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The HooVer Pres-N-Snap tool is the most efficient way to install snaps and grommets in upholstery materials. Not only does it save you time, it installs snaps professionally without crushing or denting the cap. The tool is available at almost any professional upholstery supplier and comes complete with three sets of setting dies.
Most auto trim suppliers have the professional tools you need. Basic tools such as hog-ring pliers and scissors are not very expensive and will serve you for a long time. Entry-level tools range from $12 to $40 per tool, but as your auto trim needs grow, acquiring tools that make the job easier will appeal to you. They will save you time and can earn you more money.
Organizing your tools is not a science but a matter of convenience. Access to any tool should be effortless. Many shops store theirs in overfilled toolbox drawers, and they waste precious time hunting for the right tool. Specialty racking devices are available to help sort sockets and wrenches by size and type.
Keeping all your screwdrivers organized in one drawer can be simplified by just opposing the screwdriver handles: Have the straight-blade screwdrivers point to the right and the Phillips screwdrivers point to the left. This tip alone will save you a lot of time when you are looking for a certain screwdriver.
Specialty tools can be stored in a drawer with similar tools and so on.
Not all tools need to be state of the art. Using a lesser tool may work just fine when you are just starting out in the upholstery trade. For example, an electric knife can be used to cut foam if you cannot afford a foam saw. Another example is a gravity-fed cup gun to spray glue. They work well for most shops and are available at a low cost. A cup gun requires very little maintenance, whereas a pressurized spray pot is great for large jobs and is more convenient to use, but the cost and cleanup are much more substantial.
Sometimes you find yourself needing to accomplish a task and you just don’t have the right tool to do the job. Unfortunately, that special tool sometimes does not exist. Well, you just can’t buy everything, so modifying or fabricating a tool for that specific task is necessary. For example, I needed a long, thin, but rigid stuffing tool. Such a tool is not available in a catalog or online, so I took a simple piece of bar stock that I had in my scrap pile, rounded the end, and polished it smooth to make a great stuffing tool. You will find that the longer you work in the auto upholstery trade, the more creative you become, and overcoming problems soon becomes second nature to you.
Sample Tools List
The list of tools that you use in the upholstery trade can be long. Building a tool set takes time and could cost hundreds of dollars if you tried to get them all at once. Start simply with the very basic hand tools and pick up other hand tools and power tools as you need them.
Please note that the following list is far from complete and not all of them are needed to begin work on a project.
Hand Tools
• Screwdrivers: assorted Phillips, slotted, Torx (The use of a magnetic-tip handle gives you the freedom to carry fewer tools around by providing more variety in a single tool.)
• Hammers: tack hammer, ball-peen, body hammers (A rubber mallet or dead-blow hammer is also quite handy to have.)
• Socket set: basic set 1/4-, 3/8-, 1/2-inch-drive standard and metric, Torx
• Pliers: slip-joint, needle-nose, Vise-Grips
• Allen wrenches: standard and metric
• Scissors: 6-, 8-, 10-, 12-inch; snips, seam ripper (Having several pairs of scissors is a good idea because they do get dull and using a sharp pair makes your work much easier.)
• Staple lifter
• Door panel tool
• Door handle tools
• Headliner tuck tool
• Regulators
• Assorted hole punches
• Wire cutter: 7- and 9-inch, bolt cutters
• Hog-ring pliers: straight, angled
• Rulers: 36-, 48-, and 72-inch tape measures
• Utility knife (Always have plenty of blades on hand.)
• Bench vise
• Workbench
Power Tools
• Walking-foot sewing machine
• Steamer
• Drill motor: 3/8-, 1/2-inch
• Heat gun
• Air compressor
• Staple gun: electric, pneumatic, mechanical
• Glue gun: foam, contact cement, hot glue
• Rotary tool
• Foam saw
Pres-N-Snap Setter
One tool that I could not do without is the HooVer Products Pres-N-Snap setter. This tool sets you back about $130, which sounds like a lot for just one tool, but it does a professional job of installing snaps without crushing or denting the cap on the snap. This alone saves you money by not wasting materials, and it also saves time (i.e., makes you more money) by allowing you to install a snap in just one squeeze, unlike the manual setter that comes free with some snap kits.
Hog-Ring Pliers
Different types of hog-ring pliers are available and each has its own purpose. Originally the hog-ring pliers were used in agriculture to ring the nose of hogs to keep them from rooting and destroying the land. Other uses for hog-ring pliers range from food processing to sealing sausage casing to industrial usage in chain link fences. Hog-ring pliers look like regular pliers but are notched at the tip to hold a wire hog ring while clamping it tight.
A quality hog-ring tool is made from cast iron with long handles to allow for a tight and complete cinch of the hog ring. The professional hog-ring tool costs about $30 to $35 and will last you a lifetime. The cheap hog-ring pliers that come with a seat kit are most likely made from round stock and riveted together. They typically are short in length, which makes crimping a hog ring more difficult, causing the hand to fatigue quickly, and they usually last only a few dozen crimps before they fall apart.
Hog-ring pliers are essential to the auto upholsterer. Several shapes and styles are available to reach into difficult areas. Professional-quality hog-ring pliers can properly install a hog ring with ease and serve you for many years without failing.
Use the steamer to remove wrinkles in upholstery materials as well as to help with pattern making. Professional-grade steamers such as this Jiffy model J-4000 will last a long time in the
