What's in your tool box

[soul searcher]

Over the years I've found a few tools that have held up rather well in the marine inviro and some that dont. It occured to me that if we all looked in our tool boxes and reported what held up we could come up with a set of tools that would last with just basic up keep. and we could aso include tools that you have found to be indespinsable regardless of durability.
I do know for example that craftsman brand vise grips are great at resisting corrosion . I also have a three pound sledge with a 8 inch handle ,that gets wire brushed and oiled constantly, and a 30+ oz. rubber coated dead blow that I wont leave home with out. So what have you found that holds up well or you can't do with out?




Matt

[S/V Elusive]

My brane - as long as I keep it well oiled okay ... I think it might be easier to list what HASN'T lasted .. I have way too many tools that seem to be hanging in there (6 years and counting).

Things I'm not happy with - ANY Sears power tool - they don't last very well and have proven (to me) to be of poor design - examples: the cordless screwdriver: battery was always weak and didn't last as long as advertised, and the method they use to keep the bit in was some sort of wax(?) down in the bit hole. ::shaking head::

The cordless drill I got - one of the two batteries lasted one charge (unfortunately, I didn't find out until well after warranty expiration).

OTOH, I've found their hand tools to last well (not to mention they have a lifetime warranty).

[CaptainK]

Sear's brand name "Craftsman" is one of the top brands anyone can buy.

I agree with Elusive, about the hand tools. They have a much better life span than most tools. And they have a lifetime warranty.

If the tool breaks. Take the tool to a Sears store. And get another to replace the broken tool!!

Works for me everytime!!

I cannot speak for their power tools though. I never used their power tools. I always used Mikita or other foreign built brands.

[Jentine]

I have had great luck with Sears battery powered drills. They generally last 3 or 4 years. Then I throw them out and buy another one. The only tools I have a problem with are "Craftsman" ratchets. They rust and seize. Cheap ones seem to last longer.
I keep most of my tools (especially the ones I use infrequently) in plastic bags and doused with WD-40. None of those has rusted in more than 12 years. The ones I use frequently I oil after each use.

Dewalt cordless. 18 volt drill, sawsall, circular saw, jig saw. Thoroughly abused since 1998. Still going strong. Caftsman hand tools from 1.5"/22mm down to 3/16" and 6mm. Can't keep screw drivers onboard long enough to wear them out. Vice-Grips (No off brands, they bend). Delta benchtop table saw. A long hard life of ripping 20'+x2"+ teak and mahogany. Still going strong. 2 sizes Loose Tension Guages, 2 sizes bolt cutters. Multiple brands of side and end cutters, $49.95 bench top drill press (recent aquisition, never used.) Carftsman router and table. Abused the router for the past 5 years, rarely use the table. Mini Oxy/Acetylene torches (Never used on the boat, currently in storage, will probably not go back on board), 3 sizes of ACE brand pipe wrenches, 3 hand saws (hard to keep from rusting, and sharp. 2 miter saws, a wood and one plastic miter box. Craftsman Socket set same sizes as wrenches. (Used to have a 3/4" drive set on board, but dod not need it. Removed from the boat). Dewalt sanders 1 DA, 1 orbital. Bluestreak Multi-Meter. 4.5" grinder, forgot the brand. Bunch of other misc crap, but that is the stuff I use on a regular basis. Most used tool is the Dewalt Cordless Drill.

[Alan Wheeler]

Kai, your a flamin floatin workshop. Where the heck does Susan sleep??
I try and keep tools to a minimum. It Murpies law that you are gauranteed to have every tool you want, bar the one you need.
I have two 8" adjustable wrenches and one 10". 8, 10, 12, 14mm ring/openend spanners. A good full set of sockets that covers metric and imperial. It's not a flash set, but being a good chrome vanadium, it doesn't rust. Actually, I droped the ratchet in the tide once and managed to retrieve it a month later. It worked just fine and still dose. A Dewalt battery drill and Jigsaw. A set of drill bits and hole saw's. A set of good screwdrivers, pliers and wire cutters and strippers. Electrical connectors, multimeter and soldering iron, as well as a small gas can type blow torch.
That's all I try and keep onboard, but I have a full workshop at home. I may think differently if I was living onboard. But I have a compleate woodworking shop, complete engineering shop and a complete mechanical shop. So there is no way I will ever fit it all on my boat. Infact, it will make a cruise liner look small. One thing for sure, I will never let my Stahlwillie gear onto any boat. That is my rolls royce of tools and nobody ordinary gets to use those.

Well, in my old truckin days we used to say one wide, two deep
Seriously though, I do not carry many spares, but I make sure I am able to rebuild or jury rig anything that goes wrong.

[S/V Elusive]

I can attest to Kai's ability to jerry rig anything.

[Gallivanters]

Aye could sink my boat under the weight of the tools I'd like to have aboard!

So - I try to keep things as basic as I can... measuring tools, cordless drill, socket set, hammer, scew drivers, adjustable wrenches, palm sander, grinder, buffer, etc... but one new tool I've come to LOVE is my mechanical wire stripper.

It looks like a pair of pliers but if you stick the end of a wire into the jaws and squeeze - the tool grips the wire in two places and effortlessly strips the end insulation - with one hand. Sweet.

For the record - our Navico WP 5000 autopilot stopped working after 23,000 miles and three days out of Grand Canary on our way across to the Caribbean. Turned out the plastic hub of the drive sprocket had finally worn out and no longer gripped the drive shaft. That night - I manufactured a new drive socket by using the cordless drill & two hole saws to make three discs from a piece of plastic cutting board, the center hole of a stainless fender washer was filed to fit snugly on the drive shaft, a hacksaw blade cut the teeth & two small machine screws bolted it all together - voila! High Seas Machine Shop! And that sprocket is currently driving the boat back to Hawaii with her new owner! The prospect of hand steering 20 days across the Atlantic made us get creative... and Thank Neptune we had a set of jewler's files aboard!

Kirk

Just goes to prove, the most important tool on board is the one coming up with the solutions I would have a more extensive collection than I do, including snap on wrenches, sockets, and screw drivers, but I was storing them at my cabin, to conserv space while I was working on the boat. Now some lowlife has a very nice mobile repair shop. Anyone have any suggestions on how to keep handsaws from rusting?

[CaptainK]

Kai.

About the handsaws. Are you specifically reffering about the blades. Or the whole saw?

I would coat the blade in oil. And maybe the rest too!! That's what I would do!!

I plan to coat all of my tools in a layer of oil once I move aboard the boat.

That works to a point, but, then you have to get the oil off the blade. Oil residue will ruin trim work. It soaks into the wood when cutting and stains it.

[CaptainK]

How about cosmoline, or packing grease?

e in long term storage, but if they are used on a regular basis, same problem as oil. I tried linseed oil, but the blade still rusted, and it darkened the wood as well.

[CaptainK]

The only thing I can think of is a bit pricey.

Imagine having a waterproof box. And having a bottle of nitrogen.

Rust doesn't exist in a nitrogen atmosphere. If a waterproof box was filled with nitrogen after you have placed the tool/s in this box. The nitrogen filled atmosphere will be a garanteed way to keep your tools rust free.

That's what aerospace companies use to ship and store the jet engines in these huge tube shaped cylinders. Filled with nitrogen. If you could somehow attach a bottle of nitrogen to a hose that is hooked up to a pipe that is sealed to the box. You could achieve this successfully, Kai!!

It's something to look into?