Best Of What's in DKS's toolbox?

[Ed Kapuscinski]

Reading the BR&W thread and, of course, knowing the man's prowess when it comes to structures (and modeling of all types) and having recently created a spreadsheet of what plastic sheets and shapes I have in my stash got me to thinking.

@DKS , what tools and most especially, "stock" (like plastruct pieces and wire) do you keep around "on hand" that allows you to knock stuff out so quickly?

Basically, what have I not realized I need and what have I not realized I'm going to need when I get into more structure projects?

[DKS]

OK, stock. Basically I maintain a supply of just about every size of Evergreen strip styrene they make, as well as most of the smaller sizes of angles, I- and H-beams, and tubing. Sheet stock, again I have about every thickness from 0.005 up to 0.125; I also have several thicknesses of black sheet styrene. Plus, I have sheet brass and nickel-silver, and K&S brass tubing, both regular and thin-wall, lots of shapes but mostly angles, and wire rod from 0.125" brass down to 0.005" stainless. I have a fair amount of wood, such as micro-ply and strip stock. Oh, and kits... I buy kits by the bushel (or used to--no need anymore), and sort all the parts by type--brick, stone, wood, etc.--into big boxes o' kitbashing parts.

Tools, well, I'm a tool junkie and have more tools than Carter has pills, but I do the vast majority of work with just a few stock items: X-Acto, straight edges/rulers, small steel triangles, various tweezers, nippers, flush cutters and small needle-noses, micro-files, nail buffers, K&S sanding film, and of course micro-drills down to #95. One of my most valuable power tools is a Micro-Mark mini table saw, plus of course a Dremel. Then, I have two thermostatically-controlled soldering irons, one with a big chisel tip and one with a fine tip. Among countless other tools, I have a Chopper, which is ideal for repetitive cutting of strip stock.

Other stuff... I compulsively collect LEDs of all shapes, sizes and colors; mini- and micro/pager-motors, micro-gears and assemblies, locomotive mechanisms, and mechanical parts scavenged from disc drives, motorized toys and other such tech junk.

Beyond that, I have several cabinets of drawers containing scraps left over from many hundreds of projects. I never throw anything out (well, within reason), and after five decades of modeling, I've accumulated quite a supply of all sorts of stuff--it's invaluable, and would be prohibitively costly--or, in many cases, impossible--to replace.

[davefoxx]

Friggin' sweet inventory.  Thanks for sharing.

DFF

[DKS]

Almost forgot two critically important items: bright work lights, and magnification (my preference is drug store reading glasses). Also, a work surface: I have several cutting mats--they don't last forever, so I replace them regularly. But I've also found that a hard work surface is useful, too, and I use a large, smooth ceramic tile piece.

I'm sure I've forgotten plenty of other items, so I'll probably be adding to the list every so often.

[DKS]

Yep, more...

Chemicals of choice: Acetone (paint thinner, brush cleaner, cyanoacrylate dissolver), MEK (bonding styrene), Heptane, a.k.a. Bestine (degreasing, degumming, general cleaning), and alcohol, both 70% (general cleaning, making washes/stains, ballasting) and 91% (paint stripping). Oh, and a bushel of brushes, from 1/2" flats down to #18/0 spotters.

 

[DKS]

Just for reference, here's all of the tools and whatnot I used for the steel shop project:



Since I don't have a workshop yet--let alone a workbench--I kept things to a bare minimum.

(Not shown: mini-table saw, soldering iron.)

 

[Point353]

So, you essentially have on hand one of these:



plus one of these:

[DKS]

So, you essentially have on hand one of these:

Pretty much.

plus one of these:

Maybe half.

[Chris333]

A while back I searched ebay for Evergreen styrene lots and found a pretty big stash for a pretty low price.

[Missaberoad]

Instant "best of" 

[Ed Kapuscinski]

Instant "best of" 

Agreed.

Thanks @DKS!

[VonRyan]

A better question would have been "what isn't in DKS's toolbox?"

I ask for a left-handed 3/16th micron widget with a wanginstine adapeter and he responds "do you want one with a red handle or a blue handle".

Or if I need a couple tiny screws, he'll have some, but in like seven different finishes.

[peteski]

Looking at what DKS wrote, I'm pretty much a hoarder of materials, LEDs, and tools too.  And probably couple hundreds of various paint bottles and sprays. No such thing as too many of any of them. 

[wazzou]

Yeah, I've got probably got nearly all that stuff, but no Micro-Mark table saw, however. 

[Ed Kapuscinski]

And now... the entire Railwire sets up eBay alerts for "plastruct lot", lol.