It sounds like you've really devised a good working system, Elizabeth!
I tried tool pallets for a little while, and tool rolls, but found them both cumbersome. The pallets also add weight.
Instead, I have some wizard zippered bags (very tough material, a fine stiff black mesh) which Ritmuller was handing out at conventions awhile back. I was around just after the end of a convention and got some extras from them, and Ted Sambell gave me his. One can see through them.
In my main kit, one bag holds everything resembling a screwdriver. I extended the definition to include a capstan wrench, and the drivers for thin stud regulation. I also have screw holders, the ones with magnets on the far ends. I have a small plastic can with screws for fallboards.
A second black bag holds "tools", including anything like pliers: bending pliers, needle nose pliers, key easing pliers. Also medical tweezers, letoff tools (I have a dandy old one with a rosewood handle I found in an old upright, and a new one from Jurgen, which has a flexible shaft -- great tool!). A diagonal damper wire bender in the universal handle. The keypin bender for the universal handle. The umbrella rib in a handle to ease damper guide rail bushings, or to put a little VJ lube in to quiet hammer springs on teflon. (Drat that sprayed green teflon! It may be slippery but it certainly is not quiet!) Small vise grips. Small and medium-sized crescent wrenches, the exceedingly helpful Hart spring tool.
A third black bag holds various action cloth, scrap hammer felt, hammer files, and the wooden slats to support grand hammers for filing.
With my case from Staples came a soft-sided zippered bag probably intended for writing implements to go with a computer and notebooks. I put everything I need for tuning in it, except the tuning hammer. The tuning hammer, soft-sided case, and Bill Spurlock's lid prop share their own compartment.
A large ziploc bag in the same large compartment as the three black bags holds everything wet. White glue, small CA glue (and I carry a spare still on cardboard), VJ lube, "vodka" in a dropper bottle, ultrablonde shellac in an old tincture bottle for voicing, talc in a small plastic jar (I gave up on teflon when I read that it's more toxic than I realized), black markers for scratches on stage pianos, and a small tube of toothpaste for totally filthy keys. Most of these items live in their own smaller ziploc bags.
Shop towels, the piano atlas, and a large flat flashlight (LED) have another compartment to themselves. Invoices go into the zippered pouch in front. Behind it is a section with lots of pockets and loops, where I put fine felt scissors, small files, another flashlight, a dental mirror, the simpler version of a tension gauge, -- and in a business envelope Jon Page's immensely ingenious Taut Line Regulation Gauge (don't leave home without one!)
I picked up an idea in a seminar in Seattle, when Steve Brady brought a German Steinway technician to demonstrate voicing on both NY and Hamburg Steinways. Fascinating. His kit was tiny, and he naturally had to travel with it a lot. Of course, he always was working on just a couple of models of Steinway, mostly D's - so he could bring just a couple of replacement parts. But what really got my attention was that he carried fluids like glue and voicing solution in extremely tiny containers. Despite one of them containing ether (and collodion) he was able to fly with the case because the amounts were so tiny. I realized that anything with liquids in it should be fairly small -- not as small as his, but not nearly as big as I had been carrying. The little white glue bottle about as big as your palm, not the 8 oz. version -- etc. The "vodka" is in a 2 oz. plastic bottle, and even that will last me for months.
When hauling a big heavy kit stops being reasonable, one can reevaluate what comes into the house and what stays in the car. I decided that spare parts, pinning tools, a punching box, wire and stringing tools, more "wet" containers like polish and scratch remover and Murphy's oil soap (in a six-pack cooler), a hammer shank box, and quite a few other things (like knee pads) could live in the trunk.
The most important thing, IMO, is to know where everything is. (Where's the sticky travel paper? -- in a film can in the same compartment as the felt scissors. Where are the rubber buttons? The knobs? How about spare agraffes? And spare jack springs? -- all in plastic "assortment" boxes on the floor behind the passenger seat.)
More than anyone wanted to know -- sorry.
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Susan Kline
Philomath, Oregon
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Original Message:
Sent: 03-19-2017 15:20
From: Elizabeth Pearson
Subject: Tool bags - Reviving that age old question
Hi Geoff
I use a very inexpensive bag I bought from Costco. The writing on it says "Ciao". I think it was $29 or $39. Because I do a great deal of work in the city and I carry anything and everything I might need, I opted for something that I can roll. I do spend a lot of time carrying it too, though, and I'd guess it weighs at least 40-50lbs. It's held up very well the last 5 years.
There is a flat zipper pocket inside I can keep paperwork in that I use for Dampp-chaser pads and literature. The flat pocket acts like a divider, so in front of it I can store long thin tools (long screwdrivers, clamps, the Steinway damper tool for neck bends) and behind it is the main luggage cavity into which all my zipper tool pouches go. (Each category of tool bag is a different color because I need fast access to my tools, especially for concert work.)
There are two side pouches, one I keep tuning tools in, the other contains various types of pliers, wrenches, damper squeezing pliers, etc. There are 3 small front pouches, the top one has a small tin of ibuprofen, pens, spare voicing needles, business cards, etc. The bottom contains a ziplock bag of various kinds of glue, key cleaner, polyester case polishing compound, rags, a small bottle of naphtha.
Inside is also a mesh zipper pocket that holds my voicing tool, humidity gauge, a few other things.
The only things that have worn out on this bag are the Velcro that secures the two handles together, and the mesh zipper pocket is ripped. Considering I'm running 4-6 appointments Tuesday-Saturday, with concert work 2-3 Sundays per month, I really think it's held up well. I don't find the nice Genck type cases practical because they can't carry everything I need and they are heavy and awkward to carry for me. I've seen people buy the Swiss bags, and the extending component for wheeling it around broke, and the zipper pouches broke, but mine has held up. Not bad for spending $80-100 less!
As an aside, my favorite small zipper tool pouch is cylindrical (pencil case from staples or something) and contains a small tool roll with all my regulation tools. I can access anything there just by unzipping the pouch.
And while we're on the subject of good quality carrying cases, I bought a used turbodiesel VW Sportwagen last summer and to me it is the ideal technician car. Excellent MPG, lots of storage, and the leather/sunroof models unlock if the key is in your pocket- a great feature if you're getting in and out of the car 8x a day.
I hope this helps!
Elizabeth