.....or, I can stop anytime I want, honest!
b
So, subconsciously for the last couple of years or so, and consciously from the start of my workbench build, I have been making the switch from mostly powertools to mostly handtool usage in my woodworking. The tablesaw has barely been used the last year, the router for longer than that and the money I started saving for a thicknesser has dissipated into the aether of buying bibs and bobs and this and that.
Instead, what I have been doing this year has been trawling eBay for things that might come in handy for my workbench or for the backlog of future projects that are building up in my head and in the design scrapbook. I ran into some Christmas and birthday money and, having enough clothes to satisfy the bounds of decency, I set about starting to gather the handtools I need, think I need and just plain want.
I'm sharing them here for a few reasons. One is a sort of mini-gloat, as I think I picked up a few bargains here and there (and maybe a couple of not so bargains too, but anyway). Secondly is for a bit of advice or information on some of the items. And the third and main reason is that I've no one else to share these with who thinks they are anything more than rusty junk. I tried to share some of it with my wife, but somehow a long-suffering sigh of "that's nice dear" or "don't you need some new [insert name of clothing here] instead?" just doesn't cut the mustard.
Anyway, here is what I bought so far this year.
etools01.JPG (just the top of the bench tools that is)
My most recent purchase was an old rabone combination square - just over $30 delivered. I needed a new square after knocking my old square off the bench the other week and breaking its attachment screw (it was a triton cheapy from bunnings, but it was square and had lasted me 10 years). So, 30-odd bucks for a properly built square seemed ok to me.
etools02.JPG
As a bonus, it came with the mitre marker, protractor attachment, two extra rules, a Millers Falls hacksaw (which I hadn't seen before, but will replace my dodgy craftsman hacksaw from now on) and a Millers Falls 8" sweep ratcheting brace. And yes, the square is square (and I can feel the difference in solidity and surety that a well-built piece of equipment brings).
After joining in on the saw-plate group buy, I have been looking out for an old cheap saw to have a go at refurbishing and putting a new handle on as practice before I have a go at putting one together from scratch. This one is a Spear & Jackson 14 tpi from from the 1950s-60s.
etools03.JPG
The sawset is an Eclipse 77, which I picked up cheaply in a separate auction.
These chisels are the ones I'm happiest about - 3 EA Bergs and a Toledo, for $32 delivered. I only had one berg previously and have been on the hunt for more, because I really like it.
etools04.JPG
One of the earliest things I bought this year were bits for my solitary handbrace; mostly because I needed certain sizes to make my bench and also because I had a brace, but zero bits. in what may amount to overkill, I bought slightly over 100 bits in two job lots.
etools05.JPG
There are another 40 or so sitting in a drawer that I didn't put out. Of the auger bits, I estimate about 80% have intact lead screws. Most of them are scotch pattern, but there are a decent smattering of irwin, jennings pattern and some other style augers in there. There are also quite a few spoon, gimlet and centre bits, countersinks, a couple of screwdriver bits, a couple of split-screw bits (which will come in handy when fixing/making saws) and these:
etools12.JPG
which I think are double-ended screwdriver bits, but would like someone more knowledgeable than me to confirm.
A couple of old cigar spokeshaves, which were just too cheap ($6 each) to pass up.
etools06.JPG
I've only sharpened one of them, but it works fine. I found it interesting that the blade had a bevel on both sides - more like a knife than a plane blade, as the bevels were only about 15deg. each). It works, but I'm wondering if this is how they are meant to be, or were they shaped like that by a previous owner from their more correct shape? Does anyone know?
In the back of my head (and on back-order from my wife) are picture frames. Wooden, moulded picture frames. So, with trying not to use the router in mind, I bought a job lot of moulding planes. At $8 a plane, I figured I couldn't go too wrong.
etools07.JPG
I've only put one of them together and had a go with it, but it works well. All look in decent nick and I'll look at the some more once the bench has finished. There are two pairs of hollows and rounds (3/8 and 1/2), a bills snipe and three moulding profile planes.
