Hand Tools

Had a friend stop by, had a how-to in the Dungeon Shop. Thenwe both piled into his car for the road trip....first stop was right downtown. One rip saw. He was looking for one to fix up. Next, on to the next town He was looking for either a No.7, or a No.6 we found a KK-6...$60??? Pass...walked through two other stores....he found a decent 4 speed eggbeater drill.....another saw, a square, a c clamp, and a zig-zag ruler. Me, I was merely a guide.....window shopping as I went. On to the next town.... Found a Stanley No.6 T-13 @ $45 + Tax.....savings paid for the gas. Me? I found a chisel that needed rescued.. Some…

I restored this old blacksmith post drill about two years ago. I found it at a flea market late in the last day of sales and the owner did not want to take it home. He offered it to me for $10 dollars! I put most of the parts through my electrolysis tank and painted and lubed everything. I made a shaft for a standard Jacobs chuck so that it can now accept standard drill bits. It was lagged to a nice piece 2 inch thick maple which I sanded lightly and sealed with Linseed oil. I use it periodically and it is fun to drill with. It is not the greatest wood drill because of its slow speed but it does shine when drilling metal. I have cut 1 inch holes in 1/4 inch plat…

Just received my annual MWTCA reprint courtesy of the membership benefits that MWTCA bestows upon its members. I love these old reprints, I am getting quite the collection since being a member of the MWTCA for the past 7 years. Each year, the MWTCA chooses an out of copyright manual of tools, an old catalogue, an old machinist manual of best practices, etc, etc. They run a brand new reprint off their press and they send them out to all members of the MWTCA. Here is our reprint for this year. A Peck, Stow, and Wilcox Co. catalogue of tools, both woodworking and metalworking tools. The cover of the book. I just opened…

WAY WAY overdue to stop by the forum. Been working on a car project with my 18 y.o. son, and 4H woodworking fair projects with the girls so not finding so much time to hunt the rusty stuff. I have continued to darken the door at the local shops though and found this stuff tonight. Can anyone tell me more about the center finder/square in the pictures. I see no markings but from the little I found online, it may be a Standard Rule or Chaplin’s. Unfortunately, no rule with this one. Maybe I can locate one with luck or some help from my friends. Nice to be on here tonight. Plenty to catch up on.

I have been reading through these garage sale / rust hunting finds lists and I have to admit that I am a bit jealous. Out here in Vegas old tools just don’t seem to exist. Certainly not in the quantities and varieties that they do in other places. Keep up the good work finding and refurbishing these beauties so I can continue to drool in envy

On the way back from the Doctor's office.....was feeling good about the arm...noticed a sign that said BARN SALE///my kind of sales got out of the van....I could smell the rust...but where? Nothing for me IN the barn....walked around to the side....ahh...RUST! Only had $7 in the pocket....had to picke things over....didn't NEED two more Millers Falls No. 120 breast drills ( got one now)nor a few other things..... Hmmmm...a Minty Craftsman eggbeater drill? $5? Sold.. Cap was tight...only needed a little oil to get things purring along.. Decent label, even had a drill bit inside, along with the one they left…

So since the weather outside is NOT delightful with 6" +/- of snow AND sub-zero temperatures back to my picture archives for some 2017 picks... During one of my visits earlier this year at the Flea Market "Warehouse" as I was foraging through some totes, I ran across this...since it had Veritas on it, no brainer, I had to have it even though I was clueless at the time exactly what it was...BUT it was clearly marked Veritas...anyway you get the point, right? Any guesses assuming you didn't cheat looking at the tags? In the same bin was this 1/2" shank x 1/2" dia., 2 flute pattern bit...mainly flash surface rust Bottom view...seen on…

Picked up a bag of little helpers the other day.

An older article but apparently still relevant when it comes to the Nicholson Pattern Makers Rasp's. I found this blog story at one of my favorite hand tool suppliers, I have purchased quiet a few tools from Tools For Working Wood, the last tool I purchased last year was an English Mortise chisel made by Ray Isles. Tools For Working Wood is a great resource in their blogs, and their tools for purchase, just thought I'd share the blog on their decision to not sale Nicholson Rasps any longer and why. Click on Read more below.

A while back..picked a $15 Jack plane at an estate sale....been trying to clean this thing up.. Made by Sargent & Co. and sold at Sears as a Craftsman brand tool... Even was marked as Craftsman on the iron... The "BL" was a Sears code for Sargent..... First things I do is tear the plane down to just..parts...and clean each up...metal parts see the wire wheel on my grinder... Frog...bolt and the rest needed a bit of cleaning... That "409" is because Sargent 409 and 414 planes used the same frog. Steel adjuster wheel took a bit of cleaning. Same with where the frog sat...after a bunch of crud was re…

