Spectrum Resources
$2000 Purchase Guide
What a new or growing FRC team should buy first with a limited budget — tools, materials, and electronics — and what can wait.
FIRST $2000 Purchase List
Section titled “FIRST $2000 Purchase List”- Bambu Labs A1$339Bambu Labs
A good quality 3D printer can make a lot of different parts for FRC robots. Use PLA+, PETG, or some engineering filaments (PA, etc). A 3D printer is one of the cheapest and easiest CNC machines to use and a great way to start making custom parts for your team. A hardened nozzle for $10 will allow you to print carbon fiber filled materials such as NylonCF and PETG-CF.
View / buy → - Bench Horizontal Bandsaw$170Amazon
Used for cutting hex shafts, extrusion, etc.
View / buy → - Evolution Track Saw$183Amazon
Serves as a circular saw and a table saw. Can break down a sheet of plywood or aluminum sheet.
View / buy → - Jigsaw$33Amazon
A jigsaw is great for cutting sheet material such as wood, plastic and aluminum. Allows you to make interior cutouts for field elements or complex shapes that are harder to produce with the track saw and bandsaw.
View / buy → - Cordless drill & driver$150Home Depot
Investing in a quality cordless tool system early is highly beneficial. The Milwaukee M12 Rivet gun is extremely useful for FRC, so we recommend this system, but other teams have used Dewalt 20V, Ryobi 18V, or any other system with success. The subcompact tools are brushless and work very well. The Drill+Driver kit is usually a much better deal than the drill individually. M12 tools are smaller than most 18V tools and fit more comfortably in the hands of young students. The non-fuel drills/driver kit is around $100 and works as well, but the fuel or subcompact kit is worth it.
View / buy → - M12 Rivet Gun$210.00Amazon
Rivet quickly and easily. Rivets are lightweight and inexpensive, and can easily secure gussets to perforated tubes. We recommend Multi-grip Aluminum rivets with steel mandrels. Hand Rivet options work, but at the quantity required for a robot, these battery-powered options are a significant improvement.
View / buy → - Drill Bit Set$20Harbor Freight
Used for drilling holes. We recommend buying extra 13/64", #7, or 5mm drill bits as these can all be used for #10 bolt holes and 3/16" rivet holes. We started buying double-sided cobalt drill bits, and they have worked well for us.
View / buy → - Step Drill$10Amazon
Used for drilling various-sized holes in thin metal.
View / buy → - Countersink Bits$10Amazon
Used for making countersinking holes to allow flathead bolts to fit flat.
View / buy → - Vise$45Amazon
Clamping parts for cutting, drilling, tapping, etc. Can also be used as a press for bearing, etc when needed.
View / buy → - 10-32 Spiral Point Tap$6Amazon
These taps push chips forward allowing you to easily tap thru holes such as in rounded hex shaft.
View / buy → - Tap Handle$10Amazon
Used with the tap to make 10-32 holes
View / buy → - Automatic Center Punch$9Amazon
Quickly and easily mark a hole to drill so the bit won't walk.
View / buy → - External Chamfer Bit$9Amazon
Used to chamfer the ends of shafts so they more easily go into bearings. Works with 1/2". and 3/8" hex shafts.
View / buy → - 5/32 Hex Keys$4Amazon
Buying multiple individual hex keys allows you to purchase only the main sizes you need. You should also have a set, but most things will be 10-32 socket heads, which this 5/32 wrench will fit. 1/8" hex key for button and flat head #10 bolts, and 3/16" for 1/4-20 socket heads are also common on FRC robots.
View / buy → - 1/8" Hex Keys$4AmazonView / buy →
- 3/16" hex keys$5AmazonView / buy →
- Aviation Snips$17Amazon
Used for cutting thin plastic and metal. We often use them to cut 1/8" or thinner polycarbonate.
View / buy → - Wire Stripper/Cutter$16Amazon
Used for stripping and cutting small (non-battery) wires. If you use WAGO lever nuts this is really the only tool you need for wiring most of your robot.
View / buy → - Hydraulic Crimper$48Amazon
Used to crimp large gauge wire, this is much easier than most hand crimpers and gets a better result.
View / buy → - Pinecil Soldering Iron$26Pine64
This is a very nice soldering iron for the price, you will need a USB-C PD power supply, many laptop supplies should work.
