Materials, parts and pieces you keep on hand in the shop?

[Mike McCrea]

Not tools, or clamps, just materials, parts and pieces that come in shop-stock handy.

I’ll start:


Sandpaper and RO sanding disks, in various grits

Epoxy resin; various hardeners and G/flex

A box of assorted FRP materials, glass, glass tape, sleeve and cord and peel ply

Brushes, including disposable chip brushes & foam brushes. Foam roller sleeves too.

Painter’s tape, various widths

At least a small stash of decent hardwood

Black enamel paint.

Teeny tiny disposable paint brushes (97 cents for a thirty count at WallyMart)

Some minicel, yoga blocks and exercise flooring.

Contact cement and other adhesives

Varnish, urethane, oils. Acetone, alcohol, mineral spirits, etc.

Rope, line, bungee and webbing

Assorted outfitting pieces, pop rivets, D-rings, pad eyes, strap grommets

Assorted stainless steel hardware. I abhor pausing shop work and making the hour+ roundtrip because I ran short, just to pick up two SS machine screws. F&^# it, if I need two I’ll buy 6 or 8, and for some things, SS washers or nuts, yeah, just gimme a box.

Beer/smokables of course.

Fellow boat tinkerers, what do you keep on hand in the way of available shop materials, parts and pieces?

 

[PaddlingPitt]

Mike,

I am so very impressed with your skills, projects, and resourcefulness. I wish I had just 5% of your abilities. I’ve never had a shop, and at my age (74), I’m not likely to ever have one. But if I did, I would mostly keep a phone in my shop, so that I could call someone like you who actually knows what they’re doing!

 

[Cheeseandbeans]

I agree on the hardware. I have a supply of new and used brass and stainless. Running out to a hardware store is beyond frustrating if not planned for.

You covered almost everything I can think of other than I try and have a supply of longer ash, cedar, and white oak stock. It isn't always available when you need it so I try and gather it for future use. I am fortunate to have a saw mill not far from me that has long ash from time to time and New England Naval Timbers is around the corner from me who practically gives away their white oak scraps. When cutting 50' keels a few 18' pieces for gunnels isn't considered a hot commodity in their world.

Bob

 

[dougd]

Most of what you posted plus what I use a lot is the Dawn/Vinegar 50/50 mix to clean many things, not just hulls. But unlike you my shop is far from the house so a shop fridge is one of the most important pieces of equipment I have and it's always well stocked. One never knows when you'll need a can of liquid courage to get through the next step of a project!

 

[stripperguy]

In addition to all above, I have a box (or had) of 100 yellow squeegees...

 

[Traveler]

I would add a box of hot glue sticks and 3 or 4 packs of different sized staples.

 

[alsg]

Flux brushes. Never once used them for flux but they are handy for spreading small amounts of glue, epoxy or finish. You do need to be watchful for dropped bristles.

Drop cloths both fabric and plastic.

Kraft Paper (the brown stuff that comes on a 30" roll).

4' LED light bulbs to replace florescent bulbs. I recently replaced all my old florescent fixtures in my shop with similar looking LED fixtures. But you can also just buy LED bulbs that plug directly into the old fixtures. The instant on and tremendous increase in flicker-free light (and the decrease in noise from buzzing ballasts) was a revelation that has made shop time more pleasant. It has also increased my accuracy in virtually everything I do from applying finish to band sawing because I can really see what I'm doing now! So, I guess I can say I have seen the light, hallelujah!

 

[Mike McCrea]

Yes to packs of various length staples, including stainless steel staples.

Which I semi-hide so they aren’t family used when unnecessary. Re-webbing a seat recently I open the pack of SS staples to find a few small 4 or 5 staple sections, and a lot of individual loose staples. Not the desired, more than enough row to put in the staple gun.

Staples and staple gun are kinda like hot dogs and hot dog buns. I use a Powershot stapler, designed so the hand pressure is pressing down over the staple, not at the other end of the gun.

https://arrowfastener.com/tool/5700/

That design seats even long staples completely. But the one I have does not accommodate a full-from-the-pack row of staples, so I always have to break off a small section to make a row fit.

I was afeard of my shop bane – the need to drive to the hardware store for a single item – but looking further in the hidey spot found a full, unopened pack of SS staples. Sometimes a little planning ahead saves an hour’s drive.

To avoid further confusion I threw the near empty scattered few staples pack in the trash.

 

[dougd]

I have never seen a staple gun that holds the length of staples that come in the package, as you said hot dogs and buns. Makes no sense to me and I have several packages of short lengths of staples that I won't throw out but know what a PITA it is to load.

 

[Boatman53]

I keep old credit cards or other similar plastic to use as glue spreader/scrapers they also can be used as spacers for setting the table saw fence for small increment adjustments. But just a couple years ago I discovered free Formica sample squares from Lowe’s or Home Depot. They are stiffer and can be shaped and sharpened with a file. The crew that shared the idea used them to scrape off epoxy squeeze out after it was softened a little with a heat gun. I also pull the foam off a used foam brush and end up with a plastic spreader with a wooden handle.
Jim

 

[scoutergriz]

I gave up on hand staple guns years ago and now use 2 clearly marked electric staple guns, one has 1/4" staples and the other has those nasty 9/16' "ceiltile" staples- no more having to hammer them in the last little bit, and no more sore wrists.

 

[UCanoe_2]

A 4 drawer file cabinet full of nuts, bolts, nails, screws, and miscellaneous hardware junk.

And a shout out for Raptor composite brads. Great for holding wooden parts together while the epoxy cures. Because they are plastic, they won't damage your planes, chisels, and saws when you run into them.

Of course they require a brad nailer, which requires an air compressor. Raptor recommends a fancy brad nailer which costs about $250. The brads feed pretty well in my $25 swap meet brad nailer, but they require copious lubrication and do jam once in a while. https://raptornails.com/product-catalog/brads-and-pins.php