Why I Love Tools

one of the questions that came in a couple of months ago was what's your favorite tool it bugged me I had never really thought in terms of a favorite tool because I love tools generally I love the things I can do with them I love the collectability aspect I love the fact that I have to have them to feed my family but I've kind of been grinding on that what's my favorite tool and I figured let's boil it down to ten some tools are significant because of where they came from how long you look for it or who it was that gave it to you and your relationship with that person in fact as it turns out several of these tools are treasured because of the relationship I had with the person who gave them to me there's a significance that a tool has in the value that it brings to your life in terms of either a the money you make with it or the pleasure that you get in using it so utility or value is another criteria that I used for evaluating which of my tools are most treasured there's the aspect of how well it's made quality and a tool increases its value to me there is the aspect of replace ability related to sort of sentimental value but if you just could never replace a tool you don't want to lose it therefore it is more treasured so with these three or four criteria you know sentimental attachment utility value replace ability quality I've taken my best shot out of the hundreds of tools that I've got and I don't think that's hyperbole of identifying my top ten most treasured tools and here they are number 10 on my list of top 10 treasured tools my daily drivers chainsaw this is a still ol 44 purchased new in 1993 I don't think it can be improved on in terms of the amount of work that an ordinary man can can accomplish with this in a day it's got a 36 inch bar I like that bar length and second-growth timber a lot of guys like a shorter bar this little feature of how where the bar tightens and where chain is tightened was a still innovation which I think now is in public domain it's brilliant way better than traditional method the value of this saw is partly because of the money I made with it when I was logging but largely it's because of the memories I had have associated with logging with my dad and the number of times that I was nearly killed while I was using it and the number of times that it was nearly killed while I was using it there are memories of a younger more vital more productive Scott wodsworth and a younger more vital more productive Gregg wodsworth associated with this saw that are precious to me besides that he just can't be as still oh forty-four number nine its Burke bar now some of you who have not used the Burke bar have been a little confused and I've had things to say about for crying out loud it is just a snake and pry bar well you know why go ahead and go it up and borrow one and do some heavy work with it and see if you still feel that way it looks elementary it looks boring it looks eminently replaceable but the fact is I could not buy one of these in roseburg today I would have to either a order it or be make it and if it's a day that I need it I don't have time for that there are things that can only be accomplished effectively with a Burke bar the length the weight took strength and length length ratio the angle of the bit watch the video the bottom line is that is a great tool this is not treasured to me because of where it came from I bought it I paid 179 bucks this is not treasured to me because it's not replaceable I can have another one brand new in my hand in 20 minutes this is treasured because it is a great tool and I've used one essentially like this including the previous edition of this saw for 40 years to feed my family it's perfectly suited for rough carpentry I've used it most of the days of my adult productive life I'm good with it it's dependable it's got a couple of custom adaptations which you can learn about if you watch any of the videos and I've got two this is a moneymaker this is why I like it I recommend you own one Stanley block plane now I don't use this very often anymore in fact I've never used this one in a in a production situation this is on the list for two reasons the first and big reason is because it was given to me by Neil rose Neil groves was a remarkable old man he died last year I miss it he was a man who was as down to earth as it gets essentially uneducated essentially raised by wolves turned himself through dint of hard work and self education into a gentleman and a helpful contributing member of society he liked me it gave me this plane so that's the big piece the second piece is this is well made you can pay more money for a block plane but you can't buy have one that works any better so an old school rule that is still valid is that when you set a block plane down you put it on its edge the mistake and putting it on its foot is if there's a mate nail or something you're gonna Nick your cut your blade that's gonna cost you 20 minutes of sharpening time now in an earlier day when wood was always shaped by hand this was really important now it's still valid but every time I think of these things I reconnect with Neil and an older approach to woodworking it's a double bit of cruisers axe and you ask yourself why would something as simple and elemental as a cruisers axe make his top ten list partially because it's elemental this belongs to my dad I grew up with this hanging in shops leaning up against the wall being on the site where we're cutting wood or clearing brush I used this axe when I was 13 years old 14 years old using climbing gear to climb big fir trees and chop the branches off kind of lifting them to increase the view underneath the trees and the place where we lived this axe and I go way back the cruisers aspect of this ax references cruising timber which is of course a big part of what the history is here in the Pacific Northwest this is a great tool and check this out my friend Ken Jordan restores axis how about that exactly the same axe when he heard about this axe and saw it and coveted it and I explained to him that it belonged to my dad was part of my youth one day he showed up at the shop with this a True Temper double-bedded cruisers act their brothers one did his work close once in his Sunday clothes now a framing square in and of itself is an amazing and under about appreciated tool to building this square was given to my dad by his dad at about the time my dad got married the the assumption was that every young man needed a framing square still a good assumption so rafter tables and octagon tables thanks for teaching me that by the way breaks tables and a full though brief description of how to use the rafter tables this old boy made by nickels major tool manufacturer for a long time United States is probably seventy years old it means a lot for practicality for usefulness for quality and for the connection with where it came from now I have a new aluminum square that I use on the job it's lighter it doesn't get as hot it's you know it's more legible but waiting right down to it this is a tool that I would really really hate to lose for more than just one or two reasons you ever seen a wood slick a wood slick is a tool from a time when timber framing was the way things were built when mortises were cleaned out and Tenon's were cleaned up to the shoulder of the tenon this is essentially a wood plane that you can plane right up to zero width and you say well that's very interesting Scott but there's a date on here I don't think you can see it l nij White Buffalo New York 1837 think of that and then there's the size of the thing I've never seen one this big and then there's a condition of the thing it is essentially in the same condition it was the day they made it and then there is the evidence of the Forge weld right there between the mild steel or probably wrought iron let me say that again between the wrought iron and the carbon steel bit I and then there is the fact that I use it on the job not I will confess in the way it was intended but occasionally I use it to get in the slight under something to pry it up to dislodge a staple to help remove if I've got to do a rough patch getting around a roof Jack there's a lot of things I can do with this wood slick but here is the real connection this was given to me by Roger Rasmussen Roger Rasmussen was another very good friend Rogers dead I miss him every time I see this thing in my toolbox every time I pick it up to do a roof repair I think Roger thanks man this is irreplaceable and more than just one way so this is my number three most treasured tool we're in the top third you don't have much longer to sit through this thanks for hanging with me though this is a broad axe that is a broad broad axe can you see what's left of this touch mark MBD and Sons and then that nearly obliterated mark of the back end of a milk cow you can kind of see the hind leg the hock the tail a little bit of the utter the little bit of research that I've done on this online indicates this was made around 1812 that's even more staggering than the wood slick so I've been kind of loading my gun mentally about how in the world I'm gonna make the handle that this goes that goes in this because I've got to doing a little bit of research broad ax handles are not necessarily long because they were used with two hands kind of up close and personal I can't wait to hew something this is what was used to make beams before sawmills but now we get to the meat of the matter once again another mentor of mine who's dead too soon Bob home ndon this belonged to him and his dad and I hesitate to assign ownership to his granddad but it wouldn't surprise me abroad acts like this is an iconic example of a time when it was hard to make things when the things we take for granted like oh let's go down to buy a 4x6 well this was an idea that would take days to bring to fruition I intend to handle this I intend to polish it up I intend to make this kind of a centerpiece of the tools I have that connect me with people who have had the biggest impact on my life thanks Bob you're looking at number two no I don't call it number two because obviously there's an indication there of a metaphor that absolutely does not apply but this is my 200-pound Chambersburg general utility hammer this was a subject of the first video that we posted on YouTube so I guess that attaches some significance to it for me this is my second most treasured tool because it absolutely fills all of the criteria related to being important to me it's useful this power hammer will do things that a lot of power hammers won't it does things that I have to do if I'm going to be a blacksmith it is quality Chambersburg was one of the premier machinery manufacturers for a long time this thing is going to last taken care of it'll last several lifetimes like mine because nothing is going to break on it it's beautiful in that way it is treasure will because it is almost irreplaceable now that's a little bit okay that's not quite accurate but it's almost accurate it's hard to find a Chambersburg general utility hammer it's harder to find one in a two hundred pound weight class which is a perfect all-around weight for an artist blacksmith and then we get to the last criteria which is a common theme in the in the dimension of tool ownership that is most important to me and that is henry redmond found this for me at an auction in san jose california he went to the auction and bid on it for me he brought it back to his place for me he held it until I could down there he loaded it for me Henry facilitated this for me Henry's another mentor every time I walk up to this I think Thank You Henry so for every reason that is part of my calculation this is number two are you ready for my favorite tool in fact favorite is two-week treasured is the only adjective for this tool it is the most unique it is the most useful it comes with as powerful a sentimental attachment as any of the rest it is the highest quality tool that I have in the shop it is the most irreplaceable it is iconic of the most worthwhile efforts it has come to underpin and undergird the craftsmanship outlet that is right now most satisfying to me and will continue to be most satisfying to me until I die it's the mother of all shop tools it is the center of this shop and it in fact underpins and was a catalyst for this YouTube channel it can't surprise you that it's my 448 pound a button and check out the video of that title and you're going to understand it better why this is the possession that is under my control they would hurt the worst to lose separate from my human blessings my family my friends those that I associate with who means so much to me in my life separate from that this is the thing that I treasure them [Music] you

