In general, timber frame structures are incredibly solid and stable. Here is a great example of the stability when 344 people gathered to lift a barn and move it by hand and foot from one location to another.
Barn Moving
Previously
- Mallet Head Angle
I’ve seen this issue come up and get discussed on several forums. A joiners mallet is pretty simple to make, so it is a quick and satisfying shop project to get one constructed, but then the question arises, “what angle should be put on the head?” This is an important question with advice ranging from […]
- Tuning Up a Cheap Spokeshave
For years I have been keeping my eye out for a rounded bottom spokeshave (convex, front to back). I have an old Stanley 151M flat soled spokeshave that works quite well and I wanted a vintage round bottom Stanley 151R to match. Unfortunately they seem to be kind of rare, or on eBay the photos […]
- Chisel – Long Lost Brother
Tool owner stamps always intrigue me. When I pick up one of my old wood planes and look at the layers of old owner stamps on them, I wonder who they were and what they did. Were they carpenters, or just hobbyists? Did they pass them on to their children? Did they save up for […]
- Portable Chisel Rack
For years I have kept my chisels in a drawer. I keep covers on the tips so they don’t damage each other, but as my chisel collection has grown, the drawer has gotten crowded and is just not the best way to store and access them repeatedly. So I decided to make a chisel rack. […]
- 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 […]