Captain Ron's

Sailing and Cruising Pages

What's in Your Toolbox?

By Captain Ron

I met a guy once that said he only needed two tools ... 'a can of WD-40 and a roll of duct tape'. He figured if it was supposed to move but wouldn't, he needed the WD-40 and if it was moving but wasn't supposed to, then he needed the duct tape.

I figure he was the PO (Previous Owner) of my boat.

Anyway, I thought I'd share with you some of the tools and spares that I carry aboard, not the usual screw drivers, pliers and wrenches but stuff that I like and you may not have thought of carrying aboard.

Wrench Like Things

I've used those rubber strap wrenches before, thinking that they worked well until one day I managed to break one. You can't put much force on them or the rubber strap will part at the nut end that locks the strap into the handle. I have also had bad luck using them for loosening the oil filter on the engine. Once the belt is tight and you apply leverage, the handle will dent in the side of the spin on filter. Instead I bought a special pair of oil filter pliers. They work much better. I can't get a conventional filter wrench or a socket model on my filter ... only one side is accessible ... anyway... strap wrenches are light duty only.

I've gotten to the point where I almost never use a screw driver on hose clamps. It took quite a few cut fingers or hands for me to learn that lesson. I much prefer a small socket wrench or nut driver. They don't slip off as easily. Special hose clamp drivers are available with flexible shafts that let you get to hard-to-reach places if you prefer the right tool for the job.

If your boat has a Volvo engine (among others), in addition to a socket set, you will want to carry a set of Allen wrenches that fit your socket set's ratchet handle. Many bolts and machine screws on a Volvo are metric Allen head cap screws.

Of course, everyone carries Vice-Grips and these days they're available in a profusion of styles and types from needle nose to welding clamps. However, I still prefer a pair with straight jaws and a pair with curved jaws in the medium size. They make great clamps for gluing up that broken whatziz, too, not to mention emergency valve handles.

Removing Frozen Fasteners

A couple of tools I carry are more for emergencies and don't often get used. I have a nut cracker for example. No, not the kind that opens walnuts. I'm talking here about the kind that will remove a frozen rusty nut from an equally rusty bolt. You slip the device over the nut and screw in the blade with a wrench. The blade will split the nut along the axis of the bolt. I bought mine at Sears.

Along the same line is an impact driver. This device resembles a stout screw driver but it is equipped with a set of reversing cams. You can put a variety of tools on the business end including screwdrivers or wrenches. Once you put the wrench or driver on the stubborn fastener, you hit the end with a hammer. The cam provides tremendous rotational force but in small increments hopefully dislodging the frozen bolt or whatever.

Lest you think removing frozen fasteners is a hobby of mine, let me share one more. I carry a set of left handed drill bits ... yep they're twisted the wrong way. They're also for removing frozen screws and bolts. Chuck one in your drill and run the drill backwards. As the drill cuts into the fastener metal it will often snag a burr and back the fastener out of the hole. In a similar vein, you can get a set of screw extractors with left handed cutting faces. Turning them backwards into a phillips slotted screw will often back out the screw. I have a set that a friend bought me at a boat show. Frankly the left handed drill bits work better. You can buy a set for under $10 at some auto parts stores.

They should ban slotted screws.

While we're on the subject of stubborn fasteners ... no tools kit would be complete without a can of PB Blaster. This is the best penetrating oil I've ever found.

I also like Boeshield. It's a spray on lubricant/corrosion inhibitor. After it dries, it leaves behind a waxy residue that keeps moisture off stuff like electrical connections.

In the world of putting fasteners in, I have a small ratchet handle that has a very short double pointed Phillips driver. Very handy in those hard to reach places. You turn it over to switch between a #1 point and a #2 point. It has a lever to reverse the ratchet direction. It needs about 3/4 of an inch clearance above the fastener.

For areas with minimal clearance, I have a palm sized ratchet handle with a 3/8" drive end. It works like opening a jar. Also in the socket set I keep a set of 1/4", 3/8" and 1/2" u-jointed extensions. I got mine at Sears ... on sale of course.

Sticky Things

I also have a cheap telescoping, magnetic pick up tool. Great for fishing that dropped socket out from under the engine and like places. Just don't store it near the compass.

Double faced tape works better than clamps in some applications especially where you make a card-board or paper pattern that needs to be cut from a heavier material; say plywood, fiberglass or metal. Just stick on the pattern. It is also useful for holding things in position while the matching holes are drilled. It can also be wrapped around a stick for retrieving stuff that the magnet won't although well chewed bubble gum works too.

Plumber's Putty can be handy too. While it is used mostly for sealing the base of a faucet to the sink top it can serve other functions. The stuff works like silly putty... doesn't stick to your hands or anything else either... so you can roll out a snake of the stuff and wrap a fitting with it ... bolt the fitting down, squeezing out the excess. The excess trims off easily yet the putty under the fitting retains it's waterproofing ability for years without hardening. When you remove the fitting, down the road, the stuff just peels right up. I also find it useful for making temporary dams or masks where you want to prevent epoxy, fiberglass or other material from sticking where it shouldn't. The stuff can be easily formed into molds as well.

Plugging Unwanted Holes

My kit also contains a tube of epoxy putty that only requires kneading to start the catalytic reaction. It also hardens underwater. However it's underwater ability has never come into play on my boat. Thankfully. The tube of epoxy will need to be replaced periodically because eventually it begins to set up just from the heat of sitting in a parked boat.

