| Blog series by Smitty_Cabinetshop | updated 33 days ago | 21 parts | 22408 reads | 478 comments total |
Part 1: This, My Friends, Is a Pencil Sharpener!
Picked this up at an estate sale, and only knew what it was because P. Leach had one in a Tool List some months ago. Yeah, I wanted the one he had, but just couldn’t pull the trigger. This one was more affordable… Consider this style of sharpening an evolutionary dead end. At the time this was available, the other prevalent style of sharpeners were thimble-like devices with wings, that were turned. This is mounted to the edge of a table and the pencil is drawn across the ir...
Part 2: Traditional Cabinetmaker's Tail Vise
This bench is at my dad’s shop in a nearby town, decided it would get more use there than next to mine. He’s not the kinda guy to use it, though, oh well. In the meantime, if you’re looking at adding a tail to your bench build, thought it’d be worthwhile to post a few pictures showing the detail of the build way back when (bench is about a hundred years old, would have to guess). It actually isn’t as weird when you see the nits and grit...
Part 3: Shop Fan Club!
Of all things vintage, needed an electric fan for the shop now that summer is here. Shopping for tools in the antique malls upstate from my small shop, I discovered electric fans are an expensive pursuit. Especially if it has brass fan blades. When I spotted this Westinghouse model for $5.50, knew there’d be a catch… As is. Rats. Took a chance though, and glad I did. Straightened the bent the cage and added some machine oil before spinning it by hand for about ten minutes. ...
Part 4: A Vintage Tool Chest
Bought this at Auction over the weekend, mostly to keep it out of the hands of an antique dealer. Nails at the hinges are the oldest I’ve ever seen – clinched and appear to be hand forged. Handles outstanding, also clinched. Plane tracks visible inside and out. But, no lid. There are a few round (modern) nails driven in at the corners that I’ll remove, and there are four more driven across the dovetails halfway up each corner (one visible in the pic) that would requir...
Part 5: Get a Handle On It!
Amazing to find that what’s old is new again! Japanned? Made in New Britain? Four pairs with slotted screws, wrapped in wax paper. One pair certainly destined for the sides of the wall-hung tool cabinet! :-) Where to go with the other three pair? Meh, no hurry to decide. Thanks for looking!
Part 6: Help!! Looking for Old Iron Caster Wheels
Fellow LJs, I hope one of you can help me with a challenge! I’m trying to (re-) build a tool chest and want to put steel wheels on it. Old ones. I have a pair, but need four. Do you have two cast wheels / casters that look like this? ! ! Height and material and style important; having an exact match not so much. Have you held onto anything like these? Or if you have four wheels that are alike, would you be willing to make a deal with a fellow LJ?
Part 7: (SW) Dumb Luck
Went to my Dad’s shop to see if he had casters I was looking for (no), when in a drawer caught my attention. Looked like something I scanned on ebay, so I flipped it over. Ah! Have to find a most worthy cause for the pair! Thanks for looking.
Part 8: Common Chest Handles
Working on a chest refurb, and pretty much the fanciest thing remaining on the old thing were the side handles. I’d not seen anything like them before, but now a second pair appeared on a trunk in a nearby antique shop. Wierd. No, I didn’t buy the chest. Nice, but not $465-nice…
Part 9: Pulling an Iron Into Shape
Vintage iron on a ‘new’ tool for the shop, decided to take a few pictures as I walked through the ‘sharpening’ of the iron. first step is flattening the back, and that showed me a flaw: A convex back, meaning the sides aren’t flat to the back overall. After a few hundred strokes on the corse DMT, better but not wonderful. At a point, I moved on and will monitor performance of the tool over time… Moving to the primary bevel, know that a sharp e...
Part 10: A Stanley #50 in the House!
Won a Stanley #50 on the ‘bay a few weeks ago. It had irons and a user-made box, but alas, a single rod. I sat the body of the plane in Evaporust and began a local search for a #50 rod. A machine shop in my small town took the challenge, and tonight delivered (to my door, no less!) old and new! So it’s in the box and complete! Does it work? Cuts with an iron ‘out of the box’ show promise! So an agile plough plane is in the ho...
