James River Branch: Tools and Supplies

Tools: Tweezers

Second to the hobby knife in importance to the hobbyist is a pair of tweezers. There is simply no other practical way of handling small parts, no matter how nimble your fingers may be. Since the early 1960s I've been using the same old pair of tweezers in my modeling, and only within the last decade did I treat myself to a new pair. To be honest, I wish I'd done it sooner, because I hadn't realized just how beat up my old pair had gotten!

Consequently, I've found it's good to have a pair of tweezers that you can "abuse"—there are times when they'll get dipped in paints and solvents, doused with adhesives or soldering flux, and nicked by files or motor tool bits. After a while, given such treatment, their tolerances will naturally suffer. But they'll still be useful!

Then, you'll want to have a pair with precision needle-fine points that stay this way for handling tiny objects such as Z Scale people, or detail parts the size of a pinhead.

A third variety of tweezers that should be in everyone's workshop are called self-clamping tweezers. These work in reverse: you squeeze them to release the object, instead of pick it up. They're great for holding tiny parts when you still need the use of both hands.

Just getting started? I'd recommend getting three pairs, so you have one pair to take rough treatment, one pair for precision tasks, and one pair that hold objects on their own. While the first can be cheap drugstore variety, the latter two you'll probably want to purchase online, since there are more sources of quality products there—Micro-Mark is a good starting point.