Inexpensive tools that become shop favorites....

Re: Inexpensive tools that become shop favorites..

Buck Nall

Rod ya got ya self a ice pick, use one many, many times, yeaw paw sold ice 8mi. from town and a paved road. Got to learn about different ppl growing up.

Re: Inexpensive tools that become shop favorites..

Barry Irby

I have a General dial caliper that can measure in 1/100" and 1/64" increments. Not sure they still make them, but there are other brands available. I use them almost every time I am in the shop. I have another set that measure to 1/1000" but I don't use them as often. The General set is plastic and the others are stainless steel. I like the General ones well enough that I bought a second set. Less than $15.

ditto......

roger lance

That is not an ice pick

Joe shelton

It clearly is an awl. And they never gave those away at the ice house.

Re: Inexpensive tools that become shop favorites..

James

I have a hammer I bought as a teen in an auction house. Paid a $1 for a grab bag and the hammer was in it. Just a 16oz claw, but boy would it pick out nails. It would drive nails like a champ. Used it to build curved stairways with my Dad. In fact he took quite a liking to it. While I went to college he was using it. When I came home I noticed it had a new handmade handle of oak. I still use this no name hammer and it's within easy reach, but I no longer pull nails with it as Dad ain't around to put in a new handle for me. I've had it 'bout 46 years there abouts.

Automatic center punch for me...

JL

I do a lot of spindle turning for legs, stretchers, spindles, rolling pins, etc. I also use it for marking where to drill. A nice, inexpensive tool.

I could use an awl, but the auto center punch means I don't have to put the effort into it

Re: Inexpensive tools that become shop favorites..

John Veerkamp

I find kelly clamps to be extremely useful. they come in different sizes with both straight and curved tips. Great for holding sandpaper for hard to reach places inside turnings.

Re: ditto......Won't corrode!!

Re: That is not an ice pick

Buck Nall

NO SIR WE DIDN'T GIVE'M AWAY EITHER, IF WE HAD PAW WOULD OV TORE US UP. THEY ARE TOUGH AND DON'T BREAK LIKE SLENDER ICE PICKS, BEEN THERE DONE ALL OF THAT.

Re: Inexpensive tools that become shop favorites..

Derek Cohen (in Perth, Australia)

The tools that get reached for most are those used for marking out.

A scratch awl is used to mark lengths (this is better than a knife, since a point is very specific and a knife mark is not), as well as drill points.

The awl I go to is the lower one here ..

I simply converted a screw bit ...

This has the advantage of being able to swap out the awl bit for a screw bit. Damned useful tool!

The second tool I use just as much is a marking knife. This one from Stanley is just so versatile ...

Blue tape!

Dovetail markers made from brass angle ...

The 4" Moore & Wright square on the right is my daily user. Picked up at a swap meet ...

I have a few Japanese cutting gauges I modified and converted to single cutters.

Excellent sliding bevel (and I have Chris Vespers as well) ..

Regards from Perth

Derek

Smash-made knives....used files...

David Weaver

made by heating a used (and worn out) file, hammering it near flat, and then trimming it, reheating and retempering.

Great as marking knives, some as thin as reasonable, and easy to sharpen with a deburring wheel and a buff without ever really getting blunt (too thin to be blunt feeling).

The file steel is really plain, so it doesn't hold a wire edge. The buffing wheel has a wax/abrasive stick in it, so the blades get waxed as part of sharpening and don't rust.

And best of all, since they don't cost anything, you can beat them and not feel like you're potentially wasting money.

Tsk-Tsk

Mark Mandell - Gone Round In New Jersey

Not folded, David? Even once?

haha...

David Weaver

..I don't have the heat setup to do any of that stuff. I can get small things like plane irons and small knives to about 1900 degrees, but that's about it.

I was on a bender months ago wanting to make some knives and a set of chisels that don't retain a wire edge (similar to straight razor type steel).

These are close - they are ugly, but I'm happy with them. They sharpen like a dream on a deburring wheel and buff.

Re: Smash-made knives....used files...

JL

I sometimes get HSS blanks from the metal dealers (mostly round and square stock). They make decent turning tools. If I had a way to cut the bar stock - that might make an interesting knife

I have five

A.J. Hamler

Actually, eight, but two of them are sets.

I did a blog on this about two years ago, and took this photo at the time.

Clockwise from left --

An old icepick (I got from my peaw, probably), converted to shop use. The handle is sanded down so it would fit a rack I used to have.

Millers Falls nail sets numbers 802, 803 and 804. These were already old when I got them. No idea their actual age.

A set of calipers that were, again, already ancient when I got them.

My father-in-law's hammer.

A Stanley level my mom (meaw?) bought me about the time I went out on my own in the early '70s.

Not in this photo is an ancient Stanley flat screwdriver that I know is in the shop somewhere, but I can't find it.

Favorites, all.

A.J.

Two

Wiley Horne

When installing small moldings or glass stops, I pilot for the brads using a North Bros. 1530 or 1530A hand drill:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/78661951@N07/49684050051/in/dateposted-public/

It has a very small side clearance, which is mighty useful:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/78661951@N07/49684049921/in/dateposted-public/

Also, a frequently used little bitty hammer, originally from a sawsmith’s shop:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/78661951@N07/49683542008/in/dateposted-public/

Wiley

That hammer...

John in NM

Looks a bit like the ones used for hand stitching rasps.

Re: That hammer...

Wiley Horne

Yes, it does. It’s small though, has a tiny little eye, about 3/16 x 5/8. It’s the general shape of a forging hammer, but surely for light duty.

Here it is with two others from the same forge:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/78661951@N07/49684691366/in/dateposted-public/

Wiley

Wiley...

David Weaver

...I really admire your hammer habit!!

Two more....

David Weaver

Drawer grooving plane for 1/2 inch drawers. Costs little in time to make and almost no money.

Drawer grooving plane https://imgur.com/a/OQJ5nyd

Pictures at link.

And my favorite smoother. A common 1960s or so Stanley smoother. I made the iron in it, but no other changes. As capable as any plane, and not sticky or overweight.

Khaya Stanley https://imgur.com/a/rSp4srp

Drawer grooving plane

Wiley Horne

David,

You say simple plane, but there were a couple of design decisions. The bedding angle looks to be at least 50 degrees—is that right? Also, the distance that the iron stands off from the fence—you designed that to place the groove in the center of the bottom tail?

Wiley

Re: Drawer grooving plane

David Weaver

Hi, Wiley - 55 degrees on the bed (it has to go both ways and I don't like it to rip up the top of the cut too badly going against the grain. I guess it could be a better plane with a nicker, but I haven't found it necessary.

Yes on the gap - it's a good combination of enough room to put the groove in the bottom tail and to give the bottom of the drawer support and room for wear (however it will be installed).

The iron is relieved on both sides and just slightly wider than the runner so that it will cut cleanly and not bind. More sensible than a router table or a good TS setup? Probably not. But it does allow doing things by hand with less awkwardness and a cleaner groove than most plow planes.

Re: Drawer grooving plane

Wiley Horne

Thanks! I also notice you relieved the wedge in the middle to be sure of positive contact with the iron at top and bottom. Okay, I’m done .

Wiley