By David Schober, A&P, IA

As mechanics, we all use tools. Those tools include our brains for troubleshooting and calculating, literature to reference procedures and specifications, software and computers to supplement the literature, and finally various pieces of hardware that are shaped to provide leverage or holding power to various fasteners, cut things, hammer things, align things, and the list goes on.

I’ve never heard anyone that works with his hands say he doesn’t need any more tools. There is always that bolt, nut, screw, or plug that you need a special tool to reach. There is always that new electronic gizmo that will make your life easier. When all is said and done, that is exactly what tools do for us. They make our lives easier.

When it comes to tools, get a couple mechanics together and there will be discussions of the virtues of one brand over another. If truth be told, no one manufacturer makes a tool to satisfy every application.

If you work at a shop that has a mobile tool salesperson stop by, you will most likely fill your box with tools from that vendor (and have his logo on your box as well). If you work somewhere that doesn’t have a tool vendor readily available, you will most likely have tools that come from a big box store or a department store. It doesn’t matter where you buy your tools! The objective is to purchase tools that help you do your job more efficiently and not damage your customer’s product.

Most of the tools reviewed here aren’t available through the normal retail sales outlet and will require purchasing online or making a call to the manufactuer’s customer service center. Just because it isn’t right around the corner, doesn’t mean it isn’t available.

Shop owners should encourage their employees to have the tools that will make their job easier and more efficient. If a tool fits poorly, causes damage to the customer’s property, or causes excessive stress to the employee due to poor ergonomics, the shop won’t be able to charge for the full labor used to complete the job. Many shops provide the more expensive specialized tools. This eliminates the need for the individual to have huge cash outlays for a very few tools. Tool control can be an issue and one product in this review focuses on that concern.

For those of you that are new to the trade, a good rule of thumb to live by is, if you need to borrow a tool today, have one of your own on order by tomorrow.

Many times tools will need to be modified to complete a task. My box has dozens of wrenches and sockets with grind marks or bends to meet a particular need. When I taught at an A&P school, I often told my students to buy a set of good tools for everyday use, then buy another set of flea market tools. Use the flea market tools to grind, weld, and bend. I’ve changed my mind on that since I’ve had quality and fit problems with some flea market tools. Now I use my good tools to modify, and simply buy a replacement. The time saved more than justifies the cost. Each of us has likes and dislikes when it comes to hand tools. I hate those highly polished end wrenches. Anyone that has ever had to work on an engine in the rain will quickly find that the polished wrenches will become unmanageable when coated with oil and water! Ratchets with a symmetrical handle usually don’t get high marks from me. When working inside an inspection hole with room for only one hand, an asymmetrical handle will give you at least a 50/50 shot at the direction of your socket.

Several vendors furnished tools to be reviewed for this article. Some are very specialized, and others have a broad market with many applications.

Sacramento Skyranch

Over the past 10 to 20 years computers have made their way from the office to the shop floor. There is a large number of software products available to the mechanic. Most are value added applications for Airworthiness Directives and regulations. One that I find particularly useful is the Mechanics Toolbox from Sacramento Skyranch. This simple application provides a wide range of reference data that is otherwise very difficult to find. A very nice add-on to this package is a mechanics logbook feature that can be used to document your maintenance activities, thereby satisfying the requirements of FAR 65.83 or 145.163. Further details of this application can be found at www.sacskyranch.com.

Black and Decker

Black and Decker is a global manufacturer of power tools and hardware. Their brands include Black and Decker, DeWalt, Porter Cable and many others. They supplied a DeWalt DC720KA 18-volt cordless drill for this review. Anyone that has done inspections on airplanes will appreciate the use of a cordless drill to open and close the multiple inspection panels. This particular drill comes in a kit with a charger, two NiCad batteries, and a plastic case. This is a compact drill with lots of power. It comes with a ½-inch keyless drill chuck, has 17 clutch settings for torque, and an LED work light that illuminates the business end while working. DeWalt’s new Lithium Nano Technology batteries can be used with this drill. This technology allows a comparable battery to be almost one pound lighter with more than double the number of recharges available. While a little heavier than the 9.6-volt drill I’ve been using for years, I was pleasantly surprised with the balance of this unit. It is actually a little more compact than my older drill and will fit into tighter spaces. With the Lithium battery, it would be about the same weight as the 9.6-volt unit and have a lot more power and a ½-inch drill chuck to boot. This unit has a max RPM of 1700 which is somewhat faster than other drills in this category. Other DeWalt Products can be viewed at www.dewalt.com.

