Carpenters Toolbelt! | Top 10 Tools for UNDER $180 

It should be against the law for a tool belt to not come with a dedicated speed square slot.

I am currently 89 years old. I started in the home building industry in 1951. I remained active untill i was 70 years old in the business. When i started most builders werent using any power tools, like circular saws. Framing carpenters would have an open top hand made tool box with about 8” high sides. Length would be about 36”, and the ends would be about 8” higher than the sides and tapered above the height of the sides. The over all size of the box would be about 8” wide and 36” long, again with an open top. There would be a wooden carrying handle attached to the raised tapered ends, and full length of the box. There were no measuring tapes used, all carpenters used folding type rules of 6 or 8’ in length. For longer measurements 50 and 100 ft steel tapes were used. typical tools carried by a framing carpenter in the tool box would be 3 hand saws, one being a large tooth rip saw for things like cutting roof rafters, also an 8 point saw for general cutting of studs to length etc. and a finer cut 10 point saw for things like cutting white pine facia work. The saws would have some type of a protective cover over the teeth. Every carpenter had a hatchet in his box in addition to a hammer. Most framing hammers were in the 20 oz range and had wood handles. Plumb was the most popular brand for both hammers and hatchets. There would also be in the box a combination square, a 24” framing square, and a bevel square. Also a chalk box, a cats paw, and maybe a pair of pliers and a 24” level. But basically that made up all the tools for a framer. The contractor as a rule furnished the longer level used for the framing. There were no speed squares at that time, also no nail guns or power tools other than early type circular saws used by very few contractors. And the box of tools would be carried to and from the vehicle to the actual work place.

Be sure to use the blue chalk when snapping lines on concrete. It's almost impossible to remove the red chalk line from concrete when the job is complete.

This is a good video for they guys who want to get into the trade. I'm that old guy in Maine who loves to watch you guys work. When I started in 1975 we used the cloth nail aprons that had 2 pockets, one for 8's and one for 6's. Our cordless tools consisted of a hammer and a screwdriver. There was one item you forgot in the video and it's very important. Before you take you new tools on the job, be sure to kick them around in the dirt and maybe drop your tape 10' so they don't look new, HA HA.

My father was a very good tennis player and he use to say:"A racket can not make a good player but a player can make a good racket". Nice video to show the youngest people that the most important thing in any job is enthusiasm ,effort and lowliness.

Great choice of basic tools, after year of framing I knew I wanted to make a career out of carpentry. I bought Occidental Leather bags and used them as a finish carpenter, thirty years later with my own finish carpentry business I still use them even when hanging cabinets. The thing about the nail bags is once you get used to where your tools are, switching brands sucks.

Agree with everything you picked except the hammer and speed square choice. I would have gotten the empire blue $13 square and spent $5 more and gotten an estwing but that’s personal preference I guess.

So funny to me what’s popular. Never mind all the technical aspects of building custom homes. What do people want to see? Tool-belts… and what’s in them! Excellent channel Jarod! I found your channel through Certified Ladder Holder who I found through Perkins Builder Brothers. Great additions to my channel list! 😎

clear and informative! 13/10 🎉

Have had this exact tool belt for my first year in construction and it is very good. Has pockets for mostly everything you’ll need and the quality holds up. For some reason I could never fit perfectly into mine though so I just upgraded to a leather belt today

Take the Johnson square if you ever plan to do trim. I prefer it over the Swanson when using a fine pencil because the Swanson has ridges along the edge that can cause a ridged instead of a straight mark.

That hammer detail….👌👌👌

Great video as always. I'd be interested in seeing an upgraded version of this, where you detail what someone starting to run jobs would need. Like a lead chippy standard set up. Love from Toronto ❤️🇨🇦🔨

The Swanson pro (with the book) is where it’s at for normally priced squares. So many more useful functions than any other square for the price range. Also, those chisels don’t have a meta back, Lowe’s, Walmart, and harbor freight all sell the exact same 3 pack but with metal backs and each store changes the color. The cheapest is at harbor freight. And lastly, I personally hate slip joint pliers, I carry the small/medium Irwin vise grips. Best all around pliers. Knipex are obviously better but too expensive to just beat the shit out of haha

Awesome video! Buy the best tools you can afford for the job. Hard to beat the vaughans, stanley tapes, and milwaukee chalk boxes anyway. If It's good enough for Scotty Waddy, then it's good enough for me!

