Hello, welcome to the Trackage Video blog my name is Robert
Reynolds CEO of Trackage Video. Today’s blog is about how to save you some
money on model railroad hobby tools.
First I would like to say that in no way am I discouraging
anyone from buying products from any number of hobby tool suppliers. But if you
are like me on a limited budget I have built this presentation for you. This
month I am in Entertainment Business Finance, and thought how can I do a post
on finance for the Model Railroader well here you have it. Saving Money On
Hobby Tools so lets get started.
The most basic tools that you may need are listed here;
hobby knife, needle files, screwdrivers, and tweezers, pliers, sprue cutters,
pin vise drill, and drill bits. You can get them from a number of suppliers. These
are the tools that you would need to build model railroad rolling stock. They
are needed to work on cars, and locomotives. Some of these tools would be used
to scratch build model railroad rolling stock, and locomotives as well as
buildings, and model scenery.
You can buy a hobby knife set from a handful of places. The
set shown in my video is a 33-piece set that has a plastic caliper, tweezers,
mini screwdriver, and a bunch of other things that will come in handy. The
price is about a dollar cheaper for more stuff at Harbor Freight Tools then the
set at Micro Mark. The set at Micro-Mark is only three handles with 13 blades
no extra tools. For a dollar less I would go for this set, and I did. This set
from Harbor Freight tools is only $15.99.
The set of diamond needle files costs $16.99 at Model Expo,
and at harbor Freight only $7.99 for 10 not 5. I cannot tell you if the files
are better at one place or not but you can buy almost two sets for the price of
one plus it is 10-pieces to 5. So you can get 20 for the price of 5 not a bad
deal at all.
There are two sets of precision screwdrivers the one on the
left in the video is $33.25 from Micro Mark, the one on the right $6.99 from
Harbor Freight. The one from Harbor is a 33-piece set in a case. There are a
number of different places to get this type of product. You can get them from
Wal-Mart, and Big Lots even. But even if I had the money I would never pay over
$33.00 for a set of screwdrivers to work on my car let alone on a hobby.
Both sets of the tweezers in the video are available at
Harbor Freight. The one on the left is a 7-piece set with three coated in
rubber so they can be used during soldering. This set is $3.99 compared to a
set of two coated at Model Expo for $1.99 a dollar each. The set on the right
is a 6-piece set of fine point tweezers for $5.99 as apposed to $21.75 at some
other retailers.
Both of the plier sets in the video are very similar to each
other. The 6-piece set in the presentation I have, and have had no problems
with them at all. They are made by Pittsburgh Tools, and have a limited
lifetime warranty. Are they better I don’t dare say but they are cheaper. There
is a second set that you can get from Harbor that has a pair of pliers that is
good for bending trip pins on your cars and locomotives that is about $3.00
that you could add with this set and have about all the pliers you need for
small jobs working on the railroad.
Hobby Town USA has Xuron’s sprue cutter for $13.49 and Micro
Mark is selling it for $17.95. This is not a really big difference but as you
add your tool costs up it will make them worse then they need to be. There are
several different kinds of sprue cutters. The one on the left in the video is a
tweezers type that is a good suggestion to have. This product from Micro Mark
is $18.75 if you need them you may have to pay this for them. I have not found
a cheaper alternative for this product at this time. I will keep looking, and
let you know.
I have an example of a pin vise drill in the video, and
micro drill bits used in modeling. The pin vise on the left is $4.00, and the
bits are $6.00. This is a good deal from PJ Tool & Supply. Micro Mark and Model
Expo plus a number of hobby shops sell this product for much more. They can
cost you $20.00 or more from some of the specialty stores. That covers the
basic tools to start you out.
So for the items that we covered already there has been a
big savings by shopping at Harbor Freight Tools, and by shopping around. If you
do not have a Harbor close to you then look for them online. You can shop
anywhere you would like to, but if you are on a budget I would look around
first. Buy shopping around I have paid
$90.18 for the listed items. I have showed you how to save $71.83. The average
hobby tool shop price would be $162.01, and don’t forget to add the tax to both
numbers. This is still a nice savings on hobby tools. You could buy a
locomotive for your layout for $71.83 and get change back. (Not a great one)
Not to mention like I said in the video some of these cheaper tools had more to
them then the expensive ones.
There are a number of other tools that you will need to go
into your model railroad toolbox. That is all for now next time I will tell you
about some more tools that you will need and want. I will help you find
airbrushes, and airbrush compressors at a great price. Then I will help you
find a good rotary tool without paying over $80.00 for it. We will look into
paint booths, and a few specialty items; like an N.M.R.A. HO gauge, an HO scale
ruler, some more tools that you can find at Harbor Freight to save money to buy
that Walther’s DCC Proto 2000 locomotive you wish to have on your layout. Till
next time, thank you for stopping at the station.
This is a list of
Internet sites to buy your hobby tools,
and remember shop around. I will point out that sometimes buying tools from a
cheaper tool store may mean that it is not as good as the name brand. I am
giving you the best information that I can. All of the products that I have
listed here I do own. I have had no problems at this time.
