Tools and Parts
Tools
The following is an incomplete list of tools and parts that you will want to have handy while working on projects. I say incomplete because there will always be something else you will want to have. Always.
Screw and nut drivers of various shapes and sizes. The most common are flat head, Philips, Torx, Allen, and standard and metric hex head.
Scissors and box cutter for opening packages of parts.
A multimeter. You can but don’t need to spend a lot of money on one of these. The more expensive ones tend to be more accurate and rugged but even the cheap ones will do quite well for what we will use them for.
A soldering iron. Again the more expensive ones can have more features but even the cheap ones will usually get the job done. That said I personally prefer one with a stand, power switch, temperature control and a place for a tip cleaning sponge. I got one of the cheapest ones that have these features and I’m quite happy with it.
Tweezers. Again, nothing fancy needed. You can even sometimes get lucky and get them included free with other things.
Pliers, wire cutters and strippers.
I wouldn’t go the absolute cheapest for the pliers and cutters but you don’t have to spend a lot either. Just look for those that have lots of good reviews.
Something to hold your project in place while you work on it. I use a homemade 3D printed circuit board holder and and an ‘octopus’, a base with several bendy arms with clips on the ends. There are lots of other choices out there from things you can find around the house to very expensive overly complicated monstrosities. There is one type I have been considering getting that you clamp the board into, populate the through hole components, clip on a foam backed cover that holes everything in place and you can then flip it over and go to town soldering without everything falling out. Maybe someday but for now I just install one or a few components at a time.
A solder removal tool and some solder wick because mistakes will be made. Oh, yes, they will.
Parts containers such as drawers, boxes or even sandwich bags. Important note – label everything even if you think you will remember what it is.
Optional but necessary if you are going to do SMT stuff is a Hot Air SMD Rework Station which is fancy heat gun to melt solder paste to hold really small surface mount components. The one I use was $50 and came with some tweezers, a solder remover and a few other things and works very well.
Parts
While some things you will only need to purchase as needed there are some things you will want to have a good selection of on hand and you can get really inexpensive kits with multiple values of from online stores.
Capacitors
Resistors
Potentiometers
Wire of many types, colors and sizes
Switches
LEDs
Batteries and holders
Headers of various types and colors
IC sockets
Commonly used ICs
Voltage regulators
A fair variety of microcontrollers, sensors and displays
At least a couple Raspberry Pis (I don’t normally specify name brands but these are pretty specific and handy)
I’m sure you will get a MUCH larger collection over time but this is a good starting point. Don’t go out and buy it all at once but when you need a capacitor get a nice collection instead of just one and so on.