small tools held in great affection
Friday, January 29, 2010 at 1:32PM 
my all-time favourite tool: little hammer, hatchet, screwdriver, nail puller, wire cutter, pliers and whatever that top bit is called that cuts the heads off nails. Sturdy, dates from before the 1950s, a novelty item perhaps, but surprisingly useful it has been. And it is so tiny.
Is there a name for tools that combine many functions? where something can be a hammer and an inch later a wirecutter? It is the opposite of that other attitude: the proper tool for every job. That is what Lee Valley is based on. No, this little handy dandy does not expect anyone to use it with great finesse, its function is to be helpful as one is muttering and banging around in the basement and hey presto! there it is, a tiny hammer to knock out a cottar pin wedged in the handle at the back of a clock, as happened this morning.
Humour me, I'm on my holidays and such things loom large.
hands, material culture, small things, tools 
Reader Comments (3)
could you believe this same tool deserve a chapter in a book? Bruno Munari the italian theorist of design speaks of it, and identify it as a 'window dresser tool' in his 70's book 'How things are born' -cosa nasce cosa-. He say the tool is because there inside the vitrin there is no space so the technician is supposed to have everything hanging from the belt or just in the trousers pocket... so if you want to buy one of his try Italy....
in the link the book -in spanish- but the photo is perfectly clear....
oops the link http://www.scribd.com/doc/37742841/Como-Nacen-Los-Objetos-Bruno-Munari
well, how amazing. the link you posted didn't take me anywhere, but I did find it at http://www.scribd.com/doc/13054106/Como-Nacen-Los-Objetos It is on p 119, and the description on p 118.
Yes, it is the same little tool. Thank you for identifying it.