I've been a custom furniture designer builder for decades and at some point someone gave me a wood jack plane . you know the kind with all wood body and just a steel blade and chip breaker. this gift started a collection for me that will keep me entertained for the rest of my life and it has crossed over into antique machinery and blacksmithing equipment as well. I don't just collect it I use it for mostly rustic furniture almost primitive stuff really. it occurs to me that metal fabrication tools were fairly limited before automotive demands in the early 20th so blacksmith tools and agriculture implements along with clock makers and the like are as early as ive seen. anyone else into old tools.?
some but not all tools to build this kindling rocker are antique. all hands tools tho. last picture is near completion testing out the curve of the rockers. when I get back to the shop i'll get some pics of my more unique stuff
Picked ‘‘tis up today it says it’s an “Albertsons” but has “ Souix” logo all over it. Was that the predecessor to Souix? Bones
My drill press. A coffin plane that someone made and initialed. The best bench plane I own and I use it regularly. And also a wheelwright tool for tapering spokes.
have not tried it yet. I did some research on wheelwright tools and some searches on ebay. they sure are neat. an almost forgotten art i'm sure. Above pics are how I do my tapers . Real old school. I also threw in a pic of the rejected shake blocks I use for material. So environment friendly too.
I don't really collect old tools, but some of them seem to follow me home on occasion........ Antique Tools1 by TagMan, on Flickr Antique Tools2 by TagMan, on Flickr Antique Tools 3 by TagMan, on Flickr
To expand a bit on the last picture in my previous post. The Rex Wrench Co. was only in business from about 1905 to 1916. In addition to the pictured socket wrenches they also offered a set of open ended attachments. Instead of marking the sockets with decimal sizes(which were not standardized at the time)they were numbered from 1 to 8 and the proper socket was gleaned from the chart inside the box lid. They used the bolt diameter as a reference much like the Whitworth system so familiar to British motorcycle aficianados. When I bought the set there was one socket broken and the main handle was missing and likely broken as well. Luckily I was able to obtain a picture of it on the Alloy Artifacts website next to a ruler. I made a drawing and had a machinist friend of mine make me a copy. He did an excellent job of it;even going so far as to add the patent date(which was originally stamped on the shaft;he used a laser to etch it)and a few operational dings. It wasn't as easy as it looks as there is a small detent ball and spring that had to be made and inserted to hold the sockets in their proper position.It is designed so they can be set at 30-60-and 90 degrees to the shaft. Anyway that is the story behind a most unusual tool set.
That tool set is just beautiful ,I am a tool nut and have had a use many times for a great old tool set like that!
I'd agree with you gents if it didn't open. I've never seen a hinged one. There is no need for it to open-it would make a hole regardless. It came out of a set of metalworking tools.
I'm a history nut who does French & Indian War time period reenacting. I do wheelwrighting at these events (also in the Wagon Shop at the Pioneer Village at Indiana State Fair). I have a collection of wheelwrighting and woodworking tools from a variety of time periods. I will try to get some pictures in the next few days, when I finally have some time off from work.
Here's one for you tool guys. My dad made this in shop class in Kingston High School. Probably 1941. Amazing what kids could do back then!
Very nice! I have a few pieces that were made by a friend’s grandfather. But that man was a tool and die maker!
I just saw one of those posted in an "old tool" thread over at Adventure Rider. I think the inmate who posted it calls himself . . . um . . . Safetythird! (I'll bet you can easily guess which inmate I am, and now you know my name!)
Follow the link below and see my collection of sheetmetal tools still in daily use, a lot of them over 100 years old. I have a few more that are not shown and I am always on the look out for something that I don't have.
Finally got around to getting a few more photos. A tire roller for rolling the metal tire to be shrunk onto wheels. Hand cranked. An industrial (flat-belt driven) tire roller I’m restoring. A machine for pulling rubber tire material onto a channel on wagon wheels.
This tap set belonged to my great grandfather. It works today as it did when made, and I use it. Book is dated 1933.
The Jalopy Journal
