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 [...]
J.T. Towsley Jointer Restoration
Vintage woodworking machinery can be a great bang for your buck. Vintage woodworking tools have always held a certain appeal to me. Earlier this year, I was out in California with David Marks [...]
Touching Up and Tuning a Shoulder Plane – Part 2
One of the first things that many people notice when advancing the blade of a Preston/Record style shoulder plane (today’s Clifton and Lie Nielsen planes are based on that design) is a scratching [...]
Touching Up and Tuning a Shoulder Plane – Part 1
A few years ago, my friend Cambell Albritton gifted me with a small Clifton #410 shoulder plane that he no longer needed. The plane was still in its original box but unfortunately developed a few [...]
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 [...]
Hand Plane Restoration
Bringing an old hand plane back to life is simple to do, and will yield a top-not tool. When I build a project, I use a variety of “fancy” tools (readers’ words, not mine). Lie-Nielsen, [...]
Don’t Let “Eventually” Become “Never”
If someone walked up to me and told me I wasn’t a very smart man, I’d have a hard time arguing with them. There are often times when I do something knowing full-well that the outcome isn’t going [...]
Jazz Age Mini-Lathe
Some years back, when the company I worked for relocated out of state, I lost my job. While hunting for a new position and feeling a bit down, I visited a shop that sold used woodworking [...]
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 [...]
Replace A Missing Clamp Pad, Part 2
Last week I showed how to source and install a missing swivel pad over the ball of a clamp’s screw. That kind of pad only works in a ball and socket situation, so what can we do with clamps that [...]
Replace A Missing Clamp Pad, Part 1
I recently was gifted a few old bar clamps from a fellow member who belongs to our local FreeCycle group. FreeCycle.org is an internet-based group that promotes the free exchange of items and [...]
