Saturday, September 12, 2009
The Week in Tools: Toolmonger Top 5
Toolmonger: "It’s been a busy week here at Toolmonger. If you’ve been spending time in the shop — you should! — and you haven’t had a chance to keep up with Toolmonger this week, we suggest you start with these posts, which our readers helped to select"
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I think my favorite part of this article was "These drawing aids come from (no kidding) Dick Blick art materials. Ever heard a name like that outside of the kind of film you don’t want your kids finding?" They were talking about french curves. But just the idea of making fun of Dick Blick's name amused me.
I find it interesting that some of the top tools are actually old tools that just happen to be mentioned again. The flex combination wrench seems like a really useful tool, especially (as was mentioned) for getting into tight spaces that only a ratchet with a long extension would work for. The mention of the baling wire was also clever: using rebar tie wire as baling wire for small repairs is a new (clever) take on an old idea.
I find I'm perpetually buying those little mini-keychain tools and they are perpetually breaking or falling apart. Everyone makes one, Gerber, Sog, Leatherman, etc. All slightly different, and all seemingly a little more or less useful than the next. My biggest complaint so far have been that the actual key chain loop breaks, not the tool. I've owned about 4 now that have snapped off. Males me want to just carry my Gerber around all the time, but of course, its either too big, too heavy, or doesn't desperately go with my attire. Alas, I'll go spend another $20 on something that will disappear after 3 short weeks....
I'm with Lechterman on the topic of the key chain knives. They're just pretty close to useless. I've tried a variety of em and generally I have found that they really just don't hold up particularly well to any real tasks. The key shaped one shone in the picture is same or at least similar to my favorite of these mini knives, and even it was really only useful for cutting open boxes and minor jobs. The plus side key blade over the others I found was that it cost about $5, which given how easily all the key chain blades break, seemed like a decent price for a tool I really couldn't maintain.
Since I discovered toolmonger last week, I like looking at the different tools people vote on. I don't want to be a TD like Sonia does but a girl can still look. I definitely agree with Nick in that some of these are old tools. I do enjoy when the come up with new unheard of tools though. The digital Power Station seems very useful when being in a pinch. In my Metals mini Ben talked about how the best pocket tool is the Leatherman so I don't think these keychain tools measure up to that (after seeing one myself) because they are basically the same size.
Sometimes I feel like these top 5 listings are not as top 5 as they could be. Some of the items on here, in my mind, are kind of boring. I wonder if i am simply looking for new tools and in this weeks top 5, that seems to be lacking. I do think the keychain tools are very interesting. But, as jeremy said, they tend to be lower quality. I have yet to find one of those that I am happy with the quality of.
Key chain tools are dinky and I cannot stand them. The only exception to this is my little mega-combo wrench I use for short lighting applications--those are pretty cool. More thought needs to go into size, durability and how they are affixed to a key chain--all of which seem very fragile right now.
I really like the idea of flex wrench for situations not just in theatre--imagine what kind of crazy lighting positions people may get away with if they knew their electricians had "bendy wrenches."
I found it unusual to see french curves on this list. I tend to think of french curves as something very delicate and precise that most people would not bother with, but is nice to see that they are still valued. It seems like now all our communication happens through a computer which can draw you any curve you want in a minute and with minimal effort, however as this article briefly mentions sketches are still used. Especially in theater sketches are a used by all departments to communicate ideas early in the design process. The clearer a sketch is the more information will make it across to the other person, so utilizing tools that may make sketches more successful and expressive seems like a smart idea.
The selection is a bit weak this week. The Stanley protable power is OK, but it is a bit bulky and not too useful. The keychain knives again, OK, but you might as well get something larger and more useful. The french curves are fine, but most of us have them from drafting freshman year. The comment made by the poster was quite funny... "drawing aids come from (no kidding) Dick Blick art materials."
As much as I love my drafting tools, and as wonderful as my Alvin products have been so far, I caution anyone against going to Dick Blick to purchase them. My first experience with the store was terrible--they were entirely out of stock of most of their paints and drafting tools (they had no lead holders, how can you have no lead holders?), and everything was just a wee bit overpriced because you were at Dick Blick purchasing your oh so important materials.
Buy them at Staples and do yourself a big favor.
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