View / buy → - Battery Beak$108AndyMark
Used for checking your Robot batteries, this measures internal resistance which is a better measure of battery health than just voltage.
View / buy → - Multimeter$10Amazon
Most any multimeter will be good enough for new teams. You can check battery voltage if you don't have your battery beak. You can check continuity on wires, etc.
View / buy → - Screwdriver set$7Harbor Freight
You shouldn't have many (or any) phillips or flat head screws on your robot so you aren't really using these for building it. These are used for normal shop tasks mostly so they don't need to be that high quality even dollar store ones will probably work for a while.
View / buy → - Flush Cutters$8Amazon
Buying a pack of these is a good idea, we have dozens. We use them mostly for cutting zip ties but also used for wiring as well.
View / buy → - Deburring Tool$7Amazon
Used for cleaning up drilled or cut parts and removing sharp edges.
View / buy → - 1" Belt Sander$60Harbor Freight
Used for smoothing edges or cut tubes, shafts, etc. Can also make things a more precise length if you cut them long.
View / buy → - Digital Scale$40Amazon
Used to weigh your robot, bumpers, components, etc. This ensures you don't show up to your event over the weight limit.
View / buy → - Wrench Set$21Harbor Freight
This set has regular and stubby of most common sizes. You may want to buy more 3/8" wrench or even 3/8" ratcheting wrenches as these are used on #10-32 nuts.
View / buy → - #25 Chain Brake$35Rev Robotics
Used to break and reattach #25 chain links. WCP Chain Tool also works for the same price - WCP-1182
View / buy → - Heat Gun$29Amazon
Used for many things such as heat shrink, or removing loctite-ed hardware. Many different brands, corded or cordless works for this. A hair dryer could work in a pinch for light duty tasks.
View / buy → - Hot Glue Gun$18Amazon
Used for securing electrical connections, and can also be used for certain robot assemblies.
View / buy → - Locking Pliers$12Harbor Freight
Countless uses as regular pliers or clamps. And can be used as a wrench if you don't have the right size or a tap handle, etc
View / buy → - Bar Clamps$17Amazon
Used for securing material to cut or drill
View / buy → - Pliers Set$15Harbor Freight
All the uses of pliers, gripping, holding, grabbing, etc.
View / buy → - Cheap socket and bit set$13Walmart
We always end up losing sockets and bits so we just buy cheap ones. For most stuff we can't tell the difference. Home Depot and Lowes normally have $5 or $10 sets around Black Friday and Christmas too.
View / buy → - Metal File$8Harbor Freight
For cleaning up edges after a cut or removing small amounts of material.
View / buy → - Mallet$8Harbor Freight
We have had one of these for years, and it works fine. We also have other rubber mallets but this one has kept working for most things.
View / buy → - Hacksaw$9Harbor Freight
Most of the cutting should be done with one of the power tools but having a hack saw on hand is still useful. We've had one of the cheap ones for a long time and it works, it's not great but it works, if you want to spend $10-20 you can buy a better one but hopefully you aren't using it much.
View / buy → - Combination Square$12Amazon
Used for measuring and layout tasks. The included scribe is useful for marking hex shafts.
View / buy → - Digital Calipers$20Amazon
A good pair is much more expensive, but a cheap set will do for most things.
View / buy → - Tape Measure$15Harbor Freight
Most any tape measure will do. We like ones that have feet and meters. We started keeping these small 9ft dewalts around the shop - https://amzn.to/49WMu8y
View / buy → - Hammer$6Harbor Freight
Shouldn't need it often but there will always be times when you do.
View / buy → - Staple gun$22
A varity of options exist, manual, corded, pneumatic, cordless, etc. You'll mostly use this for attaching bumper fabric to the backer (plywood)
View / buy → - EMT Shears$11Amazon
A set of 6 is $10 they are great work scissors.
View / buy → - Scissors$1Dollar Store
Any cheap pair that can cut paper.
- Utility knife/box cutter$1Dollar Store
You can pick these up nearly anywhere, can be used for stripping large gauge (6 AWG/4 AWG) wire if needed.
- Fabric tape measure$1Fabric store
Fabric stores have them for $1 or 2. Used for measure your robot's frame perimeter and ensuring you meet the rules.
