Our new employee, Kale, begins work on Monday here at Lost Art Press. She’s a young and determined woodworker I met a couple years ago while she was working at North South Baking Co. on Covington’s Pike Street.
Whenever we hold classes at our storefront, Megan and I buy pastries each morning for the students to keep up their energy, spirits and glucose levels. One day, Kale took my order, then asked me if I built chairs.
One thing led to another, and soon I was teaching her to build chairs. And we were swapping photos of vernacular chairs via text. After a couple months it was clear that Kale had a terminal case of “Chair Disease.”
As fortune would have it, we need part-time help at our warehouse and part-time help with editorial duties at our storefront. So as of Monday, we have a new full-time employee.
I’ll write more about Kale and the grand plan ahead. But for now I’d like to tell you about the small kit of tools I’m gathering for her as she starts full-bore in the craft.
I’m assembling this small kit of personal tools to repay an obligation. When I started woodworking, Jim Stuard and David Thiel took me under their wings to help me get set up with a good kit of basic tools. Things like a Starrett 4R 6" rule in satin finish, a 12" Starrett combination square and an Olson coping saw.
These were tools that were simple but were also the best in their class. There is no upgrade path from the Starrett measuring tools I bought my first week on the job – I still use them every day after 28 years. (The Olson has sadly been eclipsed. Its quality has fallen to the point where I cannot recommend it.)
That’s what I’m buying for Kale: The basics that she will never have to upgrade. Are there versions of these tools that are more expensive? Yes. Variants that are better looking? Also, yes. But are there versions of these tools that function better? No. Most of these tools are vintage, with some exceptions.
Here is what is on my list so far.
Starrett 6" 4R Rule
Starrett 12" 4R Combination Square
Starrett 6" 4R Combination Square
I’m buying the 6" rule new; the other two are recent vintage squares. That saves a few dollars and (personal opinion inserted here) the Starretts before 1998 have a little better fit and finish. These tools are the core of all marking and measuring in our shop. Cheap measuring tools aren’t worth the steel they’re made from.
Some of you might be thinking, “But didn’t Chris recommend the black rules from Taylor Toolworks last year?” I did. And I still use them – begrudgingly. The white marks on the black ruler are easier for my middle-aged eyes to see. But the finish on the rulers degrades quickly. I wish they were better. So I’m starting Kale out with the satin-finish Starrett rulers. They are still the best.
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