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Question about that $220 pin crimper I bought for cannon plugs
I do avionics on a small fleet of King Airs out of Wichita, and for two years I was borrowing the shop's old ratcheting crimper every time I had to redo a cannon plug. Last spring I got tired of hunting it down and dropped $220 of my own money on a good one with the interchangeable positioners. Best money I have spent on this trade, honestly, because I quit wasting 20 minutes per connector fighting a worn out tool and my pin pushes have been perfect since. Curious what you all do here, do you buy your own crimpers and specialty tools or does your shop cover everything? Trying to figure out where to draw the line before I start buying torque wrenches too.
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smith.lee21h ago
I spent 8 years at a regional shop in Topeka and the rule there was simple: hand tools and basic test gear are on you, anything with a calibration cert or a serial number in the tool crib belongs to the shop. Crimpers are a gray area but I bought my own DMC and never looked back, same reason as you, borrowed tools get abused and you pay for it in bad pins. Torque wrenches are where I'd draw the line though, because those need recert every year and that cost adds up fast. If the shop won't buy a good one with a current cert, that tells you something about how they value the work. Keep your crimper in your box with your name on it and let them cover the stuff that has to be tracked.
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