So looks like coming in March I'll have some garage space for a workbench! Finally! I'm looking to get some power tools, a.d looking for suggestions on must haves for this hobby. Definitely getting a drill press, scroll saw, and a belt/disc sander. Maybe a table or miter saw? But that's the kind of stuff I'm looking at for suggestions.
A good Dremel is well worth it for this hobby. After that a scroll saw and then a belt sander. Drill press is next. You can make a VERY competent ship with those tools. Personally I'd say lathe, band saw, and mill after that. But that depends on what you want to do with the hobby, they are completely skipable. If you want to include it a 3D printer would be in the upper half of the list somewhere assuming you know/will learn CAD, if not it drops a bit. A little orbital sander can be handy but also not a must have. A decent soldering iron and a basic soldering gun can make the electrical tasks much easier. (Trying to solder big motor wires with a 40W pencil I find very frustrating.). Oh a decent multimeter, probably a touch nicer than the "free" harbor freight ones but those have been known to work ok sometimes so YMMV. Good/Great Lighting!!! Most shops/garages/basements have piss poor lighting. Spend the coin to get good lighting, 1000% worth it. Lots of high color temp lights. Also cushion mats for the floor, there's a reason real shops have good lighting and anti fatigue mats at workstations. Also places to sit, my shop stools are super cheap Craigslist/Goodwill purchases.
I have the dremel covered. Now I'll have a place to really use it. Same with the soldering iron. I was thinking also a band saw., but I think a 3d printer would come before that, just because if I get a band saw. I want a full one, not just a bench top one. The 3d printer would go inside in my living room (this house has 2, one carpeted one and one vinyl floor, I get the vinyl) where my computer would be. An orbital sander is coming as the wife wants to redo the kitchen cabinets already, and we haven't even move in yet. I didn't think about lights, will have to get some of those. I need to get an actual bench in there too. And a decent stool out there as well.
Lighting, install additional outlets, and build workbenches and set up shelving BEFORE filling the space. I moved my household in via the garage and I'm still fighting to reclaim space. Its a constant shuffle to move crap to work on projects.
Lighting!!!!!!!!!! 5000k to 6000k . If you think you need more , you do! Harbor Freight is your friend for inexpensive , and yes Virginia you get what you pay for, tools.
Snipehunter has covered the tools themselves pretty well. My only tip is that whatever tools you get, do your research and pick the right tools for the job. Different people have different needs, so make sure you know what you specifically need. In many cases, the cheapest option is best, but not always. For example, a scroll saw can cut large pieces of wood, allowing you to build the largest of battleships, But a small bandsaw takes up less table space. I did a lot of research to pick a collection of tools that I could fit on a single rolling cart. Since I move frequently my tools need to be portable. Here is my workshop at my old house. Bandsaw, drill press, and combo sander, with dust control underneath. This is an older photo, I have since surrounded the vacuum with sound-absorbing foam to keep the noise down. .
It really depends upon what and how you typically build. Bandsaws are great if you cut out a lot of decks, if on the other hand, you get them laser cut, they are rarely used (I almost never use mine). Oscillating tools are really handy for cutting glass hulls but dremels also work fine. It really depends on what/how you will be building. I have mainly built wood hulls in the last decade, and generally I use a dremel, soldering iron, assorted knives and sand paper, scissors, hand drill, and a 3d printer. no other tools are used with any regularity for me (not that I don't have them available, but I don't need them). the 3d printer has basically eliminated the need for the drill press for me, as I 3d print all the components that typically would need drilling precision now (cannons). that being said, don't start there, understand how cannons work and fail before going to 3d printed ones.
My garage is 99% auto shop tools with a scroll saw and belt sander tossed in and very nervously watching me beat up the rest of my tools. I agree with most of the above, but wanted to add/reiterate: ORGANIZE ORGANIZE ORGANIZE This is your chance! It's so much harder to set up the shop when the shop is already filled with stuff. Bins bins bins. Little bins on a wall mounted rack, find a Demolition sale and maybe buy some cheap kitchen cabinets, build shelves for holding 6ft 40lb model boats. Build your workbenches and get them where you want them, set up your tool stations and supplies so they're logically arranged. Keep the electrical connectors, heat shrink, soldering stuff over by the soldering area, etc. I'm terrible at putting stuff away and I know it, I lose stuff all the time. So by implementing a very organized system you can make sure that what you need is where it should be. And make sure you put stuff back! I have a local kid who I help work on his truck here at my shop and I'm constantly behind him picking up tools and piling them up in front of the big box, he thinks he's done at the end of the day and is filthy and tired and there I am not letting him leave til all the tools are cleaned and put back. 3d printing and this hobby are interesting companions. Worry about the tools pretty much in the order @SnipeHunter listed, the 3d printer is only as good as the files being made for it and if you can't make your own files you are at the mercy of people who can. I'd probably add to your drill press a "milling vice" also called "cross-slide" vice. Or you could get fancy and add a X-Y table. Makes pretty much any semi-precise drilling job easier. Oh, and x10 on the places to sit and anti-fatigue mats. Think about how long it takes in man hours to build one of these things. If you can't stand being out in your shop because your back is hurting from working on the boat, you won't get much done. Same goes for temperature, if the garage isn't heated then an absolutely mandatory tool is going to be a Mr. Buddy or something to get the temp up in the cold days.
this is so important, you have to want to be out there. if its a miserable place to work, you'll find an excuse to work on something else.
Ten thousands times yes. Heat is a must have if you are north. If the shop is cold then nothing works, period. In a garage heat could be a issue. Wood stove? I love mine.
