Category: Anarchist’s Gift Guide

There are lots of ways to scribe cabinets to a wall or to scribe the legs of a chair to their final length. My favorite scribing tool – hands down – is the Tooley Park Fat Boy Scriber.

Made by Philip Sewell, a cabinetmaker in the U.K., this clever tool is well-made and extremely useful. The tool’s aluminum body surrounds a Delrin wheel. The wheel is locked using a knurled knob on the side of the tool. A second knurled knob locks a pencil in place in the wheel. The controls are easy to use and cinch down very well.

When used for scribing chair legs, you level the chair’s legs, then use the scriber to mark the lines for sawing. The tool’s flat base keeps it planted firmly on the benchtop as you mark the legs. 

There are a lot of versions of the Fat Boy on the Tooley Park website, many of them for specialty applications. I use the standard Fat Boy (without holes for a profile attachment). 

— Christopher Schwarz

To read previous entries in the gift guide, click here.

I don’t like the look or feel of plastic. So whenever I can find a tool that uses natural materials, I’ll opt for that.

I have to clean my fingernails every day to remove sharpening grit, paint, oil and other gunk. Most brushes for fingernails are plastic and ugly. So I was thrilled to find a wide selection of them at The Best Brushes (honestly, the company’s entire catalog is fantastic).

I’ve tried a few of the fingernail brushes there. I really like the “make sense” brush there. But the Gardener’s Hand & Nail Brush is half the price and works just as well. The body is oiled beech, and the tampico fibers strip the gunk quickly from my nails.

Like all natural products, you have to expect some natural processes to occur. After a few months, my brush developed a small split. It is cosmetic, and this is something that wood does – especially when subjected to repeated soakings and dryings.

So don’t expect plastic perfection. We keep the nail brush in this lovely enamel soap holder, also from The Best Brushes. 

We’re brush people now.

— Christopher Schwarz

To read previous entries in the gift guide, click here.

I started this “gift guide” years ago after watching a woodworking TV personality’s “gift guide” for one of his sponsors. Clearly, he’d been given a list of worthless garbage products that were severely overstocked. 

I thought: What if some poor spouse actually took this clown’s advice?

Our gift guide is – as always – unsponsored. Toolmakers who ask to be included in the guide (and they sometimes do) are automatically excluded from it. We don’t make money from these recommendations – there are no affiliate links. We bought all of these items with our own lunch money and have been using them in the shop this year.

Finally, we try to recommend small items – things that your kids can afford to give you. And I usually throw in one high-price item, in case you’ve been extra good this year.

I’ve been doing this guide for many years. You can read past recommendations here. There also are several earlier years of the gift guide on the Popular Woodworking site. But good luck finding those. You’ll need a crowbar.

I hope I have listed enough caveats to tamp down the usual questions. Let’s get started.

AccuSharp Knife Sharpener

Might as well start with one that will make the sharpening experts howl. For many years I have sharpened all my shop knives and kitchen knives with this humble and inexpensive sharpener from AccuSharp.

You can find these for $10, and even the low-rent model will last a decade. And you can buy replacement abrasive guts when they wear out. The “professional” one shown here costs $5 more and has more metal components. But the result is the same.

The things are dead-nuts easy to use. Hold the knife flat on a table with its edge facing up. Pull the sharpener over the blade (the plastic scabbard protects you). It will refresh an edge in three or four strokes.

What I adore about this sharpener is that it will bring a dead knife back to life. Just stroke the blade some more until you get a good edge.

Some of you might be wondering why I prefer this gizmo to a knife steel or stones. The answer is simple: speed. When I’m cooking I don’t have time to stone my knives. I need to get that tomato dissected ASAP. And the edge from the AccuSharp is better than serviceable.

Same goes with my shop knives. When I’m opening boxes or whatnot, I don’t have the time to pause and stone my pocket knife. So I grab the AccuSharp and am back to work in seconds.

And because it’s easy, all my knives stay sharp.

I use this sharpener on all my knives, except for my laminated Japanese ones. Those have to be stoned. 

I know there are people who find Zen in sharpening their knives, perhaps by the campfire. I am not that guy. 

Available everywhere.

— Christopher Schwarz

To read previous entries in the gift guide, click here.

I hesitate to talk much about tools from other makers (Anarchist’s Gift Guide excepted). It doesn’t seem fair because of my work with Crucible. But occasionally I break my rule when I find something interesting or well done.

As always, my opinions are unsolicited. I pay full price for my tools. I have no relationship with either of these manufacturers.

Accu-Burr Burnisher

The Accu-Burr is one of those tools that makes you wonder why it has never been made before. It’s a carbide burnisher that turns two hooks on a card scraper in one motion.

The burnisher has three grooves for three different hooks – 5°, 10° and 15°. After stoning the edge (and face if you like) you place one of the three burnisher’s grooves on the edge of the card scraper. Plus a drop of oil to make life easier. Then you run the Accu-Burr over the edge with moderate downward pressure.

And then you are done – both corners of the card scraper are deformed with a nice hook. 

It worked for me the very first time (I’ve been sharpening card scrapers almost daily for 26 years). But there are detailed instructions and a video to guide you.

The burnisher works on both straight and curved scrapers with ease. You can buy an Accu-Burr (patent pending)  from Heartwood Tools. It’s quite clever and well-made in the USA.

Benchmark 6” Rule in Black

Months ago I discussed our efforts to make a black satin rule that had only 8ths and 16ths (no 32nds or 64ths). Well Benchmark beat us to it. 

The company offers a 6” and 12” in black with white markings, which are nice for old eyes. And the price is excellent: $5.99 for the 6” rule and $7.99 for the 12”. Based on a close inspection, I suspect these rules are made in the same factory (or use the same manufacturing process) as the SPI black rules that I recommended last year. The Benchmark has the same bloom pattern on the rule’s finish.

I’ve been using the Benchmark 6” rule for a few weeks and like it. I wish it were made in the USA, but if it were, it sure wouldn’t be this price.

— Christopher Schwarz