Beauty of old tools ... photo blog

Forgot to say … this is a unofficial photo contest

... post your photos of old tools and details of contest will follow or be made up as it goes along !

-- ..... art for lifes sake

Hmm, Thinking up some composition ideas

-- Scott - Chico California http://chicowoodnut.home.comcast.net

Dan,

You are one of a kind!!! :) That poor brush has seen its better days but it does look to me as if it still has some life left in it (the same could be said of me as well).

Thanks for the post. I am not sure I have an old tool to compete with this post.

Have fun.

-- With God's help all things are possible- even woodworking. Woodworking is not just a hobby, it is an (expletive deleted) expensive hobby.

Dan;

They do look well used, that’s for sure.

Lee

-- by Lee A. Jesberger http://www.prowoodworkingtips.com http://www.ezee-feed.com

Helo Dan;
—-now this one, (The Beauty of Old Tools) could be a big hit like the ‘whats for breakfast’....just wondering out loud here…..what comes first, ‘breakfast’ or ‘old tools’ ?

So heres my first picture post and I think I’ll have to take a sitting spell out here and think of some other, (maybe ‘rustic rusted oldies’)....

Have a great day and I’ll see if I can’t do better tomorrow after breakfast….”now where did I leave those coffee cans filled with….”
GODSPEED,
Farnk

-- --frank, NH, http://frank.wordpress.com/

I call this “East Meets West” I have my old Record No. 44 that I use to make panel slots when making cabinet doors and my well worn, antique Japanese chisels, for mortising. The home made mallet isn’t that old, unless you’re a youngster. When I’m using the old tools is when I’m closest to my work.

-- Tim -- http://tmuli.com

Hey Scott

I haved the brush about a half dozen more times. I think it will be usable for a while. Gonna miss that ole brush someday.

Frank

Those are some nice axes. Wonder how old they are ?

Tim

The planer is cool. Has a nice look to it.

Regards

DAN

-- ..... art for lifes sake

Hi Dan;
—-as to the (their) age, I really have no idea. I picked the axes up in my travels out and about, and so I keep the wood handles tight and their edges of steel ready to part the wood….oh yes, I still use them, especially the broadax on the left.

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Now for todays ‘old tool beauty’.....I use this hand auger for drilling small holes into the sides of some boxes I occasionally make. Yes the auger is hand made….for hand made boxes….

....just thought some-one might be interested in seeing the size of the hand made tree-nails that I rived out of a piece of oak. Once I rive the rough out image of the wooden nail, I then will spend some time further shaping the nails to get a tight fit, since I only get one try. I mean to my way of thinking, what goods a hand made box unless all of the box is hand made….

....have a great day and,

Thank you.
GODSPEED,
Frank

-- --frank, NH, http://frank.wordpress.com/

Cool idea with the auger. How did you make the bit ?

-- ..... art for lifes sake

If I only had a camera. Last weekend I visited a farm with a huge shed. 1,000 bikes, a dozen tractors, bulldozers and heaps of other large ancient machines. amongst it all was a pedal powered wood lathe, an old bandsaw & a home made metal lathe & for the ladies a hand cranked washing machine. What a treasure it was.

-- Grumpy - "Always look on the bright side of life"- Monty Python

Hi Dan;
—-the bit in this photo above is from an old drill bit I had laying around, so I stuck it in the piece of oak. Because of the smallness here on this one it’s hard sometimes to be successful in twisting a bit for an auger.

However as seen in the two photos below, I will use old steel cut nails that I find in the houses I have worked in. These such as the ones shown here, I will place in a vise and heat to red with a propane torch….thats the easy part. Next I will slowly start up high and work down by twisting the nail and twisting the nail and twisting the nail….I guess you get the idea. This part of the process can be delicate and time consuming as I will go back to the top and start down till I get the twist I want. Next I will plunge//quench the bit in oil and then set the base into a piece of oak. These work very well and when I wear them out, lose them or break them….well it’s just a matter of making more. I also apologize for the quality of the photos, as my camera does not do close-ups all that well….

....and….

Thank you.
GODSPEED,
Frank

-- --frank, NH, http://frank.wordpress.com/

How about this old spokeshave

-- Grumpy - "Always look on the bright side of life"- Monty Python

My Favorite. A contrast between old and new. A Stanley #8 and a LN #1

-- We must guard our enthusiasm as we would our life - James Krenov

——here’s the best wood hand-plane I could come up with on such short notice….

Thank you.
GODSPEED,
Frank

-- --frank, NH, http://frank.wordpress.com/

That’s some handplane Frank >grin<

spokeshave looks like a antique, Shaker maybe

Nice photo Wayne … did you use a Tripod ?

-- ..... art for lifes sake

Thanks Dan. I think I got lucky. No Tripod.

-- We must guard our enthusiasm as we would our life - James Krenov

Wayne is that Stanley Parkerized?

-- Tim -- http://tmuli.com

Great pictures of some old tools and some wood tools. and some nail drills.

