A Carpenter's Tool Box
I was a carpenter and architectural woodworker in Northern California for 12 years before sidestepping into a related writing, photography, and editing career in 1988. I’ve also been swinging a hammer between keystrokes lately to help make ends meet. After all, when media work gets scarce, there’s always a fence to mend, a wall that needs a window, a door that doesn’t “click.”
It never fails that, as I perform my rituals to prepare for carpentry, such as sharpening plane irons and lubing gears, I see tools as something more than merely form following function. If only for a moment, I see art, animated by timeless design, world geography, and memories—every bit as riveting as the architecture and furnishings it helps to create. I envision, at the very least, photos of these and other tools populating dwellings, coffee shops, and boardrooms, not to mention The Museum of Modern Art. Here’s a glimpse of some of my photogenic favorites.
Products
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Tools
Attractive enough to go straight from the oven to an elegant dinner table, the oven pans double as serving dishes that fit into a purpose built wooden tray made of natural oak with indentations…
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Garden Tools
Brightly hued, these tools will ensure that simple gardening tasks won’t leave you stuck in the weeds. And their ruby redness is practical—you’ll never lose sight of them no…
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Soft Tools Pendants
Using the tools in their furniture workshop to create something a little softer than stools and low tables, the Ribic boys behind Objeti—brothers Joseph and John Jr., along with their father…
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Well Tooled
Though we couldn't see all 280-some events at the ninth-annual London Design Festival this September, a very hardworking furniture trend did catch our eye.
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Tools of the Trade
All serious cooks have one do-or-die utensil that they simply cannot live without—be it extralong ryoribashi or a dimpled copper pot for melting butter. We canvassed professionals and…
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8 Kitchen Measuring Tools
A pinch of this and a dollop of that are fine instructions for the seasoned chef but for the rest of us (especially the precision-oriented), a good set of measuring cups and spoons are essential…
Event
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Le Corbusier-Miracle Boxes
Pratt Institute School of Architecture will host the symposium “Voyage through Le Corbusier” on Monday, October 11 from 6 to 9 p.m. in Higgins Hall Auditorium in conjunction with the…
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Tools
by Björn DahlströmAttractive enough to go straight from the oven…
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With each slide I exclaimed "oh yeah, that's it"...I couldn't even begin to name my favorite, you've shown an indispensable selection of tools, thanks!
This is now my birthday and Christmas wish list for the next 13-1/2 years.
thank you for the beautiful article...working as a cabinet maker and furniture designer since 15 years i collected a lot of equally beloved tools which i enjoy every day...just my power tools are all from festool...and that is not only because of my german heritage...
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