Tools for school

Nige said:

I believe that a person is more inclined to care for tools if they have bought them from their own pocket rather than being handed a toolbox by their employer. However - that does not mean that the tools the person buys have to be the most expensive ones on the market, only that they be suitable for the work to be performed.

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One problem I had with the place I worked was that the pay scale for a mechanic was hardly any better than for the guys who's only tool was a hand shovel and that was provided by the company. Company did provide most of the larger wrenches, say any thing over 1 1/2 end wrenches or 3/4 drive socket wrenches.

Although most of the guys doing steady mechanic work, like myself, did have their own tools of that size as trying finding the company owned ones was a waste of time!

Nige said:

I believe that a person is more inclined to care for tools if they have bought them from their own pocket rather than being handed a toolbox by their employer.

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I hope to never work in a shop that pervides tools agin. The place i am at now has some tools. It was ok when it was me and 2 other guys that were like minded it worked so so but now with me and 1 or 2 diffrent guys its a nightmare .I have some stuff i carry in my pickup so if i am work outside the shop i have what i need. Alot of places that have tools for there workers dont pay what it takes to get workers that have tools.

A buddy of mine from high school went the snap-on route. $5000 in tools, 2 years schooling, 2 more years at his first auto repair shop barely making minimum wage, then BAM!, F this place, I don't want to be a mechanic anymore.

He walked with the tools and their debt and changed professions completely.

My cousin did a similar thing and ended up selling his tools to pay the debt off and left wrenching altogether.

An older friend of mine has had a monthly Snap-On tool bill for over 30 years. Ever since he took out his first loan at 18 when he went to diesel tech school. I can't understand that, but Snap-on has one hell of a cult like following and they know how to hook them young

I went to auto mechanics tec half a day my last 2 years of high school out of the 60 or so guys that also went i know 2 guys that became and are still working as mechanics.

Years before i ever went to votec a older guy told me there are 2 typs of guys that go one will not learn anything and never be a mechanic the other will already be on his way to being a good mechanic and will not learn any thing he dosent already know.

Old Doug said:

Years before i ever went to votec a older guy told me there are 2 typs of guys that go one will not learn anything and never be a mechanic the other will already be on his way to being a good mechanic and will not learn any thing he dosent already know.

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Thing is as I know I have mentioned a few times there is a certain group of people in schools that use the VoTec schools as a place to "dump" the kids that are causing trouble in the "regular" classes! I was just in the wrong group, did not cause trouble in the regular classes and got fair if not good grades and was refused access to VoTec because I was "college material".

That was fifty years ago and just a few years ago my brother who was a vice principle at a VoTec school said nothing has changed in all those years!

Jonas302 said:

The truth is we should rise up and outlaw mechanics having to buy tools to come to work
Many a young person has gone deep into dept that way I really truly don't believe that snap on makes all the best tools some are great but by all means not all of them
When I started school I made a toolbox from recycled plywood and kitchen drawer slides that got me though school and three years at work until I bought a used toolbox It was always full of very useful tools that everybody always wanted to use

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Nige said:

I believe that a person is more inclined to care for tools if they have bought them from their own pocket rather than being handed a toolbox by their employer. However - that does not mean that the tools the person buys have to be the most expensive ones on the market, only that they be suitable for the work to be performed.

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I think a good way to go would be for the employer to provide a good tool allowance per year (some do) and for employers to only require personal hand tools, air tools, basic electrical, basic testing etc. the stuff one uses every day to be supplied by the mechanic. I think the employer should provide the heavy and specialized stuff- 1” impact wrenches and sockets, pullers, specialty tooling for engines or machines, etc

Theoretically we have a well stocked tool crib. In practice it’s missing a lot, disorganized, no attendant to check tools out and in and keep it organized, stuff gets put back broken, etc. That’s no good either.

I only worked for one place that had a tool allowance. It was $1000 a year. The place didn’t pay much but they had some decent perks. The last dealer I worked for had a tool crib and supplied a lot of the specialty tools- if you could find them. No one kept track of who had what and stuff got put away dirty and greasy. Admittedly us field guys had a habit of hoarding some stuff and denying we had it just so we stood a chance of have no what we needed.

