Off Topic The Hand Tool thread

[Square_peg]

Hey All! I hopped back in here (it's been awhile) to get some ideas about tool-to-handle attachments.

Did this last week and am curious about other non-knife projects. Unfortunately my forge-hole is only 3" wide, so a bit limited currently:

We dug some rotting landscaping timbers out of my GF's yard some weeks ago. Turns out they were actual recycled railroad ties with some hardware left in 'em. Vintage. Then she broke her garden trowel, so...

Excellent. And you were smart to add the ferrule.

 

[Hairy Clipper]

T-A: My mother used to say, "variety is the spice of life." I have been looking for a nice hand vise for many years at garage sales and auctions. But it seems most garage sales have no tools an mostly baby clothes around here. You have some nice vises. As Mr. Bohn, my old shop teacher always said, "get the right tool for the job at hand." You have it covered!

 

[daizee]

That is such a TINY hand-vise!!
I've got a couple restored simpler ones, one hers, one mine (I mean she did 'em both, one is in my shop). One Black, one Ford Blue, IIRC.

 

[the-accumulator]

That is such a TINY hand-vise!!

Here are all the hand vise I could round up, three of which are pretty tiny:





More photos in the next post...

 

[the-accumulator]

That is such a TINY hand-vise!!

More photos:







The first two big ones are probably fairly recent, one marked, the other sterile. The next one is some sort of a vise, but, whether or not it qualifies as a hand vise, I'm not sure. Lastly and tied for my favorite, the wooden one with the leather hinge. Notice the type of nails holding the leather in place; they are nineteenth century cut nails, still doing their job!
My other favorite, the fanciest of the tiny ones, was probably made as a lesson project by an overachiever clock/watch-maker student in the nineteenth century. An old-time watch-maker told me that students back then had to make many of their own tools. It's beautiful but relatively useless, because the handle is too skinny to let the user get a good grip.
I had fun gathering all these tools for the photoshoot; I had forgotten I owned some of them. Thanks for your interest, and show us more of your collection; what we've seen is quite impressive! T-A

 

[FLINT77]

wow, those are neat!! I've never seen a hand vise before.

All the cool vises we've seen on this thread lately, is making me want a separate vise thread. That might be cool. If anyone starts one, I'll contribute.

 

[Hairy Clipper]

More photos:
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The first two big ones are probably fairly recent, one marked, the other sterile. The next one is some sort of a vise, but, whether or not it qualifies as a hand vise, I'm not sure. Lastly and tied for my favorite, the wooden one with the leather hinge. Notice the type of nails holding the leather in place; they are nineteenth century cut nails, still doing their job!
My other favorite, the fanciest of the tiny ones, was probably made as a lesson project by an overachiever clock/watch-maker student in the nineteenth century. An old-time watch-maker told me that students back then had to make many of their own tools. It's beautiful but relatively useless, because the handle is too skinny to let the user get a good grip.
I had fun gathering all these tools for the photoshoot; I had forgotten I owned some of them. Thanks for your interest, and show us more of your collection; what we've seen is quite impressive! T-A

What a wonderful collection of hand vises and such interesting designs. The leather hinge is unique. Brother Bob the carpenter once told me nails as fasteners went backwards after the cut nails went away and I remember helping salvage some lumber from a house that was being disassembled when I was in my teens and the fact that they cut the wood fibers and were tapered a little really would wedge them in and I sometime thought it might be easier to cut them off with a hacksaw. Thanks for posting the photographs of these useful tools!

 

[Square_peg]

T-A: My mother used to say, "variety is the spice of life."

That's what the judge is gonna tell my wife.

 

[Square_peg]

More photos:
View attachment 1331473
View attachment 1331475
View attachment 1331477
View attachment 1331479
View attachment 1331480
View attachment 1331481
View attachment 1331483
The first two big ones are probably fairly recent, one marked, the other sterile. The next one is some sort of a vise, but, whether or not it qualifies as a hand vise, I'm not sure. Lastly and tied for my favorite, the wooden one with the leather hinge. Notice the type of nails holding the leather in place; they are nineteenth century cut nails, still doing their job!
My other favorite, the fanciest of the tiny ones, was probably made as a lesson project by an overachiever clock/watch-maker student in the nineteenth century. An old-time watch-maker told me that students back then had to make many of their own tools. It's beautiful but relatively useless, because the handle is too skinny to let the user get a good grip.
I had fun gathering all these tools for the photoshoot; I had forgotten I owned some of them. Thanks for your interest, and show us more of your collection; what we've seen is quite impressive! T-A

Those are hella cool!

 

[Miller '72]

J.S. CANTELO
PAT'D JUNE 30 1891
BOSTON
WARRANTED
6¼" Blade
20.8oz / 1¼lbs
13¾" length when open handles 90°
12" across when closed

This poor drawknife was rusted shut, frozen solid.
This was three days worth of patience.
The springs & chambers were near solid rust, but cleaned up great. BLO to the handles.
I found the weld...bummer but at the same time i really enjoy the repair. KEEPER!
The repair was done very well as far as i can tell, its perfectly inline when closed on the blade exactly as the unscathed handle side. It may not be pretty but form over function as they say...and it functions smoothly.
The spring mechanism side that has the weld, also the worse for wear/rust side. But all functions well and proper now.
I will sharpen and gladly work with it.

