The Living Tools
The Living Tools supports the diversification of our craft. We believe that the shared love of handwork is a unifier and that people can find connection through a desire to live a life in craft. The Living Tools fosters a community that welcomes and respects everyone while not discriminating based on our differences in age, ability, ethnicity, race, religion, philosophical or political beliefs, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, nationality, geographic origin, and socioeconomic status. We work to provide an environment that centers the needs of historically excluded crafts people and encourage all interested applicants to apply.
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available tool collections!
Tool Collections
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Wade lowe: Violin Studio
An incredible collection of tools curated from the shop of master luthier Wade Lowe. These tools represent 40 years of curiosity, commitment and skill. Wade’s family wants to make sure that future generations have the opportunity to pursue a life in craft and for that reason they made this incredible donation to The Living Tools project.
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This application is now closed.
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willowbrook Hand tools
This tidy collection of hand tools is a great foundational set of tools for joinery and general craft. The donor hopes to support an aspiring craftsperson in a traditionally underrepresented population.
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Apply to receive this tool collection
This tool collection has been awareded to a recipient and is no longer available. Congratulations to its recipient!
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Nancy Hiller Hand tools donation
A small collection of essential hand tools donated by life-long a sculptor and woodworker. This collection is small but mighty and undoubtedly contains some magic.
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Apply to receive this tool collection
This Colletion is Not Currently Available.
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Carving Collection: Peggy Page Donation
Lifelong carver of hyper-realistic decoy ducks, Peggy Page wanted to make sure that her extensive collection of small and miniature gouges, sharpening equipment and woodburning tools, ended up in the hands of another woman trying to build a life in the craft.
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Apply to receive this tool collection
This Collection is Not Currently Available.
The First Living Tool Donation
Two months after I graduated from furniture school, I received a gift of tools from a stranger. There’s a photo of me, taken as I speechlessly unpacked a full suite of donated Windsor chair tools. This photo is more than a candid shot of excitement and awe – it’s a snapshot of diversification, of a feeling of hope and support, of expanding networks and relationships to the craft.
This experience inspired the final branch of The Chairmaker’s Toolbox, which was establishing The Living Tools project. The mission is to support new makers, honor retiring makers, and connect generations of woodworkers through a mutual love of good tools.
The Living Tools program gives retiring woodworkers an opportunity to donate their tools to a scholarship fund that will award them to early-in-career furniture makers and outsiders in the field of woodworking. The one rule: Donated tools can never be sold, but when no longer needed, must be given freely so that they remain gifts across generations, thereby amplifying the donor’s original act of generosity and perpetuating change in the field.
At the end of their careers, many woodworkers, like the person who gave his tools to me, are looking for meaningful destinations for their tools. Most want to make sure their tools continue to be used and that they fuel another full life in craft. My goal is to create a sustainable distribution network where tools can be donated individually or in a suite and distributed to applicants based on need.
For me, unpacking that box of tools was like unpacking the sudden possibility of a future as a chairmaker. The gift became even more meaningful when I reached out to the donor and learned how deeply fulfilling it was for him to know that his tools would have another 40 years in chairmaking. I hope to create the same impactful and connective experience for retiring & emerging furniture makers.
So I want to say here - Thank you Peter Nisen, for your generosity, your forethought, and for your tools - they changed my life! I will use them until it’s time for them to move on to the next maker.
- Aspen Golann
Giving your tools another life
The Living Tools project wants to help honor your life in craft by making sure your tool collection gives someone a chance to build their own. Each collection will be photographed, archived, assessed, and matched with the perfect applicant. The recipient must sign a document promising to never sell your tools, but instead to award them again as a gift to another maker – thereby amplifying your generosity and perpetuating the positive influence of the project.
Please fill out the form below if you are considering making a donation of tools, and we’ll be in touch. Thank you so much for considering a donation.