- Marking Tools$3Most stores
Sharpies, pencils, etc. Metalic Silver Sharpies are useful for marking black parts.
| Item | Vendor | Price | Why | Link |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bambu Labs A1 | Bambu Labs | $339 | A good quality 3D printer can make a lot of different parts for FRC robots. Use PLA+, PETG, or some engineering filaments (PA, etc). A 3D printer is one of the cheapest and easiest CNC machines to use and a great way to start making custom parts for your team. A hardened nozzle for $10 will allow you to print carbon fiber filled materials such as NylonCF and PETG-CF. | View → |
| Bench Horizontal Bandsaw | Amazon | $170 | Used for cutting hex shafts, extrusion, etc. | View → |
| Evolution Track Saw | Amazon | $183 | Serves as a circular saw and a table saw. Can break down a sheet of plywood or aluminum sheet. | View → |
| Jigsaw | Amazon | $33 | A jigsaw is great for cutting sheet material such as wood, plastic and aluminum. Allows you to make interior cutouts for field elements or complex shapes that are harder to produce with the track saw and bandsaw. | View → |
| Cordless drill & driver | Home Depot | $150 | Investing in a quality cordless tool system early is highly beneficial. The Milwaukee M12 Rivet gun is extremely useful for FRC, so we recommend this system, but other teams have used Dewalt 20V, Ryobi 18V, or any other system with success. The subcompact tools are brushless and work very well. The Drill+Driver kit is usually a much better deal than the drill individually. M12 tools are smaller than most 18V tools and fit more comfortably in the hands of young students. The non-fuel drills/driver kit is around $100 and works as well, but the fuel or subcompact kit is worth it. | View → |
| M12 Rivet Gun | Amazon | $210.00 | Rivet quickly and easily. Rivets are lightweight and inexpensive, and can easily secure gussets to perforated tubes. We recommend Multi-grip Aluminum rivets with steel mandrels. Hand Rivet options work, but at the quantity required for a robot, these battery-powered options are a significant improvement. | View → |
| Drill Bit Set | Harbor Freight | $20 | Used for drilling holes. We recommend buying extra 13/64", #7, or 5mm drill bits as these can all be used for #10 bolt holes and 3/16" rivet holes. We started buying double-sided cobalt drill bits, and they have worked well for us. | View → |
| Step Drill | Amazon | $10 | Used for drilling various-sized holes in thin metal. | View → |
| Countersink Bits | Amazon | $10 | Used for making countersinking holes to allow flathead bolts to fit flat. | View → |
| Vise | Amazon | $45 | Clamping parts for cutting, drilling, tapping, etc. Can also be used as a press for bearing, etc when needed. | View → |
| 10-32 Spiral Point Tap | Amazon | $6 | These taps push chips forward allowing you to easily tap thru holes such as in rounded hex shaft. | View → |
| Tap Handle | Amazon | $10 | Used with the tap to make 10-32 holes | View → |
| Automatic Center Punch | Amazon | $9 | Quickly and easily mark a hole to drill so the bit won't walk. | View → |
| External Chamfer Bit | Amazon | $9 | Used to chamfer the ends of shafts so they more easily go into bearings. Works with 1/2". and 3/8" hex shafts. | View → |
| 5/32 Hex Keys | Amazon | $4 | Buying multiple individual hex keys allows you to purchase only the main sizes you need. You should also have a set, but most things will be 10-32 socket heads, which this 5/32 wrench will fit. 1/8" hex key for button and flat head #10 bolts, and 3/16" for 1/4-20 socket heads are also common on FRC robots. | View → |
| 1/8" Hex Keys | Amazon | $4 | View → | |
| 3/16" hex keys | Amazon | $5 | View → | |
| Aviation Snips | Amazon | $17 | Used for cutting thin plastic and metal. We often use them to cut 1/8" or thinner polycarbonate. | View → |
| Wire Stripper/Cutter | Amazon | $16 | Used for stripping and cutting small (non-battery) wires. If you use WAGO lever nuts this is really the only tool you need for wiring most of your robot. | View → |
| Hydraulic Crimper | Amazon | $48 | Used to crimp large gauge wire, this is much easier than most hand crimpers and gets a better result. | View → |
| Pinecil Soldering Iron | Pine64 | $26 | This is a very nice soldering iron for the price, you will need a USB-C PD power supply, many laptop supplies should work. | View → |
| Battery Beak | AndyMark | $108 | Used for checking your Robot batteries, this measures internal resistance which is a better measure of battery health than just voltage. | View → |
