Search results

Here's an old outside spring caliper to identify the maker. All my others have two separate legs, a pivot pin, and a spring. This one is one forged piece plus the screw and nut. Pretty cool. This one I suppose the spring is a little bit tweaked since I can't close it under about 1/2" and can't...

Here's an old Nicholson file I got a while back, probably $1, looks unused. The cross section is shaped more or less like a knife, but the grind looks "factory" that is, I don't think its someone's half finished project. ALL faces and edges are smooth (no file teeth) except on the wide side...

I can't be the first person to think of this... Most monkey wrenches have a nice big square-ish thread, a nice big set of jaws, and a tiny little thumb nut to tighten it. This works for most routine wrench work. But what if a workman needed a vise but didn't have one along? All it needs is one...

I've been using an old Delta Homecraft 11" drill press for several years, and LOVE it - very stout and accurate. But my stand was rather bulky, and not a great use of limited shop space. (Yes I could have put a cabinet under it but hadn't). I just bought a very similar Delta Rockwell floor model...

This odd drill bit followed me home recently. Its hand forged, with a square taper at the top to fit a brace. Then there's a nice twist, and hand forged cutting edges. A quick check with a file shows its hardened at the business end. The diameter is very nearly 1/2". The really odd thing is, its...

I just picked up my first wooden level, a Stanley No. 0. I did the old check before buying, where you flip it and see if it reads the same, and it didn't read the same - but I optimistically blamed it on the warped deck boards I checked it on. I repeated the test at home in a more controlled...

At a recent estate sale, I bought a couple triangle files, still in the sleeve they were bought in. I got home, pulled them out, and also in the sleeve was a giant needle. The business end is an equilateral triangle in cross section, about 3/16" edge length. The whole needle is almost 5" long. I...

I work with a small weld shop that has a Hypertherm 105 plasma cutter on a 5'x10' CNC table. Currently there's an 80 gallon compressor with no air drying at all. The cut quality leaves something to be desired, resulting in a lot of grinding time and some scrapped parts. I know there are other...

Now, these were probably from the late 1800s or early 1900s, and a dime a dozen, but its fun to learn what they are. The first, is marked faintly with the makers mark at the front end, (The DI Washburn is probably the first owner). I can barely make out the last letters of the makers name...

Here's some kind of chisel, scraper, or knife from an estate sale. I was thinking it could be useful for finishing a chair seat or shallow bowl or plate type carving. I forgot to get a picture of the back, but it is slightly concave, so you can sharpen it to where the back rides on the work and...

Here's an odd wood plane I picked up recently at an estate sale for $10, Looks like you plane the edge of a board and it cuts a sloped feature on one side and a flat shelf on the other side? Maybe for some style kinda like tongue and groove wall paneling? You can adjust it to the width of your...

I found this in the $1 bin at the latest estate sale, underneath the garden trowels and Y valves... along with a B&S feeler gauge, Starrett radius gauge set, and a W. Butcher gouge. The best find was a great Briddell meat cleaver in the $3 random kitchen knife bin. I asked my leatherworker...

We live out on a small patch of semi desert in Western Colorado where we own a couple acres of rocks and salt brush. A corner of the property used to be a junk heap. We've hauled out a lot of glass and junk metal, only rarely finding something truly interesting. Recently my dad and sons found...

I just picked up this adze (I think) for $8, and need to figure it out. The stamp says "Bridge Tool Co. Cast Steel St Louis USA", then its marked "000" I assume this is an adze - but the eye is different than what I normally see for adzes. I would guess this is a lighter, wider adze for finer...

Recently I stopped by my favorite antique store and picked up an incomplete pair of Starrett dividers/compass. They're the 3" size I think. It appears the spring popped off and got lost for the previous owner. While I have several other pairs of dividers this seemed like a fun machining and...

Share your vintage woodworking chisels you've restored to a new life! Ok, if you have cool vintage chisels you didn't re-handle,feel free to post those too. Here are two PS&W Co. chisels. One is a 5/8" timber framing chisel I got for $1. It had some blue overheating on the edge, and Mr Bozo...

So I was chasing a 1/2"-13 thread with a die on the old WF Barnes #6 lathe (after boogering it up with single point threading). And the garage sale imported die stock I had was wowfully inadequate. So I made a new one. The body is from 1.5" sucker rod scrap, turned on the lathe then drilled and...

I got this WF Barnes #6 about a year ago, and have been gradually improving it since. (Note the new Grizzly chuck to replace the beyond clapped out one it came with - 2 jaws were cracked). It was missing the 52t change gear, which is the smaller side of the 2:1 gear between the spindle and...

"Well, we're not building pianos..." Ever said that to a coworker when something comes out a little wonky? Well, Saturday I wasn't building a piano, just fixing one. We got a 1914 Knabe free of CL, so the wife and small children can learn together. The vertical panel above the keyboard can...

So I got this old half hatchet recently. It is marked "R. King Cast Steel Made in United States." A quick wire wheel de-rust, flatten the back a bit, new handle from a honey locust tree. Then filed the bevel. It filed very easily, too easily. Sharpened it up a bit on the stone, and tried it out...