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I was looking through harbor Freight a minute ago for something specific, but it made me think to list a few very useful items they sell cheap.
Hooks and picks are useful for popping fuses from clips, popping ICs from sockets, fishing TO3s from sockets, tightening tube socket pins, pulling cotters, etc. The small end hooks are good for spring pulling, like fishing the end of a reverb corner spring back into the hole. There are more than these two, and certainly other places sell them, hardware stores, auto parts stores, etc.
4 Piece Pick and Hook Set
2 Piece O-Ring Hook Scribe Set
Outlet tester, everyone should have one, especially on the road
Electric Receptacle Tester
Caliper, though I tend to call it a micrometer, a little plastic measuring thingie. I use it all the time. is that a 24mm or 16mm pot? Whhat size is that tactile switch? What is the travel length of that slider? What is the length and height of that can cap? And so on. Hey, for $3, you can't lose.
6" Utility Caliper
A couple good mallets. I like to use my fist to whack the top of an amp, but that hurts if I try to whack say the end of a Fender chassis, so a good rubber mallet and a soft face mallet are great. Soft face is plastic. I use the larger rubber one - unless the other one is closer - for banging on cabs to find loosenesses, or to pop PV Velcro grilles back on firmly. I am more likely to use the plastic one on chassis ends and such. They come in several shapes and sizes.
1-1/2 lb. Soft Face Mallet
1-1/2 lb. Rubber Mallet
A hand rivet tool. I use it more than you might think. here is the entry level one
Hand Riveter Set
Tweezers. Oh geez, good for fishing a nut out from under something, and sometimes holding a nut in a small space to get a screw started in it. I bought one of those self closing ones, the fourth one over in the link, over 50 years ago, and it stil serves me. Hold a wire in place to solder, or hold a component steady.
6 Pc Fine Point Tweezer Set
Xacto knife. Endless uses. Slicing heat shrink off something, slicing silicone away, opening plastic wrapped packages, splitting box tape, trimming loose tolex ends
13 Piece Precision Knife Set
Pin punches. I use them more for alignments than actual pin punching. They are made for driving roll pins out of their holes. That is why they come in sizes. Sometimes you have to push the pin out the other side, and the punch needs to reach all the way through the hole. But I get more use aligning holes. Drop a heavy 15" speaker into the baffle opening, then the punch through the mount hole allows you to move the thing around some more easily than by hand. Or getting a chassis holes to line up with the cab top holes, poke a pin punch down through the cab top and into the chassis hole and you can keep the thing in place while starting the other screws.
5 Piece Long Drive Pin Punch Set
If you don't know what a roll pin is:
120 Piece Roll Pin Storehouse
That's enough stuff for now. Obviously you also need a good selection of screwdrivers,wrenches, pliers, and what not.
Hooks and picks are useful for popping fuses from clips, popping ICs from sockets, fishing TO3s from sockets, tightening tube socket pins, pulling cotters, etc. The small end hooks are good for spring pulling, like fishing the end of a reverb corner spring back into the hole. There are more than these two, and certainly other places sell them, hardware stores, auto parts stores, etc.
4 Piece Pick and Hook Set
2 Piece O-Ring Hook Scribe Set
Outlet tester, everyone should have one, especially on the road
Electric Receptacle Tester
Caliper, though I tend to call it a micrometer, a little plastic measuring thingie. I use it all the time. is that a 24mm or 16mm pot? Whhat size is that tactile switch? What is the travel length of that slider? What is the length and height of that can cap? And so on. Hey, for $3, you can't lose.
6" Utility Caliper
A couple good mallets. I like to use my fist to whack the top of an amp, but that hurts if I try to whack say the end of a Fender chassis, so a good rubber mallet and a soft face mallet are great. Soft face is plastic. I use the larger rubber one - unless the other one is closer - for banging on cabs to find loosenesses, or to pop PV Velcro grilles back on firmly. I am more likely to use the plastic one on chassis ends and such. They come in several shapes and sizes.
1-1/2 lb. Soft Face Mallet
1-1/2 lb. Rubber Mallet
A hand rivet tool. I use it more than you might think. here is the entry level one
Hand Riveter Set
Tweezers. Oh geez, good for fishing a nut out from under something, and sometimes holding a nut in a small space to get a screw started in it. I bought one of those self closing ones, the fourth one over in the link, over 50 years ago, and it stil serves me. Hold a wire in place to solder, or hold a component steady.
6 Pc Fine Point Tweezer Set
Xacto knife. Endless uses. Slicing heat shrink off something, slicing silicone away, opening plastic wrapped packages, splitting box tape, trimming loose tolex ends
13 Piece Precision Knife Set
Pin punches. I use them more for alignments than actual pin punching. They are made for driving roll pins out of their holes. That is why they come in sizes. Sometimes you have to push the pin out the other side, and the punch needs to reach all the way through the hole. But I get more use aligning holes. Drop a heavy 15" speaker into the baffle opening, then the punch through the mount hole allows you to move the thing around some more easily than by hand. Or getting a chassis holes to line up with the cab top holes, poke a pin punch down through the cab top and into the chassis hole and you can keep the thing in place while starting the other screws.
5 Piece Long Drive Pin Punch Set
If you don't know what a roll pin is:
120 Piece Roll Pin Storehouse
That's enough stuff for now. Obviously you also need a good selection of screwdrivers,wrenches, pliers, and what not.
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