Hand Tools

While I was in Nashville at the flea market I have to keep my eyes open to see what I can find. I walked by and looked at this Stanley Sweetheart era wood mortise and marking gauge. It has the wrong type of screw on the top but the rest of it was in pretty good condition. The brass plate was intact and the scribing pin so I figured I would find one somewhere that has a better screw and change them out. This one has the Sweetheart logo on the side just above the number. The fellow wanted 8.00 and I gave him 3.00 for it. Not too bad. Patriot Picking.

About time to update this bunch of planes The whole Fan-damnily The long guy is a 14" long #14 Jack, there are three (3!!!) #9 smoothers in the middle, with their poorer cousin #8 on the end. That little guy (the Baby) is a low angle #1455 block plane. The block plane and one of the #9s came with their original box. Not quite sure on "type' at the moment. As for those #9s They seem to think they are something "Special" A look at the rears Somewhere in the new tool chest, there is a Millers Falls 8" brace. With a BIG, hulking chuck on it's end. Didn't feel like digging him out. Well, that is the Millers Falls family, at the moment...

Helping Our Website Viewers John, I am not sure where to post this suggestion/comment so I put it in each of the forums. If this isn’t permissible, please delete it. Hey folks, thought I’d pass along an experience I had today. Our neighbor, who lives across the street, dropped by to chat. They are new to the neighborhood (about a year) and we are getting to know them better each day. We knew that our neighbor is a marathoner. In fact, she was in the Boston race when the bomb went off. Fortunately, she was not injured. We also knew she is losing her sight. She has three young sons and she is going blind, tragic. Her sight was the reason for her visit. Sometime b…

Have a smallish backsaw, nothing really fancy about it. Plain jane handle. Spline was a powder-coat black. Pressed in wheat thingys. And....VERY DULL. Was just going to toss it out. Happen to scrape some of the black off the spline......"Made in West Germany" Ok, might see what I could do to make it a bit more useful in the shop.. Tenon Saw! They cost a bunch anymore. Most have fancy, exotic wood handles, too. Maybe, IF I could file them DULL teeth as rip style...... Two piece of pine/fir/spruce ( not sure which) to clamp onto the plate. A couple "C" clamps to keep them there. Clamp the whole mess into the leg vise, with it's brand ne…

Last weekend I was attended the local auction and this Millers Falls hand plane came up for auction. I had looked it over before the auction and knew it had the wrong lever cap. I did a little checking before the auction and determined it was from the WWII era. Since the side of the body had the Millers Falls No 9 then I knew the Stanley lever cap didn't belong with this plane. Between 1936 and 1941 the number was removed from the front of the plane to the right side and stamped into the plane. So with that bit of information I knew the plane was at least in the era to begin with. But further information helped me to find a type study and get the plane clo…

Spent a whole $4 on a pair of handsaws. They seemed to have some good bones to them. Under all that rust, that is Just a bit of rust to clean up. The handles did look good, though They were Disston USA D-8s. Brass hardware, too. Got the two apart, shined the brass up. Cleaned and refinished the crack-free handles. Then a lot of sanding to clean the plates. Found both had an "8" stamped in the heel. 8ppi, and they were both crosscuts. In fact, they were the exact same model!. One might have been re-sharpened a few more times, though Notice a difference? Tooth lines are matched up, top of the plates do not match up. As…

A friend of mine posted this on his Face Book account and I thought it was pretty cool. It is a video on how to make your own clamps using re-bar, scrap wood and some threaded rod.

Out on the Rust Hunt again today Found an expensive pair of tools The Visegrips will clean up ok. Same with the nutdrivers. Now, about that Non-hand tool rehab? Found a pile of parts in a clear plastic tub. Spent a whopping $10, too. It is the same age as I am. A 1953 AMF Red & White Tricycle! Needs a wee bit of TLC, though. But, all the parts are there. Might take a little bit longer to do than the usual day a hand plane takes, Ya Think? Will be posting a step-by-step blog of some kind for this, IF you people would like. May now be a hand tool, but, I might use a few to restore this old bike.

Don't know if you guys would use such a tool, but, I'm a gadget freak. http://www.chipsfly.com/product/35-580.html?et_mid=691255&rid=237735214

I think I might have a couple of plane like objects about dialed in Stanley#70, in Push Mode. It will work in Pull mode as well. Next up Scioto Works #8 Coffin Smoother. Might just have that old Ohio Tool Co. Auburn Ny iron just about right. Next up, a home-built thing Traditional Chinese Jack plane, but 18" long. I changed it to a double iron. Still a work in progress. Has a knob out front right now. May loose that as i go along. Next a Stanley Type 19 #5-1/2 Jumbo Jack. Trying it out, to see IF I need to work on the edge. Hmmm, maybe..Next A Millers Falls #9 Type 4. It will need a bit of work, wore it down a bit on the To…

