My late grandfather left me a wooden toolbox which he built in 1933 in
New Zealand. Whether or not it was a formal requirement, it was
apparently a traditional last task of his "time" as an apprentice at
the Ford motorcar factory new Wellington to build his own toolbox.
What I would like to obtain in the next four days is references to
where I could read about this concept, preferably online. I understand
this was a tradition probably derived from European/English craft
guilds - for instance an apprentice cabinet-maker might have to design
and make a wooden chair in 1/3 scale as part his apprenticeship.
I am most interested in tradition related to toolboxes, and in
relation to British/European traditions. I could stretch it to a
requirement for a "graduating" apprentice to make his/her own tools. I
can pay $US10

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Clarification of Question by apprentice-ga on 07 Apr 2003 05:31 PDT

A related concept was that of ``apprentice pieces'' done by
apprentices (say, joiners or cabinet-makers) who made an item in, for
instance, 1/3 scale which was assessed by their master to confirm they
had acquired the skills necessary to their trade. This is an older and
more "original" form of the specific idea in which I am interested:
the apprentice mechanic building his own toolbox before "graduating"
from his apprenticeship.