Tech Today: Fabulous Fabrication Tools

WORDS BY JOEY KNAPP

Last month we took a look at some of my go-to installation tools. This month the list shifts to the fabrication realm. This list represents just some of the items that I place the most value in.

.9 Lead Mech Pencil

Like most everyone, I have used a traditional wooden pencil while fabricating. And, like most everyone, I have experienced the line the pencil draws getting thicker and thicker as the lead wears down. This prompted me to search for a better option. My father was a small business accountant and always had numerous mechanical pencils around his office. His pencils were .5mm, which provides a fine line, perfect for filling in P&L Statements. In looking for something better to fabricate with, I tried one of those .5mm pencils. The experience was more frustrating than using a traditional wooden pencil. Too much lead sticking out, or too much pressure and SNAP, the lead would break. So, I looked for other mechanical options. There was a .7mm, but it was still too fragile. Then I found the .9mm. It was the perfect width for precision, but robust enough that it wouldn’t snap under normal use. Granted, one still has to keep an eye out to make sure the lead doesn’t stick TOO far out, but otherwise they hold up great.

Drill Gauge

This is such a basic tool, but one I value greatly. Almost anytime I find myself needing to drill a hole in something, I also find myself reaching for the drill gauge. The gauge makes picking the perfect drill bit simple. It is easy to gauge the size hole needed for specific hardware by checking the size of the hardware with the gauge. I also use the drill gauge for choosing the drill bit size for when I am using taps. NOTE: The 29 piece Irwin Cobalt drill bit set I mentioned last month contains most of the drill bit sizes found on a drill gauge. I typically don’t ever find myself needing a size different than those found in that set.

Forstner Bits

Years ago when I was an elementary school teacher I would spend some of my summers working with my friend Doug Gibson. Doug had been around the Central Florida 12-volt scene for many years. I learned quite a few things during my time working with him. One of the tools I learned about were forstner bits. Up until he introduced them to me, I had maybe seen them, but never used them. Doug opened my eyes to the uses they provide a 12-volt fabricator. There are some REALLY expensive forstner bits out there. But for our typical substrates varying from MDF to Birch to Acrylic and ABS, I don’t think high-end bits are needed. I started with a few random bits from Home Depot or Lowes, but then ended up with a set I found on Amazon that were very reasonably priced and have served me well over time. The set I got was the Steelex D3573 16-piece kit.

Aircat Airsaw

Whether you’re opening up a speaker hole in door metal, cutting an opening for a radio or speakers in a boat, or trimming a bit of plastic, an air saw is a handy tool. Years ago I had a low vibration Matco air saw and loved it. I kept it long enough to need a rebuild, and then a second. The last time it needed a rebuild the parts were no longer available. I then moved to a nice Snap-on dual chuck air saw that was also supposed to be low vibration. The saw worked well, but not quite as nice as my old Matco. Then one day it didn’t. After going to Snap-on for service, the saw worked even worse. It had about half the power of a new saw. Needing something to take its place while I decided if I was going to try to have it fixed again, I turned to Amazon. After looking for some low vibration saws I came across the Aircat 6350 Low Vibration saw. I was skeptical because my history with air saws has been not so great, but the price was reasonable enough to give it a try. Upon receiving the Aircat and loading it with nice blades, I have been cutting with it and haven’t looked back. I still have the old Snap-on in my air tool drawer. The Aircat works so well that I haven’t felt the need to pursue getting the Snap-on repaired. If you need a compact, low vibration, powerful air saw, I can highly recommend this one!

Calipers

I have been pretty part-specific on the items I have talked about so far. For this one, though, I am going to be a little more general. I have three different calipers that I use. One is a cheap plastic slider from Harbor Freight that cost under two dollars. If I need something a little more precise than a tape measure, or a quick reference of distances, I will use these. The other two calipers I have are digital. They are both by iGaging and came from Amazon. One is 6 inches and the other is 12 inches. They are very reasonably priced, and for the level of precision needed for most car audio fabrication they are perfectly fine. If I spent more on calipers I would be afraid to use them, so these are perfect. Instead of the cheap plastic of the Harbor Freight set, these are stainless steel. They offer standard, metric or fractional readouts. One of the nice things about calipers, which I learned from one of Bryan Schmitt’s training classes, is that you can use the points for scoring substrates. Anyone who does any level of fabrication needs to have some sort of caliper at their disposal.

