Another prospective strawbale builder came out to help me on the weekend, and commented that he needed to start making a list of tools he would need. So I thought I’d get a head start on that, and start collating the tools I’ve been using the most.
Some of these will be specific to my hybrid infill building method, some will be biased towards my random skillset. I’ll focus on power hand tools as they’re more expensive and list manual tools separately. I won’t get into my woodwork-specific tools and larger machines, as I can’t imagine non-woodworkers buying larger machines to build a house, and they’d probably get a specialist carpenter in if they have specific timber (ie. ‘presentation’ timber, not framing) requirements.
Required
| Tool | Needed for | Alternatives, other notes |
| Circular saw | Cutting posts & beams to length | Drop saw, miter saw, SCMS if you have them. |
| Power drill | Drilling bolt holes etc | None, really. Mutliple drills is good if you have them, to reduce the amount of bit-swapping. |
| Impact driver | Driving screws etc | Power drill – impact drivers are much nicer to use though. Nailgun |
| Angle grinder | Cutting anything metal – trimming brackets, steel beams, bolts | Hacksaw |
| Cement mixer | Mixing render, any miscellaneous concreting | Can be hired |
Nice-To-Have
| Tool | Needed for | Alternatives, other notes |
| Mitre saw (or CMS, SCMS) | Cutting posts and beams to length. | More accurate and repeatable than a circular saw. |
| Jigsaw | Cutting metal (eg. the skins of SIPs) or wood, in small spaces or complex cuts | Angle grinder for metal, various saws for wood |
| Hammer drill (SDS/SDS+) | Drilling holes for anchors in concrete | If required – normal hammer drills are pretty ineffective in harder slabs. Can be hired. |
| Staple gun | Attaching mesh to timber etc | Hand-stapler. I bought an electric stapler, other people use air-nailers |
| Power planer | Adjusting timber for fine angles, making angled surfaces for SIPs etc | Hand planer? |
| Recipro saw (aka. sabre saw) | Cutting random things, trimming bales, destroying stuff | Lots of alternatives (basically any other type of saw!) but the recipro has been very useful – and fast! – for specific tasks |
| Hedge trimmer | Shaping bales | Some people prefer the hedge trimmer, I prefer the recipro. |
Hand Tools
| Tool | Used for |
| Hammers – claw, sledge | Everything. |
| Screwdrivers | ….driving screws |
| Chisels | “Adjusting” timber for fit and clearance |
| Handsaws | For where power saws won’t reach |
| Hacksaw | Small/fiddly metal cutting |