Old catalogs don't generally explain the specific uses of different tools, which can leave us at a bit of a loss as to what purposes something was meant for. A lot of the modern high-end chisel...
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Old catalogs don't generally explain the specific uses of different tools, which can leave us at a bit of a loss as to what purposes something was meant for. A lot of the modern high-end chisel...
Using a router table without a lift can get old pretty fast, but it wasn't so long ago that that was the only option for most people. I took woodworking classes at Palomar College in 2003, which had...
Glad to be of use. BTW I have found that YouTube is my friend when trying to figure out leatherworking techniques. Check out Armitage Leather's channel for a lot of tutorials about harness stitching,...
The best known, and perhaps last remaining, US manufacturer of leatherworking tools is C.S. Osborne: http://www.csosborne.com/leather_1.html
They only sell through distributors. The other name which...
A few years ago I made a chair saw, which seems to be a forgotten tool. It is a larger version of the bow saw with a narrow blade and a relatively deep throat, and an extra handle to make it easier...
I know Sears sold some Sears-labelled Millers Falls boxes, and this looks a lot like a M-F box. I can't help you with dates much, but my Stanley boxes from the 1950s have similar handles on the saws,...
Thank you! I like it too. Very straightforward to build and I haven't found much it can't do.
I took a few more pictures of the shop today so you can see most of the workspace. Not that it is a...
I'm in a 1 car garage, 26ft x 10.5ft, and I have some machinery: an old Unisaw with a small outfeed table/router table, 14" bandsaw, drill press, 36" lathe on stand. I use a lunchbox planer which...
One employer offered me a tool allowance as an alternative to a raise. It was an idea he had encountered in his early employment, and I'm doubtful of the legality of it: the idea being that the...
Bevel up wooden planes are quite rare. The only ones I am aware of are one type of low-angle mitre plane, and even among mitre planes a lot of examples are designed to be bevel down. Common pattern...
There are a lot of old slicks for sale on the auction site, and prices are consistently high (i.e., higher than I care to pay at the moment). So demand seems to be pretty brisk. I did a little crude...
Those are soapstone pencils, used by welders and other metalworkers to mark on rough metal. Used like chalk, but it holds up better at heat. You can pick them up at welders' suppliers. Way too soft...
Halfway through a project is a rotten time to pick up a new skill like hand planing, and hickory is not an easy wood to plane in the best of circumstances. I would consider ripping the joints (or...
My experience is that the sockets tend to be a lot softer than the pointy end of the chisel. That's why they mushroom instead of chipping and cracking when people abuse them. It's also why it's...
It seems like hickory was the favorite among American factory production chisels in the late 19th & early 20th centuries. They also used apple, especially for "fancier" patterns like patternmakers'...
I did this once, I cut down a later model Disston miter saw and made a new handle to give it the look of an early 19th-century tenon saw. As Lowell Holmes pointed out above, the weight, that is, the...
I would use a wedge-shaped jig, attached with plenty of double-sided carpet tape to each side of the piece in turn. That way you could do this on the bandsaw or tablesaw without tilting the blade or...
I agree that the Unifence is an excellent fence - as long as it's in good condition. The aluminum extrusion is worth taking good care of. I'm not sure how easy it is to get replacement extrusions any...
Both alcohol and lacquer thinner will evaporate very quickly. I generally just set the rags out on my driveway for a while and they are safe to throw away once they are dry. The biggest danger with...
I have also had good results with Evaporust, and also with citric acid, which gives similar results. Deep pitting won't go away except with heavy sanding, and I think it's best to just live with it....
When I made my Nicholson bench I cut all my lumber to rough length while I was letting it dry. I see no harm in doing so, although I can't vouch for it speeding up the drying time. I marked in pencil...
Charles Hayward wrote an autobiographical article, and he recalled working in a client's house on some joinery work before WWI. The workmen lit a fire in a fireplace to heat their glue pot and to...
Glenn, that's a very smart idea about the through slots, although if there were drawers or other storage under the top it would just feed sawdust into storage. My preference is for a basic router...
If you place the router further towards the back of your top, it will give more table area to support larger items like table tops, if you are going to run edge profiles on something that big. If you...
I agree that Robert Lang's books are the best resource. He compiled three of them into a large single volume called the "Great Book of Shop Drawings for Craftsman Furniture." You can even order it...