Why I like Vintage Tools #1: Power Tools

Man, where is that auction house? I want to go? I love old tools also.

-- Kevin, Blue Springs, MO

Makes me ashamed of what I’ve spent over the years on tools. I just looked at your projects and not only do you have wonderful old tools, you have the skills to make them sing. I am truly humbled.

-- Darell, Norman, Ok.

OK, Brian- you know the unwritten, unpublished LJ’s rules on shop photos- You can’t clean the shop before you take the pictures- that’s not fair to the rest of us! ;^)

Nice scores on the tools! You do wear a mask when you pick them up, right?

Lew

I’m also a big fan of older machines and especially hand tools. I have 3 tablesaws and my oldest tablesaw, a 70s, early 80s Craftsman 113.298 has by far, the heaviest cast iron top. The trunion is also beefier. The only thing you miss with the older tools are some convenience factors. For example, there’s no arbor lock on the tablesaw and the fence is tightened by twisting the handle, rather than by pushing the handle down.

I enjoyed your tour of old tools. Them oldies are goodies. You do have a goldmine in that auction house.

-- Bill from Lithia Springs, GA I love the smell of sawdust in the morning.

Hahahaha … damn, and I thought I was the only person that still had an old Craftsman 4” jointer in my shop!

Still have/use:
Delta 8” Baby Unisaw (I don’t have any pictures but will get some when I head back home in Dec) – $50
Craftsman 4” Joiner (103.23340) – came with table saw below
Craftsman RAS (113-23100) – $5 auction (took about $30 to fully restore)
Craftsman band saw - $25 auction
Unknown bench top drill press – freebee
Craftsman disc sander – $20 @ auction

Have been replaced:
Sprunger Brothers table saw (less than 8”) – $10 Habitat ReStore
Craftsman 8" table saw (103.23833) - $50 auction (came with the jointer above)

You’ll have to let me know if you ever get that planer … I’ve seen them and have been interested but never found one for the right price …

-- Lip's Dysfuncational Firewood Farm, South Bend, IN

Kevin,
Auction houses seem to be the same all over, but this one is in the city of Lebanon. I have started going to another, and the prices for old tools seem to be universal: cheap.

Darell,
Thank you bery much.

Lew,
If you could only see my shop now! These are older pictures.

Cmaeda,
You are correct about the rip fence. It was for this reason (and that I dropped the riginal) that I built my own that offers the features you mention. No need to twist a know, now I lift the lever and slid the fence like a Biesemeyer.

-- Brian, Lebanon PA, If you aren’t having fun doing it, find something else to do.

That is the coolest looking table saw that I have ever seen. It has an art deco look to it.

-- Hope Never fails

What a great shop. I agree with your concept of tool buying & use. They were built to outlast all of us, and other than an occasional set of new bearings and a bit of lube, never seem to need anything.
My power tools consist of my dad’s original early 1950’s Shopsmith (cost $0), a second Shopsmith of the same vintage, (cost $200 including a bandsaw and hard to find mount bracket) an a third to keep at my lake place for projects there. (cost $27) I have the accessories to convert them to around 12 different tools, which makes the price per tool pretty cheap.
Like you, I get a great deal of satisfaction using them to do my projects. Also, I too have become interested in vintage hand tools. I get a real feeling of serenity doing things with hand saws, planes, etc.
Good luck with your search for them, but remember to keep saying over & over…”I am not a tool collector, I am not a tool collector…I simply need all of them to use. -SST

-- Accuracy is not in your power tool, it's in you

I love it, I love it, I LOVE IT! You’re preaching to the choir, dude. I may be young but my tools are OLD. I am always looking for the old US made stuff to fill my shop. I work in a used tool store and I have seen one of each of those come through our store. And I own that same DeWalt RAS and Love it. Check THIS out, as well as this…

-- Check out my new website! http://www.blakeweberwoodworking.com

Blake it was your posting of your RAS that brought me to LJ’s. One day I was surfing the web looking for additions to my PowerShop and I saw your posting about your restoration. It took me about 10 minutes of browsing before I created an account.

