
Digressions on the way to tool storage
Making Things (slightly) Better With Leather
Lockdown was such a crazy time, to the point where it almost doesn’t seem real. We moved from standing on our balconies, banging pots and pans, on to strategizing about the most effective vaccine cocktail, and then meandered over to extreme tribalism and political upheaval. We have a remarkable ability to create bad outcomes from periods of shared experience, don’t we?
As lockdown dragged on and toilet paper shortages and grocery deliveries drifted into the background, I felt a strong urge to do something productive. Write a novel! Make some money! Plan for my future! Well…instead, I learned how to make a leather wallet.
That shit really took though! And now I’m an on again/off again leather guy. My biggest problem is that I don’t have enough things to make. I have so many belts. More than enough wallets. The house is thick with handbags. Made some shoes. I just made myself a man bag and I’ve been strutting around Main Street with that thing on my shoulder. What I really want is something that I can make for cycling. But until really heavy, not waterproof bags catch on, this is a limited market. All I can come up with is some marginal improvements to a few things using small bits of leather.
Combining Leather and Tools
I fucking love hand tools! Every regret I have from purchasing a hand tool is due to not spending enough, never from spending too much. The perfect hand tool fills me with joy. It doesn’t matter if I use it once per week or once per year. Pulling the right tool out of its happy little home and putting it to work is just the best.
Working on leather is one more excuse to buy tools. Fuckin’ punches and knives and hammers. Anvils and chiselly lookin’ shit. Pounding boards and cutting mats and needles and stitching chisels. Endless fucking tools. But oh man, cleaning up an edge with nicely sharpened edge beveler… I could sit alone in a slightly darkened room and do that shit for hours. The sound, almost like a fresh can of beer cracking open. The resistance. The nice little coil of leather, cleanly peeling off and depositing itself to the side. Fuck ya! Follow that link! Look at that tool! Don’t think too much about leather being tanned animal flesh.
And then you’ve got tools and then you need storage and that’s just a whole thing as well. And then…oh man…you’ve got your tools…you’ve got your storage…and you’ve got your leather…and you combine all three of those things and look the fuck out ‘cuz we’re just stackin’ shit like a Lower Mainland truck driver, barreling towards overpasses unknown!

This is an edge beveler in action. It doesn't look like much, but it's very fulfilling.

Tool roll #1 - the clearance roll from Crappy Tire. It did the job, but they got a bit precious on the pocket design. Most just won't fit anything.

Tool roll #2 - The Carhartt. I'm much happier with the layout of this one, but there was a glaring issue

What the fuck, people?

This was a start to my tool layout. I already feel angry about those two screwdrivers and the exacto knife. This would have been a disaster.
Tool Roll
There are levels one can go with a tool roll. It started with a $15 tool roll that I picked up at Crappy Tire. It was fine. It held things. It rolled up. Proof of concept, really. The next phase was going to be a full custom leather tool roll. I went so far as to buy a big hunk of paper in order to start laying things out. It got a little precious though, and I realized how angry I was going to get once I needed to change up my tool game. Did I expect to need the exact same fucking tools for the next 20 years? Would SRAM changing over exclusively to Posidriv trigger my descent into madness? I could see the struggles of my future self, faced with can’t win decisions on bringing along the correct tool vs. wrecking my beautiful system. I dropped the plan.
So, I was pretty invested in a tool roll and I wanted something fancier, but not fancy, you know. I found this Carhartt one for $40 and it seemed to check all the boxes that the Crappy Tire one didn’t. Mostly, it was just better pocket design that would allow for more flexibility. I bought it, got it home, loaded up my tools, picked it up and then tools started falling all over the place because whoever designed this fucking thing certainly never experimented with filling it with tools. I planned on returning it, but then forgot. A few months later, I dug it up from underneath a pile of leather that was collecting on the side of my desk, and like the genius who dropped the peanut butter in the chocolate, I realized that I could finally stack that shit, fix the roll and get exactly what I needed.

It starts with a piece of leather, and a dream. In this case I've already cut it, dyed it and lightly finished the edges.

Punch some holes, get out some rivets.

I also love riveting, but I feel I'm always a tiny bit disappointed in how they look.

These actually aren't too bad!

Ya. It's just a flap. It flaps on over when you roll shit up.

