Hand Tools

May favorite magazine/book of which I am a subscriber, has produced yet another wonderful class, this class "Skills Over Jigs" leads the student to cut the umbilical cord with hand tool jigs, sharpening jigs, dovetail jigs, etc. I have purchased a few of the M&T video classes on DVD, and loved them, this class is on video and the price is right. Link to the class page is: Skills Over Jigs If you do purchase the class please report back to us how it went! From my previous experience with their other courses, I don't think you'll be disappointed Here is the trailer that just dropped.

Is this in the right place? I collect old hand tools … the original cordless, variable speed, reversible types. Batteries not included. I have several Millers Falls braces and hand drills. My question today is about a Fray & Pigg brace. I found one page in an internet search, indicates that i5 was made between 1859 and 1869, based on the trademark stamp. I want to refinish it … not to museum quality, but a daily driver. It’s in very good condition, except the last owner has sprayed on a shiny coat of lacquer or clear krylon or something. That will be removed. On the top of the knob it looks like there might have been a black finish at on…

So the good thing that came out of my trip to Ohio was getting to poke around and find a few antique Disston saws. Started working on the oldest of them today. This is a 26”, 7 TPI Curved-Back saw. The curve is similar to a D-8 but the blade isn’t as tall. Saw is cleaned, straightened, and tensioned. Waiting on files and a set tool to finish this up and put it back into use.

In the shop, there is a 5 drawer Chest of Drawers ( Chester Drawers?) that seems to be used for a lot of "stuff"... The most used of those 5 drawers, is the top one.. And you will rarely see it closed up....so, what is inside? Over on the right side...then pan towards the center.. Then on over to the right side.. The only drawer empty at the moment is the very bottom one... So..now you know..

One of my Facebook acquaintances is a trucker on the road most of the time, even as a trucker, his love of woodworking does not escape him, when he has some downtime on the road, he works the wood in his sleeper cab. Talk about the love for it! In this image he is making a wooden hand plane, from the sleeper cab of his truck, hat off to ya sir!

So as I move a bit more down the handtool woodworking path, there are a number of things that I am going to need to make. Today’s entry into this category is winding sticks. Made a set for me and a set for my father in law out in Ohio (because the bench took too long to build and I couldn’t get to his mallets in time) These are beech because I seem to have quite a bit of that left over, and it is nice to work with. Dimensioning, milling, and everything but sanding was done with hand tools on the new bench and I am pretty happy with the results. The half-moon style of these seem to work better for me than the inlay style but I will probably …

I ran into a friend of mine the other morning and he called me over to his vehicle. When I got there he said he had something to show me. Out came this really nice Stanley No. 84 Boxwood Ruler. The Stanley No. 84 is a 2 foot four fold ruler with drafting scales. It has brass square joint and is brass bound on the edge. And folded all the way out. This No. 84 was made between 1920 and 1922. Dating is by the Sweetheart Logo. The heart goes up into the notched ruler and the letters get smaller in the middle. This trademark was adopted in 1920 after the merger of The Stanley Works and the Rule and Level. The company held a contest to design a new trademark and guidel…

The shop is full of different measuring things. Primary school wooden rulers (worn). Yardsticks. 6" and 12" flexible & rigid rulers in 32ths and 64ths with metric on the back (6+). Another half dozen retractable tape measurers and folding rulers. But sometimes a plain 8ths and 16ths ruler is all I want. Finally bought a couple; got them today. Nice deals. It's blemished but who cares. $7 each on FleaScratcher, delivered. I've got a dozen "BLEM" PEC-brand rulers, never a single complaint. Big shout to taylortoolworksllc Pictured: Item ID 141437567489 :: Blem Cosmetic Second PEC 12" Rigid Satin 4R machinist ruler 1/8 1/16 1/32 1/64 …

Over the past several weeks I have been slowly working on a new workbench for hand tool woodworking. This is a learning project for me and I am learning a lot. At the heart of things I am finding that I really enjoy hand tool woodworking. I am also finding out that I am not particularly good at it which doesn’t surprise me much as I have never really dedicated any time to it or learned the proper ways to do things with hand tools. My saw skills definitely need work as I have never done anything with hand saws but rough carpentry and this is a whole new ball of wax. That said, progress is being made and I was able to dry fit the left and right leg ass…

