Tools and stuff you wished you had when you started...

So as a new builder I've found a few things which would have made the whole process alot quicker (and neater in some cases!) as the build went on..

  • Mirka abranet sanding net - OMG this stuff is incredable, more than worth the cost if you dont have a random orbital sander and with no mess or epoxy clog
  • Silicon grouting shapers - filleting for perfectionists.
  • Rubber concave/convex sanding forms - for finicky fillets.

And some I wish I hadn't bothered with:

  • Veritas roundover hand planes (messed up rails)
  • Regular sandpaper (see above)

What have you found you can no longer do without as your build went on?


9 replies:

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RE: Tools and stuff you wished you had when you started...

���I tried scarfing a bunch of Doug fir with a hand plane at first. I quickly bought a power plane and appreciated it very much. Making rails and spars with a circular saw looks ridiculously hard in hindsight now that I have a table saw. I still don't own a router, chop saw, or bench planer but they have crossed mind

RE: Tools and stuff you wished you had when you started...

Shinto rasp... one of those things made up of a buncha hacksaw blades, teeth on both sides. Bought one in '72 for building a stripper scow, still have it! Works great on epoxy for shaping & smoothing out drips & stuff.

Multi-tool! Corded or battery; mine's a corded Bosch I bought eight years ago for working with cedar siding. Finding it invaluable for sanding epoxy in cockpit of my current build, one of CLC's Waterlust canoes.  

RE: Tools and stuff you wished you had when you started...

riffler rasps:

https://www.clcboats.com/modules/catalog/product.php?category_qn=boat-building-supplies-epoxy-fiberglass-plywood&subcat_qn=booth-tools&code=riffler-rasp-set

Mighty handy little devils.

.....Michael

RE: Tools and stuff you wished you had when you started...

   About a decade ago I got a router, I forget what the project was, but it didn't get used much.  It was fabulous for trimming the deck on the Kaholo, cutting the deck plate hole, and installing the inlay.  

  Just recently I got a bit brace (old one off ebay).  The fine control you get compared with the power drill was really nice for drilling pilot holes for the deck plate and rigging (among lots of other ancillary projects like storage racks, etc.)

RE: Tools and stuff you wished you had when you started...

���Air conditioning.

RE: Tools and stuff you wished you had when you started...

   On the pricey side, a Festool orbital sander with a rectangular footprint. The ~3" width lets you run the sanders flat across panels, and built-in dust collection you can sand indoors. Downside was that once I'd laid out $800 for sander I 'justified' the cost by spreading it across more boats. Now there's no garage space and I'm going to fill up the lawn pretty soon.

RE: Tools and stuff you wished you had when you started...

 I'd like a workshop . . .

RE: Tools and stuff you wished you had when you started...

I wish that I had bought the Veritas Honing Guide and Lie Nielson Planes before my first build.  I struggled with dull, lower quality planes through all of my S&G builds.  The Robobevel is great fpor strip builders not using bead and cove strips, but some hand beveling is still required.  The Stanley Spoke Shave is garbage.

   

RE: Tools and stuff you wished you had when you started...

Double garage or barn.

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