Much better!
If you haven’t used a tool roll, you’re really missing out. Unless you have a workshop where you can keep your tools and use them like a normal human being. However, if you constantly have to cart your bicycles out into the front yard to work on them, the tool roll is your friend. Why not just a tool box, you ask? Well, that’s a good question.
So, for now, the Carhartt is just perfect. It holds the tools that I use on my bike 90% of the time. It’s extremely packable and nothing is banging around. With the addition of a simple strip of leather (and a couple of rivets), it actually holds your tools so that they don’t fall on the ground.
Topeak Bit Ratchet Set
On the tool scale, I’m not sure where the Topeak Ratchet Rocket Lite sits. It’s not fancy. It’s not expensive. It’s small. It will adjust or tighten almost everything you could want to adjust or tighten on your bicycle, mid ride. It just works. The one blind spot is probably on the ultra small side (that Archer system caught me out a few times with trailside adjustments, as did my various Wahoo computer mounts), but other than that I love this thing and it’s in my pocket most rides.

Another scrap, another dream.

Cutting corners can be a bit rudimentary.

Then we dye it.

Another satisfying tool - the whole punch. You can also get different punches that require you to hammer away on them. Also satisfying, but in a different way.

Punchy, punch, punch. Bangy, bang, bang.

I once spent a half hour trying to cut through a thick brass rivet before these Knipex showed up in my life. Oh those rivets make me angry!
However, it seems like the designer of the Carhartt tool roll got his start at Topeak designing bit ratchet cases. The bits in this thing constantly fall out! They’re usually floating around in a pocket somewhere, but it’s never a happy thing to pull a tool set out of your pocket and see missing pieces. Again, a small strip of leather and a few rivets to the rescue to just hold that shit in place like a little dutch schoolboy. Could I have stamped the various bit sizes in to the leather? Sure, but who has the time or patience? Could I have made it so the rivets don’t look horrendous? Apparently not. No matter. It just works and I haven’t lost a bit since.
Comments
Lynx .
1 year ago
I'll see your leather working and raise you to hand tool wood working Dave, now that's some music to the ears, nothing like the sound of a freshly sharpened plane taking a whisper of a shaving off a nice, piece of wood. But hey, I dig the sidetrackish article, cool to expand your horizons and yes, you'll find all kinds of stuff you can fix with it. For that Topeak thing, I'd have made an entire new case, cut and soaked a piece to shape to each bit, then you really wouldn't loose them.
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Dave Tolnai
1 year ago
This is a nice seed you've planted. I think I was hung up on the nice little plastic holder for the bit ratchet, but I can likely come up with a better solution. A custom case would allow for the addition of a few more bits and maybe some other stuff. I'm going to think about this one.
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Brad Nyenhuis
1 year ago
"Every regret I have from purchasing a hand tool is due to not spending enough, never from spending too much."
Truer words have never been spoken. This sentiment applies to most any situation. I've often made a similar statement to anyone torn between the choice they really want and a cheaper option.
"I've never regretted choosing the expensive option. I've usually regretted the cheaper one."
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FlipSide
1 year ago
I have a set of the cheapest and crappiest (read: barely functional) snap ring pliers. Such a horrible tool, it's a disgrace to have this available for purchase.
I keep it next to my Knipex, Wera, Wheels Manufacturing and Abbey tools as a dear reminder to avoid cheaping out on tools.
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Mike Ferrentino
1 year ago
Ironically, Dave was mentioning the need for some snap ring pliers on a group thread the other day, and I was the one saying that this is one area where I will always go cheap. I am a total tool snob, but dollar bin snap-ring pliers are my kryptonite...
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Dave Tolnai
1 year ago
This is funny to me. After your very specific pushback I went and bought some $6 snap ring pliers at Crappy Tire. Surprisingly, they sucked and didn't work at all. And then they wouldn't let me return them. I told the return guy that I hated his store. He seemed unsurprised by this statement.
I splurged on the Knipex set and the snap ring popped out quick and easy, first try. So Mike, I think you might actually be wrong about this one. My $105 Knipex circlip pliers set ended up costing me $111, is the only thing that happened by me trying to cheap out.
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Mark
1 year ago
It's surprising that CTire wouldn't take the snap ring pliers back, their return policy is pretty good. Did they say it was because they're some sort of specialty tool or some nonsense like that?
Awesome...
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Dave Tolnai
1 year ago
Those are the ones! The guy actually said to me "Everything in aisle 42 is final sale". Aisle 42 has a lot of stuff in it! At least 33% of their hand tools. I was already on the verge of not lining up to get my $6 back (on sale from $9!) and after lining up for 10 minutes it was just a kick in the crotch. I hate that store so much. Does it say it anywhere in the aisle? On the receipt? No. No it doesn't.
FlipSide
1 year ago
Yep, mine came from Crappy Tire too. We got the same tool and reached the same conclusion.
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Mike Ferrentino
1 year ago
Great, so now I gotta throw coin down for some real circlip pliers in order to find out what I've been missing...
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Dave Tolnai
1 year ago
