Can You Work On the Road?
I’m building a tool box as a project for Hand Tool School Semester 4. Most of the construction is done and I began to load in the tools I had designed it around. I was pleased to find everything fitting as planned with enough extra space to allow for some fasteners to hold everything in its place while the tool box is being carried. There is a fair amount of space leftover should I need to include tools for that special job. This got me thinking. As woodworkers we rarely leave our shops to do work. In fact the first couple of times I was called on to do something outside my shop I was useless. Of course this was in my power tool days so I hope that now I would fare better. However, when I think about how much I rely on my bench and the ability to grab any old plane or saw to so the job I quickly get worried about a time when I forget to bring along the right tool.
So here I stand with a hard thought about tiny group of tools designed to handle most operations and a tool box ready to allow them to work. I feel like I should be singing some German Hunting Lieder as I head into the woods…
Your Turn
What jobs or tasks take you out of the shop? What tools do you bring along? What kind of temporary workspace do you set up. Please share your indispensable tool list and thoughts in the comment section below.