35 Makers Show Us What They Do With Their Favorite Tools
Houzz readers express their creativity in an astonishing range of ways. View their tools — and their works — here
Tools don’t make the maker, but boy, they can be fun to use. Recently we asked you to show us the tools and materials that inspire you to create. From pile drivers to plastic bags, 3D printers to antique chisel sets, more than 200 makers shared stories and photos of the tools and materials they use to produce work they’re proud of.
Some tools featured here are one of a kind, either custom made or handed down through generations, while others can be bought at a local art store or were intended for uses much different than seen here. Regardless, they can all inspire us to appreciate what goes into how things are made.
Some tools featured here are one of a kind, either custom made or handed down through generations, while others can be bought at a local art store or were intended for uses much different than seen here. Regardless, they can all inspire us to appreciate what goes into how things are made.
2. Tool: Lulzbot TAZ 4 3D printer
Product: Conceptual sculptures and installations
Artist Leisa Rich constructs her art pieces using a variety of media, including 3D-printed material. Here she shares a photo of one of the tools that makes this all possible: her Lulzbot TAZ 4 3D printer.
This series, called “Ladies of the Night,” uses 3D-printed material, wood, recycled rubber, embroidery floss, a recycled Mary McFadden designer dress and acrylic. Rich sewed, hand-embroidered and 3D printed the components of this series.
Product: Conceptual sculptures and installations
Artist Leisa Rich constructs her art pieces using a variety of media, including 3D-printed material. Here she shares a photo of one of the tools that makes this all possible: her Lulzbot TAZ 4 3D printer.
This series, called “Ladies of the Night,” uses 3D-printed material, wood, recycled rubber, embroidery floss, a recycled Mary McFadden designer dress and acrylic. Rich sewed, hand-embroidered and 3D printed the components of this series.
3. Tool: Foreclosure map
Product: Quilt
Artist and former urban planner Kathryn Clark used her favorite tool, the map, to craft a quilt series that vividly reveals how housing foreclosures are affecting neighborhoods across the U.S.
Product: Quilt
Artist and former urban planner Kathryn Clark used her favorite tool, the map, to craft a quilt series that vividly reveals how housing foreclosures are affecting neighborhoods across the U.S.
4. Tool: Laser cutter
Product: One-of-a-kind metal decor
Marcin Stepski personalizes furniture, light fixtures and vintage appliances (next photo), using this laser cutter to cut intricate details with perfect precision.
Product: One-of-a-kind metal decor
Marcin Stepski personalizes furniture, light fixtures and vintage appliances (next photo), using this laser cutter to cut intricate details with perfect precision.
5. Tool: Hollander beater
Product: Paper made from plant fibers
Paper artist Claudia Lee made this light sculpture from paper of her own creation. The sculpture is a low-relief casting on industrial metal. Lee works in all facets of handmade paper production. Some of her pieces involve spinning paper thread, stitching paper and fabricating light fixtures out of it.
Her favorite tool, called the Hollander beater (next photo), turns plant fibers, including flax and iris leaves, into paper pulp.The Hollander beater runs the fiber around an ovoid ring filled with water, and a beater wheel pulverizes the fibers at a single point along the ring to a usable pulp. The pulp then forms the paper.
Product: Paper made from plant fibers
Paper artist Claudia Lee made this light sculpture from paper of her own creation. The sculpture is a low-relief casting on industrial metal. Lee works in all facets of handmade paper production. Some of her pieces involve spinning paper thread, stitching paper and fabricating light fixtures out of it.
Her favorite tool, called the Hollander beater (next photo), turns plant fibers, including flax and iris leaves, into paper pulp.The Hollander beater runs the fiber around an ovoid ring filled with water, and a beater wheel pulverizes the fibers at a single point along the ring to a usable pulp. The pulp then forms the paper.
6. Tool: Vintage metal bookstand
Product: Drawings
New York City illustrator janiacnyc was pleasantly surprised to find this vintage metal bookstand for sale on eBay, as it turned out to be the perfect size to hold smaller drawings. When not in use, it can be folded flat and put away. “I don’t think I could do without it,” janiacnyc says.