A friend of mine sent me a couple chunks of Rosewood....to do a few handle repairs, as some did need some work...hard on the hand, when the "horn" is missing... I had already roughed up a handle...and had a stack of leftovers.. So, while watching the Furnace crew replace the house's furnace....I went with a "Horn Repair".....took a bit, planed both surfaces as flat as I could...meh...then some glue and a clamp... Then went back to watching..until... They had the new furnace installed..and the house finally was getting heat! They added all that shiny metal, because the new furnace was that much shorter than the old one. …

This should go into both this forum and the "old tools" forum. Anyhow, here goes. While at the show this past weekend, a fellow came up to me and wanted to know if I liked "old tools". Of course, I answered in the afirmitive. He told me of his brother that is mainly a guitar maker but love to buy and sell old timey tools. In fact, he just picked up a whole box full of planes. Naturally, I thought of y'all. Don't know what all he has but am going to find out. Sharing his information with you. Grant Hull, 423-322-9420, www.hullguitars.com, located in Georgia outside of Chattanooga, TN Never hurts to find out what he has, right??? If you contact him, how a…

I got a vintage Wards hand plane for Christmas, found in Cottonwood AZ. All the parts seem to be there (badly painted/finished, but fixable). The one piece that I'd really like to replace is the machine screw for the front handle (but if I find the handle screw, I betcha I can find the tote screw too). The machine screws are #10, 20 tpi; that second value is the problem. I checked local Ace Hware, and it's definitely #10 (smaller than 1/4, Not metric; fits into #10 sockets for about one turn--24 and 32 tpi sockets). I did find a 1/4-20 bolt to confirm my threads are 20 tpi, and I checked some wood web sites: no go. Suggestions?

My trip to the Emerald City on Wednesday to get my haircut and other errands also resulted in a few detours. Even though my wife was home in bed suffering from her turn of 36 hours of demonic intestinal possession, I managed to get sidetracked. First stop after the ATM & haircut was at the "flea market warehouse." I've been going there for probably 12 or 13 years. Upon arriving I noted there were no cars in the parking spaces...further inspection, revealed a handwritten note taped to the door, Closed, Thank-you for your business over the years. Hmmm...that's a bummer...so I regrouped and hit a couple of Pawn Shops I hadn't been at for some time. The first …

You know, this one? Outside...a ready use area for a few saws, a drill (that is too BIG to hang inside) And a few other toys...maybe open a door or two? Top half of the left hand door..a few saws, a couple squares..lower half? A rack full of screwdrivers, hand drills, a couple block planes, and a few pliers..and a couple dovetail saws Turn slightly to the right.. A few hand planes another saw...look up a bit... Haven't even opened the right hand door yet. Squares, spokeshaves, and drills..even a "4-in-hand" File. Open the right hand door, and set the brace to keep it opened.. A NEW rack for all of m…

just 2 items...we hit 7 yard sales..bought a few things...but. This was fifty cents, and.. And fifty cents for this No. 51.... that orange box? Cost me $4... Because of what was inside it.. That turned out NOT to fit either of my 2 Drill Presses..(Collar is too big) So...now I get to rehab the drill bits and the "shave"....and find someone that needs the Mortise Attachment kit..

I was at an auction last night and this boxwood ruler came up for bid. I didn't take a before picture, but it was so dirty and black it was hard to see the name. It appeared to be double stamped or something. I had decided it was an E.A. Sterns so I bid on it and got it for 10.00. After I got home I cleaned it up and could then see that it was a Stanley No. 68, but it is also stamped No. 680 E C Simmons "Redline". E C Simmons would have been a Keen Kutter ruler. Quite interesting if Stanley was making the Boxwood rulers for Keen Kutter. What is even stranger about this ru…

Have a Francken Plane....90% Sargent #3416 Jack plane....has a Bailey iron, chipbreaker is a Bailey off of a trans. plane....rear handle? Rear handle didn't fit quite right...swapped that out. Iron needed to be flattened on the back, a new straight, single 25 degree bevel ground and honed to 2000grit. Chipbreaker? placed on the bench, it would rock...flipped over, a ball pean hammer to "Un-rock" it...about 5 good "taps" right where the high spot was...then polished the edge. Slot in the iron is a tad too narrow for the lateral lever.... I checked the body...sole was indeed..flat...Cleaned away a lot of crud build up in the cavities ...oily pa…

I had an entry not long ago about my Porter Cable 20 volt drill chuck was slipping and one of my two batteries would not hold a charge very long. I ordered a new Ryobi 18 volt drill with a half inch chuck. After I ordered the new drill, I found the video of how to lock your chuck. I didn't know that!! I got out my new Ryobi and started using it. Right away I didn't like how it fit my hand, the pistol grip was too large in dia. Next was the speeds. The lower one is fine, but the high speed is to slow at its highest rpm, compared to my Porter Cable. These drills are used for many other beside drilling holes. (Polishing,buffing, sanding,etc) When I applied the lock trick t…

Curious, has anyone here tried the EC Emmerich hand planes, they've always fascinated me and I've been tempted quite a few times. But each time I ambush the effort. I am not interested in the mechanical Primus planes they sale, but the more traditional planes with wedge and iron.