Tag Archives: Tool Chest

Nashua Tool Show, September 2015

October 3, 2015 @TheRainford Leave a comment

If you love old tools, the Nashua Tool Show is always the place to be. I used to get up at dawn and drive up from MA, but the past few years living in Merrimack, NH I’ve been lucky as the show is on my way to work so I can go extra early on Thursday and Friday morning before work.

We had some beautiful weather for the September 2015 Live Free or Die Tool Show and Auction. Below is a recap of my semi-annual pilgrimage to tool nirvana:

We interrupt this blog post for a quick Public Service Announcement:

The lot looked pretty full with some different vendors I had not seen before, but a few of my old favorites were not around. Apparently the hotel — the Nashua Holiday Inn — decided they wanted to try and make more money off of the event and start charging to tool vendors out in the lot for spaces and by the table. Many of these vendors are retirees who drive from around the country to be at this event, buy from the auction and pay to stay in the hotel for several days — most doing it for fun as I doubt what these folks are making off the tools goes too much further than covering expenses. Some of the elders of the tool selling crowd apparently spoke with the Holiday Inn management and threatened to move the long running event and management capitulated, which is good news. Unfortunately several folks had already left when they heard about the fees, and since this event is not overly advertised, they may never come back. Given my posts about the show seem to get a lot of hits around the time of the show I am hoping some folks may read this and return to the show in April. So if you get this message and know of some other vendors you didn’t see, especially those who may not be on the internet, please reach out to them as I want to see this event continue to be a highlight of the tool year. 🙂

This concludes our PSA, now back to the tools:

The first aisle closest to the hotel is where all the high end tools tend to live. The closer you get to the highway the more likely you’ll find a deal or a diamond in the rough. As a user more than a collector I do tend to buy from the vendors in the middle aisles.

Above is a great looking bench that had a vaguely Studley look to it. Apparently it also has vises with very similar hand wheels. The seller mentioned Don C. Williams book on Studley and said he was searching for a bench like this for the past 30+ years. Given the hunt I thought it was interesting that he already sold it to someone else for a pretty penny. I hope it gets cleaned up and back into service for the lucky person who picked it up.

Above are some old and still sealed gallon jugs of Johnson’s Wood Dye.

An interesting tool chest for sale with LOTs of round headed screws for decoration and as part of the construction of the chest.

The carcass was dovetailed and the screws seemed to be backup support and decoration.

Interior of the chest. The lower tills were open trays. The top till had a lid and a single divider inside. On the front wall was a nice tool rack carefully sized for the various chisels and tools that once inhabited the chest. The hinges for the lid were also nice.

The lid also made liberal use of the round headed screws in an interesting pattern and likely helped protect the wood top as wood and other things were inevitably put on the lid and slid across the chest. The wood on the top looked to be in remarkably good shape.

Above are some chests on display by Bill Garrett of Sparrowbush, NY. You may remember him from this earlier post.

And now on to what I bought. I happy to say I didn’t spent too much this year and got some interesting items. From left to right: Some interesting books (The Barn, The First American Finishers Manual, The American Craftsman, and the Little Book of Early American Crafts &Trades). A new in package Bahco scraper, New in package Stabilia Torpedo Level (I’ve had one for years that lives in my toolbelt so its nice to have a spare/one for the shop), Ulmia Jointer Plane, ECE Shoulder Plane (Being of German Descent, and the fact that Americans don’t seem to like these sorts of plane, it has been interesting to collect and test out German style tools in my shop), Inside/Outside Calipers similar to what you see in the Studley Tool Cabinet, Dixon wood marking crayons donated by a friend, Paring Chisel with modern handle crammed on, a nice box of small carvers slip stones, a nice big gouge for coping when timber framing, and a very neat brass stencil given to me by Cynthia and George Short that says “W.W. & C.R. NOYES, 2388, BOSTON” that was likely used to mark crates or similar objects. As I have been reading up on Civil War re-enactors who build their own furniture, crates etc it was something I wanted to try out. So if anyone out there knows who the Noyes were or what they sold I would be interested to hear from you. The prior owners contacted some historical societies and didn’t get a firm answer. I’m hoping to use it as a model as I eventually want to make my own similar stencil with my own name on it. I’ll be sure to post about it.

