What's in your toolboxes?

[James 1]

I am currently messing around with some EPS foam i picked up in Wickes and some sample Balsa wood i ordered online.

I have a few different glues/adhesives im testing but i dont think i have a good selection of tools to use.

What type of tools do you guys use ?

I have been trying to take chunks out of the EPS to fit a balsa frame inside... im starting to think it might be easier to just stick the EPS to the sides and top of it instead !

but the foam is pretty difficult to cut a square out of, any tips?

ive found some modelling scalpels online for a few quid which i will be ordering momentarily

thanks for your help

[cymaz]

All the stuff I think I need......but very rarely use.

[Richard Ashworth]

Hi James

I moved onto balsa / ply ARTFs last year and am building a Galaxy Hornet (Pegusus) now.

The 6 tools I have bought and wouldn't want to do without are:

Pin Vice and small diameter drills.

Permagrit block.

Scalpels - Swann Morton with 10A blades plus Aldi do a cheap 26 blade set of mixed blades.

Davids Plane and blades.

Set of small files, various profiles.

Razor saw set.

I already had a wide range of general household tools but these have make it easy!

Richard

[kc]

The Swann Morton Retractaway scalpel takes standard 10A etc blades and is only slightly more expensive than non retract scalpels and obviously safer but just as rigid. 10A blades are easily obtainable at art shops etc and quite cheap so start a new model with a new blade.

[Peter Miller]

I would tell you but I don't have time at my age and I don't think the forum has enough space.

The one thing I will say is the more tools yu have the better.

Scalpels in two sizes. Buy the blades by the box of 100. They ar cheaper that way.

Clamps of every size and shape. If you see a clamp you haven't got, beg, borrow, scrounge or buy it.

Good razor planes. Buy The old Blue GIllette blades on Ebay, the best blade of all for razor planes.

Dremel with sanding drums and disc cutters. Z benders Pwoerscroll saw, at teast three sizes of soldering iron. A good, solid 3 or 4 inch bench vice. Razor saw and a couple of different bladed.

Pliers of all sizes and types.

[Bruce Collinson]

Tweezers, artery forceps/haemostats, magnet on a telescopic stick and LED hand lamp. Magnetic tray.

Can you tell who’s clumsy?

BTC

[zz]

Band aids for the prop strikes and head ache pills for the crashes.

[Piers Bowlan]

I use a Swan Morton for cutting out ribs etc, (I use the no.11 blade though) but for general use I use an OFLA type cutter with the segmented snap off blades. EPS and depron, for that matter, blunt the blade very quickly resulting in poor cuts. Just break off another three segments and you have a sharp blade once more. Also when cutting EPS, extending the blade a couple of inches and drawing the blade through the foam will produce nice clean cuts.

Alternatively you could try a hot wire cutter for EPS. You can get one online or make one up yourself out of wood. You will need to get hold of some nichrome wire, although there are alternatives that may be more suitable now. For a power source I have used a 12v car battery wired in series with a car light bulb (to stop the wire getting too hot). Nowadays, several LiPo battery chargers are available that can supply power to a hot wire cutter, this sounds much more controllable!

I find a two foot steel rule and a cutting matt indispensable as the matt will extend the life of the blades considerably as well as protecting the kitchen table!

[Piers Bowlan]

Also +1 for permagrit sanding block (expensive but good). Razor Plane, Razor saw, small bench vice, fine coping saw, building board suitable for pins, pins!

Edited By Piers Bowlan on 05/09/2018 08:00:33

[Andy G.]

Cutting foam. ...... A LARGE kitchen knife works very well. Just don't tell SWMBO!!!!!

[Peter Miller]

The Works shops sell cutting mats at civilised prices. Lasttime I was in there they had A2 sizes at £8

[Stuart Z]

Woodworking vice with wood face jaws and an engineers vice, steel/iron jaws, both types needed.

[Bob Cotsford]

Posted by Andy G. on 05/09/2018 07:56:57:

Cutting foam. ...... A LARGE kitchen knife works very well. Just don't tell SWMBO!!!!!

