Monday, February 08, 2010

What's in the tool locker... or we used to have a quarter berth

I've had several readers asking about what tools I have on board that allows me the freedom to take on various projects like building the odd spar, dinghy, or self steering gear when needful or the urge takes hold...

Those with a low boredom threshold may want to be elsewhere but here is the current tool locker contents.

A couple of claw hammers, a mallet, a set of wood chisels (but I really do need a two-inch slick), several planes, a few Surforms, two Japanese saws (I really don't know how I survived before I got these!), a set of metric and Imperial wrenches & sockets, a half dozen crescent wrenches, various pliers, three vise grips (almost always the wrong tool for any job), a couple of sets of hex keys, a couple of dozen screw drivers (I'm pretty sure they breed!), files, rasps, a couple of Leatherman clones (always the wrong tool for any job), a hand drill (and I really do need a brace), two crow bars, a small hydraulic jack, prop puller, tubing cutter, big hack saw, small hack saw, a tap kit, Nicro press tool, a biggish vise mounted on a board, and a big bag of clamps which is not nearly big enough as you never ever have enough clamps! Plus, lots of seemed-like-a-good-idea-at-the-time bought on sale tools that do come in handy from time to time.

On the power tool front...

A sabre saw (but I lust after this one),  circular saw, Dewalt cordless circular saw (which gets used 90% of the time and is simply wonderful), router (I'd really like a second smaller one as well), Fein tool (gets used every job!), Fein tool clone, two Dewalt cordless drills, a cordless Dremel, a RotoZip tool (the jury is still out on whether this is worth the space), four sanders (1/4 sheet, Six inch, 1/2 sheet, and Seven inch and, of course, the Fein), power plane, angle grinder, small DeWalt shop vac (really needful), ... Any of which run quite happily with our Honda 2000i.

Which is all really pretty basic stuff and looking over the list, the only things missing that would make a real difference is some sort of mini table saw and drill press arrangement and an electric file... Well, as long as we are wishing, a bench top plane would bring a smile, as would a small milling machine... With a small milling machine I could (dare I say it?) rule the world!

I also have a pretty deep electrical tool box but I think those contents are for another day...