I broke my wood stiletto for the second time in a year which led me to buying a Vaughan 23 0z. And it's such a good hammer. I used my co-workers worn down t-bone and it felt like a fisher price toy since it was so light while also having so much movement in its handle

The next model up from that pouch set I have it and the nail bag on it has the speed square slot it has a small pouch in the back next to the Hammer holder I keep my truck line in that one and the actual Hammer loop on the tool holder pouch I use that to hang cordless nail guns off of

Honestly for framing a pica pencil is brilliant. You don't necessarily need a super sharp pencil for framing. With the pica you just take the hassle away of having to spend time sharpening your pencil. Just check your lead in the morning, might have to replace it every two weeks or so

Awesome, You nailed it on what to get first and budgeting , that's exactly what id get starting off

Union Concrete carpenter here. Occidental Canvas bags will endure the bar, ties and weather. But, are heavy and spendy. It’s all preference though.

I’m in Occidental Leather guy myself. Yes they are pricey but they practically last forever (at least th😂 real leather ones do). The synthetic ones I have to admit are lighter and possibly more comfy (at least until your leather breaks in). But I’ve seen so many synthetic bags just not last in the professional world. These days I’m mostly a trim carpenter and don’t even really need bags but I where an occidental “vest”. The vest is awesome, it’s light and doesn’t bother my hips at all. And if I ever need full bags for framing I can attach my old occidental bags right to them for a full kit.

This is kind of an odd question but what jacket were you wearing in this video?

All the tools are decent definitely for a starter only thing I will critique is the cats paw that one is junk I use the crescent cats paw the nail spoon is the opposite the estwing and won’t cut your hands when prying hard and the paw angle is so much better for digging nails out. Just my opinion. All in all excellent video..

Pretty wild, I forgot how affordable it is to get into framing. (Best job in the world)! If I remember correctly my stiletto titanium hammer was double the whole set up picked up.

Love the videos brother 😮

Stupid question. The chalk line. Is that for creating a straight line to follow for cutting boards?

The belt in this video is the one I first wore when I started. Wore it for a year before I upgraded belts.

That’s all my pops will wear is husky bags. 👌👌👌. Nice job on the video brother.

Awesome video bro!!

did your wife say you make your own nail puller and are they for sale?

Good job buddy! I am a finish carpenter a very mature one 64 but I feel great ! Eat good! ! Don’t eat 3 meals eat 2! Stay in shape! Marry a great lady! Hv a boat load of kids! Everyone in the house goes to church! Read your Bible ! Don’t join a cult like Mormons or JW’s ! Just a nice Bible believing church ! You were created! That Bible is Christ’s love letter to YOU BROTHER! So that a two career ! Come to carpentry late in life guy! Oh! Work extremely hard ! Why! Feeds those kids and the Wife , keeps them under a roof! And save some money or if you do another career before this one hv a pension! Now hv fun! Oh I wear an Akibus Tool Belt which I bought after 10 yrs! But 1st I wore all those belts you bought!

Cool video I’m buy the tool belt now

$53 for that belt? :0 itd easily be $250 here in New Zealand. We get ripped off hard bro

saludos desde mexico monterrey, excelente video

Crescent wrench , stair gauges and framing square 📐📏✏️

I prefer a plumb bob instead of using chalkbox so chalk dont get everywhere and a stringline with a string level use chalkline for popping lines

Oh and my favorite is seeing all the “contractors” on HGTV wearing their bags backwards lol. Who the hell buckles a belt behind their back?!

Good video. Personally I think a 22 Estwing is the best 1st hammer. Could last you your whole career

Any other guys here from the UK looking at the tool shops thinking shit we need them here?

Do they not have the 30' FatMax Special Edition down there? Kinda surprising, usually there's no special deals for us Canucks that you don't have in the US. That's the tape I always get up here at Home Depot in Canada. It's like $27 CAD (~20 USD) for a 30' wide blade tape. It's cheaper than the 25/30' regular blade tapes unless you get some garbage off amazon.