I have a propane Jet heater my step dad is giving me. Also there is a vent from the furnace out into the garage I'm going to look at seeing about opening up
Closing on Wednesday (2 days from now). Plan is to get a workbench and toolbox, bench sander, scroll saw and drill press. I think I may also get more of the small hand toolboxes, and try to get more basic hand tools so I can have a "grab and go" pond side box. I do want to also get a bigger box for my soldering iron, I've been keeping that seperate with all the stuff to do soldering jobs, as it's been handy, just grab the bag for electrical work I'll be looking into lights and also wall plugs when we get to close, to see what is there and what can be done. I know eventually the wife wants a garage door opener, but I'm pretty sure the only plugs up in the ceiling were in the light fixtures. Pretty sure those would only work when the switch is on. Would be a good time to rewire things.
Embarrassingly, or not, hard to say... my garage door openers run on extension cords. Previous owner installed them and ran them that way, it works and I haven't been assed to run a branch off a wall circuit up to wire them. It's on my 'fix this before you eventually sheetrock' list. They just plugged in the cords , went straight up the wall, looped around the ceiling crossmembers and to the openers. I figure they've been that way for at least 20 years, more likely 30+
Come to think of it, I dont remember seeing any plugs in the wall either. Might have a wiring job to do :/ but it's been a bit since seeing the inside, and I cant say for certain if it did or did not have any. I know from old pictures that the garage door was French doors at one point. Not sure why or what it was used for before. There's also no door to get to the back yard from the garage, you have to open the side gate right off of it, unless you want to walk all through the house. I'll be putting a door in sometime, so might as well take down all the paneling and figure it all out.
That is true. The stairs though really make the entrance a bit narrow. I figured I could put the door on the wall up by the garage door, as I'd probably not be able to use that space anyways. Have it open outwards into the yard, make it so it swings all the way open as well to get things in and out. I put a picture since I'm not good with words and explanations lol Eventually we want to widen it and make it a 2 car garage, and tear down the shed in the back. But that's farther on down the line. The shed is too small to really do anything with other than store a push mower, bicycles, and such. It's wide, but very short, even the wife has to duck to get into it, which says something, lol
I'm going to get a cheap "shop" pc. So I'll just need some good speakers for it. Probably even mount them in the corners even.
So, was also thinking, if I get a tool box here at home, and have it loaded with all my tools, what am I going to bring to the pond? I should also be looking at that, what pond side tools should I have. besides spare parts: screwdrivers (a multi-bit work?) allen wrenches, a couple good pairs of pliers (needlenose, slipjoint, side cutters). magnet, e6000, zip ties, pen. table, awning, chair would one want to bring a box of butt connectors? with a heat source (lighter) to do the heat shrink tube. for field repairs until it can be fixed properly? I really seem to draw a blank when it comes to what tools are needed. IDK why though lol. Once I get the scroll saw and some sanding equipment (other than the sanding wheel on my dremel) i should be good for a bit. but now to work on a pond side box too, so i'm not lugging everything everywhere like I have been (i've even been bringing boxes of wood.)
Basically, you'll figure out what you personally need the most based on what you don't have when you finally are lakeside. Don't try to bring the entire shop with you. If you don't have it, someone else might. But this is what I can come up with off the top of my head, that I have in my box, that I regularly use. My suggestion is to build a completely separate lakeside toolbox, don't touch it when you're at home, and don't bring any of your "home" tools to the lake. Go to harbor freight, get yourself a complete set of pliers, screwdrivers, wire cutter/stripper, and a full set of allen keys both metric and standard. I like these guys off of amazon *in addition* to regular L shaped allen keys: https://www.amazon.com/Bondhus-10632-Balldriver-Screwdrivers-ProGuard/dp/B0006O4ABK/ Bring a pair of decent scissors. While you're at harbor freight, buy some acid brushes or the little boxes of 1" chip brushes they sell. Buy a two pack of safety glasses and toss them in your box and forget about them, because you will lose yours and need them later. Pen is good for scoring. I like having a clipboard for this purpose. Sharpie and carpenter pencil are good for working on the boat. Have them too. I like having my soldering gun and a little torch for heavier repairs, these won't happen lakeside unless you have power (or a soldering tip for the gas torch, like I use for lakeside repair) but it's better to be able to fix it at the hotel that night vs sitting around all weekend with no boat. Get a little magnet stick for BB removal duty. Butt connectors are eh, if you need to fix some wiring just bring the wire and some XT's and fix the wire. Get a baster for sucking water out of the boat. I don't know specifically what they're called, but these things I got from @Nate G are amazing: For spare parts, think of the stuff in the boat. Don't bring "temporary fix" items that aren't in the boat. Bring a little extra gas hose, some extra hose clamps, some extra fittings. Bring some extra of the wiring that's in the boat, some extra of the connectors in the boat, some heatshrink that fits whats in the boat. If the boat is all XT connectors, bring XT connectors. I like to have at least 1 of every functional part that's in the boat as well. Spare servo, spare ESC, spare BC board, spare motors. Best to have the spare electronics already potted and terminated so they're drop in. BRING SPARE PROPS. You'll thank me later. Bring some CA, some kicker, some E6000, definitely bring some loctite for those set screws you forgot to loctite. (Did you loctite your set screws? Go do it. Right now.) A container of liquid electrical tape for when you forget the heat shrink is never a bad idea. A little 5 minute epoxy for emergency heavy duty fixes. Wait, "Will, I packed basically a whole 'nother boat in my toolbox! This is expensive!" Yeah. Sorry. Did I mention it's also a really good idea to just bring a whole second boat? But the second boat doesn't mean you don't bring the spare parts! This is when it pays to standardize components between boats.