And last, but not least the photo above, on canvas, though a modern reprinting of an historic photo. It’s a great shot of carpenters and joiners in the mid-late 19th century. I’m making that date assumption based on the architecture in the background and the more modern lumber they are sitting on. Even though they are sitting on a fairly modern looking lumber, likely to be used in a balloon frame, the men are holding slicks, mallets, draw knives, chisels of the scale used for timber framing, an earlier pre-bailey bench plane, framing square, bits with wooden handles, an adze, boxwood rules, a hand saw, a two man crosscut saw etc. It looks to be an amazing image of the time when things were transitioning from the old ways and heavy timber work to lighter construction methods. Other things of note in this picture are the various hats, pipes, aprons and overalls the guys are wearing. The guy in the first row, third from the left who looks like he’s in pretty rough shape. The well dressed man in the front row, third from the right with no tools in his hand — was he the owner? Or the foreman? Often the man with the framing square in a photo like this is the master, but the young man to the right of the well dressed man does not look like he’s the most experienced out of this lot. There is also an unusual building behind the head of the bearded man holding the two man saw that might help identify where this photo was taken. The seller thought it might be from southern MA, in the New Bedford or Fall River area. So if anyone has any further insights to add, please add them to the comments below. The photo opens up as many questions as it answers and will look nice hanging up out in my workshop.

I hope to see you at the next Nashua tool show in April.

Take care,
-Bill

Tool Reviews

Nashua Tool Show, April 2015

April 22, 2015 @TheRainford 8 Comments

This past week I made my biannual pilgrimage to the ‘Live Free Or Die Tool Auction’ and tool sale out in the parking lot behind the Holiday Inn in Nashua NH. I’m glad my schedule worked out that I was able to go on Thursday morning — it was a beautiful day, I saw some friends who were only around on that day and didn’t spend too much money. Friday morning it was pouring so I briefly stopped by to see some friends from the school but many of the vendors were all packed up.

Let’s take a quick tour of some of the more interesting items I checked out:

The cabinet below from the Union Twist Drill company of Athol Massachusetts (same town that is home to Starrett Tools) looked to be in great shape.

Inside the cabinet was a nest of drawers which once housed all kinds of drill bits and similar hardware. It was also interesting to see the notes scribbled on the inside of the doors.

On another table was a nice looking moxon style vise with threaded wood handles. Made from a fairly large bit of timber I like how the maker removed a bunch of wood to make room for an angled saw.

This year I finally got to meet Tony Murland in person. Over the years I’ve bought a lot of wood planes from his shop in the UK — including my matching pair set of hollows and rounds, snipes bills, sash planes and complex molders. On hand he had a great assortment of French Plumb Squares — some of which had some great decoration on them. I would have loved to get one if I had room in the budget this season for it.

Casks of cut nails and a nice old tool tote with a dovetailed in handle and interior partitions.

Next to a box of saw sets was an old 1980s Ertl Metal ‘Case’ backhoe/loader which was one of my favorite toys as child — and something I had not seen in years. If it was in better shape I might have even picked it up.

As always some interesting benches found their way to the show.

And here is a nice old tool chest that I spent some time looking at. Constructed with finger joints, this chest had some handsome hardware I wanted to highlight.

Inside the paneled top there were some great old reference/conversion tables tacked into place.

The corners had some nice brass hardware and all of the screws were carefully clocked (oriented in a specific way) — I know this makes my OCD happy as it likely will make my friend Chris Schwarz smile as well.

And last but not least was an ‘Elite Tool Chest for Boys’ that was used to haul some wares to the tool show.

What did I buy this year? Not too much which is probably a good thing. I’m trying to keep to the tools I regularly use and I have a very good working set. Also my tools/wood/toy budget has been saving towards a tractor and building a barn this summer — more on that in some upcoming posts. I bought nice Stanley Bailey transitional jack plane that I’ll be using to clean up some timbers — that wood sole will be a lot easier to use on green timbers. A nice metal block and tackle with a line lock that will be useful on a gin pole and about a dozen old manual training guides, tool catalogs/reprints and old woodworking texts.