-- Karson Southern Delaware karson_morrison@bigfoot.com

Frank, I noticed what looks to be a lot of oxidation on your augers…have you tried heating them in an oxygen reduce environment (thinking a bed of coals like on a forge ideally or even a very hot coked fire). It would probably strengthen the bits and make them sharper as the cuting edges would be ‘better’ iron in that they’d not be so oxidized. Its been a while since I’ve done any smithing but the amount of oxygen available to the iron makes a huge difference to the end product. An intriguing use of cut nails in any event.

-- ....next big purchase is wood for the next project, Mark

O.K. I’ll play.

Here are two Ohio tools match planes and the push stick they inspired.

Here is an Ohio tools skew dado plane and a Stanley 78 atop their modern couterpart.

-- Scott - Chico California http://chicowoodnut.home.comcast.net

Fun stuff Scott !

Wonder if Karson has any old-cool-tools ?

-- ..... art for lifes sake

Dan-
Can old tools be electric? This jigsaw is nearly 50 years old. I got it from my dad in the 60s. Taken apart, cleaned up, rebrushed, works like brand new. Why is it mounted on the wall of my shop?
1. My old man loves seeing it
2. I have been collecting these all metal power tools from the 50s-60s and am restoring them to working order to display them on a wall of my shop. This is the first one completed.
Agree with me or not, but someone took the time to design a little art-deco, space age Jetson jigsaw. Compare this design to what you find at Lowes or Home Depot.
Dan, sorry if this is not what you’re looking for.

-- bbqKing, Lawrenceville

In the family for well over 100 years.

-- Grumpy - "Always look on the bright side of life"- Monty Python

I remember someone on Lumberjocks has plastic push sticks.

Hoping to see their photo soon !

Beautiful streamline tool, Jefferson !. I’ve got a Porter Cable saw with that look. Will post a photo someday.

Another cool one Grumpy

-- ..... art for lifes sake

—-well here I go again with an-other release//secret old tool with a new//updated release….

When talking of old tools….I thought about asking, when did that first early man….maybe the first woodworker, walk over to an oak tree and after grabbing and riving a piece of oak wood, and mixing some ashes out of wood ashes and clay dirt….decide that he had a pencil and ink for making marks upon the wood for outlining, drawing and making notes….hmmm. Like maybe this was the first woodworking artist….the first LumberJock.

So heres a post of a tool I borrowed as old, from way back when and, yes I still use these all the time for making marks on the wood, drawing dreams and ideas on paper and wood….and yes they are tools of wood. I make these out of riven oak, carve the final shape to a near fine blunt point and combine them with ink to make my marks. The ink will last even if the wood gets wet, and yet when it’s time to finish and sand, the ink does not go//travel deep within the wood….so the marks come off. Also if I misplace one of my oak pencils, its always easy to make an-other one on the spot. This is a first here in sharing this wood tool as I’ve never before let this one out….might not work for all folks, but I like ‘the way’ of working the wood from yesteryear, and just remember….I’ve all-ways said that I was born in the wrong time….

Thank you.
GODSPEED,
Frank

-- --frank, NH, http://frank.wordpress.com/

Very cool thread, the oldest tool I have is probably 5 years old so I’m out of the competition but this is very cool to see.

Milwaukee Tool has a ‘museum’ at corporate, you can see tools from the entire history of the company as well as some prototypes for future tools and tools that never made it to production.

-- Tim D. - Woodstock, GA

—-hello Mark; ....and thank you for your thought-full comment as to the oxidation on the steel.

Yes, I know about the bed of coals for reducing the oxidation on the auger,but for what I’m after when I make these, the propane torch seems to work best….at least for me. By the time I get the steel cut nail in the vise and then theres the issue of size as opposed to the time for coals and working with size again….I have to keep the flame on the nail as I’m twisting. Even the time it takes to get the vise open and the nail quenched is moving fast. And then again if the auger breaks, (and I mostly use these small ones in pine) it just a matter of making a few more….and surprisingly enough, I have learned to twist//drill at a pace that usually keeps them in shape. Also if I do get a breakage near the point, I can usually just file some more point on or heat and twist again.

Now if the size of these was bigger, then I can see where the bed of coals for reducing the oxidation level as you say….would be a matter to consider. Ones again I say…..,

Thank you.
GODSPEED,
Frank

-- --frank, NH, http://frank.wordpress.com/

Hello Dan;
—-I found this one at a wool festival we went to this past Sunday.

And since we’re talking about old tools here, then I imagine an old box could in time be turned into a toolbox of sorts….for some old wrenches and such….

....of course, one might want to spend some time and think back to those days of yesteryear and re-kindle memories of childhood transportation….

Have a great day….and,

Thank you.
GODSPEED,
Frank

-- --frank, NH, http://frank.wordpress.com/

Frank, you never know, that old box might be worth some money.

-- Grumpy - "Always look on the bright side of life"- Monty Python

I have several, here are a few follow the link and check it out. http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j104/Al_Killian/Greenlee.jpg I just pick this table saw up and going to convert it to run on electric instead of steam engine.

this is a cool tool

-- ..... art for lifes sake