And a couple old rusty tools. Found an 18" long Craftsman Backsaw for a dollar bill. And, a Stanley #70 scraper plane. The saw can wait a while, until I have the right sized files to sharpen the DULL teeth with The Stanley #70: It has a curved sole and a cambered iron. Used to scrape off painted labels on wooden shipping crates. This one was very nasty looking. Wire wheels on the Drill press to clean most of the crud and rust off. Gave the iron the once over. Might have used the force, too The chisel came from FeeBay, an Eagle Brand 7, 1-1/2" socket firmer chisel. It needed a handle, and this was all I had on ha…

Awhile back, picked a Scioto works #8 coffin style smooth plane at an antique toy store. Missing a bolt to hold the iron and chipbreaker together. Missing the strike button on the backside. So, Found a tap that was close to the size i needed to make a new thread in the chipbreaker. Turned out to be a 10-1.5 Metric plug tap. Ok, we have the matching bolts at work. Brought one home that I found on the floor. It came out of the shelving system they use. Takes a 6mm allen wrench to loosen. Ground the head down a bit, to almost flat. And still leave a bit for the wrench to grab into. Shorten the threaded part a bunch. had to clear the wedge. …

I was out rust hunting last weekend and was able to get this box of rust. I was able to get the box full. There are three Stanley planes, a Sargent and I am not sure of the second one from the bottom, no name or number on it. There was also a E.C. Atkins saw guide jointer at the top of the box. Now it is time for a little clean up and polishing!

Spent $5 on a pair of chisels The biggie is 1-1/4" the skinny one is 3/8' Biigem is a Jennings, skinny is a Stanley knock off. You name a tool, it was down there today. Spent two hours walking the booths at West Liberty,OH Tractor Fest.They will be open tomorrow as well.......

Have a saw bench outside on the back patio, nice day outside, might as well set up that "New" Mitresaw for a test drive? Didn't want to mess up the saw bench with screw holes, so a couple clamps to hold it in place. Try square to check the settings Looks good from my house. had some Oak parts to trim to length Seemed to bind a bit in the cut? Some Dummy forgot to wax the saw plate, Duh. Had some 3in1 oil handy, since I oiled the moving parts. Just a few drops, and let the saw spread it out. Cut a lot better. Almost a glass like surface, too tried out a wider board. Not sure how wide I can go on this …

I was out looking around and ran across this Stanley No. 71 1/2 hanging on a wall. I was able to purchase it at a good price and brought it home. Stanley made the No. 71 1/2 from 1896 till 1949. I felt like this one was early 1900's since that was when Stanley used the Old English Script logo. The 71 1/2 was made after Stanley modified the No.71. The 71 started off with the closed throat. When Stanley modified the the 71 to give it an open throat, they claimed it would make it easier for the chips to be removed. They raised the front and opened the throat on the 71. Apparently some of the older guys liked the way the closed throat let you do work on sma…

I want to make some handles for my files. I've thought of sandwiching the tangs between two halves of wood. Hollowing out both pieces to accept the tang or milling pieces the same width as the tangs' thickness to fit along the sides. I'd use epoxy to hold the tang in the handle. I have no lathe tools but I can get round stock via other means, but I'd rather just start with square stock and shape them before or after it's installed on the file. What do you all think? Any ideas? Am I on the right track or should I just buy handles? Thanks,

Took a few shots of the Tool Chest Well, you can see a FEW more details in there Name that tool game?? Just an old box......tripod MIGHT be worth the $15 I spent on it

Well, after supper, stumbled down the stairs to the Dungeon Shop ( Burp) and got to work. With the four blanks ready, clamped them one at a time to the bench top. Used the plough plane to cut a 1/4'' x 1/4" groove along the inside's bottom edge. or, at least tried to.... Blanks were sliding around ( #$#@#!!) and the fence working loose. Hmmm, redid the fence TIGHT and straight. Drill a pilot hole, and screwed the blank down tight to the benchtop. Move on me again....dare ya! Then, after all that fun. Started the layout lines. One set was in 3/4" from each end. A second set of lines was 1/4" in from the edge, and a 1/4" in from the face of each blank. Then (…

Maybe an Old Dawg can learn a few new tricks? Had a few "classes" today, mainly from Roy Underhill and Zach Dillinger vids. Went down to the Lah-BOR -ah-Tory to get some "victims" lined up. Had some Black Walnut "left-overs" sitting around. Not quite all the right sizes, but.....Ve haft vays... Clamped them up into a solid block. Hand planed to the same width by going along one edge. Then worked over the edges, again. Seems they were at a bit of an angle....ooooops. Cleaned off the bench's top, and leveled it up, using a #6c plane. Next, got that UGLY, YELLOW< PLASTIC Mitre box out. Backsaw didn't like cutting two a…