Tools!

[Mbettman]

Hi All,
I am a brand new teardrop planner who is looking forward to being a brand new teardrop builder. I am enjoying the planning process so far. I started a cad model last night and stayed up way too late...and I'm thinking I'm inclined to stay up way too late tonight. One of my issues is that I'll be learning and doing many of the tasks required to build a trailer for the first time and I don't have a working knowledge of what tools I should start looking around for. I know that there are plenty of posts saying that you can build these things with a busted screwdriver and half a can of pea soup, but I'm looking to invest a bit of time and money into (mostly) used tools to make the job easier and hopefully the final result better. What I'd like to know is what do you have that works for you? Anything I should know about clamps? Because based on the pictures I've seen I could use about a hundred of them. How about routers? What have you used that works? Bits? Attachments?

I'll give you an example of something that I use regularly that has changed the speed and quality of my household building tasks. I've always used my trusty cordless drill to drive screws, but my contractor friend had an impact driver like this...

http://www.amazon.com/DEWALT-Bare-Tool-DC825B-18-Volt-Cordless/dp/B002RT7K4Q/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1394219532&sr=8-1&keywords=impact+driver

After using his for about 8 seconds, I went out and bought one. It makes a HUGE difference to the quality and speed of my work and It requires less pushing force and I strip way fewer screws than I would with my (still) trusty drill. If you do a lot of screw driving, this will be worth the price of admission. I also use it for small nut driving as well.

Another example on the other side of the spectrum...I picked up a lightly used Dewalt 18v cordless jigsaw at a garage sale. The saw itself cuts like butter, far superior to my 15 year old Black and Decker, with all of the power and control I need. The new saws have a feature that allows you to change the blade plunge profile that greatly increases speed through soft material (like plywood). The problem is that the battery lasts for about 5 minutes, and then it's back on the charger for fifteen. I was willing to put up with this battery dance until I eventually had a battery go bad, then its at least $40 for a new generic one. I realized that the battery cycles required to do any serious work is punishing on the batteries which become the costly weak link in the system. Long story short, If you're in the market for a jigsaw (like I am now), consider an old fashioned corded one.

Matt

[woodywrkng]

This is just my opinion, that I know most people don't share, but I prefer corded tools, especially if I'm building something in my garage where an outlet is available. They're far more powerful than cordless, and often no heavier than cordless.

My main recommendation, since you mentioned a jigsaw which I assume you'll use to cut the sides, is to cut a template of a wall out of 1/4" hardboard. Next, get yourself a full size corded router, practice with it for awhile, and use it to cut the sides with your template as a pattern. The result will be much nicer and far more accurate than if you cut the actual sides with a jigsaw. Many people are intimidated by a router, but once you become comfortable using it you'll find it mighty handy.

As for clamps, they are one of the few items I'll buy at Harbor Freight. You'll want a few armloads of bar clamps, such as http://www.harborfreight.com/12-inch-ba ... 96214.html , and a buncha spring clamps, to name a few.

Plan ahead, go slowly, and have fun!

[jseyfert3]

Impact drivers are nice. I have the Dewalt 12V Max 1/4" impact driver. The thing is tiny, but can drive #10 x 3" screws into a 2x4 with no pre-drilling, and it doesn't need lots of pressure to keep from camming out when driving phillips like a drill does. In short, I agree with you, they are awesome. (Although that little thing is NOISY, I wear hearing protection when I use it)

I also have the 12V Max 3/8" drill. The drill and impact driver go together as a set, drill pilot holes with one and drive the screws in with the other. No cords mean it's handy to drill a couple holes and not drag a cord around. However, for heavy duty stuff, I'll still be using my corded drill. Drilling through steel to move my axle back on my trailer would not have been a fun job with a cordless drill. And at this time, I'll keep cords on my router, circular saw, jigsaw, etc. Like you said, your jigsaw cuts for 5 minutes and charges for 15. Mine cuts till I'm done cutting.