 

[Meek1]

J.S. CANTELO
PAT'D JUNE 30 1891
BOSTON
WARRANTED
6¼" Blade
20.8oz / 1¼lbs
13¾" length when open handles 90°
12" across when closed

This poor drawknife was rusted shut, frozen solid.
This was three days worth of patience.
The springs & chambers were near solid rust, but cleaned up great. BLO to the handles.
I found the weld...bummer but at the same time i really enjoy the repair. KEEPER!
The repair was done very well as far as i can tell, its perfectly inline when closed on the blade exactly as the unscathed handle side. It may not be pretty but form over function as they say...and it functions smoothly.
The spring mechanism side that has the weld, also the worse for wear/rust side. But all functions well and proper now.
I will sharpen and gladly work with it.

Boy it sure found the right home!!!! Well done sir!

 

[Old Plumber]

This vice belonged to my Dad, and had a broken pivot bolt. I made a new one and some copper jaw covers.

 

[Old Plumber]

My Grandpa retired, and moved to Florida in '77 and gave his micrometer to me.

 

[Old Plumber]

Here are two of my homemade hammers. I have a lead head hammer, but it's hiding in my garage.

 

[Hickory n steel]

I just got these two in the mail today.

The millers falls push drill on top was supposed to be a Stanley handyman push driver, but they accidentally sent this Miller's Falls 188 drill to me instead.
I decided not to even contact the seller because I only payed $12 for the pair and I only really considered that push driver a bonus because it was pretty beat up.

Both of these function perfectly, and the Dunlap even had some bits in it. 2 were broken and one was the wrong type
They use the spline shank bits which are not currently produced, but I actually found a set of 8 in good condition for cheap on Ebay.
I've heard they're hard to find so I guess I lucked out ?


Sure a push drill won't replace an electric cordless drill, but if you need something for pilot holes that's compact that fits in a small toolbox you can't beat 'em.

 

[Hairy Clipper]

Congratulations! Nice push drills!

Every time I see one of those I think of my dad's hunting buddy George. George was a carpenter and cabinet maker and he did a couple of additions to our family home over the years. The only non-human powered equipment I ever saw him use was a small single cylinder hit & miss gasoline engine powered cement mixer. He used his push drill for pilot holes on all the hinges in mom's new cabinets in the late 1960s. They were a very effective piece of machinery that can still be useful. Old George got shot up pretty bad during WWII in Europe. He never talked about it like so many of that generation.

The Minnesota pheasant hunting opener was always spent with dad and George and a couple of other guys they knew. If George could see a bunch of other hunters off in the distance he would point a finger in their direction and announce, "there are so many in that bunch over there it looks like Coxey's Army!" It wasn't until the advent of the Internet that I learned what Coxey's Army was and who was in charge of it. I will leave these links in the event any of you'll are as curious as I had been.>>> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coxey's_Army
And a link to Jacob S. Coxey Sr.>>> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacob_S._Coxey_Sr.

 

[crbnSteeladdict]

I just got these two in the mail today.

The millers falls push drill on top was supposed to be a Stanley handyman push driver, but they accidentally sent this Miller's Falls 188 drill to me instead.
I decided not to even contact the seller because I only payed $12 for the pair and I only really considered that push driver a bonus because it was pretty beat up.

Both of these function perfectly, and the Dunlap even had some bits in it. 2 were broken and one was the wrong type
They use the spline shank bits which are not currently produced, but I actually found a set of 8 in good condition for cheap on Ebay.
I've heard they're hard to find so I guess I lucked out ?


Sure a push drill won't replace an electric cordless drill, but if you need something for pilot holes that's compact that fits in a small toolbox you can't beat 'em.

I love those things!! I have ripped off my front bumper crossing dry creek in Colorado. Yankee drill and few zip ties and I was able to continue my trip down the dirt road to Rattlesnake Canyon.

 

[Hickory n steel]

I love those things!! I have ripped off my front bumper crossing dry creek in Colorado. Yankee drill and few zip ties and I was able to continue my trip down the dirt road to Rattlesnake Canyon.

You use the standard straight flute bits for that ?
I imagine they could drill something metal in a pinch but I've always heard them preached as for wood only.

These are definitely a cool tool, never had one before but the brilliance of them was obvious and you only have to play with one for a few minutes to see that they're a great tool to have around.

Need to mount a small shelf ?
One small toolbox in the hall closet has everything needed, and you'll always have the drill bits right there organized in the handle.
Keep one of these around for minor stuff like this, and the cordless power drill for the serious projects.

 

[crbnSteeladdict]

You use the standard straight flute bits for that ?
I imagine they could drill something metal in a pinch but I've always heard them preached as for wood only.

These are definitely a cool tool, never had one before but the brilliance of them was obvious and you only have to play with one for a few minutes to see that they're a great tool to have around.

Need to mount a small shelf ?
One small toolbox in the hall closet has everything needed, and you'll always have the drill bits right there organized in the handle.
Keep one of these around for minor stuff like this, and the cordless power drill for the serious projects.

It was making holes in plastic. Have I mentioned already that I am one of those crazies who do off roading in low clearance sedan?

 

[Miller '72]

This thread was buried far to back...

Athol No70 I just brought home last night

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