Product: Drawings
New York City illustrator janiacnyc was pleasantly surprised to find this vintage metal bookstand for sale on eBay, as it turned out to be the perfect size to hold smaller drawings. When not in use, it can be folded flat and put away. “I don’t think I could do without it,” janiacnyc says.
7. Tools: Draw knife, rasp, finger plane and knife
Product: Hand-carved canoe paddles
The four tools shown here help Kent Lund carve intricate, often themed, wooden canoe paddles.
The draw knife, shown on the left, was his father’s from the 1920s. It’s pulled, or drawn, across the wood with both hands to carve. The pointed metal tool next to it, the rasp, is from France, and this tool helps shape the paddles. The finger plane, a tool typically used by luthiers — makers of stringed musical instruments — carves a rib down the center of the paddle blade. The knife helps Lund create geometric shapes in the paddle handles. And there’s another tool — the No. 2 pencil. “I can’t do anything without it,” he says.
Product: Hand-carved canoe paddles
The four tools shown here help Kent Lund carve intricate, often themed, wooden canoe paddles.
The draw knife, shown on the left, was his father’s from the 1920s. It’s pulled, or drawn, across the wood with both hands to carve. The pointed metal tool next to it, the rasp, is from France, and this tool helps shape the paddles. The finger plane, a tool typically used by luthiers — makers of stringed musical instruments — carves a rib down the center of the paddle blade. The knife helps Lund create geometric shapes in the paddle handles. And there’s another tool — the No. 2 pencil. “I can’t do anything without it,” he says.
8. Tool: Plasma cutter
Product: Precisely cut metal fence
Bsgibbs shared a few favorite tools from a recently completed project. Her husband, pictured, used the plasma cutter shown here to cut an artistic and irregularly shaped top on a steel fence. You can see in the background of this photo where some of the fence panels have already been cut.
Product: Precisely cut metal fence
Bsgibbs shared a few favorite tools from a recently completed project. Her husband, pictured, used the plasma cutter shown here to cut an artistic and irregularly shaped top on a steel fence. You can see in the background of this photo where some of the fence panels have already been cut.
9. Tools: Chartpak ad markers
Product: Colorful, vibrant landscape drawings
Landscape designer Zach Hammaker, of ZH Design, shared that Chartpak markers are his secret to bringing landscape drawings to life. He also has a lot of fun with them. “In a time of technology, sometimes a throwback to the handcrafted is a much-needed breath of fresh air,” he says.
Product: Colorful, vibrant landscape drawings
Landscape designer Zach Hammaker, of ZH Design, shared that Chartpak markers are his secret to bringing landscape drawings to life. He also has a lot of fun with them. “In a time of technology, sometimes a throwback to the handcrafted is a much-needed breath of fresh air,” he says.
10. Tool: 1943 Northfield band saw
Product: Handcrafted wood furniture
David Hurwitz relies on heavy-duty tools to help him craft his one-of-a-kind wood creations. Shown here is his American-made Northfield band saw, made in 1943 and originally intended for use in a California navy yard.
“My furniture designs incorporate a lot of curves, so the rough forms start out on the bandsaw, followed by many different steps of carving, shaping, sanding and finishing,” Hurwitz says.
Product: Handcrafted wood furniture
David Hurwitz relies on heavy-duty tools to help him craft his one-of-a-kind wood creations. Shown here is his American-made Northfield band saw, made in 1943 and originally intended for use in a California navy yard.
“My furniture designs incorporate a lot of curves, so the rough forms start out on the bandsaw, followed by many different steps of carving, shaping, sanding and finishing,” Hurwitz says.
11. Tool: Homemade Vac-U-Form
Product: 3D PVC panels
Sometimes when you can’t find the tool that will make what you want, you just have to make that tool yourself. That’s what architect Ray C. Freeman III did when he wanted to have 3D panels made for his house. He built a 24-inch by 24-inch Vac-U-Form-like tool using barbecues for the heating elements and a shop vac for suction. Everything else he pretty much invented. You can see one of the finished panels on the floor next to the machine in this photo and lining the ceiling in Freeman’s house in the next photo.
