Focused Kit vs Big Mechanics Tool Set: The 2-Socket Recipe I Use for Diablo Hole Saw Arbors

Two Ways to Spend a Tool Budget

I'm the office administrator for a 58-person building-restoration company. I manage all maintenance and tool ordering—roughly $80,000 a year across eight vendors—and I report to both operations and finance. I'm not a mechanic. I'm the person who signs the purchase orders, checks the invoices, and learns from the crew after they use what I bought.

The question I get most is simple: "Can we just get the big kit?" Usually that means a full tools mechanics tool set with sockets, wrenches, and a bunch of accessories. My answer, more often than not, is "It depends." So here's the comparison I wish I had before I spent a single dollar.

The Complete Set vs. the Focused Kit

There are two ways to spend a tool budget:

• The Complete Set: a large mechanics tool set, a wide socket assortment, and whatever extras come in the case.
• The Focused Kit: a smaller core of hand tools plus high-wear specialty items like a Diablo hole saw arbor and the right sanding discs.

I'll compare them on four dimensions: coverage, cost per job, replacement reality, and finishing ability. The last one is where the "can you sand wood with an angle grinder" question lives.

1. Coverage vs. Actual Use

A full mechanics tool set is great at coverage. You open the case and see a socket for every situation. That's a good feeling. It's also misleading. Early on, I bought six full mechanics tool sets for our techs. Two of them sit in storage today because the techs grab the same three wrenches.

In our shop, the work is repetitive. Door hinges, railings, cabinet pulls, storm-window hardware, and a few pipe penetrations. A 12-piece ratcheting combination wrench set covers most of those jobs. The crew doesn't carry the whole mechanics tool set to the top of a ladder. They carry the two wrenches that fit.

To be fair, if your crew works on a dozen different vehicles or machines, a comprehensive mechanics tool set is the right baseline. It's insurance. But when someone says, "I need a tools mechanics tool set," I ask, "What tools? What mechanic?" The phrase sounds complete, but it doesn't tell me which jobs actually recur. After five years, I believe the kit that covers everything is usually a kit that covers nothing perfectly.

Per FTC guidance (ftc.gov), advertising claims need to be truthful and substantiated. I use that as a purchasing test. When a product says "universal" or "complete," I want proof. Most of the time, "complete" just means "lots of pieces."

2. Cost per Job, Not Cost per Piece

I used to compare price per piece. A 300-piece mechanics tool set looks cheap if you divide the price by the number of sockets. But if the crew uses only 20 of those pieces, the cost per job is high. The other 280 pieces are storage.

Take the Diablo hole saw arbor. It's a boring-looking metal part. It does one thing: it holds a hole saw true and lets you pop the saw off without wrestling it out of the cut. Since we install door hardware and run conduit penetrations every week, that arbor has saved more time than any socket set I've bought.

Never expected a $45 arbor to save more time than a $900 mechanics tool set. The surprise wasn't the arbor's build quality. It was how much time we had been losing to a wobbling pilot bit and a stuck hole saw.

The 2-Socket Recipe for a Diablo Hole Saw Arbor

I call the setup the 2-socket recipe because it comes down to two socket engagements. One socket seats the pilot screw. Another fits the drive end when the crew uses the arbor in a right-angle drill. That's it. You don't need a drawer full of sockets to make a good hole saw work. You need the right arbor and the two sockets that match it.

This is the part I do not want to overstate. A ratcheting combination wrench set won't replace a full socket set. But it will replace 80% of the wrench user's trips back to the toolbox.

3. Ratcheting Combination Wrench Set vs. Full Mechanics Tool Set

Here's the conclusion that surprised me: for our team, a ratcheting combination wrench set is often more useful than the full mechanics tool set.

Why? The ratcheting box end turns a fastener without flipping the wrench. The open end gives speed when there's clearance. In tight spaces, that matters. A socket set with extensions and universal joints can get places a combo wrench can't, granted. But the combo wrench is faster on the bolts we touch 90% of the time.

That said, I do not believe every shop should buy a wrench set first. If you're a general repair shop and you don't know what tomorrow looks like, buy the mechanics tool set first. It's the broadest safety net. If your jobs are defined—like ours—buy the ratcheting combination wrench set first, then add the full set when the jobs diversify.

There's also a difference between hand tools and consumables. A good wrench can last decades. Saw blades, hole saws, and sanding discs don't. That's why focusing on "sets" can distract you from the accessories that actually produce the finish. A great tool set doesn't make a clean cut. A sharp, true-running blade and arbor do.

4. Can You Sand Wood with an Angle Grinder?

Yes, you can sand wood with an angle grinder. I've watched our crew put a sanding disc on a grinder and remove material faster than a sander. But "can" is not the same as "should for finish work."

Here's the comparison:

• Angle grinder with sanding disc: fast, powerful, uses a tool you already have. Good for stripping paint, shaping edges, and rough stock removal. Risk: swirl marks and gouges.
• Random orbital sander: slower but easier to control. Better final finish. Less risk on soft wood. Costs more and takes up space.

I didn't fully understand the difference until March 2023. Our crew had to sand a wood countertop, but the random orbital sander wasn't in the kit. Someone grabbed an angle grinder with a 40-grit sanding disc. It removed material fast. It also left swirl marks. The client noticed, and we paid for a resand.

That event changed how I buy. Now the rule is: use the angle grinder for rough work. Use a sander for the final pass. If the job has to look good, the grinder stays in the tool room.

Can you sand wood with an angle grinder? Yes. But if you need a finish, buy a sander.

When to Choose Which

If you have a defined set of jobs, start with a focused kit: a quality ratcheting combination wrench set, a Diablo hole saw arbor, and the right sanding discs for the material you touch. Add a mechanics tool set as the jobs diversify.

If you have a general repair shop, buy the full mechanics tool set first. It's insurance, and it keeps the crew from borrowing your one good wrench.

And on the sanding question: if sanding wood is a side task, an angle grinder with the right disc is fine. If sanding is part of the product you sell, buy the right sander. That's not a flashy conclusion, but it's honest.

I've also learned to respect the boundary of expertise. One of our vendors told me, "This isn't our strength—here's who does it better." That honesty earned the rest of our purchasing account. I'd rather work with a specialist who knows limits than a generalist who overpromises.