Tools of the Trade
Day Twenty-Three: Magnetic Snips
A few years ago, I spent each day in January writing about a different tool I use in my maskmaking. As I am currently redesigning my entire website in the new year, I thought it might be nice to revisit this project. Each day in January 2021, I’ll share a different item that I use in my studio. I hope some of these can help other people who are interested in making wrestling masks.
Just a quick one today. If you have an industrial machine or one of those old home machines that has a lot of metal in it, this little trick is mighty helpful. I have a pair of cheapo thread snips that I’ve used for years. I just hotglued a neodymium magnet to it, and now it lives on top of my sewing machine and never gets lost. I don’t even have to look at it to grab it or put it back. My hand knows exactly where it is and where to return it, and the strong magnet makes sure it stays there.
Here it is in its normal home on top of the machine. You can also see a small metal right angle screwdriver that I use to tighten and loosen my needle screw. I didn’t need to glue the magnet on to that; since it’s metal, it just sits there loose, attracted by the magnet.
There’s also a magnetic ruler sitting on the front of my machine, but I never remember it’s there. I have another ruler to my left that I usually use, as well as a meter-long measurement printed on top of my sewing table.