Channel: Essential Craftsman

Views: 794,819

Rating: 4.9233489 out of 5

Keywords: Tools, craftsman, antique, anvil, powerhammer, forge, chainsaw, top ten, top tools, tool reveiws, Stihl, Tool Rant, Tool VLOG, framing, Hay Budden, Peter Wright, Trenton, True Temper, Skilsaw, Skil Mag77, Skillsaw, stihl 044, Burke Bar, Stanley, Wood Slick, Woodworking, Broad Axe, Chambersburg, Power Hammer, Powerhammer, blacksmith, DIY, Make, Wood, Create, Antique, Collect, Collection, Hoarder, Hoard, Shop, Workshop, Woodshop, Shop Tour, forging, Tool, tools

Id: 3_f_6QsWutY

Length: 15min 20sec (920 seconds)

Published: Sat May 13 2017

Reddit Comments

[u/PMmeTanlines]

One of the most well spoken and humble people on all of YouTube. He mentioned in the Q&A video that this channel is part of his retirement plan. This guy deserves 500k subs

[u/kthanx]

His whole channel is amazing.

[u/Tyrog_]

Very very interesting!!! I love this guy!

[u/ulab]

I don't think there are a lot of craftsmen of his caliber out there. His love for his work shows in everything he does.

[u/WorksInProcess]

The anvil guy! This dude flat out loves tools.

[u/Isaacguy]

I want this man to be my grandpa

[u/kellydean1]

I'd love to see him and Nick Offerman get together and make something.

[u/FirstTryName]

Cool video. He seems like a character from Prairie Home Companion.

[u/chinachinachina3]

I live in China. What are the tools in the video ?