The best instruments become extensions of your consciousness. To use a favorite tool is to exploit its familiarity and dependability–the flow of a favorite pen, the rightness of a sharp, well-balanced knife, the haptic response of certain power tools. In celebration, here are some tools I’ve held or used recently — one novel, the other, ingenius.

Found at the studio of HWT.

O's handmade compass consisted of two 1/2" square dowels threaded with a wingnut. One dowel was tipped with a pin, the other with a tiny spring clamp with which to grip a pen or marker. A second spring clamp forms a cap for the sharp pin in transit. It worked brilliantly.