Snap-on Tools

Snap-on provided a set of tools designed to remove sealers and gaskets. The product is called Nyroc and is available in a hand kit with an ergonomic rubber handle and an assortment of blades, and pneumatic kits with a driver and sharpening set up. Nyroc is a patented material that is hard enough to clean PRC and other sealants, yet will not damage the underlying surface of aluminum. The blades come in various widths and some have cutouts so removing the sealer along a rivet row or bulkhead can be accomplished. Anyone that has ever had to remove the sealer in a fuel tank will appreciate the ease of use for these blades. The hand kit allows access to tight areas and the pneumatic kit is great for larger areas. The pneumatic kit even comes with an anti-static air hose to prevent spark hazards in fuel bays. If you work on any aircraft that has sealant on fuel tanks or pressure vessels, you need to get a set of these.

Snap-on also provided samples of their "Dual 80 Technology" ratchets. These ratchets provide 80 tooth ratcheting offering 4.5 degrees of throw allowing use in tighter quarters. They are available in 3/8-inch with standard handles and comfort handles as well as swivel heads. The ¼-inch drive versions have 72 teeth offering a 5 degree throw.

Full details are available at http://buy1.snapon.com/catalog/tools.asp?tool=all&Group_ID=20030&store=snapon-store.

PB Swiss

PB Swiss tools offers a line of hand tools that include screwdrivers, Allen, and Torx wrenches, striking tools, special tools to include reamers and scribers, and finally precision bits. A few of the offerings from PB Swiss that are real winners are their rainbow colored Allen wrenches. I can’t count the number of times I’ve been digging in my box looking for that one Allen wrench. This kit has a different color for each size. Unfortunately they are only available in metric. Another nice tool is their flat chisel. This is a flat steel bar with a cutting surface ground on the edge and along one flank. They also provided several sets of pin punches and center punches. All are very well made and easy to handle.

The final product supplied by PB Swiss deserves special mention, their DigiTorque and MultiTorque handles. These are adjustable torque handles that allow the use of various drive bits. I think we all realize the importance of proper torque when it comes to larger fasteners, but what many mechanics don’t realize is that even small fasteners should be properly torqued. Having a tool like this at your disposal would greatly enhance the level of precision used when tightening screws and other small fasteners. This is especially true of new mechanics. I’d hate to count the number of screws and small bolts that have been destroyed by over torquing from inexperienced mechanics. The full line of PB Swiss tools can be viewed at Count On Tools, www.cotinc.com.

Danaher Tool Group

Danaher Tool Group includes brands like Matco, Allen, K-D Tools and GearWrench. For this review, they provided several GearWrench products. First up is the 9-piece spline combination wrench set. Like all GearWrench ratcheting end wrenches, this set combines open end wrenches with a fine tooth five degree ratcheting box end. The primary difference is the spline broached box. The spline allows this wrench to be used with hex and 12-point fasteners, spline fasteners, square fasteners, and E-Torx. Since the force isn’t applied on the point of the fastener, there is a lower possibility of rounding the fastener, and it can be used with hex fasteners that have been rounded about 50 percent.

Next up from GearWrench is the two-piece Roto-Ratchet set. This consists of a ¼ and 3/8-inch drive with a five degree ratchet where the heads are mounted in a fork, allowing the head to rotate 360 degrees. These units have cushion handles and are very comfortable to use. These ratchets will be great for getting into spaces that require the head to flex about the axis of the drive, unlike other flex head ratchets where the flex joint is displaced down the handle from the head. While a little wider than a typical ratchet, the flex head will be a blessing in certain situations.

The final selection from GearWrench is the nine-piece magnetic drive tool set. This set consists of a set of extensions, swivels and adapters for ¼, 3/8, and ½-inch drive sockets. The magnetic tips will help eliminate the loss of hardware while trying to install fasteners in locations that are difficult to get to.

The full catalog of offerings from GearWrench is available at their web site, www.GearWrench.com.

Stahlwille Tools

Stahlwille Tools is a German-based manufacturer. They have a wide assortment of hand tools, torque wrenches, socket wrenches, and tool control systems. While they aren’t as well known as many of the other tool brands, the quality of these tools is top notch. If I were starting a tool collection today, I think the Stahlwille brand would fill most of the spots in the box. They aren’t cheap, but like so many other things in life, you get what you pay for.

