Tiny Tools: Toward a Compact Tool Set

 

The right tool for the job?

It's complicated.

Tiny Tools: Toward a Compact Tool Set

Keeping a full set of tools on board to handle any repair / rebuild / maintain job that might arise out there is great insurance.

But we who live in small spaces must be picky-choosy. If we can, we look for the following attributes in our tools:

• Competence - They must be able to get the job done.
  
  
• Versatility - The more jobs they can tackle, the better.
  
  
• Synergy - They should work well with other tools.
  
  
• Economy - Either inexpensive or long-lived (preferably both!).
  
  
• Small Footprint - Small is beautiful! 

Anke and I acquire what looks to be useful. Often (not always) a low purchase price indicates low quality. But we've got a tool in hand, and often find an opportunity to trade up down the road. Much more often, we'll find that a problem we face was well-solved back in the day, and we can find used tools that are no longer in common parlance for dimes on the dollar.

What follows is an annotated list of some of the less well known tools we've found to be both compact and useful. Please excuse signs of salt-water exposure... they're lately having a rough life!

*****

Notes

1. Feather File - Very fine edges and a medium cut.
   
   
2. 4-Way Wood Rasp - Flat and convex faces in rough and medium cut.
   
   
3. Small Level - To be honest, I've never used it on a boat. But for infrastructure?
   
   
4. Drilling Jig - Solid 90deg drilling guide when required (e.g., block pins).
   
   
5. Veritas(TM) Rounding Tool - 3/8 and 1/4in round... on plank and ply edges.
   
   
6. Stitch Awl - For heavy sewing (e.g., leather, sail patches, etc.).
   
   
7. Clamp-Tite(TM) - Forms and locks a tight, light wire clamp similar to a hose clamp but any size (larger tools available). Great for clamping a broken spar or any hose.
   
   
8. Needle Nose Vice Grips(TM) - Very versatile. Great for working copper tubing.
   
   
9. Pipe Cutter - We use this to cut copper tubing to 3/4in.
   
   
10. (Ferrous) Nail Finder - Magnetic post points to a hidden ferrous nail. If using non-ferrous fasteners in hidden-frame construction, steel locator nails can be included to help find hidden framing years down the road.
    
    
11. Locking, Adjustable Wrench - Not a 'mini' tool, but unusual. Adjust as normal, then lock down for a secure grip on the nut with no self-adjustments as you work.
    
    
12. Folding Drawknife - Mostly available as antiques.
    
    
13. Low Angle Block Plane - Handles virtually all of our planing. IMHO, low angle planes work as well or better than ordinary angles (with the possible exception of a scrub plane).
    
    
14. Schrade(TM) Carving Folder - A useful carving set for fiddly work in a small package.
    
    
15. Multi-tools - These handle most of our odd-job maintenance work.
    
    
16. Gerber(TM) Utility Knife - For sharp cutting and light prying.
    
    
17. Smith's(TM) Blade Sharpener - V notch and Serration. Complements our Sharpal(TM) Diamond 'Stone' System (not shown).
    
    
18. Ratcheting, Adjustable Angle Bit Driver - These are a great combination. They tend to be not as well made as they deserve, but are cheap and seem to last. We like shorties like this one (Husky(TM)).
    
    
19. Low Clearance, Right angle Bit Driver - For tight spaces (about 1in). This one also accepts an in-line bit at handle's end (convenient!).
    
    
20. Bit Driving, Ratcheting Push 'Drill' (aka 'Yankee') - Saves a lot of wrist work, and with the hex-bit drills shown, can double as a light duty drill. Check that it accepts hex bits... the true Yankees had a superior but no longer standard split shanks system.
    
    
21. Hack-, Jig- and Sawzall Blade Handle - This particular model accepts all three with a quick and secure release. More are coming available, so shop around. Beware... some of the name brands have been disappointing.
    
    
22. Hand Auger/Dowel Maker - 'Shawn of the Wild' improved a Scotch-Eye Auger by lengthening the ring, setting its I.D. to the O.D. of the auger bit and creating a pocket mortise-and-tenon machine! Brilliant!!! Many are following in his footsteps but beware, not all are clear on the concept (especially as found in sets).
    
    
23. Utility Hatchet - These vary in quality, but if well made are handy li'l guys. They can be modified to suit your tastes (e.g., shape and cross-hatch the hammer head or change the cutting bevel of the hatchet head).

Not Shown

We have a universal socket (one of those with lots of pins which fit around any nut). Though not as robust as a solid socket, it can handle a surprising amount of torque. Plenty to make it useful for most of our needs.

Better yet, we have a Metwrinch(TM) set. Instead of the usual Imperial and Metric sets, with 'teeth' bearing on nut corners, these have 'cams' bearing on nut flats. The play provided before bearing hard allows one size to securely grip near neighbors from both systems. AND, since it's not bearing on the corners, there is little to no tendency to strip. In fact, they work until the flats themselves are rounded away.

Folders

• Fastcap(TM) 1in Chisel - These guys offer a range of standardized, folding tools, singly or in kits. They include chisels, saw, rasp, putty and linoleum knives, scratch awl, etc.. Very well designed and made.
  
  
• 'Butterfly' Dozuki / Ryoba Saw - Folded handle protects blade (and us!). This one is about 6in folded.
  
  
• JOIC(TM) Folding Drill - This one is antique only, but what a tool! Handle folds 90deg and screw end-cap holds bits. Chuck and gear rotate 90+deg. At about 9in, it can fold way down and function as an angle drill to 90deg. Both options lock down securely. We saw many of them on Ebay.
  
  
• SvenSaw(TM) - Simple, solid set-up and stows in-line. These have been around for 60 years, now. My only quibble is the teeth are pulse hardened, so can't be kerfed... we're looking for untempered replacements for all our bowsaws.

*****

These aren't our whole toolset, but they do 90% of the work. The rest are fairly standard heavy lifters.

On WAYWARD, we have a large toolbox in deeper storage and a small one at hand. Many of these small tools go into the little one, and handle our day-to-day needs quite handily. It's not until we're really building something major that we dig out the big 'un.

For the future, a smaller vessel will require fewer tools and favor a yet smaller footprint. The quest for the ever-more-compact erector set goes on!