A TOOL SURVEY

We are presently building the foundation of a project oriented toward “essential” hand tools, the skills to use them, and the crafts and trades they foster. One of the first ways we will gather useful information is to ask varied groups of people with experience in country living skills, crafts and trades to fill out the short questionnaire below. Once we have some results from several groups, we will compile the data and post it on this web page.

Thanks in advance for your help with this effort! Just copy the text to a word-processing document, use as much space as you need for the answers, and paste or (preferably) attach it to an email message. I will soon have this page set up so the survey can be completed online and submitted with a click.

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SURVEY

(Please give your name and contact info - they will not be published - and your area[s] of knowledge, for instance: Market gardener; apiarist; log home builder; farrier/horse farmer.)

Question Group 1. (tools)

a) Which tools of your trade do you consider utterly “essential”? Please list them in order of importance.

b) In a second group, list the tools you consider very useful if available, but without which you could still perform your trade.

With each tool, if applicable, please indicate the preferred weight/size. (For instance, 2 ½ lb ax, ¾” flat chisel, five-tine dung fork.)

c) If its virtues are noteworthy, indicate your favoured design and/or brand of each specific tool. For instance, some orchardists consider Felco pruning shears as the only worthwhile ones.

C) is of relevance only if the maker of your preferred tool(s) is still in existence, or they are readily available used but in good condition.

It would also interest us to know if, besides the favourite make/model, you also tried an equivalent made by another company (which preferably would be indicated. For instance: “I’ve tried John Deere, IHC and Massey Harris horsedrawn mowing machines. Of them, the IHC is simpler to operate and easier for my horses to pull.”

Question Group 2. (information)

a) Which of the instructional books on the subject of your trade do you believe to be most comprehensive or well written? Please indicate, if applicable, whether these are decidedly beginner-level or specifically for advanced levels. In lieu of print editions, we will consider online tutorials or libraries, particularly if a certain book is out of print or very hard to obtain.

b) Any good videos/DVDs which you consider an excellent route to learning the trade. List the title and producer.

c) Please suggest the best places to gain hands-on experience learning the trade (specific schools, short courses, longer apprenticeships etc.) Do you have any personal experience with these? If so, a review would be appreciated.

Thanks so much!

The Vido Family

Lower Kintore, New Brunswick, Canada

http://scytheconnection.com

network@scytheconnection.com

24 Jan. 2008