Product: 3D PVC panels
Sometimes when you can’t find the tool that will make what you want, you just have to make that tool yourself. That’s what architect Ray C. Freeman III did when he wanted to have 3D panels made for his house. He built a 24-inch by 24-inch Vac-U-Form-like tool using barbecues for the heating elements and a shop vac for suction. Everything else he pretty much invented. You can see one of the finished panels on the floor next to the machine in this photo and lining the ceiling in Freeman’s house in the next photo.
12. Tool: Custom hammer
Product: Stone sculpture
Angela Treat Lyon carves robust, figurative sculptures out of stone with the help of her favorite tool: a custom hammer with a shorter handle to better fit her hands.
Her favorite stones to carve include black calcite and misty green soapstone. This piece is made from seafoam-green Montana soapstone.
Product: Stone sculpture
Angela Treat Lyon carves robust, figurative sculptures out of stone with the help of her favorite tool: a custom hammer with a shorter handle to better fit her hands.
Her favorite stones to carve include black calcite and misty green soapstone. This piece is made from seafoam-green Montana soapstone.
13. Tool: Pile driver
Product: Secure foundations for coastal homes
The team at Blue Sky Building reminded us that sometimes the most important tools are the ones that allow the detailed work to follow.
Deep pilings beneath the homes they build on the coastal Southeast U.S. form solid foundations so that the homes and all of their details will survive for years to come.
Product: Secure foundations for coastal homes
The team at Blue Sky Building reminded us that sometimes the most important tools are the ones that allow the detailed work to follow.
Deep pilings beneath the homes they build on the coastal Southeast U.S. form solid foundations so that the homes and all of their details will survive for years to come.
14. Tools: Carpenter’s bench by Ulmia; Swiss-made and Flexcut gouge chisels
Product: Hand-cut stone sculptures
Artisan David Jackson is a sculptor who also specializes in conserving and restoring tansu, traditional Japanese storage cabinetry. His German-made carpenter’s bench and his gouge chisels cover all of his carving needs.
Product: Hand-cut stone sculptures
Artisan David Jackson is a sculptor who also specializes in conserving and restoring tansu, traditional Japanese storage cabinetry. His German-made carpenter’s bench and his gouge chisels cover all of his carving needs.
15. Tool: BuildClean air scrubber
Use: Maintains clean air during construction
Just like a tool that holds other tools is important, so is a tool that cleans up after tools. Roberts Construction says the BuildClean air scrubber is the company’s most important tool during construction; it helps keep homes clean and safe by removing contaminants that might be in the air through a filter system.
Use: Maintains clean air during construction
Just like a tool that holds other tools is important, so is a tool that cleans up after tools. Roberts Construction says the BuildClean air scrubber is the company’s most important tool during construction; it helps keep homes clean and safe by removing contaminants that might be in the air through a filter system.
16. Tools: Diamond drill bits
Product: Glass and copper wind chimes
Tim Kline of Coast Chimes goes through lots of diamond drill bits when he cuts beach glass to make glass and copper wind chimes, something he’s been doing for over 20 years.
Product: Glass and copper wind chimes
Tim Kline of Coast Chimes goes through lots of diamond drill bits when he cuts beach glass to make glass and copper wind chimes, something he’s been doing for over 20 years.
17. Tool: Telescopic tripod with 1-ton chain hoist
Use: Moving heavy landscape objects, such as boulders and trees
Landscape elements can be heavy to install or remove, and the team at Living Space Landscapes has crafted a tool to help with that.
Taking inspiration from Japanese garden designers, who have used tripods to move boulders for centuries, they repurposed this one originally intended for rescue operations to set boulders, pull out small trees and move heavy objects in spaces where other heavy machinery can’t fit.
Use: Moving heavy landscape objects, such as boulders and trees
Landscape elements can be heavy to install or remove, and the team at Living Space Landscapes has crafted a tool to help with that.
Taking inspiration from Japanese garden designers, who have used tripods to move boulders for centuries, they repurposed this one originally intended for rescue operations to set boulders, pull out small trees and move heavy objects in spaces where other heavy machinery can’t fit.