[citylights]

Tools that I used for my teardrop...

These I already had:

Cordless drill and impact driver.
Router
Chop saw
Table saw
Angle grinder
Wood clamps (I did my whole teardrop with just 6. More would have been nice though...)
Ratchet straps
Wire stripper
Variety of hand tools, socket set, tape measure, carpenters square, bubble levels...

These I bought for the project:

Metal cutting blade for the table saw and chop saw. (Just one, they are the same size blade, I needed these for some of the steel cutting on the trailer modifications. I used wood blades to cut the aluminum.)
Safety Glasses!
Laminate Trim router bits, up-cut router saw bit (needed these for cutting curves and fine trimming aluminum skin)
Jig saw (needed for cutting curves and rough cutting aluminum skin)
Vice for bolting to a work bench (needed this one for bending some of the aluminum trim also the rubber mallet)
Rubber mallet
Orbital sander with rough, medium, and fine grit paper. (Lots and lots of sanding...)
Soldering gun (my old iron died, so I got a big, bad gun!)

[Mbettman]

This is exactly the kind of information I'm looking for, thanks all for contributing. And BTW, I see Kreg jigs used a lot on builds, is there a typical type or set that people here look for?

[doug hodder]

I don't know your schedule, however, while you gather up your tools, do the final design work etc..., there will be a large teardrop gathering up at Lake Shasta on May 1-4. Typically there are from 70-80 tears or so, (last year 20th anniversary there were 172 as per Grant), for you to check out for ideas, pointers etc. Everyone is willing to answer any questions that you may have. It's not all that far off, and it's the closest gathering to you that will be happening. For a new builder, it's a great venue to see just about every idea executed. If you miss that one, then the IRG is happening on July 4th weekend. It is held at Pamplin Grove in Humboldt County. There may be spaces if you wanted to "tent" it and again, see maybe 80 tears. You'd have to go a long way to find a gathering with any more trailers than either one of these. Doug

[tony.latham]

I'm not seeing a 1/4" pneumatic crown stapler. A must for all this thin plywood we join.

Clamps? Figure out how many you're gonna need, double that number and add two more.

T

[Kody]

Some of my tools are:-
12" De-Walt Cut-off saw, An essential tool for good excellent joints and precise cuts for length and angles.
Ryobi Router
Template router cutters. One has the ball bearing at the bottom, the other has the bearing at the top of the blades. These are a must have item.
Lots of other router cutters to suit.
Ryobi Belt sander
Bosch orbital sander
Ryobi Jig saw
8" bench grinder to sharpen the tools etc.
Heaps of screwdrivers.
A Yankee Screwdriver (love it!)
16" hand wood plane
2 Staple guns
4 long Sash clamps
Homemade router table, can machine 1/4 x 1/4 strips up to 1 x 1 strips 12 feet long or more.
Bench drill
A 240V 3/8" hand drill with reverse and variable speed
Huge range of very high quality twist drills.
14" Bandsaw
Big 14 inch Bowie knife, razor sharp
4" De-Walt angle grinder, an essential tool!
A supply of 100mm diameter x 1mm thick cut off wheels for steel. An essential.
Various wood chisels
A 6" square of high quality.
A 1" micrometer to measure the thickness of the plywood. Have found a variation of 0.035" in the sheets. A real pain in the neck.
A 150 amp welder and accessories.
Some high quality ear muffs and safety gear for face and eyes etc.

These are the main tools I use, there are still more that I could list. If the scream of the router put you off and makes you nervous or afraid, wear the Ear muffs. Wearing them is essential regardless but when using them, the screaming beast seems to have calmed down and this makes a huge difference to ones' confidence. Needless to say, (?) the router must be held and controlled at all times with BOTH hands. All my tools are 240V. I ran an overhead power cord from end to end in the garage and I plug all the power tools into the cord without having to use the other outlets. Someone else did this and there are photos of his set up in the forum somewhere. This is an excellent way to go and it makes the entire work area very much safer. The power cord is hung on small pulleys which run along a tight wire made from a plain wire (uncoated) clothes line.

