Tools, maybe a bit unusual

I took apart an old pool pump motor with worn out bearings. The bolts that held the motor together all broke off as I tried to remove them, so there was no way to save the motor. However, those bolts have made great stir rods. They're long enough to stir a container of plaster but not so long that they get in the way.

Another useful tool has been plastic spreaders. They were originally purchased for another project, but they've been quite useful for spreading out the plaster used for roads. Since they're plastic, they can be flexed a bit to give the road a crown in the center.

An ordinary kitchen sifter has been a very useful tool. The one I have is too coarse for most ground foam, but it works great for colored sawdust.

The final tool "discovery" is a multi-tool scraper blade. Multi-tools are relatively new on the market, and much has been said about them. They come with a variety of attachments, such as a half moon cutter, scraper, and more. When cutting foam, I usually used the cutters with the serrated edge to cut through the foam. However, the scraper does an excellent job of cutting foam with much less mess than the other cutters. There is a significant disadvantage, though: Noise. The vibration of the tool head creates a lot of noise while cutting the foam, especially if it isn't well secured.