Take care,
-Bill

Tool Reviews

Studley Inspired Tool Cabinets

September 25, 2014 @TheRainford 5 Comments

At the bi-annual Live Free or Die Tool Show and Auction in Nashua NH one of my favorite activities is look at all the unusual stuff folks have for sale. This year some of the most interesting items were not for sale. Behind a table of tools for sale and a framed photo of the Studley Tool Cabinet, Bill Garrett of Sparrowbush NY had a trio of tool cabinets each carefully fitted to hold a variety of unusual tools. From talking to Bill, he started with some regular tool cabinets and fitted them out to hold a variety of interesting tools from his collection. Clearly inspired by H.O. Studley’s work, Bill incorporated piano keys, tools racks, tills, unusual hardware and period details to fit in an impressive number of tools into a modest space. From carved ivory whales and fists, to highly detailed miniatures, to piano keys, small brass locks, an 1804 coin, period photos and advertisements the cabinets are a unique creation. I had a great time talking to Bill and poking around in all three cabinets. Please check out the photo gallery below and you might also find some inspiration for some hidden compartments in your own tool cabinet.

Take care,
-Bill

Great mixture of interesting tools and hardware

The RCA Dog likes to hear the sounds of woodworking tools

That fist is on the handle of an unusual saw

Left cabinet. Interesting crate hammers and small saws

Tool Reviews

The Early Bird Doesn’t Always Get The Worm…

April 30, 2014 @TheRainford 2 Comments

Every year the tool show gets earlier and earlier. I’m referring to the semi-annual ‘Live Free or Die Tool Show and Auction’ in Nashua New Hampshire which occurs every April and September. On Friday and Saturday the highlight for most folks is normally the tool auction at the Nashua Holiday Inn. Outside in the parking lot vendors setup to sell or swap tools — many fresh from the auction. That is where I spend my time and money — I’m into nice user tools.

Folks would get there earlier and earlier on Friday. Vendors started getting there on Thursday to be ready. Eventually those folks figured — well if I am already at the hotel on Thursday I might as well setup and sell what I can. This process repeated itself and now some folks are dealing tools on Wednesday afternoon.

Nice selection of sea chests, cabinets and small chests

This year I went on Thursday morning again and about 80% of the usual vendors I like to buy from were there and I figured I’d have an edge in getting whatever tool I was hunting for or whatever new treasure I didn’t know I needed until I saw it. Unfortunately the early bird did not get the worm this year — I only bought a couple of small items and only saw a few friends from NBSS. Normally the tool show is one of my favorite days of the years but the meager haul left me wanting more — so I decided to go on Friday morning to see a lot of my friends from NBSS and meet some more of the new students.

Friday was a much better day — less wind and a little sunnier. It was great to see lots of old friends and the rest of the vendors I normally frequent. I also found a couple of great items that made my day. Throughout this post you can see a sampling of some of the more interesting tool chests and cabinets at the show. It is interesting to see what has survived and how folks laid out their tills and decorated their tool chests.

Sloyd style youth workbench -- though not a Larsson bench — Sloyd style youth workbench — though not a Larsson bench

Directly above you can see an interesting workbench. Designed for manual training or a similar classroom setting, this bench looks like it was a competitor to the Larsson Improved workbench I wrote about here.

Great selection of molding and bench planes

This year there were more vendors compared to recent years and there was a particularly great selection of molding planes and bench planes.

The iconic tool tote above looks like it had a long service life — hopefully it went to a new home where it will see some use.

Nice clean modern tool chest with finger joints

The tool chest above with simple finger joints and nice hardware looks pretty new, but I am glad to see some more recent projects circulating around.

Incredible telescoping tool chest (for sale by Patrick Leach)

The chest above which I believe was being offered by Patrick Leach was an incredible piece. With multiple levels of till, some on hinges and some with telescoping elements this chest looked quite heavy even without any tools in it. It clearly showed off the skill and the massive tool set of its original owner.

I was drawn to this interesting hand drill with a nice turned handle and unusual machined elements.

Shown above are a nice selection of cooper’s planes — used to plane down staves — the plane is fixed and the stave is moved along the sole of the plane to make a shaving.