Bread knifes are ideal for cutting EPO foams. Serated edge fruit/veg knifes work well for smaller jobs.

[Peter Miller]

A right angle drive for a DRemel. You may only use it once a year or less but it is the only thing that will do the job

Edited By Peter Miller on 05/09/2018 11:42:57

[Josip Vrandecic -Mes]

Here are a lot of auxiliary stuff, apparently unnecessary on first site, but there's one Murphy's Law (supplement), ''if I remove something from the box, this removed item ... I'll need the next day in the field''

[Bob Cotsford]

As we seem to have drifted out of the workshop and onto the flying field - I've started a new regime. First, ditch the ic motors, that reduces the required field box equipment by several kilos. Next, take only those tools needed to assemble the model at the field, essential screw and hex drivers needed for wing bolts. Remove spare props, much easier to just take a spare plane. If the spare plane is not needed then just fly it anyway, it's there so you may as well. Forget charging gear, just take a few ready charged packs.

Now my flightbox contains pretty much nothing but a couple of screwdrivers. Ditch the flightbox and stick the screwdrivers in the transmitter case. Done.

If I could climb up and down hills then even the spare batteries could go, ah well, I'll just have to put up with carrying them for now

Edited By Bob Cotsford on 05/09/2018 14:29:01

[Bruce Collinson]

Mirror on a stick. Think mine might have been a dental mirror. In conjunction with the petrol station LED handlamp (passim), excellent for fiddly surgery in dark recesses, threading Velcro under battery trays etc.

[Nigel R]

I'm with Bob on this one.

"Now my flightbox contains..."

...as little as possible:

TX

plastic spudger*

lipo cell checker

screwdriver for wing bolts

tin full of lipos

bin bag

If anything goes wrong with the model on the ground, I go home. If anything goes wrong before it is back on the ground, or as it arrives on the ground, the bin bag is there to help.

Also, like Bob, take spare model, fly it anyway.

* yes, proper name, plastic spike for separating electrical things - in my case Deans plugs

[Geoff Peacock]

But surely, everyone has that one item in their toolbox which is totally irrelevant to the job in hand (i.e. building models) and of no use at whatsoever.

Mine's a 1-1/2 Amp Slo-blow fuse which has been there since 1963!

What's yours?

[Richard Ashworth]

A 15mm copper pipe cutter and some steel wool.

They have been in my screwdrivers and pliers toolbox which always goes flying (also serves in the car as a plane wheel chock) since I did some plumbing about 1995.

A second "Glue Box" goes every time, Gorilla, CA, UHU Por & duct tape plus a Y lead that's been there unused since 2015.

You can't have too many tool boxes.

[Geoff Parkes]

I find not at the field , but in the workshop a hot melt glue gun comes in very handy, good for securing items in both foam and balsa planes, not used every day but for the price of the gun and glue sticks its worth it just for the occasional use.

[Nigel R]

Ah, workshop bits.

Lots of stuff is already mentioned above

I'd add, a 6" disc sander - absolutely brilliant for ply & hardwood parts, plus thick bits of balsa e.g. when doing cowl parts or similar, and you need repeatable bevels on the edges of the parts.

I find some cuboid lumps of metal tremendously useful too. Prop things up and hold them at right angles to the bench.

1 metre length of aluminium box section with 120 grit on one side, makes a great sanding tool, for straightening up the edges of balsa sheets, giving a light once over on wings before sheeting, etc.

Sanding tools in general, I tend to make small semi-disposable tools out of some hard balsa cut to a concave or convex curve. Or make slot sanders for spars or stringers, again just short lengths / strips glued onto some balsa. More permanent blocks can be made out of lumps of 3/4" MDF. Poor man's permagrits.

Best shop made tool I've done is a fuselage jig - indispensable.

[Bob Cotsford]

On the subject of sanding blocks, I have a broom with a very short stick. I also have a very useful broomstick diameter circular section sander wrapped with green ali oxide paper. Double sided carpet tape has many uses aside from sticking abrasives to useful shaped objects - servo tape substitute being just one.