TOOLS for own repairs

[oc1]

Bamboo skewers have many uses.  You can cut a chisel point on the end and use them to scrape crevasses without fear of marring the surface.  Chuck them in a drill and use to polish the inside of a bushing or pinion without marring.  If you can start with one that is slightly larger than the bushing/pinion bore it will dig its way through and give make a beautiful smooth finish.  Use the pointy end to pick gunk out of gear teeth.
-s

[steelfish]

LOL you guys will scare our aussie friend with all the "common" basic tools for minor repairs

Im not a handy man for house repairs so, my home tool box have pretty basic tools, but my reelrepair toolbox is 2x bigger than my household toolbox and it have a lot of those basic screwdrivers in different sizes, different tips hex metric, standar, torx, etc, extra long nose neddle pliers and few specialized tools from all this years working on reels, as tweezers in different sizers, calipers, TLD drag plate tool removal, Penn torque plate removal tool, homemade pin bearing removal plier, etc. 3-4 different specialized oils, 3 different greases, 3 different scales to check drags.

I dont know, but I think there is not such thing as "basic tool kit" for reel repair, only if you only will work on your own reels.

[tincanary]

I have quite the stash of reel tools.  Precision standard and Phillips drivers, metric and SAE precision hex drivers, Torx, side cutters, combination pliers, flat nose pliers, curved needle nose, straight needle nose, spool pin pliers, Daiwa spool pin removal tool, E-clip remover/installer, screw extractor, Channel Locks, caliper, plus some others I'm probably forgetting.  Some of these tools don't get used as often as others, but they are nice to have when I'm confronted with a situation where they are needed.

[Eddie K]

Here is a suggestion that I haven't heard anyone put forth.  A light colored piece of carpet to work over on top of your work station.  If you drop a small spring, you will find it on the carpet.  No carpet, and you have the potential of losing a small part as it bounces off of your work station.

[Gobi King]

For all you guys working with bearing, stuck bearings spindles and other parts that you need to heat up. I suggest a DIY induction heater.

Ebay sells diy kits for as low as $30 and all you need is a beefy power supply or battery.