechanical pencil
Two drawing templates for vessels, pumps, valves and P&ID symbols

Good luck,
Latexman

RE: Favorite tools

I forgot how to use a mechanical pencil-----


I use all those free pens that reps give away. I keep all the useless copies that people send to me and use the back side for scratch paper. Don't need no stinkin notepad. Wow, I must be saving the company a lot of money.

RE: Favorite tools

I agree w/rhodie on the mechanical pencils.
It's also strange that when we all post mechanical pencils that we feel it necessary to include the lead size!

RE: Favorite tools

We are enginerds, I guess.

Anyone still using number 2 pencils?

RE: Favorite tools

I got tired of losing my mechanical pencils, so I pretty much use only no. 2 wooden pencils.

RE: Favorite tools

I have not used a wooden #2 pencil since I graduated college.  Even for the PE exam they gave me a mechanical pencil to use. (0.5mm though, unfortunately)

RE: Favorite tools

Computer
   Excel
   CAD, Solidworks if I can, ACAD if I have to
.5mm Mech Pencil
Clipboard w/Pad
TI-81
Cell Phone
Memory of the People building and using equipment on the floor

Alan M. Etzkorn  
Project Develpment Engineer
Wabash National Corp.
www.wabashnational.com

RE: Favorite tools

Pocket Protector, filled.
HP-48S

RE: Favorite tools

Computer with:
Excel, Word and Powerpoint, Serif Drawplus and Pageplus
Various fuel blend calculators.
Printer.

Mousemat/coaster - I work from home and my wife and I have a Null A (Non Aristoltelian) world view: to me it's a mouse mat; to her it's somewhere to put my coffee so we have the same one sided converstaion each day... "Don't put the coffee there, its not a coaster." and only solved this by getting a wireless optical mouse which is, on the evidence so far, coffee proof.

Ah yes, coffee, free pens, penknives and all the other clutter you go to exhibitions to collect.
Glasses, a mess of wiring with more cables in the drawer for camera downloads, enough different chargers etc for read write CD roms, phones, mouse (the downside of wireless) modem, router etc etc.
A Rotring pen and pencil set though I think the ink has fossilised by now.
A turbine meter rotor, a perspex PD meter, a model of a new water meter design, a stainless steel "float" from a VA meter.
Chemical Engineers Handbook, Fuel handbook, a stack of trade magazines I read and keep but don't seem to read again.
Two floating fish knives, an estate agents ruler, a folding boxwood carpenters ruler.
In short an unsegregated mix of the useful and the useless, the used and unused and some very occassional peace and quite to think in.

JMW
www.ViscoAnalyser.com

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