Posts by «swirt»

• Old Tools Passed On

I was fortunate to spend several weeks around the holidays soaking up some sun in Florida and spending time with my family.  Time with my wife and son on the beach was gift No 1 and brings a smile to my face just thinking about it…especially as I look out the window now at the […]

• Making Chisel Handles

In the last post I showed off some newly made socket chisel handles and justified the use of octagonal shaping on the back section.  If you liked the finished product and wanted to see how I made them, then this post is for you.  Ideally, if I were some kind of master sculptor I could […]

• Replacement Chisel Handles

I have an odd collection of chisels ranging from a couple of modern plastic handled abominations to several old Stanley 750’s , an old Witherby, a PS&W and a D.R. Barton.  I am gradually replacing the plastic handled chisels as I find older socket handled varieties. I like my old chisels, some belonged to my […]

• Early American Lumber

I found this painting online.  It was first published in the National Park Service publication New Discoveries at Jamestown: Site of the First Successful English Settlement in America.  The painting is artist, Sydney King’s  interpretation of the lumber industry in colonial Jamestown.  I find the painting fascinating as it focuses on so many aspects of […]

• Saw: Atkins 53

My son and I were on our way to the grocery store the other day, and on the way there, we saw a sign for a barn sale.  I got a big smile on my face and said, “Do you want to go see if they have any old tools?” … he answered… I’m pretty […]

• Cheney Hammer

I wrote a while back about my Grandfather’s Belknap Bluegrass Hammer so now I turn my old tool spotlight to my Father’s Cheney Bell Face Hammer with the very cool and functional ball bearing nail holder.  This hammer was made by the Cheney Hammer Co. in Little Falls NY. The head on the Cheney hammer […]

• Clamp Handle Supersize

I have a few of the standard Bessey F-clamps.  They are well made and seem to hold up well.  My only real complaint with them is that the handles are too small in diameter.  The small diameter makes it more difficult to tighten them enough.  To improve them I needed to make a quick and […]

• Clamp Rack

My clamps have been pretty much an accident waiting to happen.  They’ve been hanging from various pieces of floor joist from the ceiling of my basement shop.  It’s been on my to-do list for a while to make a clamp rack.  It is funny how sometimes things just cause certain items on a to-do list […]

• Friday Shavings

Sometimes when Friday arrives, your mind can’t help but wander outside the lines. Like pondering whether the Lee Valley catalog arrives in Gotham City at the same time it arrives for the rest of us. Holy Veritas Dovetail Saw Batman! OR…. wondering if with the recent wave of KerfMaker spin-offs on LumberJocks, Sawstop owners will […]

• Making Square Stock Octagonal

As I’ve been practicing using my lathe for a little while, I find I can save a lot of work and prevent loose fillings by starting with stock that is octagonal in shape.  I have also found that octagons make for great tool handles.  So for either use, it is handy to be able to […]

• Furniture: The Mike Jarvi Method

This video is making the rounds on woodworking forums as fast as the barefoot woodturning video.  Mike Jarvi has developed a method for making a bench or table out of a single slab of wood.  In this very slick production video you get to see the entire process from log to finished product as he […]

• Lathe Technique: Nothing but Skew

I built a spring lathe a little while back, then a mini spring lathe version and since then, I have been practicing my technique.  After I screw a bunch of stuff up, I often go browse YouTube to see examples of people doing it right.  One video that caught a lot of attention was the […]

• Hamilton Hammer?

My grandfather passed away a decade ago at a ripe old age.  Like many from his time, there was nothing he couldn’t do in the line of handywork.  Carpenter, farmer, mechanic, plumber.  He was a woodworker only out of necessity, but did not dabble in fine furniture or hobby woodworking.  He built what he needed […]

• Bungee Mini Lathe

When I was designing my first bungee lathe in my head, there was a competing idea kicking around in there.  I chose to build the lathe using the pipe clamps because it gave me unlimited length.  I was perfectly happy with that lathe and I needed nothing more, but this other idea, kept kicking around.  […]

• Galoot Gloats about Tools

I knew it would happen.  I built my saw rack with a limited number of slots, then I go to an estate sale.  The estate sale was for a woodworker by the name of  .  He passed away last year and now some of his tools have made their way to my shop.  You may […]

• Saw Till with Balls

My current saw holder was troubled.  It was nothing more than a series of 10D nails pounded into a 2×4 mounted to the wall.  This was fine when I only had a couple of saws, but as I added more saws and began using them more, it became cumbersome.  It suffered from a few problems: […]

• Bungee Cord Lathe

My taste in woodworking has not yet taken me down the road of turned pieces.  I really have had no need of a lathe except for on rare occasion when I want to replace a handle on a chisel or some other tool.   So far I have muddled through with working the pieces into shape […]

• Zona Deluxe Razor Saw

Based on a recommendation by saw and handtool guru Christopher Schwarz, I ordered a Zona Deluxe Razor Saw for cutting some fine dovetails.  I have a couple of boxes I need to make and was looking for a dovetail saw that was a little more precise than the ones I had.   The Deluxe Razor Saw […]

• Wood Properties

Steve Branam at the Close Grain blog just made a fantastic post that covers all the basics and quite a bit more of the Properties of Wood It covers the following wood topics quite effectively: Wood Toxicity and Allergen Safety Hardwood and Softwood Moisture Content and Movement Sapwood and Heartwood Grain Flatsawn and Quartersawn Lumber […]

• Hand Drill Refurbished

I have a Millers Fall No 77 Hand drill (eggbeater style) that was my Dad’s.  I use it for small diameter drilling as it is not one of Miller’s Falls more powerful versions.  It serves me well, but the handle on it is too small in diameter, and has always been a little wobbly.  My […]