rgarside
Well-Known Member
For a total refit you're going to end up with a lot of tools - best to pick them up as you find you need them rather than trying to assemble the whole lot up front. However, in no particular order here are some of the things I've found useful (or essential) for minor refits of two different boats:
Cordless drill/driver. Most tools get relatively little use and cheaper B&Q / Aldi standard is fine, but I have found it worth spending a bit more for a decent quality drill; I like Makita.
Set of hole-saws, for running hoses etc through wood and fibreglass.
"Big" socket set (10mm - 32mm), and roll of spanners.
"Small" socket set (4mm - 13mm) and hex bit set.
Adjustable spanner.
Oscillating multi-tool, good for cutting in awkward spaces (lots of those in boats), especially fibreglass.
Router, circular saw, and chisels, if you're doing any interior joinery.
Small electric screwdriver taking hex bits. With an adaptor and 7mm socket this becomes a jubilee-clip undoer/doer-upper, which saves a lot of time and fiddling when you're doing plumbing.
Lazy tongs rivetter if you need to attach anything to the mast or boom.
Big adjustable spanner / stilsons / waterpump pliers, for trying to undo large plumbing hexagons like seacocks.
Hacksaw, handsaw for wood - you can't always use power-tools.
Power-file, like a narrow belt-sander you hold in one hand. Brilliant for all sorts of shaping tasks, and some surprising improvisations (I used mine yesterday to cut through a rusted-up clamp on my car exhaust!)
Electrical tools - side-cutters, stripper, crimp tool. Gas-powered heatshrink blower. I like my Iroda gas soldering iron although you might be better doing everything with crimps.
"Bodging chisel" - an old wood chisel whose fine edge you no longer care about, and use to pry, scrape, and chop in various awkward situations.
Electrical test leads, with croc clips each end. I also have a 12v plug with a 6-foot cable ending in croc clips.
Multi-meter
Decent head-torch
Orbital sander - though I found I did a lot of hand-sanding too.
Fibreglassing kit, particularly including paddle rollers (until you use one of these, you'll wrongly think that just prodding it with a brush is fine)
Wire brush, both hand and to go in a drill.
Ear defenders and goggles. Filter mask if doing major sanding / grinding.
Dremel.
Portable vise (mine clamps to the top step of the companionway).
Possibly an angle-grinder.
Maybe a jigsaw.
Electrician's rods or draw-tape, for fishing wires through awkward spaces.
Sewing machine, if you find yourself needing covers of various kinds, or special bags etc.
Bosun's kit once you get onto the rigging - palm and needles, whipping twine, etc. Set of fids for braid (I don't like the common Selma type) and maybe a Swedish fid for stiff three-strand like big mooring lines.
Various clamps etc
Hoover. I now have three - one for the house, one for the shed, and one to live on the boat during refit season.
Generator if there's no power available where you keep the boat.
Fan heater - essential if you're going to be fibreglassing in winter, otherwise optional for your own comfort (I didn't bother, just wore padded shirts etc).
Right-angle adaptor for drill.
Tape measure, steel rule, metre rule.
Mastic gun. Sikaflex (what you'll mostly use it for) is stiffer than bathroom silicone, and very cheap DIY guns bend when trying to work with it.
That's all I can think of - for now....
Pete
Hammer
Bigger hammer
REALLY BIG HAMMER