My friend Billy McMillen (Of Eastfield Village, Historic Richmond Town, EAIA and CW Tinsmithing fame) had this nice plumb level for sale. The plumb bob and string is a age old way of determining level that dates back to ancient Egypt or earlier times.

One of two Hammacher Schlemmer tool cabinets for sale this year

A larger cousin to the Sloyd Tool Cabinet — this Hammacher Schlemmer tool cabinet was home to a large set of tools targeting a high end home user market. I was surprised to see two of them for sale. One model was joined via finger joints and the other was held together via rabbets and nails. The cabinets had an austere look and did not seem to make good use of the space in the cabinets. I spent some time examining the hooks and clips that once held the tools in place, but most of of the clips and hooks were pretty simple and straightforward.

My finds this year -- Stanley 358 Miter Box _ Disston Saw, Carpenter and Joiner's Union Sign, Starret Rules and Dividers, Mini Framing Square, ECE Frame Saw, Heavy Duty Snatch Block, Auger Bit Handle — My finds this year — Stanley 358 Miter Box _ Disston Saw, Carpenter and Joiner’s Union Sign, Starret Rules and Dividers, Mini Framing Square, ECE Frame Saw, Heavy Duty Snatch Block, Auger Bit Handle

And now on to the big finale — what did I get this year? I got some nice items off the nice to have tools list in my head. I’m particularly excited about the large and complete Stanley 358 Miter Box and large Disston saw to use with it — I’ve wanted one of these boxes for a while. Once I clean it up and tune it, I’ll post about it. In the back of the photo you can see a round sign for the ‘United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners’ that will look nice hanging in my shop. On the left side of the photo you’ll see a large and heavy duty snatch block that will come in handy when moving heavy timbers and the like around in the yard. On the miter box you’ll see a Stanley mini-framing square, a handle for square tanged auger bits, a Starret 12″ Satin Rule and a 12″ Starrett Rule that is metric on one site and 1/10ths of an inch on the other. In the foreground is a nice pair of Starrett loose leg dividers. On the right is an ECE/Ulmia frame saw — I seem to be going through a frame saw phase, and given I have more frame saw blades than frame saws I figured, what the heck. All in all, it was a good show. I look forward to putting these new tools to use in the shop. Now it’s time to start saving for the September show.

Take care,
-Bill

Tool Reviews

Feast or Famine….

September 21, 2013 @TheRainford Leave a comment

This past Thursday and Friday I made my bi-annual pilgrimage to the ‘Live Free or Die’ Tool Show and Auction in Nashua, NH.

Old dovetailed tool chest full of molding planes

I always enjoy hunting for whatever oddball tool I have on my wish list or whatever new treasure I didn’t know I couldn’t live without until I discover it.

Small cooper's plane with nice bentwood folding legs — Small cooper’s plane with nice bentwood folding legs

Beyond my own tool shopping its good to see old friends and familiar faces at the show.

Carpenter's Chest with reinforced edges made from sheet tin. — Carpenter’s Chest with reinforced edges made from sheet tin.

Some years you’ll see tons of a given type of item, other years that same item might be real hard to come by. This year hand drills and Stanley 45s and 55s seemed to be plentiful.

Nest of drawers, survey equipment, knives etc

Tool chests on the other hand were not in season it seems. So I grabbed a few snapshots of what I saw this time out, but nothing overly notable.

Millers Falls Drills (2 #2, 1 #3), Rabbet Plane with chip-breaker, Shear Cut File, Marples Paring Chisel, Ulmia Moving Fillister Plane, Tite-Mark, Starrett Depth Gauge, Spoke Shave, Starrett Large Dividers, Miller's Falls Large Dividers, Astragal Plane — Millers Falls Drills (2 #2, 1 #3), Rabbet Plane with chip-breaker, Shear Cut File, Marples Paring Chisel, Ulmia Moving Fillister Plane, Tite-Mark, Starrett Depth Gauge, Spoke Shave, Starrett Large Dividers, Miller’s Falls Large Dividers, Astragal Plane

Some years I come home with a ton of stuff from my mental list and some times I don’t get much but I still come home with some finds. This time out I got some great deals and found several items I’d been hunting for, for a long time. I found a nice LARGE Starrett No. 85 dividers which are great for laying out staircases and other large scale projects. I also got a deal I could not pass up on another Tite-Mark, an Ulmia Moving Fillister plane and a nice old Starrett depth gauge with a real nice micro adjustment knob. Since the last show I seem to be really into Miller’s falls double gear hand drills — which I first learned about from my friend Tom Fidgen. Last year I picked up a #5 that I now use all the time. This time I got 2 real nice #2s an a nice #3 for the shop.