18. Tool: Woodworking clamps
Product: Furniture that fills a house
Sal Ortega says that of the tools a woodworker can have, “one can never have too many clamps.” He would know, having spent the past couple of decades remodeling his family’s home in Salem, Oregon. He and his wife, Geri, did everything from building furniture and cabinets to placing tile and installing windows.
Product: Furniture that fills a house
Sal Ortega says that of the tools a woodworker can have, “one can never have too many clamps.” He would know, having spent the past couple of decades remodeling his family’s home in Salem, Oregon. He and his wife, Geri, did everything from building furniture and cabinets to placing tile and installing windows.
Ortega built this sliding barn door using materials he already had.
See the Ortegas’ house featured on Houzz
See the Ortegas’ house featured on Houzz
19. Tool: Kreg pocket hole jig
Product: Farmhouse table
Houzz user Vera Kitchen is excited to have discovered the pocket hole jig, a tool that makes it easier to drill pocket holes. Professional furniture makers use this tool, but homeowners can drill pocket holes too.
Read more about pocket hole joinery
Product: Farmhouse table
Houzz user Vera Kitchen is excited to have discovered the pocket hole jig, a tool that makes it easier to drill pocket holes. Professional furniture makers use this tool, but homeowners can drill pocket holes too.
Read more about pocket hole joinery
20. Tool: Rigger watercolor brush
Product: Watercolor paintings with detail and texture
Artist Jill Poyerd showed us one tool she uses for adding detail and texture to her watercolor paintings: the rigger brush. “I have a handful of favorite brushes that I use when I paint, but my favorite is the rigger brush, with its long, thin bristles,” she says.
Product: Watercolor paintings with detail and texture
Artist Jill Poyerd showed us one tool she uses for adding detail and texture to her watercolor paintings: the rigger brush. “I have a handful of favorite brushes that I use when I paint, but my favorite is the rigger brush, with its long, thin bristles,” she says.
21. Tools: Gränsfors Bruks hatchets
Product: Hand-carved wooden spoons
Deltondog uses these hatchets, made by Swedish company Gränsfors Bruks, to create the rough shape of hand-carved wooden spoons. “I have been carving spoons for something like 40 years, and I am finally starting to get the hang of it,” says deltondog.
Deltondog works primarily with cherrywood, because it is easy to carve and tends to hold up well.
Product: Hand-carved wooden spoons
Deltondog uses these hatchets, made by Swedish company Gränsfors Bruks, to create the rough shape of hand-carved wooden spoons. “I have been carving spoons for something like 40 years, and I am finally starting to get the hang of it,” says deltondog.
Deltondog works primarily with cherrywood, because it is easy to carve and tends to hold up well.
22. Material: Gold leaf on glass
Product: Custom hand-painted signs
Though we’re excited by new tools and new technologies, oftentimes it’s the heritage techniques that really draw us in. Roderick Treece, of Custom Glass Signs and Mirrors, applies gold leaf to the back of glass to create one-of-a-kind hand-painted storefront signs.
Here is a sign Treece made for a Ralph Lauren store in New York.
Product: Custom hand-painted signs
Though we’re excited by new tools and new technologies, oftentimes it’s the heritage techniques that really draw us in. Roderick Treece, of Custom Glass Signs and Mirrors, applies gold leaf to the back of glass to create one-of-a-kind hand-painted storefront signs.
Here is a sign Treece made for a Ralph Lauren store in New York.
23. Tool: Custom loom and porcelain fence insulators for card weaving
Product: Handwoven instrument straps
Houzz user tracesmomcheryl took up the ancient art of card weaving, but ended up having problems keeping all of the strings in place with the proper tension. She solved the problem by hanging porcelain fence insulators, used to fasten electric fencing, at the end of each individual string. She took her inspiration from Japanese tama weights, used in kumihimo braiding, but found these for a fraction of the price.
Here is a finished instrument strap. Tracesmomcheryl says that sometimes these straps can take up to 38 cards per weaving.
