Must Have Tools

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Boom Box with lots of new age techo tunes,and play it really really really LOUD!!!!!!!!!:D:D:D zones me into what I'm doing :)

Larry
P.S.You'll know when your playing it loud enough when the other half trys to call you on your cell phone and has to walk across the to the other side to get you for dinner:D:cool:
 
nmaniac said:
Boom Box with lots of new age techo tunes,and play it really really really LOUD!!!!!!!!!:D:D:D zones me into what I'm doing :)

Larry
P.S.You'll know when your playing it loud enough when the other half trys to call you on your cell phone and has to walk across the to the other side to get you for dinner:D:cool:
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Large speakers & 4 channel surround sound, CD player hooked up to that & a computer w/500 RR pictures to keep the visitor busy while you stay busy on the layout. YES, very loud to drown out all phone calls so you can stay busy.
Techno, ZZ Top, AC/DC, CCR & lots of Pulsating Music. #1 for a train room

Larry C.
 
Things a train room should have.........Beer Tap, Keg cooler, coasters and frosty mugs to serve the beer in!!
 


OH don't forget lots of good light,self healing mat,lots of #11 blades they make clean cuts that heal quickly :eek::D
 
nmaniac said:
OH don't forget lots of good light,self healing mat,lots of #11 blades they make clean cuts that heal quickly :eek::D
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Band-aids too then?

I need a new tool box. Mine is getting hard to close.

Extra parts, like couplers, springs, light bulbs,.........

Bob
 
Forgot the most important tool.....a BIG HAMMER!!!! The fixer of all frustration!!!

I tried super glue once....got blood poisoning. That sucked!!! My hand looked like one of those Sock'm boxing gloves.

Bob
 
Never could get the kind of leverage from those sprue nippers to do what these flush cutters do in seconds.
Josh

stationmaster said:
I use sprue cutters, less work and finer cut.

One of my most appreciated tools is my spring pick used to replace the springs in couplers and on trucks.

Bob
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Bob, I have one of those spring picks. You still need to be inside a small room w/smooth glass walls, smooth floors w/out anything those springs can hide under & a big magnifying glass to find them. Or you need an unlimited supply of those small springs when you lose the ones that fly out of that pick.
When you do a lot of decaling that small spoon for that purpose really comes in handy if you can find it mixed in w/about 15 pairs of tweezers.
 
Boom box should be playing recordings of trains passing a grade crossing. But do keep it loud.

If you have a beer keg etc. you'll want a toilet there too.

On the serious side, let me mentally go down the tool board:
Clamps (X-acto and clothespins, small C-clamps)
Scissors
Aviation snips
Hobby knives, set up as chisel, angled (#11), others as you find useful
Pencils, pens, markers, china pencil, paint brushes
Multiple + and - screwdrivers, jewers throught #2
Spike pliers (homemade from cheap needle nose pliers)
Small diagonal cutters
Needle nose pliers
Tweezers
Hand drill and pin vise
Drill bits
Taps in 00-90, 0-80, 2-56, 4-40, 6-32
Small punch for setting track nails (made from old screwdriver)
Voltmeter, clip leads
Soldering iron, solder
Dremel with cutoff wheels (AND SAFETY GLASSES), sanding wheel, saw blade, burr
Vise
Chart of drill sizes per tap size
Foam rubber work holder (cut a notch in 2x6x18 foam piece)
Mouse pad for laying work on
Plastic-compatible oil and grease
Epoxy, ACC, Styrene cement and contact cement
Denatured alcohol, paint thinner

I find that the two most useful drill bits are hard to find: .047 and .055. They're bigger than the common hobby drill sets that only go up to ~.035 and smaller than the garden variety home store sets that only go down to .0625. I ordered a couple of tubes of each, that oughta last me.
 


GWT&P said:
Hey, just call me cheap. I'm always looking for cheaper ways to skin a cat.
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Like this Kat?
ShavedCat.png
 
I came up with this real neat way of holding decals in water:
using a pair of Kadee micro-trains #1020 normally closed tweezers, a coffee cup, and a clothes pin; pick up the decal with the tweezers and put in the cup at an angle, about 20 degrees from horizontal downwards, and clip the clothes pin onto it also at about 20 degrees to form a wide open "V" and it will hold it in there for however long you need it to, usually long enough to put a good coat of microsol on the item. :cool:
 
I made a set of "jaws " for my vise. I used an old tin can, contact cement and a couple of pieces of soft foam. Works better than I expected. Likes like crap but it's functional.

I cut the bottom out of the tin can cut it into two semi equal pieces, bent it to form over the jaws of the vise applied the glue, then the foam ....PRESTO...one less tool on the bench and in the tool box.

I still need a bigger tool box....

And I also have two of almost everything, one for the bench and one for the tool box. The toolbox goes with me to operating sessions while the bench stays home.

One thing we may have forgotten... a can of compressed air.

Bob
 
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Unless I missed it... SAFETY GLASSES!!!

I had a track spike actually stick in my eyelid the other day, thank goodness for reflexes!
I also noticed a couple sticking into the suspended ceiling above the layout.
I'm sure we've all had them shoot out from our needle nose pliers at one time or another?
 
I was redoing my workbench today & had all my tools laid out on a bench.
here's a few shots of some of my stuff & a list of items I use in my train room. It's going to take a few threads to list it all.:D
 
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Bench Vise, Jig saw, bandsaw, 8ft rolling work bench, sm. drill press, batt. drill, full set of small taps & dies & easy outs, S3000 Fuji digital camera, Lg. layout photo album, 50 misc. clamps, paper shear for cutting thin plastic,
punch for thin plastic, tin snips, loud bell in front entrance to train room, 13" TV w/remote camera, 4ft by 40ft overhead storage, 2ft test track, 4 comfortable chairs on wheels, 2 & 4 step ladder, air compressor, 2 solder guns, saber saw, drawing tools, prescription close up glasses, shop vac, scratch pads, cell phone, safety glasses, goggles, resperator, green gloves & everything I mentioned before, plus everything in all the photo's.
I could probably perform surgery if anyone wants to make the trip to Arcadia.:rolleyes:
 
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LOL! :D
Larry, it's amazing just how many tools we can accrue in a short time. Seems like there is always a better tool out there for this job or that job or.....;)
 
Rex,
Every month when the new Micro-mark catalog comes in the mail I always spend an hour or so going thru & marking all the stuff that I might need someday, but never order.
It's like a wish list. I have bought a lot of stuff from them including about 8 engines at a heck of a low price. Oh well Big Boys must play.
 


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