1938 Starrett Catalog, Old EAIA Pamphlet on Timber Framing for Old Bethpage Village, Atha Tool Compay Reprint, Book of Old Virginia Furniture Plans — 1938 Starrett Catalog, Old EAIA Pamphlet on Timber Framing for Old Bethpage Village, Atha Tool Company Reprint, Book of Old Virginia Furniture Plans

I also found some nice old tool catalogs including a 1938 Starrett Catalog, a reprint of an 1883 Atha Tool Company Catalog, and a book from the 1950s on old Virginia furniture with great shop drawings inside. My favorite find which was given to me for free is an old EAIA Pamphlet from 1971 that was put together for Old Bethpage Village in NY (which I remember going to in grade school) called ‘Of Plates and Purlins — Grandpa builds a Barn’ This great little pamphlet has a very Eric Sloane-esque feel to it and walks through the basics of building a dutch barn.

And last but not least was as real nice forged cant hook from Maine. In the coming weeks I need to clear some land out in the yard for a forthcoming timber framed barn/shed so I am sure it will get some good use.

Now it’s time to get out to the workshop, try out the new toys and start and start saving for the next show in April….

Take care,
-Bill

Historic Places, Traditional Woodworking, Woodworking Techniques

The Woodwright’s School

September 6, 2013 @TheRainford 2 Comments

For Labor Day weekend this year I flew down to the Woodwright’s School in Pittsboro, North Carolina to take a 3 day class on making a Jointer Plane with Willard ‘Bill’ Anderson (more on that in an upcoming post).

My flight got in early on Friday and I had the chance to hang out with some friends at the school during the last day of a class on building the Anarchist’s Tool Chest with Chris Schwarz.

The Woodwright’s School is located in downtown Pittsboro which is a scenic town about 20 minutes from Chapel Hill.

Don’t let the sometimes quiet streets fool you, once inside the school you are in a lively space full of folks who as passionate about woodworking as you are. Roy was on hand to help students as they worked their way through the last day of week long class on building a traditional English tool chest based on Chris’ book ‘The Anarchist’s Toolchest’.

The class busy working on their Anarchist's Toolchest — The class busy working on their Anarchist’s Toolchest

One of the attractions to Roy’s school is its focus on only using traditional English/American hand tools — there were no whining power tools, no Dozuki saws and no plastic handles to be seen — or at least none that I saw when Roy was making his rounds. 😉

Feeding Bill's bar tab and Khrushchev's shoe — Feeding Bill’s bar tab and Khrushchev’s shoe

If you ever read Roy’s book on public speaking you’ll get why Khruschev’s shoe is an interesting trophy. Beyond the witty stories and advice on how to keep a crowd engaged and entertained, the last chapter on the morning after a presentation was the one that resonated the most with me. Applying the advice therein has improved several lectures I have to make each year.

Traditional woodworking can feel like a very small world at times — the gentleman in the photo above was also in the class I took earlier this summer on making a Name Stamp with Peter Ross at Roy’s school — even though I was 700+ miles from home I happy to see that I could still run into people I knew.

Roy's corner cabinet — Roy’s corner cabinet

Loitering in the back of the classroom is a corner cupboard you may recognize from Roy’s show. I heard his wife has been waiting on it for a while — which made me feel a tiny bit better about the dresser I owe my wife Alyssa — which reminds me I need to get working on that again….

It was also great to spend some time hanging out with my friends Chris Schwarz and Megan Fitzpatrick including a stroll through Ed’s tool shop above the school.

