Inside the Studio: My Favorite Tools for my Craft

Oct 22

Every maker has a bench full of tools. I'm going to unpack a few of my favourites, the ones that are useful over and over again and that I find myself reaching for most of the time. It's taken me years to find them. Some of them came via trial and error, some via happy accidents and a lot of them came from buying the wrong thing first.

It's still very much a work in progress. I'm constantly tweaking my setup and working out which of the tools I have are actually going to get me the results I'm after. This is therefore a fairly detailed look at the bits on my bench that have actually earned their place and have been proven time and again.

FLUSH CUTTER

My flush cutters are the tool I reach for most. They're small and razor sharp, and they snip leather strips and trim edges clean without tearing the grain. I write the date on every pair. When the edge starts to go, they don't get tossed. They move to a second bin for the rougher teardown cuts where a little gouging doesn't matter.

RIVET SPACER

This one looks strange until you see it work. It's a metal rivet spacer that opens and closes like an accordion, and every point stays evenly spaced no matter how far I stretch it. I use it to lay out hole patterns, set marks evenly, and find the center of a piece without measuring and second-guessing.

SUPER GLUE

Bob Smith Industries Insta-Cure is the glue that holds my work together, and I go through enough of it that I buy the 8-ounce bottle. It's gap-filling, so it bridges the small uneven spots where leather meets a harder surface, and it grabs in five to ten seconds.

SUPER GLUE ACCELERATOR

Insta-Set is the partner to my Insta-Cure. It's an accelerator that makes super glue cure almost instantly. It comes in handy whenever I need something to hold right now, whether that's a piece of leather wrapping a curve or a 3D-printed part I can't clamp. A quick spritz and the bond locks, so I can keep my hands moving instead of waiting on the glue.

CABINET SCRAPER

My Rockler cabinet scraper is just a flat piece of steel with a sharp edge, but it's one of the most useful things on my bench. It really earns its spot on 3D prints. When I need to take material off and smooth a surface, a few pulls shave down the layer lines and high spots. It's a cleaner way to remove material than traditional sanding.

LEATHER SHOT BAG

My 12-inch round leather shot bag is one of those simple tools I'd be lost without. It cradles helmets and keeps round pieces from rolling off the bench. It also gives me a nice, forgiving surface to work on, and it supports pieces that are uneven or won't sit flat on their own. Whatever I set in it stays put, so I can focus on the work instead of chasing the piece.

gabriel dishaw

I create sculptures using recycled materials from adding machines, typewriters, computers and up-cycling old technology.

https://www.gabrieldishaw.com

Inside the Studio: My Favorite Tools for my Craft

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