Tool Box

[Euphonyx]

am putting together a dedicated tool box for the boat. What should be in it?? Does anyone have a "minimum standard" list? any help appreciated!

 

[KAL]

adjustable wrench
wire cutters
screwdiver multi head tool with a few different flat and phillips sizes
WD40
fuses
splicing fids
10mm, 13mm, 17mm, 19mm ring/open spanners
gas soldering iron (also great for cutting rope) and solder
multimeter
loads of plastic ties of different sizes
spare electrical wire
CT1 sealant
superglue
gaffer tape
a good LED headtorch

Not an exhaustive list, but good for starters...

 

[prv]

I'll try to remember what's in my tool locker. I'll probably forget some stuff.

• Screwdrivers, all sizes from jeweller's for electrical equipment to huge flat-head more often used as a small crowbar
• Spanners, covering all nuts and bolts on board plus a big and small adjustable
• Hammer
• Strap wrench for fuel and oil filters
• Flexible corkscrew thingummy for getting packing out of stern gland
• Analogue multimeter
• Junior hacksaw, with wood and metal blades in a plastic bag with WD40 to avoid rust
• Hand drill and bits from 2 to 10mm
• General-purpose pliers
• Side-cutters
• Needle-nose pliers
• Battery spanner (normal spanner wrapped in tape except the business end, so it can't accidentally cause a short)
• Set of allen keys
• Waterpump pliers
• Small vice that clamps onto a surface (usually the companionway sill)
• Set of files
• Knife
• Gas soldering iron + solder, plus other tips for hot knife, blowtorch, hot-air, etc
• Special homemade big spanner for stuffing gland nut
• "Bodging" chisel (ie one that's no longer used for fine woodwork and I don't mind using for prying or scraping, though it's sharp enough to be used for its intended purpose in a pinch)
• 1/2" socket drilled to take a glued-in tommy bar, forming a key for the vent screws on the fuel filters (only imperial bolt on board).
• Ten feet of wire with cigarette-lighter plug on one end and black+red croc clips on the other, for diagnosing or working around electrical problems.
• Small torch with LED head on a flexible stalk, for looking in awkward spaces.
• Electrical tape

I've probably forgotten some stuff.

As well as the tools, there's another locker containing both specific spare parts and miscellaneous items of the sort that come in handy for improvised repairs. Lots of odd metal fittings, copper tube and sheet, rubber bits, washer/screws/bolts/etc, hoses, hose clips, springs, scrap wood, sikaflex, grease, epoxy putty, electrical wire, gaffer tape etc etc.

This is on a small 24 footer used mostly for day and weekend trips with the odd longer excursion but (so far) not very far. The tools in the list fit into the small locker inside the bottom step of the companionway.

Pete

EDIT: Seeing KAL's list, I do also have a small bosun's bag containing braid fids, my rigging knife/spike/pliers set on a rope belt, ball of marline, waxed thread, needles, palm, and a tub of tallow for greasing the leather bits on my old-fashioned rig. But I wouldn't necessarily count that as "tools".

 

[theoldsalt]

As PRV plus more.

And I never seem to stop adding more each time a job needs doing

 

[Hornet_UK]

As a base I bought a Draper 95 Piece Tool Kit, google it to get the best deal. Cable Ties of various sizes, Gaffer Tape, Electrical Tape, Rubber Mallet, Club Hammer, Claw Hammer, Massive Adjustable Spanner, Watch Makers Screwdrivers, Glue Araldite, SupaGlue, various screwdrivers long and really short, hack saw, wire cutters/strippers, some Threadlock (Loctite).

Plus anything you see when out shopping that looks useful.

That should get you started!

 

[Daydreamer]

If youv'e got the space for it a steep learning curve comes in very handy.

 

[Poignard]

am putting together a dedicated tool box for the boat. What should be in it?? Does anyone have a "minimum standard" list? any help appreciated!

Would you like a list of what I carry or what I need?

 

[Amulet]

am putting together a dedicated tool box for the boat. What should be in it?? Does anyone have a "minimum standard" list? any help appreciated!

Try this thread or search further back on "tools" and you'll find that there is no shortage of opinion on this topic in previous threads.

(I say this to be helpful not self-righteous.)

Oh, and another tip - search for previous posts on Force4 before deciding to order from them.

 

[Scotty_Tradewind]

from lists given on these postings and other threads it will soon be apparent what tools are recommended.
I have the which toolbox question.... I'll start another thread.

 

[prv]

Oh, and another tip - search for previous posts on Force4 before deciding to order from them.

Nowt wrong with Force4 as far as I know - but I wouldn't buy tools from a chandler anyway. Most of mine are from Machine Mart.