JD955SC said:

I think a good way to go would be for the employer to provide a good tool allowance per year (some do) and for employers to only require personal hand tools, air tools, basic electrical, basic testing etc. the stuff one uses every day to be supplied by the mechanic. I think the employer should provide the heavy and specialized stuff- 1” impact wrenches and sockets, pullers, specialty tooling for engines or machines, etc

Theoretically we have a well stocked tool crib. In practice it’s missing a lot, disorganized, no attendant to check tools out and in and keep it organized, stuff gets put back broken, etc. That’s no good either.

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Sorry, should have mentioned the tool allowance. Any good employer will pay it (and well - $1000 or more per year) if they want mechanics to have their own tools and kep them in good working order.
Regarding the tool crib, it won't work without an attendant. The best system I ever saw had each mechanic issued a number of ID discs (we called them coins or tallies) that were left in the space the tool was taken from when it was issued out. So not only was it obvious the tool was already issued out, all one had to do was look at the coin to know who had it.

Nige said:

The best system I ever saw had each mechanic issued a number of ID discs (we called them coins or tallies) that were left in the space the tool was taken from when it was issued out. So not only was it obvious the tool was already issued out, all one had to do was look at the coin to know who had it.

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The tool allowance was something I wish we had at the quarry!

The one guy I worked with for several years went to a State College that had a heavy equipment mechanics course and he told me that tally system was what they used in the shop area. The instructor would check over the tool boards at the end of every class and no one could leave till every tool was back in place!

Norm was the best mechanic I worked with over the years with one slight exception, wiring, Oh! he knew his stuff but he was a bit color blind worst were the green and brown wires! At least with the Cat wiring the numbers stamped on them help a lot!

Nige said:

Sorry, should have mentioned the tool allowance. Any good employer will pay it (and well - $1000 or more per year) if they want mechanics to have their own tools and kep them in good working order.
Regarding the tool crib, it won't work without an attendant. The best system I ever saw had each mechanic issued a number of ID discs (we called them coins or tallies) that were left in the space the tool was taken from when it was issued out. So not only was it obvious the tool was already issued out, all one had to do was look at the coin to know who had it.

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I really wish we had an attendant. The money paid him would more than be made up from no lost time searching for tools or repairing broken tools plus he could keep consumables stocked up

In my shop we had the BOSCH TOOL BOARDS.. A perfect outline of the tool w/ a place for it..
I wish I had a dollar for every time I had to stand infront of the room & yell.. "Who's got the fk'n ...."???
It totally depends on the individual.. weather or not he's gonna return a tool when finished w/ it..
There was this 1 guy who NEVER & I mean NEVER returned a tool to the tool boards..
I started throwing his wrenches in the trash can, EVERY TIME I had to go get a tool off his work bench..
Lets just say, he spent a lot of time on the tool truck..
& nothing has changed.. I went by there aweek ago.. ALL the Bosch tools were PILED UP on his work bench & the tool boards were empty.!!!

A friend of mine who owns a heavy truck garage pays his guys a dollar an hour up to 40 hours a week took allowance. That’s a possible $2000 a year allowance, pretty good actually.

Our company used to pay 50% to replace lost tools and 100% for broken tools if they were turned in. You had to go after warranty from dealer first. Sometimes you could talk the tool crib guy into letting you keep a broken tool if it was of some use like cutting off a broken box end to be left with a short open end or 1 good end on a pry bar. Replacements were usually ordered thru the company so 50% of wholesale a nice perk. It was a good deal for us on field service as it was pretty easy to leave something behind when you're working with a machine operator and 2 riggin rats and they're all into your tool box all night, then you're running for the plane out in the morning. Customer also gets a little upset if you spend much time looking for a lost tool on their dime. Much better to bury on the invoice under shop supplies or some other obscure heading. Regards d.d.

We never got reimbursed for lost tools but if we had to cut one up to make a tool they would buy you a new one and you got to keep the modified tool. Always tried to keep some off brand tools to modify.