5 Tools Every Toolbox Should Have

A good, fully stocked toolbox should always contain more than just five tools. That’s a rule that can’t be overlooked. A toolbox with five or less tools can never be a complete toolbox, and it will leave you wanting for the tool you need too many times. However, just as every toolbox needs to have more than five tools, there are roughly five tools that simply have to be included in every toolbox. These are the essential tools that every versatile toolset, like the one made by Wilson & Miller, must contain, because without them you wouldn’t be able to do even the basic DIY stuff around the house.

1. The Hammer

And not any hammer, for that matter, but a claw hammer. The claw hammer is used to, as it name says, hammer nails into surfaces by using one of its sides, or to remove the nails from a surface by using the other side. When buying a hammer, it’s important to keep in mind the work you’ll need it for. Small hammers are used for hammering small nails, and the bigger the nail, the bigger the hammer needed for it. An average hammer should weigh around one pound, and have a 16-inch long handle. Make sure that it fits your hand nicely, and that you’re able to maintain a firm grip while swinging it, because you don’t want the hammer flying out of your hand while you’re trying to hammer a nail.

2. Set of Screwdrivers

There’s no such thing as a universal screwdriver. They come in different sizes, and in two very different types – flathead and Philips head. When looking for those, you want to look for a set which contains both flathead and Philips head screwdrivers in a range of sizes. Alternatively, you can get two separate sets, one with flathead screwdrivers and one with Philips head screwdrivers. If you can get only one set with only one type of screwdrivers, aim for flathead, because they can be used with Philips head screws, although they will cause uneven wear of the head of the screw eventually. The important thing is that a toolbox without tools to handle screws is not a very good toolbox, so make sure yours has some screwdrivers.

3. Crescent Wrench

An adjustable wrench is the best thing you can have in your toolbox if it doesn’t already have a full set of wrenches. And if it would have a full set of wrenches, you’d still need an adjustable one. No fastener head, be it a bolt or a nut, no matter what size it might be, can resist being loosened or tightened with a crescent wrench. Plus, because it’s a tool that performs a function of many tools of different sizes, a crescent wrench is very practical – it can save space in your toolbox, and it can be worn on a tool belt.

4. Pliers

There’s more type of pliers than just one. Pliers are a gripping tool, although some come with a section that can be used for cutting. Because they are usually serrated, whatever you use the pliers with will be damaged if not properly protected. Just how fine of a thing you need to grip with the pliers will determine what type of plier you need. If you plan to work with electronics, you’ll need the needle-nose pliers. If you want something that will be able to grip plumbing pipes, you can use water-pump pliers. If you want the most versatile option, you should go with linesman’s pliers, which can both grip and cut.

5. Electric Drill

Because drilling by hand can be tiring and very time consuming, an electric drill should be a part of every toolbox. It doesn’t have to be a big power drill if you don’t plan to do some heavy construction work or drill through concrete walls, but it has to have enough power to be useful around the house. The best thing about electric drills is that they come with many different attachments, called bits, so they can be used instead of screwdrivers in certain circumstances, they can sand and grind materials, or even be used for stirring paint. They come in cordless and corded varieties, with the former being more expensive and portable, and the latter being less expensive and cheaper to maintain.

Wired for Beauty

I recently had the opportunity to explore a concept that has been rattling around the dark recesses of my cranium for almost three decades. It was inspired first by a spectacular pair of curly juniper boards (also known as aromatic red cedar) I bought way back when “just because” that were still awaiting their final purpose, and a cheesy Anglo-Indian carved teak box I use to hold my favorite “fussy” tools used for inlaying, engraving and marquetry.

The idea? Inlay wire into the presentation surface to enhance the already eye-catching beauty of the swirling grain pattern. The beauty of the technique is that it can be used for just about any kind of metal wire that fits the project – copper, brass, silver, pewter, aluminum, steel and even gold – and employed for any type of artistic expression, whether linear accents, scrollwork or free-form.