| Multimeter | Amazon | $10 | Most any multimeter will be good enough for new teams. You can check battery voltage if you don't have your battery beak. You can check continuity on wires, etc. | View → |
| Screwdriver set | Harbor Freight | $7 | You shouldn't have many (or any) phillips or flat head screws on your robot so you aren't really using these for building it. These are used for normal shop tasks mostly so they don't need to be that high quality even dollar store ones will probably work for a while. | View → |
| Flush Cutters | Amazon | $8 | Buying a pack of these is a good idea, we have dozens. We use them mostly for cutting zip ties but also used for wiring as well. | View → |
| Deburring Tool | Amazon | $7 | Used for cleaning up drilled or cut parts and removing sharp edges. | View → |
| 1" Belt Sander | Harbor Freight | $60 | Used for smoothing edges or cut tubes, shafts, etc. Can also make things a more precise length if you cut them long. | View → |
| Digital Scale | Amazon | $40 | Used to weigh your robot, bumpers, components, etc. This ensures you don't show up to your event over the weight limit. | View → |
| Wrench Set | Harbor Freight | $21 | This set has regular and stubby of most common sizes. You may want to buy more 3/8" wrench or even 3/8" ratcheting wrenches as these are used on #10-32 nuts. | View → |
| #25 Chain Brake | Rev Robotics | $35 | Used to break and reattach #25 chain links. WCP Chain Tool also works for the same price - WCP-1182 | View → |
| Heat Gun | Amazon | $29 | Used for many things such as heat shrink, or removing loctite-ed hardware. Many different brands, corded or cordless works for this. A hair dryer could work in a pinch for light duty tasks. | View → |
| Hot Glue Gun | Amazon | $18 | Used for securing electrical connections, and can also be used for certain robot assemblies. | View → |
| Locking Pliers | Harbor Freight | $12 | Countless uses as regular pliers or clamps. And can be used as a wrench if you don't have the right size or a tap handle, etc | View → |
| Bar Clamps | Amazon | $17 | Used for securing material to cut or drill | View → |
| Pliers Set | Harbor Freight | $15 | All the uses of pliers, gripping, holding, grabbing, etc. | View → |
| Cheap socket and bit set | Walmart | $13 | We always end up losing sockets and bits so we just buy cheap ones. For most stuff we can't tell the difference. Home Depot and Lowes normally have $5 or $10 sets around Black Friday and Christmas too. | View → |
| Metal File | Harbor Freight | $8 | For cleaning up edges after a cut or removing small amounts of material. | View → |
| Mallet | Harbor Freight | $8 | We have had one of these for years, and it works fine. We also have other rubber mallets but this one has kept working for most things. | View → |
| Hacksaw | Harbor Freight | $9 | Most of the cutting should be done with one of the power tools but having a hack saw on hand is still useful. We've had one of the cheap ones for a long time and it works, it's not great but it works, if you want to spend $10-20 you can buy a better one but hopefully you aren't using it much. | View → |
| Combination Square | Amazon | $12 | Used for measuring and layout tasks. The included scribe is useful for marking hex shafts. | View → |
| Digital Calipers | Amazon | $20 | A good pair is much more expensive, but a cheap set will do for most things. | View → |
| Tape Measure | Harbor Freight | $15 | Most any tape measure will do. We like ones that have feet and meters. We started keeping these small 9ft dewalts around the shop - https://amzn.to/49WMu8y | View → |
| Hammer | Harbor Freight | $6 | Shouldn't need it often but there will always be times when you do. | View → |
| Staple gun | $22 | A varity of options exist, manual, corded, pneumatic, cordless, etc. You'll mostly use this for attaching bumper fabric to the backer (plywood) | View → | |
| EMT Shears | Amazon | $11 | A set of 6 is $10 they are great work scissors. | View → |
| Scissors | Dollar Store | $1 | Any cheap pair that can cut paper. | |
| Utility knife/box cutter | Dollar Store | $1 | You can pick these up nearly anywhere, can be used for stripping large gauge (6 AWG/4 AWG) wire if needed. | |
| Fabric tape measure | Fabric store | $1 | Fabric stores have them for $1 or 2. Used for measure your robot's frame perimeter and ensuring you meet the rules. | |
| Marking Tools | Most stores | $3 | Sharpies, pencils, etc. Metalic Silver Sharpies are useful for marking black parts. |
Next $6000
Section titled “Next $6000”Once a team outgrows the $2000 list, here’s what we’d buy next.
