Category: Anarchist’s Gift Guide

Batting cleanup for the gift guide, I recommend you try the Shaker Braid Brooms from Berea College. Not only are these the best brooms I’ve used, but they are made by students at Berea College, one of the eight “labor colleges” in the United States. Students get free tuition and they work 10-15 hours a week to help support the college.

We own a lot of brooms and use them throughout the day to keep things tidy. The brooms from Berea feature tightly packed broom corn – and lots of it. As a result, they make a literal clean sweep. And they last through years and years of abuse.

While all the utility brooms from Berea are great, I’m partial to the Shaker Braid variant (above, left) as it features a nice bit of handwork where the broom transitions to the handle.

I know you are thinking: It’s just a broom.

It ain’t.

— Christopher Schwarz

Disclaimer: We buy all of our tools. We don’t accept advertising or sponsorships. We are not part of any affiliate program. We don’t make any money if you buy these items. We just like these tools.

I always include one tool in our gift guide that is a bit on the pricey side. This year it’s the Wera Tool-Check PLUS set, which is an incredibly well-made and handy set of sockets and drivers that will get you out of many jams.

The tooling is high-quality stuff. But what is really remarkable about the set is the way it is packaged. All the sockets and drivers are in a clever plastic holder. All of the tools fit in a tiny space that can go in the bottom of your tool chest or in a drawer. So when a problem comes up with a machine or a tool, you’ll be ready.

Yes, I have a complete (huge) set of sockets and drivers and 100 other bits of drivery in our machine room. And when we need to take the table saw or planer apart, that’s where I go. But when I need to tighten a bench bolt or encounter a weird Torx screw, I grab the Wera set and get it done and get back to work.

— Christopher Schwarz

Disclaimer: We buy all of our tools. We don’t accept advertising or sponsorships. We are not part of any affiliate program. We don’t make any money if you buy these items. We just like these tools.

If you want to improve your workbench’s vises in an hour, just add Crubber. These thin sheets of cork and rubber add a good deal of grip to your vise’s jaws, and they also protect the workpiece.

 

After becoming a Crubber Lover, we began replacing the other options I’ve tried over the years with this great material. On many of our benches we have suede, which has survived fine, and adhesive cork sheets, which have not.

 

I prefer to use epoxy to stick my Crubber to wood and metal. Other adhesives I’ve tried have creeped a bit. (The Horror of Creeping Crubber – this stuff writes itself.)

 

It’s not bulletproof – nothing is. I’ve torn out a chunk or two of the stuff on my leg vise. But it does hold well and it takes a good beating.

 

Two sheets (5” x 9”) are only $9. Available from Benchcrafted.

 

— Christopher Schwarz

 

Disclaimer: We buy all of our tools. We don’t accept advertising or sponsorships. We are not part of any affiliate program. We don’t make any money if you buy these items. We just like these tools.

When we need a simple and non-toxic finish, we reach for Allback, a combination of organic linseed oil and beeswax that is great for many woodworking projects. It’s great for chairs, small cabinets and turned objects. It’s not so great for stuff that sees heavy abuse (kitchen tables, for example).

The finish has the consistency of peanut butter. Apply it to raw wood with a grey 3M pad and rub it into the wood until only a thin film remains. After about 30 minutes, wipe off the excess with a clean cotton rag. It will have a low sheen but a nice, soft feel.

I usually wait a few days (if I can) and then apply a second coat. It will take a little longer to dry, but it will provide a little more sheen and protection.

Yes, you can apply it over film finishes, but it’s not as nice. A finish that has sealed up the wood (such as varnish, shellac or lacquer) will stop the oil in the Allback from curing quickly. In these cases, a soft wax is better as a topcoat because it doesn’t have any linseed oil.

One of the things I really like about it is how easy it is to renew or repair. If the finish gets scuffed or aged, you can wipe a quick coat of Allback on the piece and it is back to new.

Get a small amount of it to try – that will answer all of your questions about it. Then you can decide if it’s a good finish for your shop. (Also, ignore the odd photo on the ordering page. Really – Allback is great stuff.)

— Christopher Schwarz

Disclaimer: We buy all of our tools. We don’t accept advertising or sponsorships. We are not part of any affiliate program. We don’t make any money if you buy these items. We just like these tools.

Setting a sliding bevel to an exact degree is difficult with a plastic protractor. Depending on the design of the protractor, you usually have to first draw the line you want and then set the bevel to that. So there are two opportunities for error. Plus, setting a bevel to a fraction of a degree is difficult with a plastic protractor intended for school use.

Enter the Bevel Monkey. It’s similar to several other tools on the market, but I like the Bevel Monkey because it is easy to read, is inexpensive and it does one thing only: Set a bevel.

You put the bevel against one edge of the Bevel Monkey and set it to the angle (or fraction of an angle) you want. As a chairmaker, this tool is always on my bench while drilling mortises.

It’s well made. Easy to us. And the perfect size.

— Christopher Schwarz

Disclaimer: We buy all of our tools. We don’t accept advertising or sponsorships. We are not part of any affiliate program. We don’t make any money if you buy these items. We just like these tools.