Some old Stanley hammers -- I like the look of old tools, so these old timers are my favorites. The large plain face nail hammer on the right is a Stanley #91 1/2. The traditional bell shaped nail hammer is marked Stanley, and I don't know who made the framing hammer. Some of my other hammers include these two small hammers, each less than 6 oz. I use the one with the brass head to tap the irons in wooden planes. Also an Osborne tack hammer, an old cobbler's hammer marked Crispin, Yellow Label, Whitcher, Boston, and a 12 oz French pattern hammer marked Acier Fondu.
Joiner's mallets -- The beech mallet on the right is a Marples #7715, and the one on the left was shop made from desert ironwood. The head on this mallet is considerably heavier than the beech mallet, and the hickory hammer handle fits my hands much better. The two mallets with cast iron heads were found in an antique store. They are machinists hammers, and typically have copper and rolled rawhide inserts. I made rolled leather inserts for one using belt leather. This is my favorite mallet for driving a tenon into a mortise joint. The other has leather faced hardwood inserts, easy on a wooden surface, but with less give than the rolled belt leather.
Carving mallets are fun and easy to make. Here are two carving mallets which I turned on my lathe. The heads are bois-d'arc (osage orange) which is fairly dense. The ash handles extend completely through the head and are turned somewhat oversize to fit my hands.
This rawhide mallet was probably used in the leather working trade to strike cutting dies and punches but could also be used to strike heavy chisels such as those used for timber framing. There are 16 leather discs which are 3 1/2" in diameter and the mallet weighs over 3 pounds.
A
wheelwright's mallet was
used to drive the spokes into the hub of a wagon wheel and also
to drive felloe segments onto the spokes. Most often these were
made from a broken felloe and this traditional shape has carried
over to the beech joiner's mallet at the top of this photo.
A set of Marples cabinet makers screwdrivers with oval boxwood handles are used to drive traditional slotted screws. These Stanley Hurwood screwdrivers show the wear you might expect from several decades of use but will definitely outlast this owner.
Small tool holders -- The two rosewood tool handles at the top of the photo were made by Sargent and show a patent date of August 12, 1884. The smaller rosewood tool handle on the right was made by Millers Falls and the one on the left by Buell Brothers -- Clinton, Conn. All of these tool handles, sometimes called woodworkers combination tools, have been hollowed out to hold various points and bits.
A hand vise is used to grip small items, especially when being shaped at a grinder. This tiny hand vise was used by jewelers.
A clapboard gauge is used to uniformly space clapboard siding. The Stanley #89 clapboard gauge has a handle which tilts to either side forcing a spur into a lower siding thus freeing up the carpenter's hands to nail siding to the building. The clapboard gauge is used in conjunction with a marker, such as this Stanley #88 clapboard siding marker which is used to scribe a line on the clapboard to coincide exactly with the edge of the corner casing against which it is to be fit. Because of the multiple points on the marker, a movement of less than an inch is required to scribe a line.
Here are a couple of mahogany body Stanley levels, a #259 torpedo level and an antique 28" #5. The brass on this old timer is in great shape and carries patent dates of November 11, 1862 and July 2, 1872. The spirit levels are adjustable.
Stanley also made wooden body levels from cherry. The 26" level is a Stanley #3 and the 12" level is a Stanley #104.
This Stanley #36 9" level was included with another item that I purchased on eBay -- I didn't pay much attention to it until it arrived in the mail. It has two patent dates, both in 1896. Kind of neat actually.
A shop made maple and brass veneer hammer, veneer saw, seam rollers, and veneer pins. Veneering is best done with an old fashioned double wall cast iron glue pot and warm hide glue.
Brad pushers are used to force a brad or small nail dropped in the tube into the corner of a picture frame or some other project. The one with a black handle was made in England, the other made in the USA by Hunter Tool.
The
Stanley #77 dowel and rod machine
is used to make dowels. My machine
came with 4 cutters, 1/4",
3/8", 1/2" and 3/4".
The Stanley #59 dowel jig uses interchangeable steel guide sleeves to position the drill bit. The one at the bottom of the photo is an older type. A dowel sizing plate is positioned over a hole on the end of the bench top so dowels can be driven through an appropriate hole in the plate to make sure they are round and correctly sized. Dowels can be made using rounding cutters, but I usually make mine on my metal lathe using a compound rest.
Thumbscrew wrenches made from hardwood -- My old fingers sometimes lack the strength to loosen a tight thumbscrew. I made these to tighten and loosen the thumbscrews on hacksaw frames, the depth stop on my drill press, the tank drain on my compressor, and the large thumbscrew on my router.
And finally, the two items without which a shop cannot function.
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