Category Archives: vintage tools

Restoring a $3.00 garage sale backsaw find

Posted on May 18, 2013 by

The Craig’s List ad said there were some old woodworking tools. That’s it. No pictures, no heart-throbbing prose. Still, the garage sale was in an older neighborhood. And close by in case it was a bust. So I fired up … Continue reading →

Posted in Backsaws, Rehab, Saws, vintage tools | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Restoring a depression-era Miterbox for a 21st-century workshop: Part 3-Finding a suitable vintage saw

Posted on March 3, 2013 by

In my last post, we talked about the restoration of my Goodell Manufacturing Co. miterbox. I also detailed the fabrication of missing parts, as well as the process of mounting the whole affair to a base. Next, I’m going to … Continue reading →

Posted in Backsaws, vintage tools | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Restoring a depression-era Miterbox for a 21st-century workshop: Part 2-Restoration, fabrication of parts and mounting to a base

Posted on March 1, 2013 by

In my last post, I talked a bit about acquiring my Goodell Manufacturing Co. miterbox and researching its history. In this post, I’ll detail the restoration I did of it. The restoration When I was a kid, I was great … Continue reading →

Posted in vintage tools | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Restoring a depression-era Miterbox for a 21st-century workshop: Part 1-Acquisition

Posted on February 27, 2013 by

During a rust-hunting expedition last summer, I picked up six saws and a miterbox. I didn’t really “need” it because I already had two sitting on shelves at home. Still, this one had all the earmarks of an industrial-age tool—definitely … Continue reading →

Posted in Saws, vintage tools | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Rehabbing a Coffin Smoother For Use In My Shop

Posted on February 14, 2013 by

History, curiosity, performance. Those are the three things that motivated me to add a coffin smoother to my tool kit. I got this plane at an antique mall in Scottsdale last summer. It had air conditioning and I reasoned that … Continue reading →

Posted in Hand planes, Rehab, Tools, Uncategorized, vintage tools | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

How I finally got a handle on tanged tools.

Posted on February 10, 2013 by

When I first got into sharpening my own saws, I crafted file handles out of wood scraps. The unshaped, rectangle wood pieces dug into my hand and didn’t allow for much filing finesse. Next I tried making handles out of … Continue reading →

Posted in Sharpening, vintage tools | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Spicing up your handtool life with unusual planes

Posted on February 2, 2013 by

When I first got into hand planes, I focused on picking up bench planes for use in my shop. Then I started adding specialty planes, like a scrub plane to dimension wood. After that it was joinery planes (plow, rabbet … Continue reading →

Posted in Hand planes, Tools, vintage tools | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Flea Market Tool Finds-Something I’ve never seen-13-01-27

Posted on January 28, 2013 by

Here are the latest cool items I picked up at my favorite flea-market booth dedicated exclusively to vintage tools. First, a Bit Brace Extension, a Millers Falls No. 35. It’s in fantastic shape. I didn’t even know these existed until … Continue reading →

Posted in Tools, vintage tools | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Repairing a vintage handsaw handle

Posted on January 13, 2013 by

“We’re going to have to cut out a big chunk to save her,” I could hear the saw-handle doctor saying. “We’ll also have to deal with that cheek chip.” I swallowed hard before he continued. “The horn repair is pretty … Continue reading →

Posted in Tools, Saws, Rehab, woodworking, vintage tools | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Handsaw honey hole: 6 saws and a miter box

Posted on September 9, 2012 by

In the words of the baseball great Sammy Sosa, “Garage sales have been very, very, good to me.” Or at least that’s what I’d think he’d say if his run of saw luck was as good as mine. The Craig’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Rehab, Saws, vintage tools | Tagged , | Leave a comment