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 think it strange that I mention a man I had never met by name, but I feel it is interesting to have some history on the tools that enter my collection and this blog is the best place I can think of to archive that. He had a huge collection of useable tools and it seemed like they were well used. For the three $20 bills I had in my pocket, this is what I came away with.
These estate sale tools are ready for use in my shop
The cache of tools consisted of:
- Disston 4 backsaw with 6″ deep, 28″ blade (26″ of teeth). From 1896-1917 (likely for use in a miter box)
- Disston 8 Rip saw 26″ 5TPI with with thumb hole tote From 1896-1917
- Disston-HK Porter D23 Rip Saw 26″ 5-1/2TPI (some time after 1955)
- 130A North Brothers Yankee Drill (the smaller of the two shown)
- 131A North Brothers Yankee Drill
- 2″ wide Buck Brother’s Skew Chisel
- Nicholson Half-round 12″ File
- Kearney & Foot 14″ Half Round File (no handle)
- Nicholson 12″ long 1/2″ dameter round Rasp
- Triangular File 10″ long 3/4″ faces (Poland?
- Norton Oil stone in wood box
- Craftsman Diagonal Cutters (modern)
- Craftsman Linesman Pliers (modern)
- 6 green sanding pads
Fortunately this back saw is still in original shape. Sadly the thumbhole tote has been coated in thick poly... that will have to be removed.
The saws are all in good condition. My only complaint is that the previous owner had a real love of thickly applied polyurethane on his saw handles. Fortunately he left it off the old miter saw. Cleaning that off of the thumbhole rip saw is not going to be fun, but it needs to come off.
The modern Craftsman pliers and diagonal cutters seem out of place next to their much older tool brothers.
The North Brother Yankee Drills are impressive. The little one is in perfect working shape while the larger one seems to be missing its return spring. However that seems to not be a problem. Given its size, this is more of a two-hand tool so you end up holding the sleeve which extends the ratchet without a problem.
It is hard to get a sense of scale on this. The files are all over a foot long and the Buck Bros Skew chisel is 2" wide. It is a monster.
Going through someone’s old woodshop is both interesting and a bit sad. The family was unsure of what they had and what to do with all the tools. There were easily 40 hand saws alone in his collection. The planes and chisels were gone by the time I got there. I did my best to respect both the tools and the family as I looked through what was there. It did give me pause to consider how my tools will be passed on and what my shop will look like when it happens. Hopefully when the time comes, my son will still have as much interest in them as he shows now.
How can you not love the sight of boy carrying a saw that is longer than he is tall.
Rest in peace Bud, at least some of your tools will be well used, and appreciated.
Previously
- 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
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- 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
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- Hand Drill Refurbished
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- Timberframing with Plywood
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- Shaving Ladder
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- Woodworking with Old Eyes
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- Wood and Tool Blogs I Read
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- Scrub Plane Iron Cambering
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- Bandsaw Milling Sled
I had a need to take relatively small diameter (~8″) logs and mill them into lumber. I have a lot of fallen cedar trees in the area and I wanted to be able to mill some logs for use. I researched a lot of bandsaw sleds for re-sawing, but they all seemed to have the limitation of […]
- Double Cedar Chaise Lounge
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- Galoot Books for Kids
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- Rip Sawing an Old Log
While doing the preparation for building a cedar double chaise lounge, I had collected several old fallen red cedar logs from the forest surrounding our home. It seemed that one of the logs turned out to be more than my bandsaw could handle (8.5" re-saw clearance) . The log was close to 14" in diameter. […]
- Handscrew Dogs
I often need different ways to hold wood while working on it. Generally, the better it is held, the more accurate my work. Dog holes on a bench can be used to hold wood in a variety of clever ways, and here is another new addition. Handscrew dogs! Take two ordinary handscrews and add one […]
- Planing Cams
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- Carpenter’s Toolbox Time Capsule
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- Craftsman Dropping Tape Measures
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