Tools of the trade

[Norealway]

so I'm taking baby steps in to the world of RDTA's looking Around on sites and seeing pouches of build tools now I'm sure many items are very useful but I'm also airing on the side that some of the bits are gimmicky! So my question is what are essential tools?

 

[vapemac]

Snips, tweezers and coiling jig. Pretty much all i use. I was like you, thought about buying a kit but bought the bare essentials to start with and realised I didn't need anything else.

 

[burnt fingers]

Screwdirvers , for screws and wrapping coils round ..various shaft thicknesses is what you want , ceramic tweezers , wire snips ,pliers , allen keys .

 

[burnt fingers]

Of course depends a bit on the tank ..if it does not use anything with an allen screw you dont need the allen keys . I don't use a coil jig..hand wind round screwdrivers or drill bits .

 

[amos]

And a very big table

 

[yappycat]

As per what @vapemac said, but I rarely use the coiling jig anymore - was cheapity cheap rubbish too - got the job done don't get me wrong but I've got used to doing it by hand coz I generally only use wire that's easy to work with. I'd say the only things worth spending on are snips/scissors - you want em sharp. Nice ceramic tipped tweezers are super handy too. This is the sum of my building kit minus my wire ofc...and I only use snips/scissors/tweezers/random skinny pokey screwdrivers on a regular basis I would have loved to have bought a fancy coil master kit tbh...but when I started building I was too skint, and now with hindsight I realise I probs wouldn't have used half the stuff in it anyway

 

[burnt fingers]

that's all I use

 

[zouzounaki]

I had most of the stuff about the house. Little screwdrivers, tweezers, scissors. Only thing I've bought was a little wire snipper from maplins for a few quid cause I blunted a pair of scissors cutting wire with them. You don't need that much.

 

[Norealway]

Thanks for all your input planet people! The ceramic tweezers are they ceramic as for not to conduct a bolt of leccy up your arm? So once your mastered it you can just wrap coils on a small screwdriver?

 

[Lord Grim]

Thanks for all your input planet people! The ceramic tweezers are they ceramic as for not to conduct a bolt of leccy up your arm? So once your mastered it you can just wrap coils on a small screwdriver?

What everyone else said....
Ceramic tweezers allow you to tweak your coil while heating it. Metal ones would cause it to short.