Basic Toolboxes

BASIC TOOLBOXES – a variety of small inexpensive tools for you to get started with. Those of us who have been at this for a while, have collected a lot of different tools along the way. It’s better to have too many, than not enough. But you will find at the heart of every preservationist’s collection, a very basic tool box. This is what we would like to cover in this section. None of these items are expensive or hard to find. You may already have them in your garages, or be able to pick them up at your local building supply stores.

 

Let’s start with some basic tools for working the ground that many people already have in their garages.

  

 

 

There are many types of shovels, but these 3 will get you through most jobs. The spade shovel is probably the most used of the 3. It is perfect for digging rectangular slots in the ground for resetting tablet markers and is very maneuverable. The digging shovel is great for generalized digging and moving dirt. The flat transfer shovel is ideal for moving gravel and rock, cutting sod, or digging square holes and slots in the ground.

 

 

 

 

 

There are also many types of bars and pry bars. Here are 3 examples that work well in a variety of situations.

   

 

 

A good tamper is essential for tamping gravel and dirt snugly. A posthole digger will greatly aid in digging and removing dirt from deep holes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is Cheryl Skinner’s beginners’ tool kit. And it all fits neatly in a soft zipper tool bag.

Cheryl has been involved with 2 cemetery preservation projects over the last 3 years helping coordinate restoration efforts. She knows the techniques and reasons for the techniques, inside and out and backwards. But has not done the actual hands on work portion of the preservation. This is not a bad thing at all. Knowing a great deal about doing something is the first step before doing it. This will all change very soon in the upcoming season when she starts putting the techniques into practice. This is why she is putting together a basic toolbox. In the spring of 2017 Cheryl will assist Gravestone Guardians of Ohio on a cemetery restoration project for several months.