No toolchest is ever completely filled and Ed’s shop has a huge collection of traditional tools on par with some of the best regional tool shows. I tried my best to be good and save my pennies for the Nashua tool show later this month, but I did find some new toys.

Chris' Dutch Tool Chest — Chris’ Dutch Tool Chest

I had fun chatting with everyone, examining some interesting tools and helping to sweep up before a trip to the City Tap — which is a awesome bar just behind the school with great food and drinks.

On my way out of the school I saw my old friend Otto Salomon and various other proper woodworking models from the Teacher’s Handbook of Sloyd.

It seems the Woodwright’s School is full of new and old friends that are literally popping out of the woodworking.

If you’d like to learn more about the school, make some new friends, meet up with old friends, or sign up for a class you can check out the school’s website here.

-Bill

Popular Woodworking, Writing

What does your tool chest say about you?

August 20, 2013 @TheRainford Leave a comment

The spartan exterior of many traditional tool chests was as much a security system as it was a design element. When closed the clean lines and rugged exterior looked did not draw your attention and looked much the same as many other stoutly built traveling chests and trunks you’d see on a given day. While unassuming in travel or quietly sitting in the back of the shop, many of these chests contained a far more interesting interior.

Beautiful Tool Chest from 1849 with extensive inlay work, divided tills, half lock etc. (The maker of this chest clearly must have loved card games)

How often do you see carpenter with a bucket of rusty tools and a paint splattered truck and wondered about ‘If this is how they take care of their tools and truck, what kind of slapdash work would they do for me?’

Beyond just a safe and secure place to store your tools, the way you build and customize your chest says a lot about you and how you work. A clean and orderly chest, worksite, and truck can be a great advertisement for the quality of work you do. I’ve found folks are drawn to a nice chest like moths to a light bulb.

Large chest with inlaid lid — Large joiner’s chest with inlaid lid

What do you look for in a solid chest?

It should be easy to find the tools you want to use and quickly pack and unpack them
Invest in strong but light materials like Eastern White Pine and use denser woods only for wear parts
Do not get caught up with fancy inlays, hidden compartments and nest after nest of drawers
Don’t skimp on the hardware, screws and finish — they will see a lot of hard use over the life of the chest
A strong lid, well secured with a tight fitting dust seal

Front view with drawer's opened — Front view with drawer’s opened

When I built a traveling toolchest for my own work I went with a utilitarian design that functioned much like rolling luggage of today. Inside there is a tray on top, a series of removable drawers to hold planes and small items and some open cubbies that were easily accessible and could be secured behind locking doors. The heavy chest lifts, telescoping handle and wheels make it manageable to move. The drawers can be swapped out depending on the needs of the current project and I could vary the height as needed — having a double deep drawer etc.

Rear view with luggage style handle extended

Tips for laying out the interior of your own chest:

Design your chest from the inside out to fit your current tools and leave room to grow or modify as your tools and interests change over the years
Start with your largest tool — for most it is a No. 7 or No.8 Jointer Plane or panel saws — and segment from there
Tools you use most often should be the easiest to find — marking tools, squares, bench chisels, saws etc
Make something you are proud of — you’ll be using this chest for years to come and it will be regularly inspected by all your woodworking friends
Don’t be afraid to experiment — the great chests all evolved from earlier models, but temper that by remembering that simplicity and expressed construction will often serve you better than lots of glitz without substance

The above principles guide me as I build my own tool chests I and I hope they will help you as get out into the shop and build a chest that is a reflection of your woodworking skills and personality.

You can learn more about my thoughts on Tool Chests on my blog here.

-Bill Rainford

P.S. The above post is an extended version of what I wrote up for my friends over at Popular Woodworking as part of their Daily Woodworking Blog which you can find here.

Historic Places, Museum

How many tools are in your Tool Chest?

July 22, 2013 @TheRainford Leave a comment

Tool chests come in all shapes and sizes — from the hand built traditional joiner’s chest, to a mail order gentleman’s chest, to the plastic fantastic junk you find in big box stores today. Depending on what kind of work you do the number of tools you have in your chest may vary, but at some point I think all traditional craftsmen (and craftswomen) wonder how many tools they can actually fit inside their primary chest.

