Quintessential Tools of Construction

[Lord Pentecost]

My must haves:

Swan-morton scalpel (so much better than a craft knife for fine work)
Stanley Knife (for heavier jobs)
Steel straight edge and large cutting mat
Gilotine (for cutting paper and thin card)
Razor saw + miter box
Pipe cutter
Pin vice (for fine drilling jobs and anything involving thin plastic)
Chrome vanadium jewelers screwdrivers (less easily damaged on stuck screws than the generic ones)
Interchangeable screwdriver set with bits for - slot, pozi, hex, torcz, star, etc (for dismantling)
Old slot head screw drivers including small ones (for prying open plastic casings)
Dremmel
Power drill/driver
Power sander (mouse type)
Weights for holding things while glues dry (I use old transformer blocks!)
Engineers try squares
Various clamps
Various sizes of spanner - from tiny to enormous

Probably some other bits I've forgotten.

[Herbert West]

You guys have covered most of them. But for me.

Small plastic clamps, or clothespins in a pinch.

Dremel or other handheld tool.

Utility razor knives.

Cross-clamp tweezers. I've lost track of how much use I've gotten out of these.



Plastic circle templates. Useful for everything from sizing screws and drill bits, finding the center of a disk, and you can draw circles with it too!

Calipers and a metal ruler for keeping your measurements precise.

Assorted needle files and sanding sticks.

L-square. For when you need perfect perpendicular lines.


Knife sharpener. Turns out, Xacto or other razor cutters last  a whole lot longer if you give them a few wisks on  the sharpener before and after each cutting job. Who knew?