Hand tool finds, 5/20/2017

[Mike Baker 2]

Went roaming the Flea Markets today. Picked up a few things and took them home with me.

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Disston No. 7

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Top horn has a little bit of damage, and the fourth "rivet" has been replaced. That looks to be a flat headed bolt. There's a nut on the other side, recessed into the handle. But the handle is tight, the plate is straight, and the teeth are very sharp; must have been owned by someone who knew what he was doing. It's a 24" Crosscut.

Irwin set, mostly. #4, 5, 7, 10, 12, 16. The #7 is a Craftsman. They are all in very good shape.

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Also found an old marking gauge. It is missing the pin, so I'll need to replace it, but it works fine otherwise. The chisel is a modern one, Stanley made in Taiwan. It looks like someone tried to chop a nail with it. I'll need to grind back the bevel , but it is light for a plastic handle, and it is long enough that if the steel is halfway decent, it'll make a good paring chisel. 1/2" size.

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Not bad for a couple of hours "work", and my tool kit grows.

[Frederick Skelly]

Not bad at all Mike!

What did you give them for the Disston?

[Mike Baker 2]

Probably too much. $20. But I haven't seen any of them around here very often, so when I saw it, I looked it over and plunked down the cash.

[Frederick Skelly]

I'd have paid that in the shape you described. I think you had a good day!

[Mike Baker 2]

Thanks.
I figure if I were to buy a good saw new that was anywhere near the quality, I'd pay 5 or 10 times as much, so it was an easy choice. I'm just beginning hand tool woodworking, and I'm buying them to use, so it seemed like a good buy to me.

[Mike Baker 2]

BTW, I really can't believe the difference in the feel of this handle in my hand than all the other saws I have ever held.
Amazing.
Now I need to refine the handle on my Nicholson.

[Andrew Pitonyak]

I recognize that stanley chisel. I have a couple from different years. They are not that great, but I am so used to them... cut a lot of dovetails with these specific chisels. I can get them very sharp, and then I need to sharpen them often.

When a neighbor who knows nothing about tools wanted to borrow a chisel to abuse, I loaned him one of these. He beat the crap out of it and then I fixed it.

I like that I can make it very sharp. I probably have sharpened it at too small an angle. But I never hit it with a mallet for mine. Well, I do lightly.

I purchased a couple of packs of them new for very little money; might have been $5 to $10 for 3 chisels.

Stanley 16-150 short 3-piece Wood Chisel Set for $10 on amazon prime; but your handle seems longer than those short little handles I have on my sets.

I had a couple of sets in packages. I have a set sitting around in the packaging for my daughter to tune-up. Not worried about her damaging them.

[Mike Baker 2]

Andrew, thanks.
I bought it because it is pretty long; I need a fairly long half inch for paring braces on guitar tops, etc.
It will probably see limited use. It is also light weight for a plastic handled chisel, which is another reason I bought it. I suspect the handle is actually hollow.
As for frequent sharpening, that isn't an issue for me. It takes about a minute and a half to refresh an edge on a chisel or plane blade, and I don't put it off; just sharpen and get back to work.
If I can ever get over to a friend's house who owns a grinder I'll grind the edge back, otherwise, 60 grit paper will do the job more slowly. Not in a hurry with it either way. I've got a spokeshave and hand drill that needs clean up first.
Thanks for reading and commenting, Andrew.

[Frederick Skelly]

BTW, I really can't believe the difference in the feel of this handle in my hand than all the other saws I have ever held.
Amazing.
Now I need to refine the handle on my Nicholson.

Yup! That's one of the enjoyable parts - tuning your tools to suit you better.
Enjoy!
Fred

[Andrew Pitonyak]

Andrew, thanks.
I bought it because it is pretty long; I need a fairly long half inch for paring braces on guitar tops, etc.
It will probably see limited use. It is also light weight for a plastic handled chisel, which is another reason I bought it. I suspect the handle is actually hollow.
As for frequent sharpening, that isn't an issue for me. It takes about a minute and a half to refresh an edge on a chisel or plane blade, and I don't put it off; just sharpen and get back to work.
If I can ever get over to a friend's house who owns a grinder I'll grind the edge back, otherwise, 60 grit paper will do the job more slowly. Not in a hurry with it either way. I've got a spokeshave and hand drill that needs clean up first.
Thanks for reading and commenting, Andrew.

If my stones are out, it touches up very fast. I can do the entire process in under 60 seconds.... After I do it a few times, I start over on my Tormek.

if you live near Columbus Ohio, drop in and it will be very sharp and ready to go in no time. Interested to see how it works out for you. I put a lot of miles on mine. I still use them for some things even though I own many nicer chisels. I really like the edge I get on them.

[Mike Baker 2]

Thank you.
I try to keep my stones out when I'm using hand planes and chisels. I do most of my work on the front porch, as I don't have a shop. So I just carry them out when I carry all of my other tools.
I used to use Scary Sharp, so I had several grades of paper glued to a piece of glass. Now that I use stones it isn't as easy to carry them all out, but the benefits of sharpening free hand on stones IMO way, way outweigh that little bit of inconvenience.

[steven c newman]

When using my chisels for a bit of chopping work......I use the leg of my jeans to "strop" the edge. Andrew has seen me do this a few times, too.

[Mike Baker 2]

That should work fine. I know denim makes a fairly decent straight razor strop, so why not?
Cool tip.
Thanks.

[Andrew Pitonyak]

When using my chisels for a bit of chopping work......I use the leg of my jeans to "strop" the edge. Andrew has seen me do this a few times, too.

Yeah, I handed Steve a chisel while I went looking for my stop. Steve had the chisel all stropped and ready to go by the time I had found my strop.

[Mike Baker 2]

This forum needs a "like" button.