Kody

[camper4life]

KREG Jig!!! This tool is for making pocket holes. This tool changed the way cabinet makers assembled cabinets.

[Esteban]

KREG Jig!!! This tool is for making pocket holes. This tool changed the way cabinet makers assembled cabinets.

Harbor Freight has one that costs considerably less: harborfreight.com/portable-pocket-hole-jig-kit-96264



[quote]

Harbor Freight Drill Master Pocket Hole Jig
Brand: Harbor Freight | Category: Drill-Driver Accessories
Review rating: 5

A true Pocket Hole Master !!!!!

Well, I’ve resisted buying one of these pocket hole jugs for more years that I can recall mainly because, I never thought I would ever use one and I don’t use screws when making fine furniture. Shop jigs and Tables get a screw here and there but not too often. Any way while I’ve been watching this thing for years, the prices on this have gone up so much the last few years so I decided to get one before it hits the 80+ mark. I didn’t even want to consider the other pocket hole jigs. Right from the beginning I wanted a solid aluminum jig that offered most bang for the $$$$.
And believe me HF jig is all you will ever need. You should see the build quality on this thing nothing out there comes close. no plastic pasrts here. Solid !!! accurate extremely adjustable hole spacing and dept for usual ¾ or thicker wood. just switch between top holes and bottom for fast dept action.Portable extra base. Just download the manual for more details or watch the video. And it comes with all the extras. It’s on sale now and with 20% coupon the price will be in the 50’s.[quote]
http://lumberjocks.com/reviews

[eamarquardt]

It's really very simple. You need two of every tool known to man. That way you spend half as much time looking for the right tool.

See my album.

He/she who dies with the most tools wins.

My next door neighbor's wife is the keeper of their family's tools. He has retained possession of the "family jewels". She recently gave me a tote tool box filled with her "duplicates". In the box was an unused set of Craftsman SAE deep sockets, a brand new Crescent Brand 12" adjustable wrench, about half a dozen Craftsman screwdrivers, a complete set of Craftsman pry bars, and a host of other good stuff. I consider myself fortunate to live next to "the woman with too many tools".

When in doubt, you need it. Always buy the tool you really want rather than settle for "second best". I find when I settle for "second best" I end up with two. The one I bought first and the one I should have bought first.

Quality tools are a joy to use. If you break em you can get parts for em. However, there is a place for the crap that Harbor Freight sells. If yer only gonna use the tool a little a HF version might get you by. Bear in mind any HF tool is "disposable" as you'll never get parts for it. I once "acquired" a gas welding set of theirs. It needed a valve seat. I actually tracked down the factory in Taiwan where it was manufactured and talked to them on the phone and sent them an email with a picture of the part I needed. I never could get it.

That said, the other day I did buy one of the HF "multi tools" (that takes different blades, sanding attachments, etc). After the dust settled it was $16 and change. Heck all it does is wiggle the blade/attachment back and forth so it isn't an engineering marvel. It works just fine and I can't imagine that a Bosch or other name brand would be that much of an improvement.

For comparison:

http://www.harborfreight.com/oscillatin ... xtioPldX40

http://www.harborfreight.com/oscillatin ... xtioPldX40

Hope this helps.

Cheers,

Gus

[martymcfly]

I bought the 1/4 sheet sander for cheap. I think it was about $12. I then tore a sheet of sandpaper into 4ths. They were all too short. They must have different size sheets of sand paper in China. Or maybe it is that Metric system again.

[jseyfert3]

Did you tear it in the proper orientation?

[eamarquardt]

Did you tear it in the proper orientation?

Every quarter sheet sander I've ever seen uses the std sheet torn in half lengthwise and widthwise. Not in strips going either direction. I don't know how you could cut a full sheet into quarters in the wrong orientation.

I'm confused.

Cheers,

Gus