The use of inlaid wire has long historical precedence, perhaps nowhere more noteworthy than in the filigree inlays of exquisite antique firearms such as elegant dueling pistols and hunting long guns from centuries past. While the delicate accents of these artifacts were achieved through a skill developed during a long period of trial and error, by following the steps here, you can be up and running quickly because the scale and materials are more suited to both the modern shop and the task of furniture making.

The Magic Toolbox...

As some of you know, I got into this whole wonderful obsession when my wife’s grandfather passed away and left me with a lot of his tools. He was a hard working, honest man who through his work as a carpenter embodied the “Als Ik Kan” ideal of the Arts & Crafts movement. When I first started to go through the tools five years ago, I experienced a kind of fascination everyday as I stumbled across tools I had never dreamt of in my wildest philosophies. Central to this inheiritance was a gigantic rusty toolbox that weighed in well over 50 pounds. Inside that toolbox was treasure trove of tools old and new, pristine and weathered. It is these tools that most hold the mark of the man who put them to such great use throughout his career. I use this as a preamble to hopefully explain some of the reverence that I have for all of these pieces.

The magic toolbox still has not disappointed me. At first, I disregarded many of the tools as esoteric or too highly specialized to invest any effort into learning to use them. As my own work has matured, I continue to go back to the magic box to see if I can pull a rabbit out to help refine my work. Since my discovery of chairmaking with my recent Windsor epiphany, I have become interested in the ancient brace and bit set nestled at the very bottom of the toolbox.

In doing some shop modifications to make room for a fancy Roubo bench that I hope to start this summer, I broke out the brace to drill some clearance holes around some stuck masonry screws that were holding in place a base cabinet. Wow, that is fun stuff! The control and “feel” for the wood that you get with a brace and auger bit is next to nothing as far as I am concerned. Don’t get me wrong, my 18V cordless drill and 18V impact driver will never be far from my hands, but yet again, the magic toolbox has provided another option for a more delicate approach.

Setting Up a Shop with Woodworking Hand Tools

For many of today’s woodworkers setting up a shop means buying a bunch of often expensive machines and power tools, figuring out how to plug everything in, making sure you have enough outlets and electricity, and all this before you even begin to think about dust control and noise issues.

Even apart from the health and safety issues, and ignoring the expense, there is still a learning curve involved in becoming familiar with table saws, jointers, planers, router tables, and a variety of other powertools, stationary or otherwise. All this can seem overwhelming for the beginner, and while ultimately the rewards of woodworking are typically well worth the effort, it can be a lot to deal with in one gulp.

There is an alternative — much less expensive, simpler, safer, healthier, and for many, even more rewarding. For hundreds of years there were no power tools, and yet the craft produced amazing woodwork, and more importantly for the hobbyist, an enormous amount of satisfaction and pleasure.

The secret is to start with woodworking hand tools by setting up a shop that relies exclusively on relatively inexpensive items. As you progress you may well have the urge and opportunity to add in some basic power tools to make certain jobs such as stock preparation easier — which, incidentally, is what power tools were invented for — but in the meantime you will have learned a lot of skills and techniques that cannot be easily duplicated with power tools alone (try making a cabriole leg on a router table or a Bombay chest on a jointer — it can be done but only with a complicated array of extra jigs and fixtures, which seems to defeat the purpose of being efficient).

The heart of a hand tool workshop is its bench. Thereafter you need a certain number of basic sawing, planing, and cutting tools. You will need to understand how to prepare and sharpen them, how to use them and the jigs and devices that go along with making their use easy, secure, and accurate. And you will need to understand the best way to organize your workflow and storage. It’s a lot of information, but it can provide the foundation for an almost limitless array of techniques that will equip you to produce virtually anything. A hand tool workshop is by no means an inferior substitute for the more typical power shop, but rather can be the foundation for much more sophisticated woodworking.

Hello!

Hey everyone! I`m a hand tools and toolboxes lover that enjoys blogging about them. I love doing stuff around the house and constantly buy new tools for these purposes!

My passion is also blogging and I`ll keep writing about numerous situations in which I ended up using hand tools, toolboxes and what not to complete stuff around my home.

If anyone has any questions about my work or blog please contact me through a contact page!