Red Bar Tool

I thought I'd take a few minutes to write about what is possibly the most useful tool in my tool bag. It's officially a Richard 10" Lever-Scraper, but I call it "red bar", or sometimes the "magic red bar". Why, you ask, is this a magic red bar tool? Well, the reason it's so magical is it can be used on nearly any job for almost anything ;-)

Officially the Richard Tools web site describes the part # US-10-C (a.k.a. US-10) like this:

High carbon tempered steel Lever bar-Scraper is 0.1'' thick. Combination tool features one chisel end, one bent end and a nail-puller. Scrapes paint, smoothes wood, removes baseboards and nails.

The product packaging reads: "Lever-Bar, Nail-Puller and Scraper combination tool - scrapes paint; pulls nails, removes baseboards", but it's so much more useful.

To date, I've used the red bar tool as a scraper, pry bar, chisel, nail puller, spacer, as well as other things. One thing that I especially like about the red bar is that it's incredibly durable. Other similar looking tools are generally a little cheaper to buy but no where near the quality of this Richard red bar. I've pried so hard on some things that I thought the red bar would break or bend, but it just goes right back to it's original shape. I guess that's because it's made of high carbon steel, and is heat-treated.

Don't be fooled by imitators. This is the best scraper/pry bar out there. I've seen the red bar for sale at Home Hardware and Home Depot, although I'm sure you can get it wherever Richard tools are sold. Richard also sells drywall tools, scrapers, and other tools.