Shapeoko CNC

Earlier this year, Tech Today featured a series on high-tech fabrication tools and one of them was the Shapeoko CNC. I am now past the worst of the learning curve with mine and starting to work toward really integrating it into my normal fabrication workflow. It has been a challenge to force myself to use and trust the machine over making parts by hand. The machine has opened up so many avenues for creative design in things that I build. At times I feel like I’m not utilizing it to its potential, which I probably am not, but I am working on that. Now that I’ve had a CNC for almost a year, I can’t imagine having to go back to not using one. I can only imagine what it’s like for the shops that have CNCs large enough to handle full sheets of stock! I bought mine to see if it was something I could learn how to use. Now that I know I can use it, I look forward to getting a larger one. Until then I will continue to make speaker adapters, engrave acrylic, engrave and cut aluminum, make marketing materials and grow my capabilities.

Delta UniSaw Table Saw

For much of my initial 12-volt career, I used a jig saw and a circular saw to cut wood. The shops I worked for didn’t have table saws. One shop had a panel saw, but it seemed like it wasted more time than it saved. For the most part, we built truck wedge enclosures. I remember using a table saw in middle school shop class, but until I started working with Doug Gibson, I didn’t have any real experience with one. While working with Doug, I got to see just how beneficial a table saw could be. It offered a level of precision not possible with a circular saw—no matter how skilled I thought I had become! Initially, I was very respectful, or even scared, of the table saw. Doug walked me through important safety factors, and I got some experience. When I moved out to California to work at Simplicity in Sound, we started the shop with two table saws in the fabrication room. I thought it was a great idea at the time, but we quickly found we only needed one. Now I have a number of years of experience with a table saw, and while I am still very respectful of it, I do feel more comfortable using one.

Grizzly 14-Inch Bandsaw

I was initially hesitant to put the bandsaw on this list because I haven’t had one for too long. I had the opportunity to buy my current bandsaw when I purchased the metal piping for my dust collection system. I have since been slowly finding that it’s a great tool to have around. I like that it’s easy to make small adjustments to cuts, and easier to cut a shape. Add a quick run through the sander, and it’s close enough for carpet.

Dust Collection

When I built the fabrication room at our new location I knew I needed to include the best dust collection I could afford. After doing some research online, and talking with Joey Cloninger, I settled on some choice parts. At Simplicity in Sound, we used PVC piping and taped it together. I wanted something a little more robust, and the ability to easily add or remove sections. I chose Nordfab piping. I found someone who was closing their woodworking shop and selling quite a bit of the tubing with enough pieces for my system. The Nordfab pipes have rolled ends and clamp together. This makes positioning or changing the layout very easy. Our controller at Simplicity in Sound is gate activated. I decided I wanted something even easier for my shop. I picked the iVac Automatic dust collection system. The system uses sensors on the power wires to the tools to turn the dust collection on and off. The iVac kit also has motorized gates, so getting dust collection at any tool is simply a matter of turning it on and waiting a few seconds for the dust collector to spool up. I chose the Grizzly G0441 3HP Cyclone Dust Collector. Higher horsepower models were backordered at the time and I was concerned about having enough vacuum. I really have more than I need. I often have to open an additional gate to keep pieces from being sucked to the table. I mounted the collector on the roof of my woodshop and routed the tubing for the collector bin through the roof. The collector bin sits on the fabrication room floor for easy emptying.

Widia Taps

I have tried and broken many different brands of taps. I once ordered a few Widia taps from McMaster Carr. I was very impressed. With careful use I have no breakage problems, and they seem to stay sharp for a long time. I tape a number of things when I am fabricating, so it was nice to find some good, reliable taps.

Drill Press

I have used very cheap drill presses in the past, and none of the shops where I worked had drill presses. I used a Harbor Freight drill press when I moved to California. It definitely had its merits over a regular drill, but the precision wasn’t very impressive. When I bought my dust collection piping and picked up the band saw, I also purchased a Jet drill press. It was heavier-duty than any drill press I had previously used. The adjustable stop tabs were metal, unlike the plastic ones on models I had used previously. The solid tabs allowed for precisely metered drilling depths which result in more accurate duplication of drilling. Now that I’ve used a “real” drill press, I would never want to make holes in anything without one!