Hobby Tools/Product Reviews

The tool I use most over other tools is a small double ended screwdriver.

I use heavy duty Q-Tips bought at the local Medical Supply Store. Their stem is a long, wooden dowel that lets you get into tight spots when cleaning engines. They can also be used as glue swabs in those "Surgical Situations" where you've got to get some slow CA or epoxy on a repair deep inside a fuselage or partially open wing.

The stems can also be cut at an angle with scissors to make a "Goo Chisel" for scooping out accumulated gunk from between cylinder fins, before hitting them with a tooth brush.

https://schticky.com/
This must be a tacky silicon sheet wrapped on a roller. Plain water makes it release whatever is stuck to it. You can clean freshly sanded wood, search for tiny dropped parts, pickup a dropped container of non-magnetic parts, lots of things. Cool. Keep oil away from it though. The guy advertising ain't no Billy Mays though He loves that microphone stuck to his face. Maybe a Schticky roller would remove it.

I have a set of dental tool looking picks of various shapes including a straight one. They are strong stainless steel. Very useful for probing, and my go-to tool for hooking and installing or removing rubber bands. They make good spring hooks too.

Yep, the dental picks I have get a workout continuously, one of the most used tools as I dissasemble and clean, and reassemble Good for grabbing 1 head copper out of the cylinder as I adjust and tune. The assistant lets me paw thru the saved tool box they keep in the back after dental work. I usually grab the spiral type ended excavators and picks and she loads them up into a HD envelope for me.

Good call on the super long wood stick Q-tips Kim. I have a cart going at Widget supply and they have a super saver going on now for those. $1.49 for 100.
http://www.widgetsupply.com/page/WS/PROD/1-specials/XSU4-D035

Good old Widget Supply, cant hobby without them.

I use a plastic stem Q-tip for light pressure polishing of crankcase areas and the induction tunnels of crankshafts. I mount it in the 2 speed drill and dip it in the compounds. They dont last very long, but the do a ok job for that.

Not really a tool per say, just something I whipped up for engine testing and as a catch-all.



A little clampable table for my B&D Workmate. I was clamping my test stand right on the workbench and slathering everything downwind with castor oil. So I picked up a Workmate and made a quick table,,a couple coats of polyurethane and put it to use.

I couldn't find the clampable bench Vise of my dreams, so I picked up one of the yellow Stanley portable bench vises, and so far it has worked as advertised. I have the test stand pinched in that on the left side of the pic there. the jury is till out on the vice,,only been using it for a couple days.

In the pic up front on the table is a Neiko Lazer tach, which is working out much better than my Globee and the constant reading of the 8' fluorescent bulbs thru out the shop. I paint the backside of 1 blade of the prop for the lazer reading, then balance the prop with tape, and put it to use. I always paint the front side of the blades for saftey, so I just added a swipe of white junkyard paint pen to the backside of 1. Have been using the tach for about 3-4 weeks now and it has worked out very good. Instant read and nice big numbers on the readout. Memory function if you want to store numbers. 3 AAA for power. Comes with batteries, a zipper case, a length of reflective tape. Easy on the wallet, not real expensive.

Beside that is the newly re-released Sullivan Hornet starter and that has worked really well, A bit more umphh than my 1/2A Astro flight starter. I am fairly certain it could spin over a .25 sized motor with ease. Hooked to a little sealed rechargable 12V 10 amp batt I picked up locally for about $10. Will probably convert or adapt a connector for a lipo pack. A max of 25 amps rated on the Hornet starter .

Just a heads up,,these work great with Bob Smith (BSI) CA glue bottles. trimable if they plug, plenty of length to reach into tight spaces.
http://www.amainhobbies.com/product_info.php/cPath/167_1629/products_id/37089/n/Bob-Smith-Industries-Extender-Tips-For-CAs-6

These, Horribly, DO NOT!, Fair warning!
http://www.amainhobbies.com/product_info.php/cPath/167_1629/products_id/37091/n/Bob-Smith-Industries-Extra-Long-Extender-Tips-For-CAs-24
Just had a superglue accident with the short one's. Squeezing with the same pressure as the long tips and it blew the tip off the bottle and hosed down my latest project,,so ticked off right now. Wrote BSI a somewhat nastygram. I realize they are a friction fit and care should be used,,but it's not the first time with the short tips popping off so I thought I would put it out there.