In my research, I learned a few things. Knipex makes so many circlip pliers and they're all sized for specific circlips. The 48 11 J1 is a straight, internal for 12-25mm circlips. This feels like it will do most things. It worked really, really well for my finicky little brake circlip. The J2 does 19-60mm. You can probably find each of these for 20-30 bucks. It makes removing and installing circlips not shitty. Like rather than 4-5 attempts and shit getting all crazy, you just pull it out. So...ya. Overkill but whatever.
Come to Vancouver and you can try mine out.
Cooper Quinn
1 year ago
Mine looks like a hack job now, thanks for nothing, Dave.
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Cr4w
1 year ago
That's still very impressive. Now that would make a cool occasional column: showing off peoples' incredible home workshops or better yet, their world cup style expanding briefcase toolkits. I'd really like to see that. Especially the clever/interesting home hacks/workarounds for jobs they didn't buy a proprietary tool for.
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Cooper Quinn
1 year ago
Like my custom Ancient Hope Rotor pad spreader tool you can see there?
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Pete Roggeman
1 year ago
Want. Because lightning bolts.
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Dave Tolnai
1 year ago
We talked about this. It felt like it might turn the corner towards becoming a really helpful tool for somebody to plan a fruitful B&E.
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Sven
1 year ago
Will not be showing off my Dollarstore(TM) faux-Tupperware(not TM) bin loaded till it can barely close.
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Dave Tolnai
1 year ago
What's on the other side of those pop rivets? We can likely hook you up with something that will look less terrible, if the back side is accessible.
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Cooper Quinn
1 year ago
The top rivets go through a piece of plastic held in by four corner screws you can see in the photo (so, yes, the backside is accessible.)
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Dave Tolnai
1 year ago
https://tandyleather.ca/products/rivets-burrs
If you want to make shit look really nice, some brass or copper burr rivets could be just the ticket. All you really need is a nice pair of snips, a ball peen hammer and something to pound against.
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Mark
1 year ago
Cool article - it's always rewarding making things with your own hands, especially if you're using a quality tool.
I'm just happy that you got a whole punch and not a half punch, because god damn it would be frustrating as hell if you could only punch half a hole.
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Dave Tolnai
1 year ago
I'm scared to look to see if I made this actual mistake somewhere.
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Mark
1 year ago
Always blame spelling/grammar on the editor.
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Lu Kz
1 year ago
"And now I’m an on again/off again leather guy."
You mean like a leatherdaddy?
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Dave Tolnai
1 year ago
I was just explaining to somebody the other day after I noticed I was head to toe in navy that I had mistakenly blue myself.
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MTB_THETOWN
1 year ago
I love tool rolls. I have a smaller one from KTC that lives hidden under the passenger seat of my car, and then a bigger one from wolftooth that I bring to races. Both are well designed and nothing falls out.
Leather working looks like a lot of fun though, and a good excuse to buy more tools.
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TristanC
1 year ago
I got into leatherworking ten-ish years back, sort of fell off, but should get back into it. Re: rivets, my biggest revelation was a nice small ball peen hammer and a 25lb miniature anvil. It makes riveting a dream.
Snaps, though, those can go die in a fire. I have yet to get one of those suckers to line up both halves straight.
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chacou
1 year ago
The only thing missing is a reference to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bTQz1ABtzek
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XXX_er
1 year ago
I made tool bags and bar cosies ( like the fat bikers use) out of car innertubes & fishline it was waterproof, I didnt have any leather but I had the inner tube so it was free
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kain0m
1 year ago
Love that Topeak tool. My only complaint is that some of the bits are fiddly to remove from the ratchet. Haven't had any issues with the bits falling out, more the opposite; maybe they did tighten the pockets up at some point... But a fix is a fix and now it's "yours" - and that is a big piece of the puzzle.
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Dave Tolnai
1 year ago
I'm sure you've already tried this, but I find poking the bits through from the backside is the best way to get them out.
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cheapondirt
1 year ago
Some time back, there was a discussion about the Mastercraft version of the Knipex pliers wrench. I ended up buying one after my Knipex got stolen. The only praise I have for it is that it's still better than a crescent wrench. Contrary to my generally frugal ways, I fully recommend spending double-to-triple on the good one, if possible. And definitely not leaving it in your vehicle.
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mikeynets
1 year ago
Usually when I see a bunch of expletives in print, I think "meh, hackish." Not this time. Expertly deployed f-bombs! Next topic — I love my Topeak ratchet set and I also have spent countless hours trying to come up with a better way to carry the bits. My latest idea (not tried yet) is to use a flat, strong magnet to hold them. But your flap-hack looks pretty nifty.
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