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Greetings all,
I have to say thanks for all the old oldtools messages - there's a whole =
lot of stuff to be learned by reading the archive.
My name is Pete Bergstrom. I'm a software developer for a large, Dow 30 =
company by day, so it's really nice to go unplugged at least a few hours =
a week. I spent a few years in Arizona on a project for my employer, and =
that's where I got hooked on a galootish form of photography, large =
format. This is the sort of camera with really sweet lenses, sheet film, =
large tripods, and great capabilities for contortions to get it *just* =
right. Seriously, I get the same pitying looks from friends and =
neighbors when I let them know of the pleasures of both LF and neander =
woodworking. They absolutely seem to desert the neighborhood when I =
bring a handsaw to my backyard and cut boards. On the contrary, they've =
all come running when I'm shattering the peace of the neighborhood with =
noise with a skils*w.
I've done the photography for a bunch of years now, but the addition of =
a child has made it hard to devote the blocks of time needed.
My wife and I settled back in St. Paul after the Arizona experience, and =
we've got an older house (1927) with room for the family and a couple of =
cubbyholes in the basement for my darkroom and my woodshop (there, I've =
finally gotten around to the reason for delurking).
In the last year, I've really been just getting started. I cleaned up =
some of my grandfather's tools: an old 12 inch Duro bandsaw, a small =
drill press, and misc small tools. All of this had been left in unheated =
sheds for the last 15 years, but at least they weren't getting directly =
rained and snowed on. New tires, a motor, and a blade went to the =
bandsaw and it now does a good job in resawing.
I spent much of last winter building my workbench. In my 6x11 foot shop, =
it takes up a lot of space, but is big and sturdy. It'll stay with the =
house since it's too big to get out in one piece, so I made it to last, =
hopefully at least another 73 years. I'm now building tool cabinets from =
maple & elm trees harvested from the back yard and then bandsawn. The =
neighbor across the alley had a nice black walnut tree cut down and =
hauled away before I could offer to haul it away first. Darn.
This spring, after scanning the archives, I made a frame saw using =
Sandvik blade - crude but fun to use. Now I'm getting around to a more =
refined version. I also have a couple of small framesaw examples from my =
grandfather to base this upon. It's really been nice to recover a little =
bit of the connection I had with my grandfather when he was alive.=20
With my son turning 2 this summer, Saturday mornings have turned into a =
time for the two of us to drive around and find tools around town. =
Trying to stay within the limits of a small space, swinging by Seven =
Corners Hardware, Rockler, and Woodcraft only gets you so far before you =
wonder what people did before woodworking power came through wires.
Toolhunting this summer has turned up, IMHO, a fair haul:=20
- thumbhole D8. High quality user- I hesitate to admit that the handle =
is eminently fondleable... Of course, nobody else needs to try one of =
these out - they really feel horrible. I'll just do my best to spare =
everyone else the agony. Send all those terrible things to me.
- a D9, a D15, a D23 & a few other various Disstons & Atkins saws. I =
even bought one saw for the nuts. uh oh.
- MF Acme Langdon 74C miter box with MF etched, Disston & Sons-stamped =
back saw (26 long by 5 under the back). Not a great handle next to the =
thumbhole D8, so it looks like I'll have to try making a new one this =
winter. I'll probably get to make a few.
- Disston & Sons back saw (24 long by 3 3/4 under the back). Just got =
this one, had to separate it from a Stanley miter box (it looked old and =
in fairly good condition, but I think having two miter boxes in a tiny =
shop makes me a collector, not a user).
- Disston & Sons brass backed saw (13 long by 3 under the back), closed =
handle
- Disston & Sons back saw (14 long by 4 under the back), closed handle
- saw sharpening vise. Only marking is 40 on face and whoever cleaned it =
up painted it up with battleship gray paint. Once I found this, it =
clearly became essential to acquire lots of saws since I could sharpen =
them all differently for various uses, right? Crosscutting vs ripping, =
hardwood vs softwood, fast vs fine, etc. Lots of combinations...
- old, unmarked sawset. In line to be prepared for fine tpi use. These =
seem to be really scarce. I turned this one up at the bottom of a drawer =
full of junk at a barren estate sale.=20
- MF 9 1/2 with articulated lever cap & adjusting screw on frog. Good =
shape & it tuned up nicely. It feels really nice to turn out a long =
curly one.
- 2 other MF-manufactured planes of same size-a Fulton 3710 and a Dunlap =
4DBB. Need threaded rod for depth adjusting knob (actually bought the =
Dunlap, a complete plane, for the rod to be put in the good MF).=20
- smooth plane with only mark on casting being 'R # 4 1/2' right =
between the frog and the tote. The blade is engraved Lakeside. Had a =
light coat of rust ($5 gamble) but light electrolysis cleaned it up & =
left a nice patina.=20
- Stanley #71, patent date March 4, 84. Bought this on eb*y, but still =
like what I got. Now I can do a nice job inlaying the blade on the =
Gunterman shave I'm redoing in maple.
- Sweetheart logo #80 scraper (blade and tension bar marked) patent =
dates 6/2/14, 6/23/14
- delicate-looking iron spokeshave, 'Stanley Rule & Level Co.' on blade
- MF 1710 brace and miscellaneous bits. I updated the jaws with a spring =
loaded set and it's pretty slick now.
- Yankee #35, cute little thing, 3 patent dates. Last one Oct. 9, 00 and =
still works well & looks good. Seems like nickel over brass; there are a =
few wear marks.
- Yankee #41, looks the same as the one my dad bought 25 years ago.=20
- Goodell-Pratt breast drill. Patent on crank handle Mar 31, 1896. =
Patent on chuck Aug 13, 1895. Amazingly clean & pretty-nickel or chrome =
and paint in good shape but has tape keeping the halves of the fixed =
handle on the bolt. What was the original wood for handles on these?=20
I'm not offering any of these for sale, but please let me know if =
anything is particularly rare before I put it to good use. I do take =
good care of my tools, and these ought to all be usable by my =
grandchildren.
Now the big question on my mind is whether or not the patent dates =
roughly date the tools? Obviously the tools can't predate the patent, =
but is it reasonable to assume that they were manufactured within 17 =
years of the marked date?=20
The second question is how to explain the need for more saws, planes and =
other tools once the comparison to SWMBO's sewing needles wears too =
thin? (you wouldn't be able to sew all kinds of clothes with just one =
needle, right?) The trouble is, she doesn't have a whole lot more =
needles than I have saws... She's not buying it for that increasing pile =
of wood, either.
My third question is why isn't anybody making nice saws of the bigger =
variety (as distinct from the ITs by L-N)? Is it hard to do the forming, =
are there too many existing saws that are just good enough so there =
isn't much of a market? I would think that with St. James Bay, Knight =
Toolworks, Lie-Nielsen, Williams & Clark, Hock, Bridge City and so forth =
making small quantities of tools, someone would be able to sell a few =
hundred saws a year as well. I guess there's the IT and Adria =
experience, but wouldn't you all be willing to buy one or two $200, =
taper-ground, tiger-maple handled saws each year? You need one for =
ripping hardwoods, one for ripping softwoods, one for crosscutting =
hardwoods, one for crosscutting softwoods, fast and smooth versions of =
all those, miter box versions... That takes up the next few years of =
birthdays and Christmases for me, maybe a little less if I tackle some =
new projects around the house. Now that the Superior Works #1 is in =
production, surely there's another opportunity ahead? Heck, at least =
half would never touch a block of wood if a little marketing went =
towards the yuppie crowd ;). No, really I don't have a problem.=20
Really
Best,
Pete
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