Tool Kit for cruising

[hpeer]

Being restricted to a 44' 44,000 lb steel boat I left the band saw home. But I do have a small welder.

I have used them all, twice.

[Curmudgeon]

+1 on the stubby little screwdrivers. You need a phillips and a regular. Also, don't forget the microtools. They don't take up much space and you will use them all the time. Plus a set of square drivers.

[jgbrown]

Instead of a soldering iron, I like my Weller butane torch. Faster, adjustable, and can be used on rope ends, heat shrink connectors etc too.

Megapro ss screwdriver is the best if you'll only have one and don't have power tools(picquick shares bits with them). Won't rust, has every driver incl torx.

[Nicholson58]

Originally Posted by ReMetau

I prefer to use tool bags instead of boxes. I have a bag for pliers, vice-grips, channel locks, etc. I have another bag for screw drivers, and then another bag for miscellaneous. I keep my wrenches in rolll-up bags, one for the standard wrenches and the other metric.

The bags are easier to get out instead of a large box and they are okay on the deck or cabin sole.

Agree on that! I started with my metal tool boxes and left rust marks on the engine room deck. Look at Home Depot. They have lots of heavy cloth tool bags - different sizes and layout. I also suggest battery powered tools. We have a complete set of Milwaukee 28 VDC tools. The 1/2 inch right angel drive also operates a winch drive tool. My wife can take me up the mast in minutes. We can also sheet/furl in moments.

Take a massive variety of spare fasteners, tinned marine wire, connectors and a ratchet crimper. I made an electrical tool - imagine a light gauge battery cable set. Use two conductor X 50 feet of sprinkler system wire with alegator clips each end. You can use this to check wiring anywhere on the boat along with a VOM.

[SVNeko]

Re the stubby screwdrivers, I have found that the ratcheting screwbit kit for gunsmiths comes in very handy. Chapman makes a good kit.

[jgbrown]

Favorite bag is the custom leather company yellow waterproof one from west marine of all places.

[Fortytwo]

http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...-box-4071.html

http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...kit-24943.html

http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...ard-38630.html

http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...kit-41143.html

http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...ats-71602.html

http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...ols-92616.html

http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...ard-58661.html

http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...ols-74339.html

[robert sailor]

If you solve most of your problems by writing cheques then your tool bag can be pretty small.

[Andrew Troup]

#1 tool: Top model Leatherman, on a lanyard in pocket of sailing shorts... these are very high quality stainless... I get a hard time for the number of times I get discovered in the bowels of other peoples' yachts after taking a stroll along a wharf, performing "engine rebuilds", adjusting compass dip and such, armed only with my trusty Leatherman. ;-)

I once suggested to my skipper that we could convert one sort of plastic pipe fitting into the sort we'd run out of on board, by using his battery drill as a lathe headstock and the file on a Leatherman as a lathe tool. It worked perfectly - we were offshore in the South Tasman sea at the time... (he had his pair of Mitutoyo premium quality digital calipers onboard... they don't work anymore :-(

I have the clip-on adapter which takes multiple 1/4" hex-shank screwdriver bits. For voyaging, stick to a premium brand of tips, such as Snap-On - there really is a big difference.
Make sure you get torx bits with the axial hole in them, for dismantling "no user serviceable parts inside" equipment. Sailors are automatically exempted from this advice, by Papal decree (must have been that Pope who was a fisherman)(Hence fish meals on Friday ...
but I digress)

A pair of vernier calipers (and I mean, literally, vernier - an oft misused term!) IS a good idea, even if only so you can order the right fasteners when you next make port : either cheap plastic, or carbon fibre, or stainless (but be careful how you clean and stow the latter: it's NOT marine grade stainless)

Dial calipers are borderline and digital calipers in particular generally fairly shortlived at sea, especially if you use them at sea. You can work out the TPI or pitch of the fastener by measuring off an inch (for imperial threads) and counting the threads (starting from zero, not one!) or by measuring across ten or twenty threads (same proviso!) and dividing by 10 or 20 to give the metric pitch. Threads always measure slightly undersize on crest diameter; compare with a thread of known size if in doubt. (Also a good way to confirm pitch: mesh together and hold up to a strong light)

It's hard to tell 8mm from 5/16"; you'll be relying on careful pitch measurement.


Some Weller butane soldering torches have a hot knife alternative tip - great for sealing cordage ends. Mine (Portasol P1-K) also has a hot-air heat tip, for shrinking heatshrink without burning it. Very handy onboard.

Tiny screwdrivers and isopropyl alcohol for dismantling digital cameras and such when you fall in the sea wearing them.... also needed for tightening hinge screws on eyeglasses.