Pete

 

[Deleted member 36384]

Coat hanger wire for poking, securing, hooking stuff from the bilge and other awkward spaces. It can be bent into strong shapes which can be useful to hold stuff.

Copper wire stripped from some domestic cable, very good mousing wire.

Various diameters of Punch. Good for removing scroll pins i.e. log impeller.

Stilson Wrench for round stuff that cant be gripped.

 

[chewi]

am putting together a dedicated tool box for the boat. What should be in it?? Does anyone have a "minimum standard" list? any help appreciated!

At the very least antcipate the jobs you will have to do.
eg openenders for the fuel chain connections.
eg.dumpy screwdriver or spanner for the fuel bleedscrew.
eg syringe to fill the oil if the filler is difficult
eg big spanners for odd bits like anodes (24mm for my BuKH anode)
eg flathead screwdrivers to lever out the impelller.
eg battery clamps often 7/16" not metric.
eg sockets /spanners need to be down to jubilee clip clamps (8mm?) in metric/imperial or both so suit the boats needs.
eg bolt cutters and sample rigging to cut the rig down & _know_ it can do so.. (& so save the hull.)
eg needles, palms, thread, fids in a rigging kit (for a stitch in time)
eg softwood bungs to deal with a failed skin fitting, (esp plastic ones) have them tied to the fitting if you singlehand it much.. ( you really have to know exactly where they are then!)

Then find a gen. purpose toolkit that gets closest and add the missing bits.

proper screwdrivers for levers, (not just multitools that drop plugins)
2 water pump pliers (for stern gland, not water pumps!)
mole wrenches, tiewraps ..
proper hacksaw that cuts, not a baby one.
another saw, without a frame,
screws, studding(m8ish?), nuts , hacksaw & vice to match studding,
Rivet gun, drill & matching rivets, say 4,5 & 6mm + smaller for self tappers & woodscrews.

It's easy to bury the boat in unsuitable tools, good to think about it.....

 

[Euphonyx]

thats a great response. Thanks all. I ahve taken on board the suggestions and will carry two boxes. one for spares and one for tools.

Now for the expensive bit! Its amazing how expensive a tool kit is when you dont build it up over time btw!!!!

 

[Scotty_Tradewind]

Hi
I'm a bit surprised you can fit all the spares you need in one box and the tools in another.
I now have smaller boxes but I still can't fit all my needs/wants into 14 boxes!! ??
In fact for extended cruising I'm thinking of getting another 14.

 

[pvb]

I'd add a couple of bits...

* torque wrench
* silicone grease

 

[Stemar]

I reckon you want a "Get me home" kit with the basics and a "proper" kit that lives at home in the dry for when you need something more elaborate.

I wouldn't bother with a torque wrench in the get me home kit that lives on the boat - it'll only rust up and become inaccurate. It's something I'd only get get when I'm planning on taking the head off the engine. Likewise the big spanners you need for engine mountings and the like. You're pretty unlikely to need to need them on a week's cruise, so keep 'em at home away from the salt and the damp.

My Get me Home kit is mostly cheap tools, because the bugrit factor is far lower when a pound shop spanner goes swimming than when a Snap On one does. Pozidriv and small flat blade screwdrivers are worth having in a half-decent quality, though, 'cos cheap ones wear quickly and bugger up the heads on your screws so you'll never get 'em out.

 

[sailorman]

Spare Boat

 

[pvb]

I wouldn't bother with a torque wrench in the get me home kit that lives on the boat - it'll only rust up and become inaccurate.

I keep a cheap one on the boat because it's the only thing I've found which is meaty enough to undo the bolt holding the alternator on!

 

[prv]

Likewise the big spanners you need for engine mountings and the like. You're pretty unlikely to need to need them on a week's cruise

That's what you might think, but last month I found myself one day into a week's cruise with the output flange having fallen off the gearbox and needing a big spanner to put back. Unfortunately (not knowing about this nut hidden inside the shaft coupling) the biggest spanner I had on board was 26mm and not big enough. Luckily, the owner of a nearby boat saw us with our heads in the bilges and asked if we needed to borrow any tools from his comprehensive set - we'd have been stuffed otherwise.

If something goes wrong, it goes wrong on its own schedule. Yes, nobody plans maintenance during a short cruise, but repairs might be needed at any time.

Pete

 

[Rigger Mortice]

am putting together a dedicated tool box

You've got it wrong right from the start.
A sturdily made canvas tool bag is much the best thing. Not those nasty bumpy, stratchy tool boxes that never fit anywhere, damage your boat and slide around when you are on deck.