Annual Labor Day Tractor Fest down in West Liberty, OH. Managed to go half of Friday, before the heat started to get to me...event was mainly about.. What else..Tractors....but, I was there for.. Hunting rusty tools....This was the second tent full, the first one didn't start out too well.. I think I will pass..besides, I don't think I can carry one of these around all day.. Just around the corner from these saws. Was 2 rows of tables....filled with plastic trays... Along with a lot of stuff UNDER the tables... Got to digging through a few trays... Nope, nothing here...next tray... …

You can buy a set of sockets that are ALL 10mm

A $2 rusty saw.... Seems to have a bit of Family History to it... 26", 8ppi, 4 steel bolts, Warranted Superior medallion....skew back. Hmmm.... Ok, the back story...it seems my late FIL ran a Hardware Store in DeGraff, OH. late 40s, to the early 70s....Kinnan's Hardware. A few doors to the south on that same block, was Hoke's Variety Store. One fine day, Mr. Hoke decided he needed to buy a handsaw. He walked in to the hardware store...paid $1.50 for a Disston saw, Not wanting to splurge on the top of the line saws, he bought a Keystone Brand, K-2 Speedster saw. Fast forward a couple decades....I stop at a garage sal…

Spend $17 Saturday..2 sales were $1 a sale...first sale... Craftsman/Millers Falls block plane...Stanley 8" square...cleaned up nicely.. Plane? aka: Millers Falls No. 16C...next sale.. Irwin 3" No.2 Phillips , No. 8000.....General Calipers...insert for a Montana Brand Drill/Driver set...$1 for all of this... last sale was a bit more "Costly".. Price tag said $20...got it for $15....EC Stearns adjustable tenon auger... Cleaned up nicely enough...needed a brace to drive it... Just happened to have one....with a chuck that has no issues holding a 1/2" round shaft So..IF I eve…

I have been jealously looking through the hand tools section of this forum for a while and drooling over the old plane finds (we don’t seem to have those kinds of things at garage sales out here). One of the things I have been looking for for a long while is a Stanley No. 62 in good condition. I was very happy to see that Lie Nielsen is making a reproduction of these and I ordered one hoping it would be as good as the Stanley I remember using. Color me impressed. It is every bit as good! The build quality, finish, and iron are all arguably even better. I needed to glue up some red oak tonight for a project and figured I would use it to prep the final …

After much futzing around and researching I bit the bullet and tracked down a Stanley 2101A Bit Brace which some nice gentleman in the South East was willing to part with for the princely sum of $45 delivered to my doorstep sometime later this week. After still more poking about and researching the functional differences between Jennings pattern and Irwin pattern auger bits and choking in surprise on how much a decent set of these things cost and then being even more shocked by modern reproductions of these particularly the Jennings pattern versions, I settled on a 3rd option. A Japanese company called Wood Owl makes a modern 3 cutter auger bit that looks like a via…

I've got my brother's Buck and this little Zeno. That's it. The Buck is tolerable but balky. The next time I'm in Tempe I plan to drop the blade off at Woodcraft in Chandler for out-sourced sharpening. It seems like a reasonably priced service. Or buy a blade? Isn't Buck USA no longer Buck? And the Zeno .. Well .. Time for recycling, I fear. Thinking ahead, what do I want? My biggest cut may be a 3" plank of thin to 1" thickness. Or as small as 1/4" square stock. 1/8" thick slats which may be dry and brittle. Then there is angled and slat-style dovetailing which I have not yet attempted. One saw for all, for a beginning intermediate. Prefer domest…

Need to set up this... One of these days, I'll add the correct label at the bottom...as the plane in this box was made in Roxton Pond, QUE., CAN. But, for right now, I need it as a Plough plane....to mill a 1/4" x 1/4" groove...so...open the box.. I need the main stock ( the one with the rear handle), and a 1/4" wide cutter.. Next, need the 2 short rods.. Long rods would be too long for this job...next.. For cutters wider than 3/16", a sliding stock is needed...both to support the cutter, and help balance the plane. In this case, it slides up against the main stock, and is tightened down..( Screwdriver i…

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

I took some pics of this today for a discussion on a hunting forum I'm in...I found this in the late 90's hauling in tobacco around the Nolin Lake here in KY. I was told at the time by a guy I work with that it is called a "celt". No expert here...just throwing up a pic for your perusal.

Recently did some mortise and tenon work and found my basic chisel set in need of an upgrade. Having my eye on Narex chisels for awhile I am asking for some advice on what type of chisel or chisel sets would suite my needs. These would be a nice upgrade: Narex chisel set BUT, what else would I need to do more work?