Essential Tools that you will need for creating electronics projects

Hi there, just recently released video about what essential electronics components you should have lying around when it comes to creating electronics projects. But all of those components are pretty much worthless if you do not have the right tools to work with them by for example soldering or securing them in place. That is why today want to present you my choice of the essential tools that you will need for creating electronics projects. And know that already did video like this but the video am referring to is now almost 6 years old and lot of things changed for me since then. The way this video will play out is that will be presenting you all of my tools from all my drawers, workbenches and shelves and while doing so will focus on the ones that am using the most With that being said let’s not waste any more time and let’s get started! This video is sponsored by JLCPCB, who produce high quality PCBs for very affordable price. used their PCBs in dozens of projects so far and never had any problems with them. So why not try out their service today by uploading your Gerber files and receiving your ordered PCBs sometimes even within week. Firstly let’s have look at what tools have on my main workbench and what tools hang on the wall right in front of it. On the workbench got soldering station, hot air reflow station, 2 oscilloscopes, 4 lab bench power supplies, one variable transformer, two function generators, one bench top multimeter, two microscopes and one SLA 3D printer. Out of those tools think the lab bench power supply is the most important one. have so many of them because each one got different voltage and current limit but can advise that adjustable 30V with an adjustable current limit of 3A will be enough for 95% of all DC projects. And you can get decent lab bench power supply for pretty cheap nowadays. Next you need decent soldering station, preferably one with bunch of tips that you can change so that you are armed for every soldering task, small or big. Now my station is not really the most budget friendly one but if you want versatile soldering iron that can recommend such TS100 portable one which is quite bit cheaper. You can power it with mains power adapter or with LiPo battery which truly appreciate for outdoor projects and obviously it also solders well. Next you will need an oscilloscope for checking different waveforms and frequencies in your circuit but would definitely not recommend the oscilloscope am always using because it is super expensive. Instead would recommend such 1000X series scope from Keysight because they cost lot less and they also come with an integrated function generator which is the next tool that constantly use. Even though mostly create DC circuits it is kind of surprising how often you have to deal with different waveforms and that is why having good function generator is crucial when it comes to creating or working with such circuits. Last but not least think that decent microscope is super important when it comes to dealing with SMD circuits. Both of mine are from Andonstar and can highly recommend them. With that being said let’s move on to the wall where got two handheld multimeters, bunch of screw drivers, tweezers, two hammers, digital caliper, metal ruler and try square. Probably the most important tool from those are my multimeters which you need for measuring voltage, current and other electrical values. Mine are from Gossen Metrawatt and way too expensive for hobbyist maker. But there certainly exist lots of decent budget friendly options. Next would say that having bunch of different screw drivers lying around is super important when working with enclosure or something similar. But for the remaining tools cannot really decide which one is more or less important to have around since they are all kind of important. So to make your life easier you can find list off all my recommended tools with attached picture gallery in the video description. With that being said let’s move on to my first tools cabinet and its first drawer which is simply labeled tools. After removed it we can see its insides which mostly consist of cutters, pliers and wire strippers. Out of those recommend owning decent box cutter, wire cutter, wire stripper and needle nose plier since they are essential tools when it comes to dealing with all kinds of wires and cables. Now the next drawer is labeled drill and like the name implies we can find all kinds of tools associated with drilling inside it. Out of those advise having such small electric drill around since it is way faster to use than screwdrivers. Along with it you will need tons of bits which all got stored in custom 3D printed enclosures that you can find on thingiverse. Besides the small drill you will also need bigger one like this for which would recommend having wood drills bits, metal drill bits and even step drill bits in order to create all kinds of holes for projects. Moving on, the next drawer is called file crimp in which we can, not surprisingly, find all kinds of rasps and crimp related tools and materials. Now first off am not that much into crimp connectors so would say that it is not that important. But what is important on the other hand is having such small rasp set in combination with such bigger rasp set since you will definitely need it for treating wood, metal and even 3D printed enclosures. Ok, the next drawer is labelled Saw LED Strips and its content is once again not surprise. definitely recommend having such small saw and bigger saw lying around for when it comes to cutting materials. Or even better own jigsaw which makes cutting materials super simple. And while we are at the topic of cutting, would also recommend having such small power tool around since it can be very handy when it comes to thick materials. But anyway the next drawer is called wrench and power cables and by looking at the contents we can clearly see that there are more power cables than anything else. And have to admit that use the wrenches in this drawer very rarely. Instead got this big socket wrench box from Würth with big and small socket wrench which pretty much always use. Now the last drawer is called Mixed and have to say that rarely use the tools in this drawer which is why we can move on to my second workbench where got my two Prusa 3D printer which both highly recommend. Especially the Prusa Mini which just got comes with very reasonable price tag and produces high quality 3D prints which is awesome for creating custom electronics housings. On this workbench also got drill press which use pretty often and would recommend. Underneath this workbench we can also find an SMD reflow oven which presented you in previous video of mine and if you are truly into SMD stuff then can also recommend it. Next to this workbench also got another cabinet, but only the first drawer holds one tool which would call essential. And it is the current clamp since it is so easy to use when it comes to measuring current. And that bring me to my last big shelf which is pretty chaotic and dusty but tried gathering all of its tools onto my workbench. would say that that the glue gun is the most important tool of them and feel like do not even have to explain why. Other than that would only recommend decent LCR meter in order to measure Inductance, Capacitance and Resistance as well as whole lot of clamps in order to secure material in place. And those were basically all the tools have lying around in my lab along with recommendations on what to get first. But what do you think? Which important tool did miss? Let me know in the comment section below. As always thanks for watching, don’t forget to like, share, subscribe and hit the notification bell. Stay creative and will see you next time!