Discussion That One Tool You Never Expected to Love… But Now Can’t Live Without it!

[Tim from Adelaide]

Greetings friends,

Let’s take a small detour from ship specs and planking debates, and talk about something we all use: tools. More specifically, that one tool you never thought you’d need, but now couldn’t imagine building without.
We all start with the usual basics: a hobby (#11) knife, sandpaper, maybe a pin vise, but somewhere along the way, something odd or unexpected finds its way onto the bench. Maybe it was a tool someone recommended, or something you picked up on a whim, thinking, “I’ll probably never use this.” And now? It’s glued to your workflow (hopefully not literally).

So here’s the question: What’s that one unexpected tool that quietly became indispensable for you? No need for a long explanation, just share your story, and if you like, a photo of the tool in action. I’m sure many of us will recognize our own favorites in each other's stories… or maybe even discover a new one to try.

Looking forward to seeing what’s in your toolbox that surprised you. Fair winds and happy modeling!

Hi Jimsky
I have an Ozito drill similar to Dremel which is great, already about 15 years old and still going strong. I can fit small drill bits and in particular some dental burrs which I scavenged from a friendly dentist. My favourite hand tools are jewellers forceps (s) and artery forceps (2) for rigging and for making wooden parts for scratch build I use a table saw for making blanks, a scrollsaw for cutting any curved parts, and a small circular saw for cutting planks (a one-off made for purpose). A recent purchase from Temu (alas much of their stuff is of poor quality I find) was a set of four files which has been excellent. Since I am pretty ancient (now 82) I find a head-mounted magnifier is a big help. For planking I favour western red cedar which when soaked is very pliable and using artery forceps to squash the fibres can be bent to quite tight curves. To make the small boats for the model below I used my wood lathe to make a blank and used WRC for the ribs and planking over the blank - worked pretty well.
Currently working on a scratch build of Le Geographe (Baudin's ship) since it is relevant to South Australia.
Cheers
Tim

 

[AllanKP69]

I am surprised the following tool has not been listed.....it helps in more parts of a build than I can count...... Ships of Scale website.

 

[Philski]

Hi, not wishing to be pedantic. I think, technically it is a “Vernier”.

Vernier calipers.....