I’ll start with a review of their torque wrenches. The design of their wrenches is superb. While it isn’t recommended, you can drop one, or even throw it across the hangar floor and it will stay in calibration. The torque side of the wrench is for tightening, but if you use it to loosen a nut, that’s OK. In fact, the wrench was designed to be used as a breaker bar for loosening fasteners. These things are almost indestructible, and there isn’t even a need to reset it to its lowest torque setting when finished. The torque wrenches are available in a variety of head designs, including interchangeable heads. They even have a head that you can weld your own adapter to for those special jobs.

As if the torque wrenches weren’t enough, they have end wrenches and socket sets. For the end wrenches, they are designed with what they refer to as a "double T" profile on the handle. This is more like what we would think of as an I beam. The result is that each wrench is significantly lighter than the same size wrench from one of their competitors. When I picked up one of the larger wrenches (a 7/8 combination) it had about the mass of the 9/16 combination in my box, yet the shape of the handle was comfortable and easy to maneuver. Even though they are lighter, they didn’t skimp on strength. The handle cross section and head designs are actually stronger than some of their competitors.

The socket sets that Stahlwille offers utilize a quick release system not only on the ratchets, but on the extensions and swivels. This feature is designed to prevent FOD. The profile of the broached sockets allows for contact on the lands and not the points of the fasteners and they have a very thin wall. More importantly, the broach goes deeper into the socket than many of the competitors.

For tool control, Stahlwille offers custom made foam liners for toolbox drawers. These liners are faced with a black foam and then the interior is yellow. You design the layout that you want for your tools and send it to them, they will rout out the foam on a CNC router to match your design. Each tool will nestle into its own 3D pocket, and if it is missing, the Yellow color of the foam will indicate that the tool is missing.

Now for the best part. Two of the tools that are marketed by Stahlwille are jaw droppers.

The first is their FastRatch wrenches. These are laser-cut tools that are spring loaded closed. You spread the wrench around a fitting, allow it to close and work it back and forth to ratchet. Each wrench can be used for metric and SAE of the appropriate size. Words don’t do this justice, but just imagine those B nuts at wing junctions in close quarters under the cowl. Having a flare nut wrench that ratchets (even if it is only one flat or 60 degrees) will be a real time saver.

The second, actually marketed by Stahlwille NA is a Zero Throw Ratchet. This is available in ¼, 3/8, and ½-inch sizes. When you look at these, they look like any other ratchet you might pick up, but when you use it there is a big surprise! There are no teeth. Any movement of the handle in the engaged direction will result in movement of the drive, and when moved in the opposite direction, it slides on a clutch. The result is that the ratchet will work in very small spaces where even a 72-tooth ratchet won’t. You don’t get something for nothing, the ratchet reverses by pushing the drive square from one side to the other. This could result in getting the ratchet stuck up against a bulkhead and not being able to release it. This is by far the slickest new tool to come on the market in years.

Air-O-Mil also caries the Zeroshift Intelegent Tool Control system. This is a computer-based system that senses the presence of a tool in the box. When a tool is needed, the employee scans his ID and takes the tool. The system registers who and when the tool was taken, and when it is returned, will register that as well. It can be set up with selective drawer access, and provide real time notification of missing tools. For the larger shop that provides tools for the employees, this system will provide the control needed to be sure you aren’t faced with FOD problems and the expense of replacing lost or misplaced tools.

Stahlwille Tools are available from www.stahlwille.com, or www.air-o-mil.com.

Any tool that helps you become more efficient is valuable. The value can be calculated by the amount of time saved multiplied by your shop rate. While many of these tools may seem expensive, the cost can be justified with just a few uses. Operating more efficiently will make your boss happy and make your customers happy. It will also provide you with increased job satisfaction and possibly reduce some of the strain caused by the physical exertion required by our jobs. Keep in mind that the tools you use in the course of business are tax deductable, so keep records and don’t forget at tax time.

While I’ve only given some highlight of the offerings of these vendors, each has a full line of tools and there may be something they have that is indispensable to you. I’ve often found when faced with a task that I couldn’t solve with what was in my box, a little research would find just the right tool to accomplish the task. Remember, he who dies with the biggest tool box wins!