necessary vs luxury tools for a kit build

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necessary vs luxury tools for a kit build

Postby Creekboater on Tue Nov 23, 2021 3:21 pm

If I were going by recommendation in the manual, I would be purchasing a band saw, a table saw, a stationary sander, and a 9" angle grinder. I have the other stuff.

Anyone have thoughts on how important these above tools are in a kit build? I will also be purchasing the timber package.

I'm pretty good with a circle saw but no master.

Also...I have a Rigid 110 CFM shop vac for dust collection but considering a Festool CLEANTEC CT15 for PocketShip. Worth the $350? I don't get much more CFM but I'm assuming the HEPA filtration is the bang for my buck. My workshop is heated/cooled separate room in my finished basement, so not ventilated to outside and obviously part of the basement's HVAC. I worry somewhat about dust getting to the kids playroom and the guest bedroom.

Thanks!
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Re: necessary vs luxury tools for a kit build

Postby [email protected] on Tue Nov 23, 2021 6:31 pm

I think pretty much any shop-vac can suck enough air through a sander to capture almost all the dust. But a little bit of dust will make it past the filter and out the exhaust.
My solution was to make up an extra-long hose that allowed me to put my shop-vac outside, but still be able to reach any part of the boat with the sander. This arrangement also
reduced the noise level. An extra hose for your existing vacuum would be a lot cheaper than a new vacuum.

I was working in my sunroom, which had an independent heating system. But there was a lot of furniture, etc. left in it, so I had to be tidy. Go look at the most recent photo in
my blog to see that the room looks like a week after I finished the boat.

For my build, I bought a bandsaw. It was handy to use, but it takes up a lot of space, and can be messy. I think almost everything I used it for could have been done with a good jigsaw, but would require more time (including more planing to ensure that the cuts were square).

A stationary sander would be nice, but those things look SO messy! That's why I did not get one.

A table saw is very handy - I have had one for years. Again, you could make do with a jigsaw, but extra work would be needed to get your cuts straight and square.

I have a polisher-grinder. I used it for shaping the centerboard, but that's all. It is messy and has no dust collection, so I had to use it in the driveway. I could have done
the centerboard with plane and extra-coarse sand-paper in the orbital sander.

A router is very handy - I used mine a lot.
Last edited by [email protected] on Wed Nov 24, 2021 2:18 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: necessary vs luxury tools for a kit build

Postby Creekboater on Wed Nov 24, 2021 8:42 am

thanks doug, that’s helpful. There are a couple of those things (table saw) I’ll probably get regardless as I’ve always had need for them, but good to know I don’t need to run out and have it all before i start. I’ll likely just wait until i need this or that and then judge whether to buy or make do.

Good idea on the long hose. Thanks.
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* Jimmy Skiff II
* amateur for sure (builder/sailor)
* impossible to insult my intelligence
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Joined: Sat Nov 13, 2021 6:58 pm


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