Product: Handwoven instrument straps
Houzz user tracesmomcheryl took up the ancient art of card weaving, but ended up having problems keeping all of the strings in place with the proper tension. She solved the problem by hanging porcelain fence insulators, used to fasten electric fencing, at the end of each individual string. She took her inspiration from Japanese tama weights, used in kumihimo braiding, but found these for a fraction of the price.
Here is a finished instrument strap. Tracesmomcheryl says that sometimes these straps can take up to 38 cards per weaving.
24. Tool: Potter’s wheel
Products: Bowls, plates and other dishware
Kimberlytaylor’s husband crafts the pottery that she designs and sells to benefit their nonprofit, The Grow Hope Foundation. For him, she says, the potter’s wheel is the most important tool for making.
Products: Bowls, plates and other dishware
Kimberlytaylor’s husband crafts the pottery that she designs and sells to benefit their nonprofit, The Grow Hope Foundation. For him, she says, the potter’s wheel is the most important tool for making.
25. Tool: Venetian plaster trowel
Product: Interior walls finishes
Judy Bernier is the owner of the company Podzook, which manufactures and sells unique backyard sheds. She says her favorite tool is the Venetian plaster trowel in an elliptical shape. It’s essential for finishing the pods’ interiors, which are also spherical.
Product: Interior walls finishes
Judy Bernier is the owner of the company Podzook, which manufactures and sells unique backyard sheds. She says her favorite tool is the Venetian plaster trowel in an elliptical shape. It’s essential for finishing the pods’ interiors, which are also spherical.
26. Tools: Running pliers and grozer pliers
Product: Geometric glass art
Heather Hancock, of hhmosaics, creates geometric glass art pieces and installations. To bring her ideas to life, she relies on her running pliers (red handles) and grozer pliers (green handles).
This graphic mosaic tabletop by Hancock is made of glass and grout and framed in metal. It can also be hung as wall art.
Product: Geometric glass art
Heather Hancock, of hhmosaics, creates geometric glass art pieces and installations. To bring her ideas to life, she relies on her running pliers (red handles) and grozer pliers (green handles).
This graphic mosaic tabletop by Hancock is made of glass and grout and framed in metal. It can also be hung as wall art.
27. Tools: X-Acto knives
Product: Art pieces featuring intricately cut and rolled pieces of paper
The X-Acto knife is one tool that will find its way into most, if not every, toolbox at some point. It’s affordable, and its size makes it easy to maneuver in tight corners and help with the most detailed work.
Pzimm14 uses a variety of X-Acto knives and other quilling tools to create intricately rolled and cut paper shapes (next photo).
Product: Art pieces featuring intricately cut and rolled pieces of paper
The X-Acto knife is one tool that will find its way into most, if not every, toolbox at some point. It’s affordable, and its size makes it easy to maneuver in tight corners and help with the most detailed work.
Pzimm14 uses a variety of X-Acto knives and other quilling tools to create intricately rolled and cut paper shapes (next photo).
28. Tool: Grappler truck
Product: Live-edge wood furniture
Refined Elements specializes in making furniture using live-edge wood. The grappler truck allows the company’s sawyers to easily move 3,000- to 5,000-pound logs around a yard. A wide-throat saw mill cuts 55-inch-diameter logs into slabs that are then made into furniture.
A finished dining table (next photo) takes over two years to complete, starting from when the log is selected, then milled and kiln dried.
Product: Live-edge wood furniture
Refined Elements specializes in making furniture using live-edge wood. The grappler truck allows the company’s sawyers to easily move 3,000- to 5,000-pound logs around a yard. A wide-throat saw mill cuts 55-inch-diameter logs into slabs that are then made into furniture.
A finished dining table (next photo) takes over two years to complete, starting from when the log is selected, then milled and kiln dried.
29. Tools: Box cutter and X-Acto knife
Product: Intricate paper collages
Houzz user EE works with a box cutter and an X-Acto knife to cut thin strips of paper to create intricate collages. EE calls it painting with paper.
Product: Intricate paper collages
Houzz user EE works with a box cutter and an X-Acto knife to cut thin strips of paper to create intricate collages. EE calls it painting with paper.
