Tool Chest Odyssey
I purchased this classic tool chest at a yard sale in Maine, while on vacation. The case had only two drawers remaining, and no handle. The seller said he had every intention of restoring it, but [...]
Quit Crying and Get to Work
So you can’t afford (insert dream tool here). Boo hoo. Hit the flea markets then start making sawdust. Yeah, you heard me. Oh sure, I know exactly how it is. The new catalogs come piling into [...]
Labor of Love
After 50 years of woodworking, I’ve got a confession to make. I enjoy fixing up an old machine or rearranging my shop more than woodworking itself. A few years ago a friend gave me an old [...]
Gimlets and Other One-Hand Manual Drilling Tools
When we think about modern woodworking, gimlets are probably not on our radar and most likely would not make the cut for the short (or even the longer) list of essentials when we envision a shop [...]
Moby Dick, the Great White Planer
Moby Dick, the Great White Planer The newspaper advertisement was brief: “PLANER, 24″, $450. Call.” My friend Charles Poth and I had been looking for just such a machine. We found the [...]
Wartime Scroll Saw
My grandfather made this foot-powered jigsaw during World War II. The Depression had taught him to be very frugal, so he built the saw from orange and grapefruit crates, which were made from [...]
Turning Over: Restoring an Old Peavey
One of the most unusual names in the lumberjack’s catalog of tools is a peavey. Named after Joseph Peavey this tool is a hooked and spiked lever used for manipulating logs, roll them over, pivot [...]
Zeda’s Nails
Years ago, I made a corner cupboard from black walnut. I thought the wood was magnificent, but a can of rusty cut nails I used in building it proved to be far more important, taking me on an [...]
