Essential Tools

[Rapidset]

Evening  All,

I have hopefully got a start with a local kitchen fitter as a semi skilled improver but I need to supply my own tools, can anyone recommend essential tools and their prefered manufacturer, ie router etc


Cheers

[PREM]

Hopefully the fitter you will be with will have a set of good tools and will point you in the right direction.  There are some out there still fitting the old way, ( without a rail saw)

What sort of budget do you have?

Have you got to have your own tools straight away?

Worktop jig:   axminster duel hole  10mm and 23mm inset.

Router:  Frued if on a buget,  Then Makita,  Then the king Festool.

Jigsaw: as above , Bosch do make good jigsaws.

Rail saw:  Festool, makita, mafell.  the Dewalt one is a poor copy, i have one that i bought in a job lot,  had a play with it for 10 mins 2 years ago.  Its still in the garage somewhere.

good luck, let us know how you are getting on

[big-all]

personally think the best place to start is with the man whose training you hands on on site

in a workshop in a clinical setting and in a pressurized situation tool react differently or more accurately some tools are easy to use in anger others arnt

[Rapidset]

Hopefully the fitter you will be with will have a set of good tools and will point you in the right direction.  There are some out there still fitting the old way, ( without a rail saw)

What sort of budget do you have?

Have you got to have your own tools straight away?

Worktop jig:   axminster duel hole  10mm and 23mm inset.

Router:  Frued if on a buget,  Then Makita,  Then the king Festool.

Jigsaw: as above , Bosch do make good jigsaws.

Rail saw:  Festool, makita, mafell.  the Dewalt one is a poor copy, i have one that i bought in a job lot,  had a play with it for 10 mins 2 years ago.  Its still in the garage somewhere.

good luck, let us know how you are getting on

Hi

Yes the guys has every tool under the sun but I don't expect him to let me learn with all of his tools and thought it would be decent to get some of my own probably not all of them straight away, I am meeting up with him next week so we can over things in more detail. Makita is definitely within my budget so I will check out some of your suggestions.

Initially I think I will be taking 2 weeks away from my current job and do a couple of kitchens with the guy we can see if we get on and work together ok and  agree on money and if all is good I can look at purchacing some kit, if he is happy to let me use his kit to start with great !

Cheers 

[andy5405]

I wouldn't necessarily want someone else on site with a full toolkit, there isn't enough space. I would suggest you start with good quality hand tools and basic drills.

Then
SDS drill
Jigsaw
Multimaster
Rail Saw
Router

followed by the plethora of gizmos and gadgets we have all collected over the years to make the job easier.

Top gizmo to start off IMHO would be Win Bags.

[Alex Morley]

I'm not so sure I agree. Let's be honest if you have an improver on site with a kitchen are you really going to let him fit the Worktops.....prob not. Though the brand suggestions are pretty good, (not a fan of the makita track saw, cheap and nasty, and personally I prefer the  Unika jig which is the same, I just don't like the word Axminster because I'm a snob) ANNNNAAAAYWAY, I digress, 

Don't bother with the Jig at the moment, he won't have you do the joints, track saw...again panels are silly money, though he might let you cut them, I doubt it, and even if he did there is no sense in having 2 on the same job, as Andy says, not enough space. 


If it was me, to get you going I would prob get

Either the makita 10.8v drills (they come as 2) for about £130 however, if you can afford it festool cxs 2.6 is the better alternative £200

A decent hand saw. £10

Cordless skill saw are amazingly usefull, (we don't use them much because a track saw is better) but they are cheap ££(depends on what batteries you have)

Descent levels 1200, 400 good start £50-60

And if you have spare cash a multi tool. £100

SDS also a good,  Go as cheap or as flash as you like. 

Fairly low cost tools that you don't need to be amazing at using.

[andy5405]

What about some Blum jigs Alex? Word on the street is that you have been getting quite excited about them lately.

[Rapidset]

I'm not so sure I agree. Let's be honest if you have an improver on site with a kitchen are you really going to let him fit the Worktops.....prob not. Though the brand suggestions are pretty good, (not a fan of the makita track saw, cheap and nasty, and personally I prefer the  Unika jig which is the same, I just don't like the word Axminster because I'm a snob) ANNNNAAAAYWAY, I digress, 

Don't bother with the Jig at the moment, he won't have you do the joints, track saw...again panels are silly money, though he might let you cut them, I doubt it, and even if he did there is no sense in having 2 on the same job, as Andy says, not enough space. 


If it was me, to get you going I would prob get

Either the makita 10.8v drills (they come as 2) for about £130 however, if you can afford it festool cxs 2.6 is the better alternative £200

A decent hand saw. £10

Cordless skill saw are amazingly usefull, (we don't use them much because a track saw is better) but they are cheap ££(depends on what batteries you have)

Descent levels 1200, 400 good start £50-60

And if you have spare cash a multi tool. £100

SDS also a good,  Go as cheap or as flash as you like. 

Fairly low cost tools that you don't need to be amazing at using.

Hi Alex

Thanks for your suggestions,  I have levels ,cordless and impact driver,sds,electric plane and circular saw all a few yrs old now but still working ok although my cordless is due for replacement. Dewalt1/4 router and a Hitachi 12 MV 1/2 router, I know it's not the best router but hopefully it will see me right for a bit longer. I also have various other small hand tools.

What would be your choice for a rail cutter ? As I had my eye on a Makita.

Cheers

[Fitter Steve]

I've had a couple of makita rail saws and they are not cheap rubbish.  Just as good as the festool imo.  OK with the festool you can save about a second adjusting the depth of the blade but that's about it. The finished cut is exactly the same as is the rail.  
   Sounds like u have a lot of the basic tools. Id suggest set square and a few pencils and ur good to go. Well at least for ur 2 week  trial.