What's your favorite obscure tools you have? (Software or Hardware)

[geniusintraining]

Originally Posted by mylespetro

I've been thinking about grabbing one of these for a couple of years now, they look pretty neat.

Back in the day we could not live without them https://www.mcmaster.com/cabinet-keys/

I think they are used more on the other side of the pond but if you have any equipment that was built over there its a must

[kolyur]

Originally Posted by mylespetro

Probably not obscure at this point, but the Knipex Pliers Wrench is insanely handy, great replacement for an adjustable wrench. For those who don't know about them, the jaws open parallel instead of opening like a pair of Channel Locks, and they have smooth jaws so they don't mar surfaces. They also have an 11:1 mechanical advantage so the jaws grip much harder than you have to squeeze. Great for instrument techs working on Swagelok fittings.

I'll throw in my $0.02 since I have a set of these. It's a good tool but not a universal replacement for an adjustable wrench as is sometimes claimed. IF you have lots of room around what you're tightening (like in your pic) then it's absolutely the cat's a**, even better than an open end wrench for stubborn fasteners since it's easy to make it super tight on the flats. However, in a tight spot you have to be able to get the jaws on the nut in addition to continually opening and closing the handles. In these cases it's just as frustrating as trying to use a pair of channel locks. Plus, it can take some time to get the jaws adjusted properly since they don't have a lot of movement. I bought these thinking they would replace my adjustable wrenches but now I carry both.

[mylespetro]

Originally Posted by kolyur

I'll throw in my $0.02 since I have a set of these. It's a good tool but not a universal replacement for an adjustable wrench as is sometimes claimed. IF you have lots of room around what you're tightening (like in your pic) then it's absolutely the cat's a**, even better than an open end wrench for stubborn fasteners since it's easy to make it super tight on the flats. However, in a tight spot you have to be able to get the jaws on the nut in addition to continually opening and closing the handles. In these cases it's just as frustrating as trying to use a pair of channel locks. Plus, it can take some time to get the jaws adjusted properly since they don't have a lot of movement. I bought these thinking they would replace my adjustable wrenches but now I carry both.

I actually typically carry the pliers wrench and an adjustable as well.

[geniusintraining]

Couple more....

https://www.milwaukeetool.com/Produc...tening/2101-22

https://products.wera.de/en/bits_hol...s_800_4_z.html

https://products.wera.de/en/screwdri...fort_1335.html

[JordanCClark]

I have a set of Wiha Hex Keys that have a ring on the ball end to hold the head of the screw

https://www.wihatools.com/magicringr...y-22-piece-set

[mylespetro]

Originally Posted by geniusintraining

Couple more....

https://www.milwaukeetool.com/Produc...tening/2101-22

https://products.wera.de/en/bits_hol...s_800_4_z.html

https://products.wera.de/en/screwdri...fort_1335.html

I also have a bunch of Wera screwdrivers, both standard size and precision, as well as the Kraftform Kompact multi-bit:

https://products.wera.de/en/kraftfor..._28_kk_25.html

Personally my favourite multi-bit, although it's not great for panel work. The Wiha PicoFinish precision screwdrivers are excellent as well, nice rubbery texture on the handle.

[widelto]

I learnt this one here but since I saw it the first time I never looked the other way.

https://www.netsetman.com/en/freeware

Network setting manager.

[alan_505]

I have one of these screwdrivers works well it has 2 torque settings.
https://www.wihatools.com/speede2

I also have one of these, the electric screwdriver uses the same bits and you can get a big range of bits in all types.
https://www.wihatools.com/insulated-...t-screwdrivers

[chud]

Geniusintraining beat me to it....I love this tool milwaukee hand screwdriver... With torque setting building panels, checking connections.......many other uses.

Also this cabling stripping tool. Weidmuller and Phoenix i think make these. When using machine cables this makes life so much easier and more precise

[NetNathan]

Originally Posted by JLand

Thanks Nathan, I'll check that out.

For me, AngryIP still is mega useful to scan entire networks to find potentially open IPs. It's great for customers who want to add some Ethernet devices but their documentation is non-existent.

Let me know what you think of it after trying out.
I was a long time AngryIP user, but now totally spoiled by Slitheris Network Scanner.
Not only MAC address, but the OS and build it is running, type of device (linux, windows, printer, voip, etc), brand of device, uptime, even the time on the remote computer/device...and even more.

[JordanCClark]

Since my job has shifted into more SCADA-y things, primarily Ignition, I stared with DBeaver, a cross-platform database tool.

https://dbeaver.io/

I've since moved over to JetBrains' IntelliJ / PyCharm / Datagrip tools, as I can add IDEs for Java and Python in one spot.

https://www.jetbrains.com/datagrip/
https://www.jetbrains.com/idea/
https://www.jetbrains.com/pycharm/

[chud]

Jesper also did mention a very good tool when working with networks.....esp siemens and profinet Siemens Proneta.
I have commisioned a few plant remotely with this tool installed on a local technicians laptop. Very handy

[the_msp]

Favourite has to be my CF-3000

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_v3iIYP2juQ

[Elcan]

Originally Posted by widelto

I learnt this one here but since I saw it the first time I never looked the other way.
https://www.netsetman.com/en/freeware
Network setting manager.

I used it and I liked it, but one day it stopped working for me because it detected I was using it in a business network.
I moved to "Net Profiles mod", and I'm happy again.
https://github.com/netprofilesmod/netprofilesmod

[NetNathan]

Originally Posted by Elcan

I used it and I liked it, but one day it stopped working for me because it detected I was using it in a business network.
I moved to "Net Profiles mod", and I'm happy again.
https://github.com/netprofilesmod/netprofilesmod

Yes.. I really like NetSetMan. SO much that I bought full business version.

I will check out Net Profiles mod.