We live in an age where technology is not only getting better and better on the whole, but the tools we work with are also getting better. And as they get better, we can make them smaller, more durable and more precise. The quality of the tools is getting better as tool companies focus on improving materials to make the smaller tools more durable. The improvement of tools, especially precision tools, makes this one of the best times to throw a precision toolkit together. There are a lot of options, some tools will be good in any situation, while others will best used for specific tasks.

For basic “across the board” applications, we carry many different precision tools by several manufacturers. Most notably we carry Klein (precision screwdrivers and cutters), Wiha (precision drivers, various precision tool sets and cutters), and Wera precision drivers. Some of the Wiha and Wera tools are ESD safe, sometimes an important feature, especially when working with electronics.

In most cases you’ll know which driver you need for each occasion, but in many cases you may not and you may need to do some digging to find the right one, and we’re here to help you with that. To get you started though, here are a few different occasions where you might need some precision tools and even SOME of the ones you might need.

Precision Tools for Drones

Drones are a little bit of a step beyond their remote controlled cousins of previous “olden days” and part of this difference is they are really fine-tuned machines. They’re fine-tuned machines that need proper care to keep functioning. They need regular cleaning, they may need small parts replaced periodically and they may need a repair while they’re in action. To keep your drone in proper shape, there are a number of tools you’ll need, most will be ones you want to take with you. This article goes over a lot of the things you will need, and as always we can’t stress enough how important it is to get high quality tools to do the work. Using cheap tools on your drones, or anything, can lead to expensive screws getting stripped or inadequate performance to return your drone to working order.

A couple of the least obvious tools you’ll need are a soldering iron and a multimeter. Soldering is relatively easy, but potentially challenging to get good connections, and it comes into play more if you’re building your own drone from scratch than a premade one. You’ll be soldering the various parts of your drone to the circuit boards and the aforementioned multimeter will help ensure you did everything properly. The soldering iron would also be a good repair tool should something get knocked loose and need to be resoldered.

As a drone enthusiast, you’ll also want to have different sizes of hex keys and a set with 1.3-6mm are relatively common sizes to start with and they are pretty affordable. Wiha and Bondhus would be obvious suggestions, depending on your needs. Other tools you’ll want with you are a precision screwdriver set, wire cutters, pliers and wire strippers, electrical tape, tweezers, helping hands with magnifier, epoxy resin, heat shrink tubing with corresponding heat gun, nut drivers (5.5mm and 8mm most common). That tool list basically summarizes ways to get into your drone and ways to seal up or repair loose connections and protect them from environmental factors. It seems being a drone enthusiast also means being able to make repairs on the fly.

Precision Tools for Smartphone and iPhone

Smartphones and iPhones are, as we’ve probably mentioned before, most often just replaced when damaged, they’re treated often as throwaway technology. Most people will replace the entire phone when the screen is cracked, because, why not? Your only other option is the phone repair guy at the mall or fixing it yourself. The first thing you’ll probably want to do is find the right phone repair tutorial on YouTube, the next thing you’ll want is to find the right tool set to work on your phone.

To make it easy, the following tools will be the most common and helpful for all your phone repair needs. You can get just a precision pentalobe driver (Wiha 26761 or the 75743 which is the microbit) which should work on many Apple products. If you want just a few more pieces, The Wiha 26196 is a basic phone repair set that includes Phillips 00, 000, Tri-Wing 000, Pentalobe PL1 and ESD safe tweezers. Definitely a good set that has all the most common repair pieces. The Wiha 27397 has a few more pieces and comes with a roll up case, but if you want to BE the phone repair guy at the mall, the Wiha 26198 boasts “all the sizes you to repair the latest iPhones and devices” and also comes with a pouch. Wiha 26198 includes the Y000, Pentalobe P1, Torx T3-T6If you want to work on Apple watches though, you’ll want to throw a Wiha 26772 (pentalobe 2) in as well.

That’s a huge selection of tools, but if tinkering with iPhones, Apple watches, smartphones and tablets is something that interests you, you’re going to want something highly machined precision and Wiha fits that bill. They’ve also already assembled the most common tools into convenient, competitively priced sets. We also carry other brands of the same sizes that will be just as good quality, so give us a call if you want something specific because a Klein or Wera set would do just as well.

Precision Tools for Gunsmithing

Precision tools for gunsmiths can be a little bit tricky. In most cases, you WILL need special gunsmith tools because the screws on a given firearm are machined to very specific tolerances. That being said, there are some precision tools that have universal appeal. Some common tools that will help you get a start would be the Wiha 23493 and 23490 punch sets. Punch sets help you get pins and pegs into place or out of place. Torx drivers are another important tool and it’s generally recommended to get sizes T-6 through T-10 plus T-15, T-20 and T-25. Lastly, Wiha’s 75985 because it’s got a good selection of microbits a precision driver and a ratchet all in a metal case.

These tools are for general use, so make sure they’re going to fit your firearm beforebuying, and check to see if you need specific tools for your given needs. The last thing you want to do is bugger your screws.

Precision Tools for Knife maintenance

The last special niche for precision tools today is for knife maintenance. Knives get dirty and need to be cleaned, they need to be sharpened. Most people look for a Torx T3-T10 and also a T15, those being the most common. We have many of the sizes individually, but if you want a set, Wera’s 05118154001 Torx Precision screwdriver set will have a few of the sizes you’ll need while the Wiha 75992 will have probably all of the sizes  you might ever need in a microbit set. While the price may seem high, these are absolutely precision made bits and machine hardened and when you’re working on a knife that can cost up to a few hundred dollars, you’re not going to want to strip any screws. You better get something that will fit perfectly.

Wrapping up

As you can see there’s quite a few niche areas that need precision hand tools, and you’re going to want to buy good ones that are truly precision machined and made from good metal. Having personally stripped a screw on my laptop with a Wal-Mart precision driver, I can assure you, spending a couple extra bucks makes all the difference. Before making the investment in these tools, you’ll obviously want to do your homework, so if you have a need for a specific screw or something of a specific size, get in touch with us, we’d love to help you find the right tool for the job.