Tools for building the fly baby

Multipurpose Oscillating Tool – Usually can find these for well under $40 on sale at Harbor Freight.  This has proven really helpful for removing epoxy drips, cutting the wing slots, or other wood trimming tasks.

 

Angle Grinder – Replaced the grinding wheel with a cut-off wheel and am using it to cut my thicker metal parts.

 

Scroll Saw – I’ve had this tool for years, and it’s built many a model airplane.   I use a really thin blade for making tight turning cuts in plywood.  (Tighter than the ¼” bandsaw blade can handle.)

 

Various measuring devices

 

Scrollsaw – Got this on sale for about $100 at Harbor Freight.  It vibrates a little which makes it difficult to precisely start my cuts, but for the price I’m not complaining.   Mounting it on a more solid surface might help.   You really need this tool for cutting the thicker plywood pieces, but I use it for most of my smaller quicker cuts.  This tool probably gets used more than any other.

 

Combo disk/Belt sander – You need this to clean up roughly cut pieces or to adjust the length of sticks so they fit perfectly.

 

Bench Grinder – Just got this tool for Christmas.   I used it to clean up the wing landing wire anchors that I cut with the Angle Grinder / Cut-off tool.

 

Large Vise – Needed to hold metal pieces while cutting or bending.

 

Planer – Used to thin boards or sticks.   This is my most expensive tool, and the one I use the least, but when you need it, you really need it.   I wish I had it when I first started construction.   It would have been useful to ensure all my ¾” sticks where exactly ¾” thick (or at least all the same).

 

Jigsaw – This is a really basic jig saw.  It makes pretty crude cuts, but it’s useful for roughly cutting up large pieces of plywood into more manageable pieces that can be fine cut on the band or scrollsaw.

 

Drill –It’s good to have a cordless and a corded drill.

 

Tablesaw – Critical for cutting large boards into sticks.   I bought this one on sale at Harbor Freight, but it didn’t come with a blade or a stand.    By the time I added them to the cost, I could have bought a better saw at Sears.

 

Miter saw – Good for precise angle cross-cuts in boards and sticks.   This one has a laser guide to help you see where it will cut.  This is really useful.

 

Not shown - Circular saw.  Like the jigsaw, it’s useful for roughly cutting up large pieces of plywood.