Thespian...
I'm handier than a shirt pocket, and if you don't have (any) tools, buy a nice (metal) toolbox, and start your quest to learn more. Ask for tools as
Christmas presents from friends and
family (and find estate sales).
Must haves:
Needle nose pliers/ get 2
(Original) Vice Grips
You'll
wind up collecting too many damned screw drivers, but get the ones with super strong tips.
A short (flat) L-shaped crowbar.
Cheap chisels (a ton of uses).
Get both metric and standard socket sets: get the good ones, you'll thank me later.
A set of standard and metric ratchetting end-wrenches (so good!). A great hammer/ and a small mallet (like a small sledge hammer) and a few hole punches). Fiskar garden shears. A razor knife. Medium sheet metal cutters (spring loaded). Heavy duty pliers that can cut wire. Medium channel lock pliers. X2 medium and large adjustable wrenches.
A (non-battery operated) drill.
An
electric vibrating pad sander.
A high-speed grinder (+cutting blades). A 50 foot heavy duty extension cord on a reel (like a
fishing reel). A dremel tool: go for the tiny
fiberglass high-speed cutoff wheels, some wood boring bits, and go to a specialty store and find drill bits that allow you to mill sideways (milling bits): crazy handy.
Brasso
PB breakfast/ or a small tin of penetrating
oil.
Zip ties in all sizes.
Plastic
freezer bags for
parts.
Seperate box for handiest bolt/nut/washer sizes.
Small butane solder gun/ solder.
Learn (now) the difference between annealing, hardening, and heat tempering metals. Know that by
overheating metal you can "work-harden" it, and make your own job 50 times harder (mostly by drilling and getting it too hot)(you might not be able to drill through it ever again). Fat drill bit/ go slow, as the sizes get smaller drill faster: you can't push hard on small bits/ they snap off: let the project cool several times, or apply ice/ wet rag.
Don't harden it!!!
Get serious about your tool collection, and it will reward you the rest of your life!!!!!!!!!!
*will work for tools
Ask handy oldtimers, and they hardly leave home without a toolbox.
Learn to:
Arc weld
Tig weld
Brass braise
Solder
Brad pieces together with brass rod.
That oughta getcha started
Bill