Ink Line

When I first started out on the woodwork in Japan I had brought hardly any tools at all with me from the UK, so I had to buy everything here. I started with two chisels, a saw, a set square and an electric drill with a couple of bits. Somewhere along the line I also bought my first ink line. There are really nice traditional units still available, but the modern young carpenter seems to prefer bright plastic units. I don't really like the modern Gundam robot world aesthetics of these tools, but practically they have come a long way. The ink line here has a nice spring loaded reel and the compartment for the sponge to hold the ink is well water proofed so that it does not leak ink when over loaded, and thanks to plentiful rubber packing parts it keeps the ink pad wet even if it is left alone for a long time on the shelf. I got this one when I was doing the scaffolding roof project back in March 2007 with Sammy a while back and promptly dropped it off the roof on to the concrete pad. It sprang apart into several bits, but it wasn't five minutes before humpty was back together again. Maybe the rubber housing saved it. The design also allows the whole thing to be taken to bits to replace the line inside and get rid of blockages on the line etc.
The plank standing at the back is unplaned, a couple of passes over the blades and it will be looking like the one lying next to our pinky.