Not from eBay, but from the Brougham Mill Markets in Geelong, I picked up the following for just over $40.
etools08.JPG
The hand drill works fine (and my girls have been having a great time using it) but needs a major refurb; as does the 8" brace (no idea about the maker). The bits are Jennings pattern, which I bought so I would have a 3/4 bit with spurs to cut dogholes in the bench (all my other 3/4 bits from above are scotch bits.
The screwdriver I bought because I liked its battered look, and the stone is a very fine one that I use as my final polishing stone when sharpening.
I went a bit silly with plough planes. First I bought the Record 044 (front), with everything there except the long rods, for the same price as its number. (Its rods are 10mm diameter, so a quick trip to Mitre10 and I had enough steel rod to make arms of any length I desire). Then, a few weeks later, a Record 050 combination plane came up in its box for not too much more than its number price, so I just had to have it too. I have vague plans of using Stanley 45 blades in it, or buying some tool steel and making my own profile cutters for it down the track.
etools09.JPG
The Woden #4 is my first #4. I wanted it particularly, as the first plane I ever bought was my Woden #5 1/2 ( to which I've since added a WS A78 rabbet/filletster plane). Well, it was again a very reasonable price and when it arrived it was almost like getting a brand new plane. On closer inspection, it appears to have been used maybe once or twice, by someone who didn't know how to sharpen or set up a plane properly. The dust on it looked like they had tried to plane some jarrah or redgum, only succeeded in scraping it and then put it away in its box for the next 50 or so years. It only needed 20 minutes of sharpening, fettling and setting up (mostly the chipbreaker), and it was translucent waffer-thin shaving all the way.
The last thing I got this year I didn't buy, but rescued from a box of rusting tools at my parents' place. Dad didn't want it, and Mum was happy for me to reduce the clutter in that corner of the garage. It's a 6" sweep brace.
etools10.JPG
I turns fine and grips a bit well. I cleaned a little rust off the chuck and found this maker's mark:
etools11.JPG
It says "JS & S foreign". Does anyone know the company that made it, or anything about them?
Thanks for looking and letting me share.
Cheers, Mike
b
So, subconsciously for the last couple of years or so, and consciously from the start of my workbench build, I have been making the switch from mostly powertools to mostly handtool usage in my woodworking. The tablesaw has barely been used the last year, the router for longer than that and the money I started saving for a thicknesser has dissipated into the aether of buying bibs and bobs and this and that.
Instead, what I have been doing this year has been trawling eBay for things that might come in handy for my workbench or for the backlog of future projects that are building up in my head and in the design scrapbook. I ran into some Christmas and birthday money and, having enough clothes to satisfy the bounds of decency, I set about starting to gather the handtools I need, think I need and just plain want.
I'm sharing them here for a few reasons. One is a sort of mini-gloat, as I think I picked up a few bargains here and there (and maybe a couple of not so bargains too, but anyway). Secondly is for a bit of advice or information on some of the items. And the third and main reason is that I've no one else to share these with who thinks they are anything more than rusty junk. I tried to share some of it with my wife, but somehow a long-suffering sigh of "that's nice dear" or "don't you need some new [insert name of clothing here] instead?" just doesn't cut the mustard.
Anyway, here is what I bought so far this year.
etools01.JPG (just the top of the bench tools that is)
My most recent purchase was an old rabone combination square - just over $30 delivered. I needed a new square after knocking my old square off the bench the other week and breaking its attachment screw (it was a triton cheapy from bunnings, but it was square and had lasted me 10 years). So, 30-odd bucks for a properly built square seemed ok to me.
etools02.JPG
As a bonus, it came with the mitre marker, protractor attachment, two extra rules, a Millers Falls hacksaw (which I hadn't seen before, but will replace my dodgy craftsman hacksaw from now on) and a Millers Falls 8" sweep ratcheting brace. And yes, the square is square (and I can feel the difference in solidity and surety that a well-built piece of equipment brings).
After joining in on the saw-plate group buy, I have been looking out for an old cheap saw to have a go at refurbishing and putting a new handle on as practice before I have a go at putting one together from scratch. This one is a Spear & Jackson 14 tpi from from the 1950s-60s.
etools03.JPG
The sawset is an Eclipse 77, which I picked up cheaply in a separate auction.