Along the idea of emergency patch-ups, I carry a can of that expanding foam for emergencies. If you can keep it in place until it cures it will plug a large hole. It also sets up underwater or in the presence of moisture. It is also handy for plugging any large gaps, like around pipe or wiring holes in bulkheads. By the way, acetone dissolves the cured stuff so you can clean out the dispensing tube later.

Small tubes of 5200 fit this group since it cures in water too. I hate 5200, it always gets stuck to places where you don't want it but it is tough stuff once it's cured. I keep small (dated) tubes of the fast cure and regular varieties handy.

Another caulking product I like is Plumber's Goop. It's like a cross between 5200 and silicone caulk. It dries clear like silicone but once cured it's quite hard yet flexible. It adheres to most anything including wet pipes plus it sets up very quickly.

Cutting Stuff

I love Mr. Dremel ... it is one handy gadget. I have a bunch of accessories for it too. Like the flexible shaft driver and the 90 degree head. But the accessory I use the most is the fiberglass cut off wheel. They can cut fiberglass, wood or metal. They are about the handiest thing for trimming the end of a protruding bolt or even cutting the end off a conch shell to make a horn. I also carry a variety of spiral cutting bits. These handy bits resemble a drill bit but the edges of the twisty part are sharpened to do the cutting job. They come in a variety of styles, some for plastic, others for wood ... avoid the drywall ones unless you're cutting drywall ... not often found on a boat. I also use sanding drums a lot and the little circular sanding disks. A variety of mounted stones and rasp bits come in handy too. Be careful though, especially with the little wire brushes. While they work well to remove rust or clean an electrical connection, they throw off little bits of wire. Be sure to wear glasses... probably good advice for most jobs involving high speed cutting tools. I would also add that even a small inverter runs Mr. Dremel just fine and forget the rechargeable models ... strictly light duty.

I don't have a hacksaw in my toolbox. What I have instead is a Stanley toolbox saw that has several interchangeable blades including a metal cutting blade ... but for most metal cutting jobs, give me Mr Dremel or for the heavy duty stuff, an angle grinder with a cut off wheel.

I carry a small selection of files and rasps too but the one that gets used the most (after the Dremel rasp) is a little 'shoemaker's rasp' that is about 8 inches long and an inch wide. It has one rounded side and one flat side. One end is a really rough rasp and the other end, a finer rasp. It's very handy for shaping wood, plastic or conch shell horns.

Miscellaneous and other

Velcro gets used more and more on my boat. One product I like is Velcro cabling ties. Instead of using zip ties, (which I use a lot) the Velcro tie-wraps perform the same function but are reusable. I bought some at Lowe's ... 50 ties for $4.99 ... cheap. They come in a package with two rolls one in black the other in gray ... just peel off a strip. Each tie is about 9 inches long and a half inch wide. Very handy. They're also great for tying up small coils of line or wire. I even have my laptop secured to the nav table with a pair of these. One great thing about these as cable ties is that they're soft ... the cut off end won't getcha.

Turkey basters seem to find uses around a boat too. I've used one for sucking up oil under the engine and getting that last little bit of bilge water out of a narrow sump.

Another favorite tool is my pencil torch. It has a variety of tips or tools including a miniature heat gun, a hot knife blade and the usual soldering tips. The one I have is a Weller Port-a-Sol but there are several others available. The hot knife gets used a lot. It's great for touching up the 'Irish pennants' or ragged threads on a sail or rope splice. This is a great tool for going aloft too. If you need light duty soldering at the masthead for example, this little gem clips to a pocket and has it's own flint starter. The heat gun is great for shrinking tubing over an electrical connection or warming up plastic tubing to fit over a hose barb. The torch refills from a butane can used for filling lighters. Speaking of lighters, we usually carry a couple of the long grill lighters in a refillable model. Yes, they get used for melting the end of a cut line sometimes but mainly they light the grill.

Digital volt meters are essential too. What did we ever do without them? I carry a couple of them but the one that gets used the most is a small pocket sized one that I got at Radio Shack for under $20.

Other Issues

While we're on the subject of tools... I don't mind buying the el cheapo variety if it will do the job at hand. It's not like I'm a professional that relies on the tool everyday. The cheap variety are usually ok for occasional use. For example, take my cordless drill. I've had many over the years including an expensive Sears 18V job that came with two batteries. Inside of a year I had managed to kill both batteries. When I went to get new ones, the replacement batteries cost $75 each! Yikes ... at about that time, Harbor Freight offered an 18v cordless drill with 3/8 hand chuck (my Sears had a 1/2inch chuck) for $14.99 with battery and charger. I bought one. It's now two years old and still going strong. In addition, I left the charger on the boat one day, a two hour drive away. Turns out Harbor Freight had the same model on sale again so I bought a second one. Now I have two drill motors, two batteries and two chargers for less than half the cost of a Sears replacement battery. They work fine. If they quit, I figure they were disposables anyway. Of course, I love my cordless drill but I also carry a corded model for those heavier duty jobs. It's not as handy but it will run off my inverter for those times when you need long run times or higher speeds.

The exception to buying cheap tools is when you use the tool everyday or need precision, then it probably pays to buy the best available; a rule I should follow for lots of things.

Just remember ... as ole' Red Green once said, "Spare the duct tape ... spoil the job"