I have seen alot of threads asking what tools are Needed to build a ship but not many of what people like to actually use. it could be a handy thread to create and sticky for new people to the hobby. I will start with what i feel are minimal tools needed to build a wood hulled ship with fiberglass tools in () all lists compound. printer, pencil, ruler, hacksaw, drill, (dremmel/fine), sandpaper, tightbond III, spar urathane, gloves, pliers. Recomended Scrollsaw, Expoy, belt sander, square, wire bending tools such as zbend pliers or clamp down stuff. Extra stuff that makes life less crap router, (carbide scisors), epoxy pump, scale, micro bubbles, spindle sander, (vacuume pump), wax, glove liners. For the dream shop. 3D printer, lathe, mill, (vacume chamber), paint booth, shop air cleaner, nice tablesaw(thanks steve). Adding some safety tips for people who don't use epoxy and foam on a daily basis or are generally unexperienced with powertools this will be condesonding to many of you but after giving these speaches many many times i find it works best for teaching newer people this way. ALWAYS USE GLOVES. doesn't matter if your only making "a little" epoxy use gloves 100% of the time. just ask poor astro about his reactions to epoxy. this is a built reaction in that you will eventually react to epoxy period end of story not even maybe. some people can bathe in the stuff for years no reaction at all but the next time, as soon as they touch epoxy, skin will litteraly melt off. ALWAYS WEAR A DUST MASK. especially when cutting fiberglass both unepoxied and epoxied. collapsed lungs are not fun and your pulminologist thinking you are a 5 pack a day smoker after just a single hull is not fun either. KEEP FINGERS AWAY FROM SPINNING THINGS. if you use a dremmel don't lay it down without turning it off. never poke a loose part near the blade with a finger use a scrap of anything instead. if you can't resist touching the moving blade invest in a vibrating multitool such as a "fine" home depot's version is pretty nice and battery powered plus the blades are cheaper and fiberglass will eat the blade up in about one hull. NEVER USE PVC FOAM. just don't the weight savings are negligable and it is very brittle usually. IF YOU DO USE PVC NEVER NEVER NEVER HOT WIRE IT OR TORCH. burning PVC foam creates arsenic gas main reason i just say to stay away from it. if someone could build me a safety list as well as a tools list for cannons that would be apreaceated as i have minimal experience doing anything of that sort. for myself i have up to makes life less crap + 3 lathes(one metal one unsetup and a mini wood lathe) , a mill, and paint booth. building my vacume chamber but i may resize it to be big enough to do resin impregnation on strips of balsa for impenitrable areas that will not rot ever as well as mold making.
You forgot tablesaw (with a nice fence) for the dream shop. All other tools pale in comparison in usefulness. Power miter saw or a floor drill press would be next IMO.
If tugboat (or other admin) wants to start collecting these things and create a topic (or rename this one) sticky it where it would be most useful we could use this thread to accumulate ideas and that one to actually answer questions anyone might have. demystifying and simplifying things might help bring new people in as well as keep them going after they find this hobby. i have yet to actually finish a hull and it will be at least another month before i get my unarmed not shot at hull finished it looks like. however by the end of december i'm gonna have something that can get sunk rather than just putter around
You really don't NEED much. I built my first boat with a Dremel (battery powered), an X-Acto Knife, and a low wattage soldering iron. In a dorm room. A wood hull takes a bit more but generally speaking starting with fiberglass is recommended unless you already have all the tools and some know-how.
I would respectfully disagree with Herr Tyng on the usefulness of a table saw in this particular hobby. A Dremel-ish tool and a scrollsaw are FAR more useful, and I would go so far as to rate a bandsaw as much more useful for building model boats than the tablesaw.
Power miter saw? To steal a quote from my favoritest movie ever...'If it wasn't Buckaroo Banzai, I'd say commit the man...' BUT.... it's Steve Tyng, who has done many very sparky things in life* and has my admiration for being a very shmott guy in general, so I have to know... what do you use your power miter saw for in boat building? Because if it's good, my own such saw is going to be less lazy... *among others, designing a LOT of original technology for RC tanks that I am trying to copy...
He said dream shop didn't he? IMO, a dream shop shouldn't be limited to model boat building. If that where the case, a $40 CL scroll saw and a kitchen counter would suffice. I bet your miter saw came in handy during that last punk build session?
So did McSpuds mini-sized table router. And Tuggy's drill press. And bandsaw. And portable drill. And scroll saw. And...come to think of it, I think we had every tool in his shop going!
A good, full-size mill. After the band saw and the giant disk sander, it was the most-used power tool in the Castano Shipyards, my old shop. One day we'd be precision-machining aluminum motor mounts, the next day it'd be cannons from solid PVC, and the next day we'd have a whole boat in the vice, cutting a water channel or a cannon mount or who knows what else.
Carl, when you get your re-enlistment bonus, you may feel free to buy a good, full-size mill and leave it in my shop where you can use it Steve, you have no idea how disappointed I am. I figured that you, who perennially surprise us with 'how the hell did he think of THAT' ideas, had discovered yet another such idea I fully agree that a shop should be more than a boat shop. That way, I can indulge my ADD with model tanks, and use it to help restore my car, etc Seriously contemplating a burled walnut veneer (sp?) dash for the MGB with some other suitable wood trim
Actually, if you buy a good full-size mill, go ahead and get a good CNC one, and I'll supply a computer to run it I'm just cool like that.
MGB huh? I tried that throw another-grand-in hobby that is British sports car ownership a couple of times. I'm definitely not getting sucked into that again but the ol'e TR-6 or XJS wouldn't fit in the new shop anyway! As far as the miter saw, I'll admit it's more useful in the tank hobby. I cut most of my roadwheels on it besides the typical cutting to length stuff. Since I do home remodels also (I own five of the damned things), the miter saw is the MOST USED tool for that. I just added a mini metal lathe which has added some nice capability.
I should have put enclosed heated/cooled shop up there on dream shop. i would say the various sizes of the rooms in my shop but i don't want to be hunted down after that. i will just say parts where built to build a full size plane in 3 pieces, 2 wings and body.
Rockler jig saw, take your time and you can do anything with just this tool (basically an upside down jig saw). ww.rockler.com/rockwell-blade-runner-jig-saw-multi-purpose-precision-cutter
Soldering tools and equipment for electronic/electrical, props, stuffing tubes, couplings, bilge pumps, battery packs and - oh yeah, guns. Also cerrobend if appropriate for gun type. Dream shop- An air compressor suitable for testing gun systems, and then cycling them thousands of times.
Now the question, with such an air compressor, why did I not think of this until Rocketsmith suggested it??
To much Girl Genius? I'm enjoying the railroad storyline. People tend to approach problem solving from the their background of experience. Some write code for cnc, some use more conventional tools and some like to use traditional methods. I usually ask "after I stick it in a fire, how do I hit it with a hammer?". This usually leads to "OK, what else can I try?" I often omit step one, and substitute with "people have already done this. What did they most likely do?".
Yes, I'm loving it, and waiting to see where things go I am seriously going to run an air line from the shed into the shop. That way the mass of the air compressor doesn't fill my shop, and the compressor is still where it needs to be to work on the MGB...
