Buy These Tools If You're a New Maker (per Adam Savage)

Which tools does Adam Savage recommend for new makers? Does Adam have a favorite EDC knife or folding ruler? What would Adam change about his tattoo? And ... PUPPETS???!!! In this livestream excerpt, Adam answers questions from Tested members Christopher DiNunno Jr, George Farren, DGMA, Austin B and John England, whom we thank for their support!

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Intro bumper by Abe Dieckman

Thanks for watching!

[tested]

With thanks to Tested members Christopher DiNunno Jr, George Farren, DGMA, Austin B and John England, for questions and support!
Disclaimer: Tested may earn an affiliate commission when you buy through the links here.

[Anguisette]

my addition to this list, a vise. it's incredibly useful to be able to securely hold something while working on it

[jublywubly]

1:40 Another YouTuber showed a fantastic use for speed clamps, by using them for mixing the paint in those tiny tins of paint, that are made for model makers.
He grabbed one of the smallest size speed clamps and screwed it into a jigsaw, where the blade normally goes. Then he clamped the paint tin into place and turned on the jigsaw for a few seconds. The paint was mixed!
I was able to re-mix paint that had been sitting there for over a year. I just had to mix it for a longer time. I like to tape the tin in place, just to be sure. Also, it doesn't work for the little glass jars, because they'll just fly out and make a mess.

[michaelholmstrom]

I use forstner bits a lot in my shop, I highly recommend hex shank ones over round shank. Less slip and easier to quickly swap in/out.

[StodaGryph]

One of the greatest (and little-known) things about Quick-Grip clamps is... you can reverse them, and turn them from squeezers to stretchers. SO USEFUL sometimes, and I don't know of anything else that does this.

[MrFvasconcellos]

In case anyone else was wondering, the mat knife is the SDI GZ-GB GLANZ Extreme Cutter. It's also available from the same manufacturer (SDI Corporation) as model SDI 3006C.

[TManDMax]

For those wondering about improvements to his tattoo a while ago he mentioned that he should have had it start a exact distance from one of his finger tips so that he could have a longer ruler built in

[jontallman]

I used to live near DeWitt, Nebraska, where vice grips were originally manufactured. They had a store there where you could pick up factory seconds that had small cosmetic defects but worked fine. U.S. made vice grips are stamped with DeWitt, NE on the side of them.

[gussnarp]

It's funny to hear you say a Forstner bit is a tool you have to be told about. I still remember when I was told about them. They weren't in my dad's tool collection and I was a teenager when a friend of mine (who is now an awesome woodworker) had moved away and he had found a woodworking mentor who introduced him to the Forstner bit. He was so excited to call me up and tell me about them and thne to show them to me the next time I visited.

[SomeGuysGarage]

Beginner Tool Kit:
- Screwdrivers (flat in a couple sizes, phillips in #0, #1, #2, and #3, robertson in #1, #2, #3)
- Pliers (needle, side cutters, linemans, slip joint aka channellocks, wire cutter/strippers, combo, vise grip or two)
- Hammers (ball peen, framing/claw, rubber mallet)
- Combo wrenches (or an adjustable, or even better knipex pliers wrenches)
- Small socket set (1/4" and 3/8" drive in metric and standard)
- Prybar, Chisel
- Level, Square, Tape Measure, Marking tools
- Multimeter
- Files (a course/fine flat file at least)
- SAFETY EQUIPMENT - gloves, eyes, ears, and breathing protection at minimum

Then separately add in a drill and impact driver with the necessary bits.

Go watch my tool bag tour video, I put together a single bag of tools I can grab when I'm going somewhere and have all the basics.

[stanfordcoffee]

Adam commented earlier, that the ruler was placed on his arm without reference to anything else. He said that if he had to do it over, he would place it exactly a certain distance from end of his middle finger, effectively lengthening the ruler.

[jughead]

I can attest to the Erwin vice grips. I worked in a underground coal mine for a few years. Every miner carried a pair and a adjustable wrench. Those tools where put through hell and back on a daily basis and very rarely would you'd ever see the vice grips fail.

[johnblair]

Mr. Irwin invented the Twist Drill. In fairly recent times, his cimpany took over the Petersen Mfg. Co. Petersen invented Vise Grips.

[matheighway]

The Vise-Grip (TM) was invented in the US by William S. Peterson in 1924. They were later invented again (independently) by Thomas Couchrie in the UK, whose patent was granted in 1955 and became known as Mole Grips because they were made by Mole and Sons.

[RodRombauer]

I seem to recall you once mentioning that you were very mildly upset that the distance from the end of the ruler to the tip of your middle finger was not a nice even number, and you had thought of placement only after you got the tattoo done. So, those of you out there thinking about getting this sort of tat done, keep this in mind.

[wmchristie]

The deep personal knowledge that’s necessary to view exposure to deep institutional knowledge as sympathetic magic is profound to me. It’s the pure embodiment of Arthur C. Clarke’s third law, "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." The way you tossed that phrase into your description of your experience, Adam, is enlightening.

[iandeare]

My goto knife, and I've used and acquired many... From solid single piece surgical scalpels 50 years ago, model making as a child, to hand made Damascus Steel Japanese Marking knives... My Luthier's knife, that I made myself as a Luthiery student nearly 40 years ago, a traditional straight rake angle, cutting edge, but a flatter, tapered, very non traditional handle (traditionally a straight oval section) that just fits my hand perfectly 😂 even flares, and chamfers to the end where my ring and little fingers naturally curl.

Interesting that we both mention handles, I once used a borrowed planishing hammer that had finger grooves worn into it... That little bit of hardwood, and polished steel was probably a hundred years old, and billions of hours of work old! (and yes it was comfortable... That's why it'd survived, my ancient hand worn crafts tools, and hammer handle preservation society is still in it's inception 🤣)

PS I have an Arkansas stone that I went to turn in it's box... the other side was worn down by a hundred years of sharpening a curved blade, I imagine by a leatherworker: harness making, cobbling. How long does it take to wear a piece of natural quartz more than halfway

[brennyn]

Having some sort of bench vise is really helpful. Mine is just a cheapo 3" jaw Irwin stuck to my computer desk but I use it almost every day (even if sometimes that use is holding incense sticks).

[tylermorrison]

I am by no means a I master at anything but as a welder I’ve found instead of carrying several screwdrivers I use a bit driver from Klein (14-1) but there are many good manufacturers but still it has an organization system in the handle for bits and adjusts from a short shank to long shank and has served me well in the last year of using it just a suggestion.

[mickeyfilmer]

An ACCURATE Square is a must for anyone- beginner or not.