hi again um basically what i'm going to do now is talk to you about
how i started up with basically getting all my tools to start with because like Gary said it
i didn't have a lot of money to start with yes my boss did help me to start with but
going on site with your own tools does look better instead of you not having to scurry around looking
for this or looking for that or asking this person you just walk in they're gonna go oh he's got
his own hand tools hand tools are essential obviously power tools do get expensive but
black Friday comes up always ask the parents but the main thing what i done is on Amazon we all
use Amazon you can set up certain notifications like i use Bahco socket sets which are extremely
expensive i'd get a notification when there was a sale on like the Bahco set i use which are great
especially on three-phase boards when you're doing your neutrals and things like that they're
a great little set it's small it's handy to use you can get in as an electrician you will find
you're in areas that your body just doesn't want to fit you haven't got much room to move
your hands and like Gary said buying good tools will last you i'll say this
i got this straight at the start my apprentice and this has took a battering
and how much was it on for an amateur should have been 40 pounds and i paid 18 pound for it
because you waited for it to come on and waited and sort of like when were Bahco level square
again their 20 quid thing 10 quid admittedly i've just gone over to Wera on my screwdrivers
um i was always CK because when i first started up there's an engineering pack by CK and you get
a nice bag and you get all your basic tools so you'll get all your Phillips all your flatheads
you'll get a small level you get the mini level which you can put on boxes inside boxes because
sometimes they don't sit level plasterboard boxes and things like that so i think that was at the
time about 180 quid but that got me all my hand tools i needed to start with i'm always a great
believer as well and we've got some 10 tools that we've seen with our students that are surrounding
you that they're not the greatest quality and if you buy quality tools you sort of have that
prestige about having quality tools and you feel it makes a better job you don't want to lose them
that's the thing when you've spent your own money and you start losing your boss's tools it gets a
bit of a heated conversation but say these i've got these at the little Elex show on a 75 quid
for screwdrivers that was it but it is a lot of money but what the advantage with these ones are
they're actually diamond tips so when you get out on site and a screw has sat in a wall for 20 years
you put a cheap screwdriver snap not only if you've either torn the head off a screw and
you can't get it off or you've just destroyed your screwdriver and you're starting at square one so
yes these were expensive but they've already made me money because i'm not wasting time on getting
the screws out so it is worth spending the money on good tools because the end of the day these
are your hands and these are in your hands all day every day it's like some people on my side cutters
i prefer small side cutters where some people prefer crops some people like larger things it's
just what you get used to in your hand because when i again going onto the AM2 i asked if i could
take my own cutters because when you're stripping cables you get used to your own cutters in your
hand you don't want to be going through into that copper and nicking it or damaging cables and when
you start using even your own cutters very start off you do make mistakes you do start nicking them
so these become your hand so again on AM2 they didn't let you take it so yes i man too i did
make a couple of mistakes but you're rectifying because you always give yourself that little
10 more extra on the cable so if you do the next date you can just cut it off strip it again double
it over if you're doing things where you need your CPC or anything like that and bigger you
said your screwdrivers are 75 quid you're going to leave them on site and go on without money
no no no and i kind of do we do a wreck at the end of the day so if you've been in a domestic
installation you've done a house and you've got plumbers here what like to take everything or
you've got builders that don't care and just leave mess everywhere in the day there that sits at the
end of my bag yeah everything there and you just do a wrecking at the end of the day and the amount
of times you'll be like move that plaster board there's my level and things because it can get
expensive you can you're earning a certain amount an hour and then all of a sudden you're losing
10 pound this 10 pound that and it soon adds up very very quickly and plus when your boss goes
you lost it again haven't you and there's a big push now and they're about um
tradesmen's tools being stolen from their van at the end of the working day is that in your car and
back in the house or do you actually leave it in a vehicle hand tools um at times we separate me
and my boss he'll go one side i'll go another but normally everything sits on the one van
all of our power tools are in a lock box uh dual locked vans locked in the back of his
house with a camera on it so that's protected these sit in there but personally when um
with power tools i think the end of the day the carrying bags are the better idea because you can
just literally put it on your shoulder put it in your garage or put it in your house because
you lose your power tools and you even your hand tools you're looking at three four thousand pounds
straight off the bat and can you get insurance at a realistic price for the tools in a van
no you can't um we had a gentleman he uses Hilti everything so it's very high and very expensive
we were working way down in Bracknell he was at um Heathrow yep um come down in the morning
there was a couple of tradesmen arguing with the counter what you do about this what you
could do about that and you sort it over in oh we've just had our vans broken into
all went out there just blown the locks out nick threw blokes um stuff Hilti stuff he reckoned it
was about twenty thousand pounds worth rang his insurance because he had insurance hi i've had
all my stuff you're not insured he goes what do you mean you're insured from six o'clock at night
till six in the morning oh oh sorry the other way around so you you're insured during the day but
not at night not at night so when everything gets nicked it's at night didn't read the small print
but that is you get insurance if you'd have read the small print it worked out the time was
different when his tools got stolen obviously wouldn't he but yeah lost all these kits so
look at it from that point of view you've lost all your tools you're not going any money then are you
you've got to go and replace your tools when you start earning any money again so it's a negative
in it you've got to spend a load more money to earn the money back for the tools that have gone
missing so it's not just losing them yourself it's having them stolen as well there's a big
push on twitter isn't there about yeah there's a big petition thing at the moment yeah so things we
support online that is folks is there any what's your favourite tool what's the what's your you
go to i know you said you like side cutters but what's your cute little tool that's got you out
yeah my little cute toy that's when i got try and find it now um again he's lost it i have
yeah you'll get used to this you'll spend more time trying to find your tools than
anything right again oh yeah these are the Knipex Cobra's they are literally tiny tiny in my hand
but the godsend these are especially when you're trying to get two armoured in an 85 mil Wisker box
bigger heaven yes there are other manufacturers there are Schneider and all these other brands
but literally you buy tools to make our life easier and make it quicker you're under a
cupboard you can't get your elbow yes they're 30 quid they're extremely expensive for what they are
but if that saves you two or three jobs you've already made your money back on them um i'm
actually going to go on to these and these don't as you can see two are pristine ones absolutely
battered um these are brilliant especially for you guys in your first and second years these are the
Unite books obviously you've been told to get your on-site guide your Regs books your guidance notes
your guide to the building's Regs these are seven quid each that's all they are literally
four inquired if you want two uh this is the electrician's guide to good practice it simplifies
everything this is the Regs book but more simple for you see with me as i started college
i'm a visual learner i struggled horrendously bad at start with the theory because i hadn't done
schoolwork for 20 years these books again with the testing have got simplified pictures of how
to do your testing it's all colour coordinated and for 14 quid just to have them in your van
and when you go inside to site if you're in the van for an hour just look through that chuck stuff
at your boss it's they're a brilliant tool again with your on-site guide they're just brilliant for
knowing what tools you use you know how to sort of like
it's another tool but it's a bit of paper okay so it's got a good piece of advice
what we're going to do now folks is we'll thank thank Andrew we're going to bring
you in closer to actually have a look at his toolkit so thank you very much Andrew