I use my x-acto knife for pretty much everything when I build to. One thing I would really like to use right now is a miter sander!

Dremel Moto-Tool with electronic speed control and ALL the Dremel acc. that go with it.

HI GANG.

MY MOST FAVORITE TOOL IS A RAZOR PLANE I GOT IN GERMANY ABOUT 40 YEARS AGO
IT IS THE SAME SIZE AS THE ONE FROM MASTER AIRSCREW, EXCEPT THAT IT IS CHROMED METAL INSTEAD OF PLASTIC AND IT USES COMMON DOUBLE EDGE RAZOR BLADES.
IT IS USED FOR ALL KINDS OF SHAPEING OPERATIONS AND CAN PRODUCE SHAVINGS SO THIN THAT YOU CAN SEE THROUGH THEM. ROGER

Right now I would love to have a Miter sander, Im building a topcap out of 90% sticks and could sure use the sander to cut the angles

For building with sticks, another great tool is the Master Airscrew balsa stripper.

BTW, I mention their name because I have had very little success with other strippers, but theirs has been so good that... well, so good that I use it a lot.

For others who use their stripper, I found that it got a bunch more precise when I took off the blade holding pieces, backed the cross piece up flush with the body, squared up my sander, and used the sander to square the face of the stripper (then put the stripper back together and be impressed how well it works)... no more diamond shaped strip cross sections.

My favorite tool is a good supply of 1 lb. lead ingots. I use them to hold sheeting on wings, stabs, fins, etc, clamping fuselage sides together. After you start using them you will wonder how you got along without them.

The ones I use are cast in a R.C.B.S. mold that you get at a gun store selling reloading supplies. Scrap lead or old wheel weights work fine, if you have no expeirence with casting lead you may have a frind that can help, or purchase pre cast (costly).

Jerry

I really like the Great Planes Dead Center Engine mounting tool.........for some reason I had the worst time getting the mounting holes to line up correctly when I would drill out the engine mount.......this tool has made the process much easier for me!

Mike

My building table. Although that's not really a tool, it is a necessity!

The harry Higly trim tool / covering trimmer. and a good sanding bar.

A lot depends on what I'm building (kit vrs ARF)...for kit building I love the upright belt sander w/ side sander - along with a Dremel gets me just about where I need to go....for ARF's a nice thick blanket to cover the workbench so I don't get so many 'dings' while working on the model.

Jerry

Boy are you guys full of good ideas. This is a very informative thread and I got some really good ideas from it. Thanks

I don't have a one "favorite tool" but I do have a neat suggestion. I needed something to hold down irregular shaped and rounded objects on my bench while I worked on the. Like I've found a wing laid flat on the table tends to slide all over the place while I'm working on it. So I bought some aquarium gravel, cut up some pant legs from an old pair of jeans, filled the legs with the gravel,and sewed them shut. Voila! Gravel bags that can be molded and fitted over any object and weigh it down to the table top. Works great for me.

Roodester

Dried, bulk beans like navy or pinto beans sewed up into "BEAN BAGS" works good too and is cheaper than aquarium gravel!

I have almost all thats been noted but my favorite has to be my band saw. It makes parts in a hurry.
Walt

Waltaz -- Works on frozen fish, and frozen chops as well! [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img][img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img] haha!!

Great Planes hinge slotting tool, corded version without a doubt.
I can slot a whole plane in 15 minuets.

My Dremel holds first place, but a close second would have to be a pair of very soft foam packing blocks that measure about 8"x8"x18" I can lay a fuse across them on its back, on its belly, or on either side without the tail feathers or engine banging my bench. Sometimes I put them in the wing "saddle" area to rest the fuse on. I also lay a wing across them without servo or torque-rod interference. Can't tell you where to get them, I think they came in a box of computer components, but I can't remember. Just gotta keep your eyes open for those kinda things.

Try the small tool company called Mixco Mark, I recently purchased a sanding stick assortmnet that had that tool as one of the items, you also get an angled tool and a couple of sizes of round sanding tools. They all have the double grit (rough and medium) surfaces.

TYPO!!!!
The tool company is MICRO MARK, must be the keyboard cause I know my fingers can spell.

Hello; Nobody mentioned a pin vise or a precision saw, the little hand held unit about 4 inches long. The pin vise I use for piloting engine mounts and servo mounts. I just clamp a drill bit into it, it works great. I also like my T-bar sander, even though I do have a belt sander, I use the T-bar about 3 times as much as the belt sander.