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If you intend
fitting out a barge yourself, most of the tools you will need
are just normal DIY tools, which you probably already have.
There are a few tools however that you will likely need to
purchase in addition to those you already
have. Below I have listed some of the 'invaluable' tools I
used during the fit-out of Elessina, most of which I purchased
specifically for our barge fit-out.
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Professional
Holesaw Set
Bi-metal
with High Speed Steel teeth. For cutting mild steel, copper,
aluminium, brass, laminates, plastics and all timbers
www.Screwfix.com
around £35.00
I found
this holesaw set to be absolutely invaluable, especially for
running cables and pipes through bulkheads. It will cut
through all steel and wood bulkheads. I must have cut around
200 holes with (around 70 in steel) and used every one at
least once. The most popular ones have a tooth or two
missing!, but still cut ok. |
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Large Crimping Tool
Rotating the heads allows
this tool to crimp terminals onto electrical cables from around 20mm2 to
120mm2 in size.
Around £100
We purchased ours from
Energy Solutions
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Ratchet Crimping Tool
A good
quality ratchet crimping tool for red, blue and Yellow pre-insulated cable
terminals. Plus a good selection of crimps. I must have used around 300
crimps, mainly blue size.
Red 0.5mm-1.5mm². Blue
1.5mm-2.5mm². Yellow 4.0mm-6.0mm² |
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B&D Scorpion Power Saw
A brilliant saw. Although
I have a jigsaw and circular saw I barely used either once I purchased this.
The blades are a bit expensive (£12) and I went through 4 of them. The saw had
so much use I burned the 1st one out (I think it was only the brushes) but so
essential was the saw I had to buy a replacement immediately.
Around £35 from Argos |
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Tap and Die Set
I had never really used a
tap and die set before, but I used the taps a lot (to cut a thread into
a hole drilled in steel), especially M4, M5 and M6.
A
complete set like this one (M3, M4, M5, M6, M8, M10 and M12) can be purchased
for around £12 (screwfix.com, toolstation.com etc.). Not found a use for
the dies yet!!. |
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Compound Mitre Saw
I use this saw a lot. Will
enable any timber up to around 6" wide to be cut accurately at any angle
between 45 deg and 90 deg. Accuracy of cut around 1mm.
Cost around £10 to £20
from B&Q Screwfix etc. |
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Labelling machine
I purchased a Brother PT
1280. Invaluable - had good use out of it. Three different laminated tape
widths available (6mm, 9mm and 12mm) in various colours and can print on two
lines on the wider tapes. I purchased it from Staples for £50 complete with 2
tapes and mains adaptor. Not used the mains adaptor, the 6 x AAA batteries
have lasted well over a year and done over 100 labels (I have 4 different
tapes, used in total around 2 of them). Quick and easy to change from one tape
to another.
When buying a labelling
machine make sure it uses laminated tapes like the Brother TZ range. Not all
tapes (including cheaper Brother machines) use laminated tapes. |
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Workbenches
I
purchased 2 cheap (under £10) foldable work benches. Very useful to have two
for long / large pieces of wood etc. Both need to be the same height, so best
to buy them together.
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Wood screws
I have never really got on
with cross head screws until I tried Screwfix's Goldscrews. They have a
Prodrive head (not Phillips) and are yellow zinc-plated. I found them great
for all types of wood, very sharp pointed and very good value eg a box of 200
x 30mm x 3.5 just £0.77p. Or a Trade pack of 1,800 screws for £17.66.
www.screwsix.com |
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Screwdriver and bits
The only problem with the
prodrive headed screws is that after time the screwdriver heads wears out.
This is overcome with a ¼" hex screwdriver bit holder and appropriate bits.
The screwfix holder has a soft grip handle and is just £2.60, very comfortable
and easy to use. I purchased 10 x #2 bits and 2 x #1 and #3 bit sizes (Pozidriv™
and Prodrive® compatible) for around £2.50 each and have not used them all
yet. |
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Plastic pipe Cutter
I you intend doing all
your plumbing in plastic pipe (In my opinion much better than copper, I would
never go back to copper pipe and fittings), then a Plastic pipe Cutter makes
pipe cutting very simple.
Around £5.50 from
www.toolstation.com
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18v Cordless Nailer
Not essential, but very
useful, especially if you intend to have wood trims around the lining (like
our Iroko wood trims). It saves a lot of time, but more importantly the nails
(brads) are so fine you can not see them.
This nailer from
www.toolstation.com
costs around £50 and takes 15mm to 32mm, 18g Brads. comes with 3,000 mixed
brad nails and 1 hour fast battery charger.
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Handsaws -
I used cheap 10" Tenon saws from screwfix (£3.39 each) and
replaced them when blunt (used 3 in total). And cheap hardpoint 14" toolbox
saws (£4.50) also from Screwfix.
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A coping saw
is handy to have (£4.89 from Screwfix)
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Electric Drill -
A cheap 800w drill, preferably 2 speed with metal gearbox -
around £35 from Argos / B&Q will cut 2" holes in steel with no problem.
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Cordless drill -
I purchased an 18v cordless drill with spare battery from
Robert Dyas for £19.99. It has seen a lot of use, the drill still works
fine, but the batteries are near to the end of their life, one has gone
completely.
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Router Table
- I purchased a Router and table (£100) but have not used it very much at
all. I could have done without it. Creates to much mess, even when connected
to the Vac.
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Electric Planner
- I have an electric planner, but hardly used it at all. Certainly not worth
buying one if you do not already have one. I have / used a small hand planer
a lot, and also a curved surfoam tool
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