How to build

Hang tools on a wall so that all of them have their own place. If possible, draw the outline with charcoal or some other colour. Hang a sing, write a name or draw a picture of all the tools on shelves or leaning on the wall. Each tool has their own singn and hook or nail on the wall though they may not all be hanging on the wall.

By the side of the wall attach hooks or nails for all the letters in the alphabets. Make four tokens of each letter to hang on the wall: A, B, C…

(In Tärkkilä we have cut tokens from a branch of larch and marked them by burning with a magnifier.)

How to use

Everybody present will have their own letter regardless of their status. Permanent residence have their letter as well as first time visitor attending a work party. If S is already reserved for someone, Sean may get E. When Sean need a too, he will take it from the wall and replace it with one token with his letter E.  All and all Sean can use four tools at the same time, but the community can decide together to add more tokens if needed. Sean can also ask his workpair, if they could use also his tokens.

With one glance everybody using common tools can see who is using tools at the moment or who has used a tool last.

Tool wall reduces time wasted in hunting down tools, amount of tools lost and conflicts within the community. It is a tool for economic and social resilience.

General rule:
Right tool for right purpose!

When you need some tool, find it! Don’t use just any object you may find close by because it is likely that A. it will not perform well to fill your need and B. it is likely to get damaged in such a way that no one will be able to use it for its original purpose. If you hammer with a spirit level, it is likely that it will not serve as a spirit level anymore. Same happens with scissors used as cable cutter, screwdriver used as chisel, bill used as hoe…