These chisels are the ones I'm happiest about - 3 EA Bergs and a Toledo, for $32 delivered. I only had one berg previously and have been on the hunt for more, because I really like it.
etools04.JPG
One of the earliest things I bought this year were bits for my solitary handbrace; mostly because I needed certain sizes to make my bench and also because I had a brace, but zero bits. in what may amount to overkill, I bought slightly over 100 bits in two job lots.
etools05.JPG
There are another 40 or so sitting in a drawer that I didn't put out. Of the auger bits, I estimate about 80% have intact lead screws. Most of them are scotch pattern, but there are a decent smattering of irwin, jennings pattern and some other style augers in there. There are also quite a few spoon, gimlet and centre bits, countersinks, a couple of screwdriver bits, a couple of split-screw bits (which will come in handy when fixing/making saws) and these:
etools12.JPG
which I think are double-ended screwdriver bits, but would like someone more knowledgeable than me to confirm.
A couple of old cigar spokeshaves, which were just too cheap ($6 each) to pass up.
etools06.JPG
I've only sharpened one of them, but it works fine. I found it interesting that the blade had a bevel on both sides - more like a knife than a plane blade, as the bevels were only about 15deg. each). It works, but I'm wondering if this is how they are meant to be, or were they shaped like that by a previous owner from their more correct shape? Does anyone know?
In the back of my head (and on back-order from my wife) are picture frames. Wooden, moulded picture frames. So, with trying not to use the router in mind, I bought a job lot of moulding planes. At $8 a plane, I figured I couldn't go too wrong.
etools07.JPG
I've only put one of them together and had a go with it, but it works well. All look in decent nick and I'll look at the some more once the bench has finished. There are two pairs of hollows and rounds (3/8 and 1/2), a bills snipe and three moulding profile planes.
Not from eBay, but from the Brougham Mill Markets in Geelong, I picked up the following for just over $40.
etools08.JPG
The hand drill works fine (and my girls have been having a great time using it) but needs a major refurb; as does the 8" brace (no idea about the maker). The bits are Jennings pattern, which I bought so I would have a 3/4 bit with spurs to cut dogholes in the bench (all my other 3/4 bits from above are scotch bits.
The screwdriver I bought because I liked its battered look, and the stone is a very fine one that I use as my final polishing stone when sharpening.
I went a bit silly with plough planes. First I bought the Record 044 (front), with everything there except the long rods, for the same price as its number. (Its rods are 10mm diameter, so a quick trip to Mitre10 and I had enough steel rod to make arms of any length I desire). Then, a few weeks later, a Record 050 combination plane came up in its box for not too much more than its number price, so I just had to have it too. I have vague plans of using Stanley 45 blades in it, or buying some tool steel and making my own profile cutters for it down the track.
etools09.JPG
The Woden #4 is my first #4. I wanted it particularly, as the first plane I ever bought was my Woden #5 1/2 ( to which I've since added a WS A78 rabbet/filletster plane). Well, it was again a very reasonable price and when it arrived it was almost like getting a brand new plane. On closer inspection, it appears to have been used maybe once or twice, by someone who didn't know how to sharpen or set up a plane properly. The dust on it looked like they had tried to plane some jarrah or redgum, only succeeded in scraping it and then put it away in its box for the next 50 or so years. It only needed 20 minutes of sharpening, fettling and setting up (mostly the chipbreaker), and it was translucent waffer-thin shaving all the way.
The last thing I got this year I didn't buy, but rescued from a box of rusting tools at my parents' place. Dad didn't want it, and Mum was happy for me to reduce the clutter in that corner of the garage. It's a 6" sweep brace.
etools10.JPG
I turns fine and grips a bit well. I cleaned a little rust off the chuck and found this maker's mark:
etools11.JPG
It says "JS & S foreign". Does anyone know the company that made it, or anything about them?
Thanks for looking and letting me share.
Cheers, Mike
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