Travelling Tool Box Part 2

One of the tools that goes into my tool box is a chisel knife from Sweden made by Frost of Mora Sweden.  It is a fabulous knife made my a heavy duty maker and since it has chisel tip it is very versatile.  I use it for marking, for heavy scoring and on one occasion for digging dandelions. When I am not pretending it is a utility chisel it is a very sharp knife for trimming and forming dowels and sharpening pencils etc. Nothing seems to phase it and the stainless steel is of such high quality that it is as good as new with a quick honing.

 I have a couple other Mora/Frost knives in my shop and love them all.

     Next on the list is the Rabot Kid plane:

   This plane is made in France and uses a utility knife blade. It is great for rough work and with a brand new blade will do a pretty good job on trim.  You can also move the blade forward and make it into a scraper.  I've cleaned up lots of over spray and paint drips with this little tool.

    The saw is not as exotic now as when I bought 30 years ago.

 

   I am on the second or third blade in the Japanese pattern plywood saw.  I like it because it cuts quickly and can be used for rough work or if handled carefully will do trim too.  I have even cut landscape timber with it, ultra versitile.  Also the blade comes out of the handle and I hold it inside the tool box wall with a rare earth magnet on a narrow shelf.  I take it with me so that I have a saw that is rasor sharp when I need it.

   Sweden, France and Japan are exotic and in the case of the plane and the knife I have actually been there. The last tool is home made.                                      

   

    A couple of jobs ago I needed a sanding block to clean up a couple of pieces of trim, that is when I had my ureka moment.  I buy 5 inch 8 whole sand paper by the 50 or 100 sheet package.  I have it in at least 5 grades but when I needed a sanding block I usually turned to a rectangular block of wood and a section of 8x11 sheet sand paper.  It meant that I had to have sheet sand paper in various grits too.  Two things so similiar in purpose that one thing would do the job with a little ingenuity.


   So I went to the fabric store and bought some hook and loop material.  It came by the yard and was about 1 1/2 inches wide.( and cheap) Then I cut out a 5 inch disk and used contact cement to glue the hook and loop to the disk.  I thought about the handle and decided on one that was square instead of round.  The square handle fits tightly and easily into my bench vise for the times when I want the wood to move not the sand paper.  When the sand paper disk gets clogged I clean it with my cleaning block just as if it were on the random orbital sander.  It works great, I use it on the lathe too.


   Having the right tool at hand makes any job easier.

Rabot Kid 24 Boss hand plane 
http://www.moraofsweden.se