Juniper MonkeysI give you my magnum opus: the suppressed toolbox.
I don’t know why I thought this was a good idea, but it *does* work pretty well. At first it was going to be a new first aid kit for my car, then it dawned on me that the Trusco Y-280 is too small for that. Now I don’t know what to do with it.
I’ve been working on my incredibly stupid plan to organize my tools by boxing them by type and hanging them on the wall, so I got a bunch of the littler, non-folding Trusco toolboxes. The only problem is that they don’t have divider options like the bigger ones to. The solution is 1mm styrene sheets! These are used in model-making, but they seem sort of under-appreciated for tool storage.
I get my styrene from Evergreen Scale Models, since they have the fun box sections and so on. All you need are the sheets, an adhesive like Weld-On 3, a little brush, and an X-acto knife. I make them pretty snug, then secure them lightly with just a bit of Super Glue, so that they’re easy to rip out.
I occasionally see people on forums wondering whether Gränsfors or Hultafors Classic axes are better, but the replies are always “I heard this, my uncle said that”, and never “I have both, here is a picture”.
Anyway, I have (more than one of) both, here is a picture. Gränsfors is a little better. However, the heads on the Hultafors Classics are just as good. The areas where Hultafors Classic is a bit worse are handle finish and the quality of the leather protector, where they are only slightly deficient to Gränsfors. If you have a touch of the hipster about you as I do, you might also be pleased that Hultafors doesn’t seem to do celebrity endorsements as Gränsfors does (likewise Wetterlings). Hultafors Classics should cost less than the equivalent Gränsfors, although Gränsfors has US distribution. Gransfors also has a wider range. Neither are as good as Hans Karlsson or John Neeman (which cost more than twice as much!), but both will last forever.
On that basis, I think Gränsfors is a little better but Hultafors is the better buy. Gränsfors handles are finished more nicely and they come a bit sharper, but use makes them equal as the handles wear and pick up dirt, and as you re-sharpen them. So might as well go with Hultafors Classic if they make the type of axe you need, and if the seller you find has them at about 10% less or more.
Edit, a while later: A little while after I wrote this, Hultafors started officially distributing their stuff in the US under the name “Hults Bruk”. Those have the exact same heads as the Hultafors Classic equivalents (although there are a few new models), the handles are a little different, and they jacked up the prices to Gransfors/Wetterlings levels. So if you like saving money or dislike being pandered to, find Hultafors Classic stuff from overseas. I mean, at this end of the market you’re going to be pandered to, but you might as well try and minimize it.
Hultafors Carpenter Axe, with a straight bevel face, and Gransfors Small Forest Axe, a jack-of-all-trades-master-of-none deal.
This was a fun little project. I’ve always wanted a nice wooden toolbox. More-so recently, because the plastic Craftsman one I got in 2006 has started offgassing a very distinct odor that’s like a stoat drank a lot of sasparilla, peed, then died and began to rot. Unfortunately, nice wooden toolboxes are very expensive. Seems like it’s new Gerstner, old Gerstner, fake Chinese Gerstner, and “other”. So I went with “other”, and found this Neslein one for a good price. Good quality — box joints and all — but it needed a little work. A few of the drawers needed a little glue at the back, and all the liners were pretty nasty. So I did some gluing, and some re-lining, and now it’s pretty nice. I was gonna re-do the finish in a moisture-cure urethane, but after giving it a good clean I think I’m okay with how it looks. All I guess I’ll do is fill those holes on the front, and clean up all the external metal bits. Worked out well — good stuff for not too much money. Holds all ma’ chisels. Here’s a little gallery.