How many tools can you fit into your tool chest? Don’t worry, if you want to cram in a few extra items before we start counting I’m willing to wait.

Alexander Forbes Tool Chest from the Mid-Late 19th century.

How many tools did you to fit in your chest? How about 500 tools?! That’s right, the tool chest shown here once belonged to Alexander Forbes who was a cabinet maker and Pullman car builder from Cleveland Ohio contained over 500 traditional woodworking tools.

Close up of the Forbes Tool Chest from Ohio

This tool chest is currently on display at the Winterthur Museum and Gardens in Delaware and is part of the 400 Years of Massachusetts Furniture display at the museum.

A sampling of the tools from inside the chest

On the wall behind the chest you will see over 100 tools on display from this chest that dates to about 1880. The tools look like they are in exceptionally good shape and would be right at home on my own workbench. This set is representative of the kinds of tools a cabinetmaker would use to make many of the pieces on display in this exhibit.

Side view of Alexander Forbes Toolchest — Side view of Alexander Forbes Tool-chest

Don’t let the painted and time worn exterior finish fool you, the interior of the chest was well laid out and carefully constructed with mahogany tills proudly inlaid and showing off the woodworking skills of Alexander Forbes. He apparently also had incredible spacial relation skills to fit that many tools into that fairly average sized chest and to it in such a way that the tills etc do not get beat up in the process. Having said that I assume he likely only crammed all the tools in there for longer trips; I would think for efficiency purposes he’d likely partially unpack/deploy tools just to make enough room in the chest to access all the tools he’d need on a daily basis.

Tools for learning the trade of cabinetmaking -- any of which could be found on my own workbench — Tools for learning the trade of cabinetmaking — any of which could be found on my own workbench

The display also went to great lengths to explain how craftsmen learned their trade, how they used various woods and how many pieces were constructed.

Dressing Table parts in varying stages of completeness to demonstrate how it is build. Made by Steve Brown (NBSS CFM Instructor and former Dept. head)

Prominently on display was the partial dressing table shown above which was put together by Steve Brown who is an instructor in the Cabinet and Furniture Making program at the North Bennet Street School in Boston. This carefully constructed sample piece concisely shows the progressive steps it took to make a piece like the period dressing table shown to the left of the tool-chest I’ve been admiring.

Sample of the many chair variations created by Massachusetts craftsmen

Moving beyond the intro, the display shows representative samples of ‘Boston’ style furniture in the collection and the wide variety of the objects created by Massachusetts Bay craftsmen during the last 400 years.

From simple utilitarian stools to high style chest pieces you get a feel for the design elements that representative of the work coming out of Boston and the surrounding area. You will need to visit the exhibit in person to fully experience the depth and variety of style I am talking about.

Floating staircase that was saved from destruction and installed at the museum

Beyond this exhibition which runs through October 6, 2013, there is a LOT more to see and explore at Winterthur. They offer several tours to parts of the house that are not part of the regular admission, including customized tours you can request, so I highly encourage you to schedule some tours of the other floors when you visit. In the fall I heard thy will also have an exhibit on the costumes of Downton Abbey which will be interesting to see along with all the great furniture, architectural elements (many rooms are furnished with the interior trim that was salvaged from historic homes around the country), and beautiful gardens.

If you’d like to learn more about Winterthur, please check out their website here. And if you’d like to learn more about ‘400 Years of Massachusetts Furniture’ which is a series of events throughout the year at a consortium of museums and cultural institutions you can learn more about it here. At the least you’ll learn how to efficiently pack tools in your tool chest….

-Bill

Tool Reviews

Live Free or Die Tool Auction and Sale

April 20, 2013 @TheRainford 3 Comments

The Live Free or Die Tool Auction (and the sale out in the lot out back), also known as the ‘Nashua Tool Show’ is one of the few times a year I am happy to get up at 5am. I rarely if ever go into the actual auction; I spend all my time and money out in the parking lot tracking down odd and old tools on my list and all the things I didn’t know I needed until I found them and realized how I could not live without them. 😉 It’s a great event twice a year and well worth the trip if you are into old hand tools.

Below is a highlight reel from this weekend’s show and sale:

A stout, but short workbench.

