Travelling Tool Kit

  In spite of the date stamp in the corner, this is a travelling tool kit I put together on Friday and used last the weekend at my kid's place.  My shop is focused on woodworking, in fact I hate nuts,bolts,screws and all types of auto mechanic sort of stuff. Surprisingly then, there are many auto mechanic type tools close at hand in my shop. This weekend passed my son-in-law and grandchildren needed an assortment of little adjustments to their bicycles, mostly aligning and tightening sorts of tasks. Somewhere in their basement are all the tools to do the job, somewhere.  It is just easier to do a job if take the tools with me I think I will need.

 Some of the tools in the bag are clearly wood shop tools, you can see on the left a pencil, folding ruler and Warrington hammer. The 3 in 1 oil fights rust on woodworking tools as well as machines. I have a spray can of a silicon cleaner lubricant and it gets used to clean woodworking machines as well as bicycles.

 Various Pliers and vise grip style pliers are used in my shop for nail pulling and basic metal forming. Linesmen's pliers are usually the first pliers I reach for, sometimes they are overkill but usually the are just what the doctor ordered.  

  In most cases I do not like multi-tools, like most compromises they don't really satisfy anyone, but...I took a Picquic screw driver. The multi bit screw driver is like the multi bit hex keys, adequate for a quick little job but would drive me crazy if I had to work with them for any length of time.

  Adjustable wrenches are like multi-tools but carrying a set of wrenches, (in Canada metric and imperial) can be literally back breaking so I opt for a "one size fits all, mostly" pair of adjustable wrenches. Since it was bicycle repair I took small wrenches.

  Rags, a tooth brush and black tape round out the kit. On something like this I know that the kids have paper towels and old tooth brushes, it is just easier to have it at hand.  I took the black tape because sometimes bicycle cables have frayed, scratchy ends and I wanted the tape available to wrap up the nasty bits so that the little guys wouldn't get poked.

  I took a shop apron with me just in case the job was going to be really greasy. Over the years I have ruined many, many shirts do "a little" job. And will probably ruin one or two more over time.

 The little, cheap canvas tool bag, that I acquired years ago and has travelled thousands of miles was money well and wisely spent. When not in use it folds flat and is stuffed into a corner in my shop.  I have a large wooden tool tote and have made a couple of smaller totes to serve particular purposes but they do take up space.

Kieran's tool box.
The copper pipe makes for a strong but small hands.

  The other thing I like about this canvas bag is that it zips firmly shut so it can be  strapped it to the back of my motorcycle seat and I needn't worry that I am losing more than my mind as I travel.

  I know that I am preaching to the choir but...how can you live a full and fulfilled life without a workshop?

 cheers, ianw

Wood Junkie

  My friend Ron occasionally looks around my shop and on one of his recent visits he labeled me a "wood Junkie".  I do have a quite a bit of wood in my wood rack, and behind the house and in the garage and in piles about the shop.  Lately I have collected green wood from fallen trees that will be used for turning projects once it dries.

  As a thrifty wood worker I am always on the look out for free sources of material for my shop.  Lately there are sites that talk about projects that use pallet/skid wood.  That wood is usually available for free on construction sites and around factories.  There are at least three that I can think of that put the skids out near the road and encourage people to take them away.

  There is another source of wood that you might not think about as you are driving around.  It is not uncommon for people to put old furniture out for garbage day pickup, or put furniture out with a sign "free".   Older furniture often has drawers made from pine or poplar covered by veneer. As a younger and naive wood worker I used to think I was picking up a walnut dresser, only to discover that the walnut was very thin. Newer furniture is sometimes made from birch strips edge glued, not pretty but solid.  I've found enough worth while wood that I keep stopping to check, after all if the wood is crap I don't have to take it.

 

  Here are  five drawers that I picked up on the side of the road yesterday. These drawers have hard wood fronts and sides with quality 3/8 plywood backs.  The thing that really attracted my attention was the bottoms of the drawers.  All five drawers had the 1/8 in plywood floor in good shape.  I use the thin plywood for bottoms in boxes and totes.  Since the thin plywood is consumed in small projects it doesn't matter if the pieces don't start out door sized.  Since the bottoms are nearly always stained, painted or covered somehow it doesn't matter if it is new wood.  The hardwood fronts have holes drilled for hardware but will still be fine for making jigs and other shop fixtures.

When the knobs are removed and the pieces broken down I have five sheets of thin plywood and an assortment of 1/2 inch and 3/8 inch pieces of wood.  I will eventually turn most of this wood into small boxes and bins for tea, toys etc. (box 6 sides, bin 5 sides.)

  I have a bin filled with a broad selection of drawer pulls and other hardware that I have salvaged over time too.  If you have been out looking to buy hardware lately you know how costly hardware can be and these pulls actually look fairly nice.

   The tools that I use for salvaging wood are very basic but there are two that I wouldn't be without.  One is needle nose pliers, and the other are Linesmen Pliers.  The needle nose enable me to dig around and get hold of headless brads and staples and the linesmen pliers have the grip and the grunt to put them out, or cut the off.  I try not to use the needle nosed pliers for cutting or prying, and so mine have lasted for years without the tips getting out of alignment.

 

cheers, ianw