By the way, how do you keep you vaccum hose from interferring with your work?

-- Brian, Lebanon PA, If you aren’t having fun doing it, find something else to do.

You are a man after my own hart! I to like vintage tools. My Oliver lathe was made in 1961 it replaced a Delta lathe that was made in 1956. My Delta Unisaw was made in 1978 and a have a Delta stationary sander that was made out of parts that I got given to me and I think some of the parts are older than I am.

As for your statement that the “lathe tools cost more than your lathe”. I think anyone that has been afflicted with the Woodturning Virus can say that no matter what your lathe cost you will always spend more money on the tools.

-- Bob Clark, Tool Collector and Sawdust Maker

Bob,
You are so right. I was at Woodcraft looking at thier turning chisles and was amazed how how expensive chisles can be. When I bought my set my wife was saying that I was paying too much. When we were at the store she commented that I did good paying $25.00 for 8.

-- Brian, Lebanon PA, If you aren’t having fun doing it, find something else to do.

I have that same model saw and love it. This is what it looked like when it was given to me (dragged out of a guys barn for free) But I could see potential because it ran smooth and the fence was good.

I infilled the extension wings with white oak. I lost a fingernail to a kickback years ago on an open extension table.

I built a wood base and removable extra extension. It has since been hooked up to dust collection. The face plate where the blade tilt indicator is from another newer saw. The old 113-29991 was pretty beat up.

The only money I spent was a link belt.

-- Urban logger, http://nelsonwoodworks.biz/

Darren, I really like the look of filling in the extensions with wood. Not only does it serve a safety purpose, it just looks good!

-- Brian, Lebanon PA, If you aren’t having fun doing it, find something else to do.

Brian, Thanks for the post. The old addage that “they just don’t make them like they used to” is so true the state park where I volunteer still has the 1930’s Dewalt RAS in their shop area. I have had the pleasure of using it several times, and the rangers up there use it a lot. It is a great tool and a real workhorse.

With a background in Historic Preservation it is great to see al of these old tools at work. I think I too need to find one of those auction houses, and make a few upgrades.

CtL

-- Chris L. "Don't Dream it, Be it."

Boy I am inpressed what a nice job,It looks great nice saw, I really enjoyed your post.

-- franklinalbert@sbcglobal.net

I just bought that saw for $90.00 plus tax. It was buried in the middle of a second hand store, in Eureka, Ca. where I live. The previous owner bought 2 xtra mitre fences for blade left and blade right. It also came with another rip fence. I got tired of the ” toys ” they try to pass for tools these days !! Does anyone know if I can still get the gear drive for the rip fence and/or for the extensions? Any help there would be appreciated.

Steve <k557965>

I love the styling of the gold Craftsman table saw!

-- - Please help keep Lumberjocks an enjoyable escape by refusing to participate in political discussions. Simply spit out the bait and ignore the thread...

I am the same I prefer old over new. Its made a lot better and stands up to more. I have some of my dads tools. I have a Craftsman bandsaw,delta shaper,bandsaw,powermatic planer and tablesaw just to name a few. I especially like the powermatic stuff since I live close to the original factory and have family members that made the tools. I like to find them so rusted up nothing turns. Thats how I found the lathe and shaper. You can see them at

http://good-times.webshots.com/album/569408649spoWff?start=0

Willy I know what you mean: the bigger the basket case, the better the challenge. I originally started with a mixture of tool brands, but as my collection of vintage power tools has grown, it has become mostly the Craftsman/King-Seeley models (I like the art deco look.) The latest addition is a 4” belt sand that needs a lot of work to bring it back from the dead. Now if only it would warm up a bit so the shop isn’t so dang cold…

-- Brian, Lebanon PA, If you aren’t having fun doing it, find something else to do.