Many model engineers like to make use of all sorts of items, and have a stock of "parts-which-might-be-useful-sometime".
In some cases this economy may be due to shortage of funds, but often it is due to the dislike of the "throwaway" society, and in addition there can be great satisfaction in making things from items that others have discarded.

Soft hammers.
One tool which we all use and which probably receives less thought than almost any other is the soft-faced
hammer.
Nowadays one can buy them with heads of leather, copper plastic, rubber and several other materials.

A variety of sizes, weights and types are useful and they can easily be made from lead.

Lead strip, sometimes used for roof flashings, and formally used for roof covering, can be wrapped round a hammer
handle until it is the required thickness and then fastened with a couple of tacks. (Making sure that they are on the side not the face of the hammer.)

Old lead pipes can be used in several ways.
Depending on size:-
A handle can be forced into the bore of a piece of pipe.
It can be flattened and wrapped round a handle.
It can be melted and cast into whatever shape and size one wishes.

HEATING THE WORKSHOP.
One perennial problem is keeping the workshop warm. Not just heat whilst one is working, but also providing sufficient background heat to prevent condensation and subsequent rust on everything.

Some years ago I made a very crude "solar heating system". It was "thrown together" out of junk, and to my surprise, worked
extremely well. It provided all the heat I required for most of the year, and even in the depths of winter, gave some background heat.

A neighbour was having a lot of building work done. Naturally(?) I looked in the builders skip and couldn't resist the temptation when I found it full of "things-that-might-be-useful" (better known as junk).
For others who may wish to follow the same route, this is what I did.

Find the largest window frame (complete with glass) that matches in size the biggest radiator you can find.

Make a box to fit the radiator with the window on the front, and lined with loft insulation. Mount this at about 45 degree angle facing south. Run the two pipes into the workshop, and connect them to another, smaller radiator. Try and position the pipes so that they are as short as possible and they have a reasonably level flow and avoid bends as much as possible. Obviously, the pipe coming from the top of the outside radiator, will be the hot end,, and should run direct to the inside radiator. In the other pipe, mount a normal central heating pump, and also another pipe, fitted vertically outside, to form a "header tank". Of course, you could be more "scientific" and use a proper tank, but I found that a length of 3/4" pipe around 10 ft long was sufficient to ensure that the system remained full of water.
(I soldered a wire mesh covered metal funnel to the top, and periodically used to fill it by judicious aiming of the
garden hose.)

The outside radiator should be painted matt black, although it will still work if left in its original (probably white)
colour.

The pump was too powerful and needed the flow and or, the speed and / or time-on reduced.
I added a thinner piece of pipe to reduce the flow, and also ran the pump form an old transformer that was to hand, to cut its speed.

None of it was scientific, but it worked and gave me free heating.

Heating the workshop II.
Heating in the workshop is not a luxury. Apart from making it more comfortable to work in, a reasonable heat level  reduces the risk of accidents. However, and perhaps as important, it also reduces or eliminates the risk of rust.
There is nothing worse than spending time building a model, only to have it disfigured by rust within days. Having rust on
machinery is equally as bad.
The latter can be countered quite easily. Make a cover that fits over the machine, leaving the bottom open. Just below the
machine, put a  small electric lamp, 15 watt being sufficient. This will keep the rust at bay, whilst consuming a minute amount of electricity.