Laying Tools - Which Do You Prefer? 9/13/14

September 13, 2014--There's been a lot of discussion recently on the ANG Yahoo Group List about laying tools and which is preferred.  Many love one called the Best Laying Tool or BLT (a tekabori style in metal) and others love their finger trolleys.  Since I use both types, I thought I'd write about why I use one over the other.  

The long, metal tool I have is called Sharon's Laying Tool and was purchased at the recommendation of David McCaskill when taking his Journey online class.  It is long and ridged for easy gripping, and is perfect for laying multiple strands of thread, be they cotton or silk.   When laying many strands of floss, it sometimes takes a descent amount of pressure to flatten and spread the strands before pulling them through the canvas.  The long, thin tekabori is perfect for this.

When I don't need so much pressure, I prefer to use my finger trolley, especially when working in the right hand corners of canvases attached to stretcher bars using the well method.  It nicely smooths ribbon width threads easily, such as Flair, etc.  And if working on a canvas corner, I can turn my finger in such a way as to work around the stretcher bars.

Below are pictures of both laying tools, one showing how I wear my finger trolley.

Sharon's Laying Tool

Finger Trolley

Finger Trolley as Worn