Evening all,
I have recently moved house (again), this meant that most annoying of activities, packing and in turn, unpacking. On this occasion however, I found myself taking a good look at the mass of random tools, gadgets and tip bits that had lived on my hobby desk.
Way back in 2010 I wrote a post about making space for you hobby, all about my old hobby desk and how I organised my space. Over 3 parts, I thought I would take a look at some of the tools we use all the time and often overlook.
Sharp and Pointies
The Hobby Knife
The good old hobby knife is a key tool for any hobby nut. I use the games-workshop standard knife (the old back retractable one) for my standard blade. This is very much the workhorse, ideal for removing flash, mouldlines, hands, joint cuts and just about anything else.
I then use a set of retractable plastic handled craft blades, purchased from a great web store, hobby's!
(Check them out, not a lot they don't have and always at a great price.)
I have recently moved house (again), this meant that most annoying of activities, packing and in turn, unpacking. On this occasion however, I found myself taking a good look at the mass of random tools, gadgets and tip bits that had lived on my hobby desk.
Way back in 2010 I wrote a post about making space for you hobby, all about my old hobby desk and how I organised my space. Over 3 parts, I thought I would take a look at some of the tools we use all the time and often overlook.
Sharp and Pointies
The Hobby Knife
The good old hobby knife is a key tool for any hobby nut. I use the games-workshop standard knife (the old back retractable one) for my standard blade. This is very much the workhorse, ideal for removing flash, mouldlines, hands, joint cuts and just about anything else.
I then use a set of retractable plastic handled craft blades, purchased from a great web store, hobby's!
(Check them out, not a lot they don't have and always at a great price.)
These are perfect for all those odd little jobs that a standard blade just isn't quite right. The green is mostly used for cutting flat materials such as plasticard or cardboard. The yellow, red and grey are used mostly for sculpting jobs, cutting into epoxy etc.
Pin Vice and Drill Bits
I'm not a fan of the current GW pin vice, feels an odd shape to me thus, I still have the old one. I have however purchased some new drill bits for it. Microbox drill bits are by far the best I have ever had.
The 20 piece set ranges in size from 0.3mm to 1.6mm. These toughened steel drill bits are ideal for pinning and drilling out gun barrels in plastic, resin or metal miniatures. They will fit pretty much any pin vice including the new GW device.
Clippers and Pliers
Side cutters or clippers are pretty much the one tool everyone uses to removed components from sprue. These are pretty much all the same but I have found the GW side cutters have a really nice grip and, don't wear too quickly compared to some others that I have tried.
In addition to these, I always keep on hand a pair of needle nose pliers for folding and bend components. This is ideal for those larger metal components that perhaps need a little persuasion to fit where you want it.
So, that's about all for now, next time, sticky things!