Some high-spec stainless tools (eg allen wrenches by Wera) are now available on the general market. Allen wrenches are arguably a good thing to have in stainless as they do not transfer ferritic particles to the fastener, possibly causing contamination corrosion, but this is probably only of concern to those of us who answer to "Captain Anal".

I'm a fan of them, as rusty allen keys offend me (not just because I generally answer as above.... and that's only because I'm "analytical", to be sure!)

It's worth taking a centerpunch, ground with a four-facet pyramidal point. This does a much better job of starting a drill on marine stainless: the profile of the divot is produced with a lot less strain-hardening than the usual conical centre-pop.

Consequently the metal is a lot less likely to blunt the tip of your pilot drill, which is the first in a cascade of undesirable consequences resulting in a lot of swearing when forced to drill stainless with a hand-held drill motor.

Another useful item for long-distance voyagers is a Portalign drill guide.

Precision Drill Guide Portalign | eBay

This turns a drill motor (provided the spindle thread is 3/8" x 24tpi) into a (very) rudimentary drill press, but much lighter and more compact and useful than the usual crappy adapter.

For boatbuilding I have two: one where I've cut the baseplate from an O to a C so I can get closer to sidewalls. Particularly good for drilling and tapping holes in aluminium or steel boats. (Using spiral flute premium machine taps for the latter)
It's also VERY handy for cross drilling shafts, with the built in V rests, aligned with the spindle.

The base can be clamped to the work for drilling stainless: if you do this, and put a piece of masking tape on the place to be drilled, even shiny stainless can be drilled WITHOUT a centrepop, which is a big help (to avoid the above syndrome)

One or more Unibits or similar (high spec) stepped drill bits are virtually indispensable if you expect to drill thin metal. The good brands cope with stainless if you run them slow with cutting fluid: dish detergent will do if you've nothing better.

And a Z-VISE (formerly Zyliss Vice) - search on this string for a video demo - is the mutt's nuts for onboard wood or metal bashing - admittedly that's something probably only long-distance cruisers aspire to do...

Because they demo so ridiculously well, they get sold by the gross at state fairs then never used ....

so although they're ridiculously high-priced new (Swiss pricing), you can usually pick them up on eBay or TradeMe or suchlike for a quarter of new price, in perfect nick. Even cheaper if you file a search for mispelled versions of the name, like Zyless, so there's less competition ... but you might be waiting a while !)

[sww914]

Originally Posted by JK n Smitty

Good point. Even better, eliminate the inverter. I am going to pick up this kit from Milwaukee. Then I can pick up this charger that connects to the boat's 12 volt system. No need to run it through the inverter.

I had a Milwaukee 18v drill and driver. Bad quality. Little bits broke at first. The batteries died in 2 years. They never got weak but they had a computer chip inside. The computer chip decided that they were dead and that was it. Instead of spending $170.00 on new batteries, I bought a Makita. It is perfect, as always with Makita.

[denverd0n]

You know, one tool that I bought years ago, almost on a lark, but have found myself reaching for over and over, is a simple caliper. One of these...
SE 781BC Stainless Steel Vernier Caliper - Amazon.com

[SURV69]

I favor leaving the 18 volt equipment behind and taking the 12 volt equipment.

[jstevens]

Don't have time to read carefully all of the previous posts to identify any of my essential tools that might not have been mentioned. I doubt there are any.

I would recommend a set of nut drivers, especially a 3/16" nut driver for US hose clamps. I assume there is a metric equivalent for metric hose clamps. Much easier to tighten and loosen a hose clamp with a nut driver rather than a slotted screw driver.

John

[MarkJ]

Originally Posted by SURV69

I favor leaving the 18 volt equipment behind and taking the 12 volt equipment.

I'd go the other way. 12 volt is good for throwing at pirates. Certainly pisses me off to be at the top of the mast when the drill won't go through 1 mm aluminum.



Mind you, I am too chicken to work at the top of the mast, so I send someone else but last time the dill up there ejected the drill battery and it nearly hit me on the head, bent the bloody toe rail and splashed overboard.


In fact it's cheaper to NOT buy any tools at all by marry a marine mechanic. A female one, preferably, but at this stage of my cruising career

Lol

Jus joking!

[zeehag]

markj--i send others up the mast also..he best be a smallish, skinny fella with brains and good hands so i dont get killed by flying objects....or people...

wouldnt marry him, but i would keep him close by my boat as much as possible....marine mechanics are worth their weight in plutonium out here....

i found most rechargeable tools are dead in 3 days after re charging them, not able to be used in dire emergency at sea. the generator and or invertor with a corded wondertool is best.

i have broken 3 genuine leatherman tools--will not bring another on board.


throwing tools at piratical types is a great idea....i also have a dead puter to throw at them....