An interesting tool tote/tray that holds the tools off the ground for easier access.

Neat antique fire extinguisher grenades by ‘Shur Stop’. I never saw a full technician’s case of them before along with several of the holders for them. If they were exposed to enough heat the hammer would spring like a mouse trap, smash the glass causing a violent chemical reaction that would remove oxygen from the area and hopefully put out the fire. We’ll often see these over old boilers or up in the attics of old homes.

Full Case of Shur Stop Glass Ball Fire Extinguishers

Apparently you could also throw them at the base of a flame — giving them the nickname: ‘Fire Extinguisher Grenade’

If you are living in the 1890s and want to use a 2 man saw to fell a large tree and don’t have any friends willing to help, you should check out this ‘Folding Sawing Machine’ from 1897. It helps hold the saw perpendicular to the tree and allows you to use a lever to push and pull the saw.

A nice oak shave horse or schnitzelbank It was made from heavy oak, pegged and secured with cut nails.

An interesting commercial tool cabinet made from metal with what looked like mediocre post WWII tools.

Saw till on lid closed. Lid back on tool tray in chest -- Nantucket Tool Chest — Saw till on lid closed. Lid back on tool tray in chest — Nantucket Tool Chest

While no Anarchist’s tool chests were to be found this year, this solid old chest, presumably from Nantucket given the huge painted label on the front. It looks like it was based on traditional designs, made in the 20th century but built a bit more like a modern carpenter with very simple joinery compared to a traditional joiner who more likely would have used dovetails, mortise and tenon etc.

Sliding Tool Trays or Tills -- Nantucket Tool Chest — Sliding Tool Trays or Tills — Nantucket Tool Chest

The till lid screws were stripped and was removed for the above photo. There were 3 layers of tills and at least one division on the bottom to divide the bottom compartment of the chest.

Saw Till -- Nantucket Tool Chest — Saw Till — Nantucket Tool Chest

Saw till was protected by a frame and panel that attempted to dress up the chest. The corners of the chest were reinforced with extra wood and hid the joinery, but I suspect the overlapping boards mean that the corners were potentially all nailed together which means this chest was likely built quickly.

The chest lifts were heavy cast lifts that looked of modest quality. It was interesting to see how the dust rim was screwed on.

My new treasures from the show this year

This year I did well. I found all the odd items on my list and only a couple of extras. I picked up a great double gear Miller’s Falls egg beater drill — recommended by Tom Fidgen and love it so far. Also got a nice set of Russel Jennings Pattern Auger bits, a nice Miller’s Falls push drill (just a novelty I wanted to try), and a few books. For my Sloyd related projects I found a real nice transitional jack plane, 2 foot folding rule, bit brace drivers, stanley square etc. As always I had a great time and I’m already looking forward to the September show.

(You can check out what happened last September here.)

Portfolio, Workshop Projects

Those Tools Travel In Style — Rolling Tool Cart

September 26, 2012 @TheRainford Leave a comment

Are you a busy woodworker on the go? Looking for some more hand tool luggage to go with your saw till? Then look no further than this stylish Hand Tool Cart! Its clean lines and stylish fenders will turn heads as you roll from the workshop to the trade show. But wait, there’s more…..

OK, now that we’ve chased that car salesman out of the shop we can talk about the details. I based the design on a ‘Tool Caddy’ I saw in issue 158 of Wood Magazine from 2004; though I made some modifications/additions. I scaled up the width of the chest to fit a #8 plane and panel saws. I built out a full set of drawers to hold planes and marking gauges etc. I added locking clasps on the front so it can be locked. I installed safety chains on both sides of the flip top lid — which is where I store items I use most frequently — combo square, brush, card file, scraper, scale, marking gauge etc. The lid also locks inside the protected zone covered by the main chest doors. The luggage style handle mechanism is made from copper pipe and folds out of the way when not in use. I also added heavy duty chest pulls to aid in maneuvering the chest as it can get heavy fast. I particularly like the fenders as a finishing touch. I also took care to match wood grain across the pieces. The cart is made from birch plywood, finished with 4 coats of polyurethane and 2 coats of wax. I’ve used it for several years now and it has been a great addition to the shop.