Toolbox checklist

VEX V5 General Discussion General Forum
#1

It’s new team time of year for us at the Vexmen and I wanted to get a review of our checklist of must haves in each team’s toolbox. There are club level tools separate from this, but this is for a group of 4-5 roboteers building their robot. These are just core items and not robot specific items like screws, bearing blocks, gears, etc.

  1. Toolbox - we use 18" Keter ones that stack nicely now. bit.ly/1D0l9xo
  2. 2 of the 3/32" allen key T-Handle (good one)
  3. 1 of the 5/64" Allen key T-Handle (good one)
  4. 1 L-shaped 3/32" Allen wrench
  5. 1 L-shaped 5/64" Allen wrench
  6. 1 Vex crescent wrench
  7. 1 11/32" socket driver
  8. Tape measure (optional really)
  9. 1 Cortex
  10. 2 Vexnet keys (switching to new ones now)
  11. 2 Joysticks (at least 1 master)
  12. Programming cable set (new style preferred but use what works for you)
  13. 1 4.5" diagonal cutters (cheap at Harbor Freight)

Batteries are shared resources in our club. Cutting tools and files are also club level tools. We have a central set of screwdrivers and 1.5mm allen keys for motor covers.

Optional tools include pliers, vice grips of various sizes, gripping tools are sometimes useful tools.

Am I missing anything? What else works for other teams?

#2

have a read through this, it might help …

https://vexforum.com/t/essential-tool-kit/22048/1&highlight=essential+tool

#3

Although not completly necessary, it is very nice to have a dremal. Probably one of the most useful tools for the build process, and to have at competition

#4

Something I found really useful last season was a multimeter with a continuity tester. If a wire came loose we would test the wire on the little exposed bit on the connectors and see where the connection was failing. Also, Loctite is beautiful stuff to have around, and you can never go wrong with a bag of zip ties.

Also, at competitions a printout of the top of the field in one of those laminated page protectors and a couple dry erase markers was really useful. Good for planning autonomous with a partner or for explaining to judges what your robot does in auto.

#5

If in doubt, DREMEL IT OFF!!! :smiley:

I would have to saw a hack saw and file is the better bet, but that’s for a different thread.

Don’t forget safety glasses in your toolkit as well. Tweezers are also helpful for those hard to reach pieces and zip ties.

#6

Seems a bit counter-intuitive, if you ask me. Why would you have to saw a hacksaw when the saw is perfectly capable of sawing itself?

#7

Every time I don’t bring soldering tools, I need soldering tools. It never fails.

Bandaids, too. :o

#8

Yeah, I had bought a really cheap soldering iron, realised that I should probably get a decent soldering iron, and just the left the cheap one permanently in our robotics lab. That thing saved us a lot of money in broken wires.

#9

Well first off, lots of zip ties. And also Bandaids, (Not all metal is created smooth) My team uses, darn it, I don’t know what they’re called but they are like labels except tiny. We use them to mark motors.

#10