Woodworker’s Every Day Carry – FineWoodworking

When you walk into your shop, a routine part of starting your day is gathering the tools you need. It makes your woodworking experience entirely different.

As Fine Woodworking editors, we get an intimate look inside our contributors’ woodworking practices: their shop setup, tool organization, and what they must have on hand at all times. I’ve learned so much from watching others in the craft, and it’s made me adapt the way I approach woodworking.

I believe shop aprons, tool pouches, and even a chore coat are just as unique as our choices in workbenches: they evolve as we develop the craft, and it’s a neat peek into the workflow of every woodworker. Because of this, I recently asked a few of our editors about their “every day carry” items, as well as their preferred way to wear them in the shop. Here’s what I found out.

Mike Pekovich

I hadn’t thought about wearing an apron until I began teaching. Running around an unfamiliar shop just to track down my combination square for a machine setup got old quickly. Now it’s become a part of my daily routine when I head out to my own shop. If I don’t take a minute to put it on, it probably means I’m not really serious about being there.

• Out of everything in my current apron, the items that see the most use are my 6-in. combo square, 12-ft. tape measure, 6-in. steel rule, and my trusted Blackwing pencils, complete with a two-stage sharpener.
• Followed close behind are a pair of card scrapers, one for glue cleanup and one for a final finish.
• I own a handful of setup gauges in various thicknesses. These are from Infinity Tools, but you can find more affordable options.
• A mini-burnisher from Blackburn Tools is a recent addition and a must-have.
• I actually don’t keep an apron plane in my apron; it’s a little heavy. I just thought it looked cool in the photo.
• This is my second apron from Texas Heritage. The folks are wonderful to work with and will set up an apron exactly the way you want it. I almost forgot about my dust collector switch; I asked for D-rings just for that purpose.

Ben Strano

While my everyday shop attire has oscillated between a full apron, a hardware store giveaway waist apron, and just sticking things in my pocket, my shop everyday carry has been fairly consistent over the last five or so years.

• I always like to have a card scraper on me. Not only is it great as a scraper (duh), but I often find myself needing a straightedge to check how level something is or for drawing a straight line. My favorite is the Bahco 6-in. scraper. Not only is the feel of it what my hands have come to expect, but the plastic protector it comes with is great.
• I always need a sharp knife, and while I always (ALWAYS) have my Mirock Toolworks Maker Cutter on me, for woodworking, I need something small and sharp. I’ve yet to find anything as good as the Olfa 9mm metal-bodied snap knife. I usually have it loaded with 30º blades gifted to me by Barry Dima. I’d link the blades, but the packaging is Japanese and I don’t have a clue. The 30º blade reaches a bit further, and the smaller tip turns a great knife into a knife nearing perfection to me. Since it’s a snap knife, the only excuse for a dull knife is running out of blades.
• By far, the best shop tape measure I’ve ever come across is the DeWalt 9-ft. magnetic tape measure. It has magnets so you can get a few and stick them to various machines, and the belt clip is generous enough to clip easily to a pocket. Yes, the extra room in the clip makes it less secure, but I’m rarely jumping around in my woodshop like on a job site. If it came in an imperial/metric version, I don’t think I’d ever use anything else 99% of the time.
• Many will scoff at the inclusion of calipers for a woodworker, but I’ve grown to use them all the time in my work. For me, these Mitutoyo metric calipers are the perfect balance of accuracy, fit and finish, and price. While there is a learning curve to using vernier calipers, they’re accurate down to 0.05mm and never need a battery. Yes, they’re slower to read than digital calipers—for me, that is a moment of enjoyment because you’re a member of a small club who can read them.
• I need to have a 6-in. imperial/metric ruler on me at all times. I’ve debated getting a rule tattooed on my left arm. Yes, I’m serious. Yes, I know it wouldn’t be super accurate. No, I don’t care.
• If you’ve listened to the podcast, you know I love Blackwing pencils, but these days I’ve switched to a 0.9mm Alvin Draft/Matic pencil. It feels and performs like an expensive mechanical pencil and can be had for about $20, but I’m pretty sure I paid closer to $10.

Owen Madden

This coat was a gift from my mom; there have been a few along the way, but this is my favorite. The first, inspired by New York fashion photographer Bill Cunningham, was purchased on my first trip to Paris in 2009.

I had read an interview in which Cunningham mentioned loving the bright blue of the Parisian sanitation workers, and that one could easily procure the coat at any workwear store in France. This turned out to be true and started my blue coat journey.

The chore coat has become quite trendy in recent years, making them hard to find stateside, but luckily for me, my mom knew of my affinity and picked one up on a recent trip to Paris.

The hand plane embroidery is a new addition; my mom’s best friend, Sue, has an automated embroidery machine, and when she searched in the preloaded design catalog for “woodworking,” this was the result. Over the years, I have tried countless aprons, pouches, even some tech-edged Euro workwear, but I always come back to the chore coat.

People often ask if I wear it year-round. No, I don’t. If it’s over 75°F, I stuff some of these things in my pants pockets, and that works too. Here in the Northeast, though, that’s only for a short period.

Upper right pocket:

Lower right pocket:

Lower left pocket:

Amanda Russell

I stick a tape measure and a pencil in my pocket a lot of times, but I find that the deliberate action of putting on my tool pouch puts me in the right mindset for the shop. My collection of items has evolved a bit over the years.

More often than not, they are a pleasant memory from teaching a class or learning from my mentor, Philip Morley, who gave this tool pouch to me as a Christmas gift several years ago. I’d love to have a leather replica made someday, but in the meantime, this does the job.

• This tool pouch is from ToughBuilt, which makes several different styles of pouches. It comes with a clasp that can be hooked onto your belt or mounted to a wall. You can buy additional mounting clasps in packs of three. The clip, which is built into the pouch, is easy to take on and off. When I was working on job sites some days of the week and in Phil’s shop other days, I liked being able to switch them out or take them on and off easily to squeeze into tight spots.
• An Olfa Xa-1 is a must-have for me. I use it as a marking tool, and the knife breaks off easily for a fresh edge at all times.
• I have a Stanley 12-ft. tape measure like a lot of folks, but mine has metric on one side and imperial on the other. This was a gift from a student who solely worked in metric. It was a challenge to adjust between the two while teaching, but it’s now nice to have it on hand, and it helps me keep a mental note on how to translate between the two.
• Phil also gifted me my 4-in. Starrett double square, which I find to be useful in 80% of applications. It has such a small footprint, making it easy to carry around.
• My marking tools vary a bit, but each has an important use. If you’ve been listening to Shop Talk Live for a while, you know Musgrave Harvest pencils are my favorite. (I was graciously gifted a box of these during a woodworking class.) I think that Milwaukee’s Inkzall markers are great for marking rough lumber or end grain, while a fine Sharpie is great for labeling milled parts. I keep yellow lead in my Pica Pencil for marking darker woods. The Pica also has many great features for scribing and other cabinet-related work.
• A simple bullet brass pencil sharpener from Mobius & Ruppert has held up wonderfully over the years and is always on hand.
• Lee Valley carries these Fold-Out Tweezers that have a superfine point. I suggest having this in your apron and on your keychain as well. We all know the pain of a lumberyard splinter with no way to pull it out.