PocketShip.net

I purchased the manual for Pocket Ship and plan to start building early 2016. CLC has a listing of required and recommended tools in the front of the manual and I have the majority, but do not have a bandsaw. CLC recommends a 14" Bandsaw, but pricing them out, they are pretty expensive. Would a 10" Bandsaw do the job or should I just save up and get the 14".

If you have any other recommendations on tools not list, please let me know.

thanks
Ron

I didn't use a bandsaw on my build. You can make do with a circular saw, router, sandpaper, and more time. I suppose the only electric tools you "need" are a circular saw, a router, and a sander. Do get lots of clamps though. Home Depot has spring clamps for $0.99. I bought a ton of those.

Thanks Craig. I have most of the basic tools listed. I was just looking at the luxury ones recommended in the manual. Anything to make the build easier.
I actually discovered the ones at Home Depot as well. I was very surprised to see the price. I pick up 15-20 every time I go.

thanks again!

I think many of the parts would be difficult without a bandsaw, e.g., noseblock, carlins, companionway hood and slide ends, and a few others. I got by with a 10". I bought the widest blade available (1/2") to keep it tracking straighter. It still wobbles some though. Cut at least 1/4" proud, then sand it down. A small disk/belt tabletop sander is a big help too. My rationale for buying all the tools I could manage--I can use them for other projects, especially "honey dos."

Another tool I found indispensable was the little sanding drums made for use in an electric drill. They're inexpensive and available at any home improvement store. They come in a range of sizes from 1/2" to 2." I used the 1" and 1.5" most often. They're great for sanding fillets especially if you leave the sand paper sleeve standing a little proud of the working end of the drum.

As to the random orbital disc sander (essential), I wish I would have learned earlier to replace my sanding discs more frequently. The fresh ones work so much better that I now buy them by the gross and replace them as if they were free. If you value your time at all, it's worth it.

I 'outsourced' my nose block cut to a friend who has a wood shop with a 14" bandsaw - and I eventually ended up buying a cheap 10" bandsaw once I got to the more complex cuts for a proper pieces for the companionway hood and slide. But as Craig answered above - if you have some time and patience, you don't have to have a band saw.

Now that I am nearly complete with my build - I am amazed at the skills I have learned, and the cuts I can make with a simple Japanese hand saw (the Ryoba in the CLC catalog), and the little Banzai saw.

The power tool I definitely use the most is the orbital sander attached to a 1.5 gallon shop Vac.

The other tool mentioned a lot in the instructions is a grinder - I developed skills with hand planes, and a couple of different Stanley Surform shaping tools (the 12" that has two handles is an amazing tool for shaping dried epoxy or any wood edge). A grinder would have made it much quicker, but I was able to perform all I needed with smaller tools.

I don not have a table saw either - See attached pictures of how I cut my rub rail scarfs by hand using just hand tools. Each one took about a half hour, but I only used my workmate work surface, a chisel, a block plane, and a surform tool to cut perfect scarfs.

Thanks everyone for the recommendations.
Right now, I have:
1)Table Saw
2)Orbital Sander with the Vac. (Already starting to buy sanding disc. )
3)Hand Belt Sander
4)Drill Press
5)Hand Drills

Will be looking at based upon recommendations.
10" Bandsaw. The 14" are too expensive.
Hand-held Grinder
Small Sander attachment for drill.
I am going to get a Japanese Hand Saw from CLC.
Table Top Sander

thanks again for all the help!

One thing I forgot is a set of cabinet scrapers. They can save you a lot of sanding time in certain areas once you learn how to use them. The set from CLC has one with round edges that I found very useful for smoothing out internal fillets. I have the drum sanders for my drill and used them in several curved areas. I never tried them for fillets though--sounds like a good idea.