30. Tool: Jack plane
Use: General hand planing
You might have seen this device decorating some of the home office and studio photos on Houzz, but for nvmanca it’s more than just a decorative relic. This “jack of all trades” jack plane was purchased 36 years ago when its owner was an apprentice carpenter, and it continues to be a favorite tool for general hand planing needs.
Use: General hand planing
You might have seen this device decorating some of the home office and studio photos on Houzz, but for nvmanca it’s more than just a decorative relic. This “jack of all trades” jack plane was purchased 36 years ago when its owner was an apprentice carpenter, and it continues to be a favorite tool for general hand planing needs.
31. Tool: Glass-blowing tools
Product: Custom glass lighting
Glass artists at Shakúff make each piece by hand in their studio in Brooklyn, New York. They use a number of tools and materials, including pigments for color and fire to bore holes directly into the glass, during the process of glass blowing and fusing.
Product: Custom glass lighting
Glass artists at Shakúff make each piece by hand in their studio in Brooklyn, New York. They use a number of tools and materials, including pigments for color and fire to bore holes directly into the glass, during the process of glass blowing and fusing.
32. Tools: Vintage tool set
Susan Martenson shared this important set of tools. These tools belonged to her late father, who was a farmer in Michigan, and she took this picture of them in her father’s workshop the last time she visited the farm. This photo and these tools remind her of her father and how dedicated he was to his work.
Susan Martenson shared this important set of tools. These tools belonged to her late father, who was a farmer in Michigan, and she took this picture of them in her father’s workshop the last time she visited the farm. This photo and these tools remind her of her father and how dedicated he was to his work.
33. Tool: Lathe
Product: Wood-turned art pieces
Artist and wood turner Wendy Somerville uploaded a photo of her lathe, what she calls her handiest tool.
Similar to how a potter’s wheel operates, the lathe turns the piece of wood on its axis and allows the user to manipulate the material with various tools to a desired shape (next photo).
Product: Wood-turned art pieces
Artist and wood turner Wendy Somerville uploaded a photo of her lathe, what she calls her handiest tool.
Similar to how a potter’s wheel operates, the lathe turns the piece of wood on its axis and allows the user to manipulate the material with various tools to a desired shape (next photo).
34. Tools: SawStop table saw and CNC router
Product: Custom decorative PVC exterior elements
Houzz pro Finyl Sales fabricates custom decorative PVC (Azek) exterior elements in central Florida. The SawStop and CNC router are two essential tools in the shop.
Product: Custom decorative PVC exterior elements
Houzz pro Finyl Sales fabricates custom decorative PVC (Azek) exterior elements in central Florida. The SawStop and CNC router are two essential tools in the shop.
35. Tool: Truck-bed toolbox
Use: Easily accessing tools on the go
Remodeling contractor Dale Kramer revealed that what holds his tools is just as essential as the tools themselves. This toolbox fits into his car and gives him easy, organized access to larger tools on the top tray. Three full-length drawers slide out, each with individual organizer bays, and smaller drawers pull out on each side of those larger drawers. Butcher’s wax ensures that the drawers slide without a hitch. “No commercial systems come close to holding what this toolbox does,” he says.
View all of the Houzz makers’ entries here
Use: Easily accessing tools on the go
Remodeling contractor Dale Kramer revealed that what holds his tools is just as essential as the tools themselves. This toolbox fits into his car and gives him easy, organized access to larger tools on the top tray. Three full-length drawers slide out, each with individual organizer bays, and smaller drawers pull out on each side of those larger drawers. Butcher’s wax ensures that the drawers slide without a hitch. “No commercial systems come close to holding what this toolbox does,” he says.
View all of the Houzz makers’ entries here
Product: Faux-finish walls
Darrell Hale, of Fresh Coat Painters, shared a “tool” that many people would never think could help with home improvement: a plastic bag.
His company used shopping bags to create a leather glaze texture for a client who wanted her walls to have a Western theme. To achieve the look seen here, “simply smash/wad and use it on a glazed wall,” Hale says.