I recently purchased a snakewood “birdcage” awl from Chester Toolworks in New Hampshire.
The awl is beautifully made. The craftsmanship, finish and shape are all excellent! I love the short, fat length with the large rounded end on the handle. It makes the tool very easy to use because you can put your weight behind it with the palm of your hand. I’ve seen other birdcage awls that look like regular awls with a squared-off tip. These would work fine, but the Chester awl was obviously designed from the ground-up to be a birdcage, and it shows in how easy it is to use. Excellent product and recommended!
The birdcage awl is an under-appreciated tool. I end up using it for a variety of non-glamorous tasks from starting screw holes to sweeping the saw dust out of the slots left by my biscuit cutter. It is not as refined a tool as a standard awl or a marking knife, but I find myself using it just as much. I’ve not tried the Chester Toolworks standard awls or marking knives, but based on the birdcage they are likely very good. I also really like the Blue Spruce Toolworks products (marking knives and awls) that I have reviewed before in the blog, although I think the Chester birdcage design is more intuitive.
It may seem like I only give very positive reviews on this blog, and to some degree that is correct. If a tool is only average, I don’t bother to write about it. So, if I post it here it is either a very good tool or very bad tool.
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About mattsanf
Matthew Sanfilippo is currently Executive Director of PSII (Pennsylvania Smart Infrastructure Incubator) and the CenSCIR (Center for Sensed Critical Infrastructure), Associate Director of ICES (Institute for Complex Engineered Systems), and Associate Director of PITA (Pennsylvania Infrastructure Technology Alliance) at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU).
Prior to CMU, Matthew was Director of Applied Technology for Michael Baker Corporation, a large engineering and energy services firm. Matt managed a technology consulting division for Baker including Geographic Information System (GIS), software and web development, multimedia, virtual reality (VR), visualization, Global Positioning System (GPS), mapping and surveying services.
Before joining Baker, Matt was an Innovation Director for Redleaf Group, a Venture Capital/Operating Company focused on Information Security, Supply Chain, Network and Mobility Solutions. While at Redleaf, Matt managed technical due diligence for seed-stage investments and coordinated relationships between Redleaf and their partner companies after investment.
Prior to Redleaf, Matt was CIO of GZA GeoEnvironmental Technologies, a Boston-based engineering firm, and operations manager for their Internet start-up division that focused on web-technologies for health and safety and manufacturing metrics.
Matt is current board member and past Chairman of the Board for the Botanic Garden of Western Pennsylvania, a board member of the Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation (PHLF), and a former member of the Information Sciences and Technology Advisory Board for the Pennsylvania State University Beaver. Matt is also a former Vice President of the Pittsburgh Chapter of the Association of Internet Professionals and former Vice President of the Board of Trustees for Baker Combined Charity of Pennsylvania.
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