- Omio X8 CNC Router$3,380Omio
A CNC router is one of the best investments an FRC team can make if they want to produce custom parts in house. This cost includes shipping to the US. If you need to order from the US, WCProducts sales them as well for $4000. With services such as https://www.fabworks.com/ in existence, many teams may be better off spending money outsourcing custom parts for a while until they can purchase a larger/more feature rich CNC machine.
View / buy → - Omio Accessories$300Various
4mm Cutters, spoil board, work holding, etc.
- WCP Omio Tube Jig$400WCProducts
Used to hold aluminum tube to the router table
View / buy → - 3 ton arbor press$436Amazon
Used for pressing things such as bearings into plates can also be used with a hex broach to make a hex hole.
View / buy → - 1/2" hex broach$355.00AndyMark
put hex pattern in the parts
View / buy → - Sheet Metal Plate Shear$99.00Amazon
Cut sheet stock quickly with a straight edge. Another one of the tools you didn't know you were missing, we love our shear it makes cutting down scrap from the router so much faster.
View / buy → - Large Gauge Wire Stripper$50Amazon
This is expensive for a wire stripper but it gives a very consistent result without much training.
View / buy → - Milwaukee M12 Fuel drill & driver$180Home Depot
Extra drills and batteries allow more people to work at once.
View / buy → - Bambu Labs A1$399Bambu Labs
Having a 2nd 3D printer is a huge help as you can double your output and have multiple parts printing at once. It also means if one printer is down for maintenance the other can continue to work.
View / buy → - Chop Saw$170Amazon
Used for quickly cutting aluminum tubes and shafts. The portable saw table will do this job as well but the chop saw is a little faster.
View / buy → - Bench Grinder$56Amazon
Different pads such as scotch brite for polishing wheels can help in different applications. They also sell specific aluminum grinding wheels
View / buy → - M12 Rotary Tool$100Home Depot
Many bits and attachments can be used for various small cutting and grinding tasks.
View / buy →
| Item | Vendor | Price | Why | Link |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Omio X8 CNC Router | Omio | $3,380 | A CNC router is one of the best investments an FRC team can make if they want to produce custom parts in house. This cost includes shipping to the US. If you need to order from the US, WCProducts sales them as well for $4000. With services such as https://www.fabworks.com/ in existence, many teams may be better off spending money outsourcing custom parts for a while until they can purchase a larger/more feature rich CNC machine. | View → |
| Omio Accessories | Various | $300 | 4mm Cutters, spoil board, work holding, etc. | |
| WCP Omio Tube Jig | WCProducts | $400 | Used to hold aluminum tube to the router table | View → |
| 3 ton arbor press | Amazon | $436 | Used for pressing things such as bearings into plates can also be used with a hex broach to make a hex hole. | View → |
| 1/2" hex broach | AndyMark | $355.00 | put hex pattern in the parts | View → |
| Sheet Metal Plate Shear | Amazon | $99.00 | Cut sheet stock quickly with a straight edge. Another one of the tools you didn't know you were missing, we love our shear it makes cutting down scrap from the router so much faster. | View → |
| Large Gauge Wire Stripper | Amazon | $50 | This is expensive for a wire stripper but it gives a very consistent result without much training. | View → |
| Milwaukee M12 Fuel drill & driver | Home Depot | $180 | Extra drills and batteries allow more people to work at once. | View → |
| Bambu Labs A1 | Bambu Labs | $399 | Having a 2nd 3D printer is a huge help as you can double your output and have multiple parts printing at once. It also means if one printer is down for maintenance the other can continue to work. | View → |
| Chop Saw | Amazon | $170 | Used for quickly cutting aluminum tubes and shafts. The portable saw table will do this job as well but the chop saw is a little faster. | View → |
| Bench Grinder | Amazon | $56 | Different pads such as scotch brite for polishing wheels can help in different applications. They also sell specific aluminum grinding wheels | View → |
| M12 Rotary Tool | Home Depot | $100 | Many bits and attachments can be used for various small cutting and grinding tasks. | View → |
Last synced July 26, 2026.