Part 11: New Connections with the Past
Went to see my Aunt and Uncle over the weekend, and came home with a very small, but important, set of items. The white ‘blob’ at the base of the picture is a sandbag. Doesn’t seem like much, but way back when, my grandad had a real cabinetshop, and the sandbag in the picture is a third of three that I now have in my shop, stamped with my grandad’s mark. My dad gave me two, and while I was talking with my uncle, I happened to mention LJs and a project post I mad...
Part 12: Atkins 'Floral' Handsaw Refurb
Ornate carving, not seen it before. Medallion is Warranted Superior, not sure it’s original. Repairs will be done, but I’m hoping for a pic of an original. Suggestions? Thanks! EDIT: The saw’s ID is clear, refurb steps captured below. This saw will be resurrected one way or another… Here’s the repaired handle. EDIT #2: Donor blade ID’d: Cut, drilled and fit (broken orig. alongside): EDIT: Done, see below.
Part 13: A Wedge for a Round
A very quick installment to confess my sin: I destroyed a wooden, skewed rabbet plane today. Yes, I know, that’s bad. Can it be justified, however, by the fact that it was already modified, not complete AND could be used to resurrect two more useful planes? The skewed rabbet has been around for a couple of years, unused. And crooked. Then I picked up four wooden planes last weekend that included a H&R pair. Owners mark and maker stamps matched on three of them, too. But neither the ...
Part 14: Flea Mkt Finds
26” DE (Diamond Edge) handsaw, 7/8” Round Moulder, Pair ‘o Clamps, Folding Rules (inside), Bits and Brace, Hammer New toys for $30 total… Merry Christmas, Early! :-)
Part 15: A Review of Folding 'Zig Zag' Rulers
Double post from another blog topic, but wanted to put it somewhere I could readily add to later. Here goes! A very incomplete review of folding rules, and there are a number of variations. The first picture shows a vintage stainless steel Lufkin Rule Co. No. 1174 EM. It’s an outside measure rule for English, and inside measure for metrics. Don’t know how old it is. Another rule in the picture is the Lufkin Two Way, Model 966. It’s an inside rule through and th...
Part 16: How Do I Find These Things?
My son came to meet me tonight when I got home to tell me he of a ‘scavenge’ opportunity he lined up. Long story short, here’s one of the things we rescued from the dumpster: The lock is in place, as is the keyplate. Now to find a key that works, tighten this thing up, and enjoy! No work to do with this one compared to the last one. Good times! :-)
Part 17: A Wooden 'What is this?'
I picked this up yesterday for the material, but now I wonder what it is. Has some characteristics of an old drafting board, or easle, but it would have been very out of place to be where it was found. Clear and straight grained, no pin holes or ink marks. Jointed, but not bread-boarded ends. Note the little ‘shelf’ pieces are on one side then the other. Like a ‘Z’ or zig-zag thing. Any ideas as to the purpose of this thing? Thanks!
Part 18: Natural Light is On The Way
Here’s what I’ve had. I’ve peeled the inside to prepare for a change. This window will be installed tomorrow! Looking forward to more light; about 35% more by my calculations, not that I’ve counted. :-) I’ll update when it’s in!
Part 19: A Good Deal on Pecan?
Bought this rough-sawn, aged and cured pecan at auction today for $70: Eighteen boards between 5 and 8 inches in width, all 8’ long, all at least an inch thick. Good? Bad? Just ‘fine,’ or ?
Part 20: Whatsit Update: It's a Typesetter's Composing Stick!
Found this at a flea mkt today, paid $2 for it. Well machined, smooth operation, obviously used. The ‘arm’ slides along the right wall of the main ‘tray,’ then is clamped into place. I don’t know what operation would need a three sided clamp that’s 1/2” deep. Maybe it’s a part someone needs for a machine, or maybe it’s forever an “I dunno.” Can you help with a guess? Thanks.
Part 21: The DW102 Powershop Bench
Anyone on LJs have first-hand experience with this cabinet? Seen one? Have one? The baffle appears to catch sawdust, but short of lifting the saw out of place, how do you extract the caught dust? Strangest design I’ve seen it awhile… I have the measured drawing, it offers no text as to how to ‘use’ this baffle feature. Strongly considering building something close to this bench for my DeWalt RAS, and I’ll include some type of dust collection that featur...