I got my toolbelt at Walmart for $30. Then I covered up the hart logo with an American flag patch. Got a ton of hand tools from there as well. Yeah, it’s Walmart, but hey they work and they’re cheap.

In Oregon we will go thru at least 3 tape measurers in a single winter. That’s if you’re wearing some Grundens, or Norsemen to stay dry. I haven’t figured out how to keep my tape dry tho.

Really enjoy your vedios Learn a lot But why dont you use screws instead of nails When you do layout to put plates together

Metabo hpt for the win

My only beef is you drive a Toyota. 😂 Did framing for about 30 years of my life , I quit it and don’t regret it .

I found a tool belt on amazon for 10$ on sale would that affect me in the long run because of the brand ? It says its from the KOOYTO Store … or would i actually have to spend a good amount so i get a good brand tool belt?

Bro the estwing nail puller is second to only your forged one 😂

Have you decided when your giving it away and how? I’m starting the carpenters apprenticeship this summer and could use a lot of the tools to start off.

Wow! Excellent video 👌 you guys are pretty awesome, keep the good work as always 👍

Look at all those tool options! My Home Depot doesn't stock half of them. I blame thieves.

Did you ever get a change to do it? I did everything

Love your videos. Where in CO are you at?

I need one of those

What do you use the chisel for?

Parabéns, ótimo vídeo!!!

idk how i feel bout the hammer directly in the back but yea

Power lock tapes are better than the fatmax. Imo. They retract way better

Nice vid

Fat max is the only tape to buy. Milwaukee dewalt all break in half the time

Sometimes it is good to spend a lil bit on tools. It can make a job just a little bit easier

How would you fill a dewalt belt?

Thank you bubba you’re videos help more then you think!

Or a tape holder

I want to know more about this catspaw

Carts are for weak people 7:58 Him; 4:41

Wow idubbz is doing construction now.

You can use red for layout. But nothing else

I bought a set of Husky carpenter rig tool belt for $40 twenty years ago ( made by CLC) and to this day I still use it . Had set of $200 Boulder framing rig with three bags got stolen from my truck and the last time I left any of value in the ride overnight . Not only that saw nail gun cords hoses and my fuckin level that reached 18 feet . Learned my lesson that next morning and rest of that day.

180$ would buy me my cats paw, torpedo level and my calculator. As we age we start to appreciate less vibration from our tools. A 100$ for a cats paw is worth it to me. Titanium baby!!

Where is the list?

Even the home depots are senic in CO

It'd 200 now for that set up

I’ve used Fat Max 25’ tape measure since a year or 2 after they started selling them decades ago, I made fun of a 2nd year young guy joking with him about the name, then I tried 1 after 4-5 other coworkers started swearing by them, the very next time I needed to replace a tape measure, I bought a 2 pack of Fat Max & have been using them around 40 years now if I had to guess, even use the Fat Max 35 footer for longer measurements, ONLY STANLEY Fat Max or regular Stanley I use, really dislike the company & rest of tools

I just wanna know how you got to where you are. I know you worked your ass off this seems like a dumbass question. I work in framing houses and some commercial business. Just wondering how you got there other than busting ass working 80 a week.

First thing you can sharped your chisels back up easily

❤❤❤

Fcvjცგხყბხჯცჰჯცჰფხგეგჰბხჰდჰცგიცცჯ.,(ჰზო bo kc;

Never trust any level that's not stabilla

Ya lost me at using a torpedo for anything 4 ft and under....more like...anywhere you can't fit a good 2 ft level... perhaps on a 4 ft 2x4 you could use idk.....a 4 ft level?

No hammer or square

practical setup without a lot stuff that you don't use every day.

No snips?

Your attention to detail isn't good if you only think colors are the different between stores.

wht do you do in the winter snow or are you in the high desert?

@m.Nunez1970 🙏🏽🇺🇸

Saw the vest, knew the video would be good😂

The 19 oz Vaughn is what I use and it’s the best I’ve had it’s better than the 23oz bc of the curved handle but I’d rather my 19oz be 23oz other than that it’s amazing I recommended it to anyone