What’s in your pocket?
My collection? 12’ tape measure (A), 6” rule (B), pencil (C), Sharpie (d), clicker for my camera (e), clicker for my dust collector (F), 4” square (G), small adjustable wrench (H), allen key set (I), eraser (J), utility knife (K).
One of the things I love about my job is getting to rub elbows with other woodworkers across the country. It is always fun to see how they’ve organized their shops and how they work. I am constantly amazed by how many different approaches there are, and yet by how similarly we all work. I guess it shouldn’t be too surprising given that folks have been working with wood for thousands of years, and the basic techniques haven’t changed all that much.
One thing I’m always curious about is what tools people like to have right at hand. With a nod to a certain series of credit card ads, I posed the question: “What’s in Your Pocket?” to a number of my fellow woodworkers. As you might expect, the responses generated a short list of tools that are handy no matter what flavor of woodworking you do. At the top of the list is a tape measure, though Ernie Conover, longtime woodworking author of Middlefield, OH prefers a folding rule. “My favorite is a small, fiberglass Life Long model with both metric and standard scales. Most of my machines are European, so the metric markings match those on the fences.” In second place is a pencil, though preferences vary from a .2mm mechanical pencil to the ubiquitous #2 Ticonderoga. Tied for third are a 6” rule and a utility knife. After that, things got a little more personalized.
“It depends on which hat I’m wearing” says furniture maker and turner Keith Gotschall of Selena, CO. “In my shop apron (for when I’m doing flat work), I have whittled it down to a 6” ruler, .5 mm mechanical pencil, #2 pencil, 16’ tape measure, 4” square, utility knife, small putty knife, small file, and a small nail set. A leather headed mallet completes the apron. But if I’m doing lathe work, close at hand I generally have a 12” center finding rule and 6” plastic dial calipers, plus all the turning tools, chuck keys, sand paper, etc., I will be using, all set out on a tray that fits the lathe bed.”
“I’m more of a minimalist and don’t wear an apron or keep any woodworking-related items on my person”, says Rob Spiece, Director of Woodcraft at Berea College in Kentucky. “So beyond a 12’ tape measure? – iPhone, car keys, pack of smokes, lighter, and a few wood chips from the lathe.”
“I usually have on me a small pocket knife, a 12’ tape measure, Sharpies (the industrial variety; the marks hold up better on metal), a pencil or pen, and a small sketchbook/notebook,” says Pennsylvania-based furniture artist and maker Sophie Glenn. “I’ll also carry a Silver Streak pencil or soapstone if I’m shopping for and/or working with steel.”
And Steve Butler, host of The Garage with Steve Butler, a PBS woodworking show based in Mill River, MA, shares, “I keep five main things handy in a bench well or in an apron pocket: a small combination square, a 12’ tape measure, a piece of chalk, a work knife, and an old piece of candle.”
So there you have it. The same, but different. Still, I’m curious, what’s in your pocket?
