When I came to radio sailing, an early realisation was that my lifetime sailing tools and their toolboxes were going to be useless. An interesting challenge with radio sailing is, relative to big boats, the smallness of everything.
You need some basic tools on hand, just right at the start – to give you confidence apart from anything else.
These are the first four things I dropped in my new radio sailing toolbox.
1/ If you see any hex nuts, they are going to be small. For example, shroud rigging screws on an IOM. I bought these:-
2/ So far, I’d say slightly more in demand, some good allen keys. I have found so far that 2.5 size is in high demand. From my cycling days I had a lovely set of allen keys, going right down to 2mm and having the magic 2.5mm. However, the keys have quite long stems … possibly 10cm. I think you also need something shorter, and you anyway should be carrying two sets to protect yourself against losses. I what I went for with the second set was these (below). It’s got the magic 2.5mm, plus they have short stems for tight spaces but I really, really like the colour coding.
3/ I’ve not had to break open the screwdrivers yet, but where there are screws they are jolly small. For the moment I have packed a set of these
4/ Again different to big boat sailing, I felt I needed some glue in the box. If I have superglue in the box for rigging knots, then I thought I might need something a bit milder – non impact adhesive to allow wiggle room. I bought this silicone glue. I see it has already been used!
So that was my four part toolbox for day one of radio sailing. Oh – I bought some long tweezers too. More about those in another post.
As a newcomer, I must say that I am pleased to cut my patches, so far, with a scissors… ..and it had never occurred t me that you might be able to do it online.
Interested??
Here is a short conversation that came up on the Datchet Radio Sailing WhatsApp Group. (I used to think I was good with Tech until I met these Guys!) :-
Person A : Anyone got any experience of laser cutting/ engraving devices?? I want to cut deck patches etc and maybe some balsa wood so don’t think I need much laser power, but a big enough bed is more likey to be important to me. Anything else I should be thinking about..??
Person B: Using a vinyl cutter is a simpler and better solution for cutting deck patches .
Person B : Laser cutting with a small CNC/Laser 3018 cutter is a slow process, even cutting balsa wing ribs, for example. Very smelly, as well. Cut patches with a vinyl cutter.
Person A: Any recommendation for a vinyl cutter model to pick ?
Person B: I use silhouette cameo. Easy set up and you can transfer files between friends.
Person A: Does the Cameo handle the roll of patch material or do you need to cut it into manageable sheets first ?
Person B: The cutting mat is 12” sq (American!) as standard with a 12 x 24 also available. I stuck the leading edge of my roll onto the cutting mat and allow it to move with the cutting mat. Your maximum size is governed by the physical size of the cutting mat.
Person C! : I use an old Roland CM24, that I got on eBay. It has a 600mm wide bed and can cut any length you like off a roll.
Datchet Radio Sailing - Making It All Much Easier !! 