When Sten Havumaki designed his Traditional Leather Bailing Scoop, he had boaters in mind. Why not have a nice leather-and-wood scoop to bail water from your vessel rather than using one made from the cut-off end of an old plastic bleach bottle?

But the first thing we thought when we saw the scoop was that it could also be used by a farmer to ladle grain for livestock, or by one of Maine’s many craft beer makers.

Havumaki is a craftsman and designer of fine furniture and architectural carvings at his Biddeford-based business, the Oak & Laurel Workshop, work that leaves him with lots of scrap wood. Rather than toss those scraps into a wood stove, Havumaki started turning them into tools that could be used every day, in the kitchen, home workshop or on a boat.

At first he made them as gifts for friends, but last fall he launched the Handsome Tool Co., an online shop that is the only place you can find these items.

It features lots of kitchen tools, from intricately carved wine stoppers ($38) and walnut end-grain cutting boards ($200) to rolling pins ($80) and turned butter knives ($38). He also makes “work bench tools” for craftsmen and carvers, such as a screwdriver with a beautiful hand-turned head made of claro walnut topped with an abalone shell inlay ($38).

“You’re turning something that maybe has some bad grain into a tool handle,” he said. “That’s a way I can use small pieces of wood and turn them into tools that are useful and beautiful and will be around for a long time.”

The bailing scoop ($95) is made with either mahogany and dark brown leather or Spanish cedar and light brown leather. Havumaki used leather for the scoop so it won’t scrape and scratch against the boat.

Just in time for summer boating season.


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