Screwdrivers - wood handled - Where?

[Wayne Sparkman]

Back when I first got into woodworking in the late 1970's, there were nice boxwood handled sets of cabinetmaker's screwdrivers offered for sale.

Does anyone make anything like that today? Woodcraft stores don't even stock screwdrivers, I'm told. And I don't seem 'em in the catalogs either.
Am I just not looking in the right place? I know LN has an outrageously priced set (I like the cherry handles) that are designed specifically for use on their line of planes, but I'm looking for just a basic, but very nice, set of wood handled screwdrivers, sort of like the Marples set that used to be available.

(Garrett Wade has a German import set, but they're square handled, and kinda ugly--too auto mechanic-ish, in my opinion).

[Matt Benton]

I saw these at my local woodcraft today. Don't know if they come in a box...

http://www.woodcraft.com/Product/2020354/21963/4-Piece-Cabinet-Maker-s-Screwdriver-Set.aspx#

[Wayne Sparkman]

That'll do nicely. Like I said, I must be looking in the wrong places.

On a related note, has the supply of boxwood dried up? I thought I saw something to that effect. 20 years away from woodworking, and I've got some catching up to do.

Even with this Woodcraft listing, its a clearance item. Does no one drive screws anymore by hand?

[Matt Benton]

Here's an option for the boxwood...

http://www.historicships.com/Wood/BoxwoodStrips.htm

[David Gendron]

You can find some of these "turne screw" at the best thing website http://www.thebestthings.com/newtools/turnscrews.htm

[george wilson]

Brownell's Gunsmith Supply sells sets of Grace screwdrivers that aren't too expensive,and have their ends ground to not bugger up slotted screws.

I still have my 1960's set of boxwood handled Marples screwdrivers. Long time ago they changed to beechwood.

[Richard Jones]

I actually ordered the set of screwdrivers from WC since they had free shipping. While I was there, I also got another G3 chuck, some 75mm jaws, and a bunch of 3X sandpaper, all with free shipping. Is it bad to start with spending $20 and ending up with almost $300?

I'm thinking yes.............

Rich

[Jeff Willard]

On a related note, has the supply of boxwood dried up?

Short answer-yes. Longer answer-there's still some out there, if you want to seek it out. It's hard to find, and when you do find it, it tends to be spendy. Usually only very small sections suitable for small turnings or carvings. Think about it, when was the last time you saw a new boxwood folding rule for sale?

The Best Things have the Crown turnscrews available, made in England with beech handles, but not at a price anywhere near the set at Woodcraft.

[Wayne Sparkman]

Matt: Thanks. That link will be a help in repairing some of my old planes.

David: That's the style I was trying to find! Not boxwood but close. (Looking to finish my set--I hate incompleteness.)

[David Gendron]

Thanks for the link Matt, I just place my order... with out looking at other stuff... I'm so smart....
at that price with the look they have if they don't work, they will at least look good in the cabinet door;)

[george wilson]

Boxwood today is not properly slowly seasoned today as it was in years past. There was a big discussion about this months ago. Some did not believe me about how boxwood was seasoned in a big manure pile. When we made boxwood folding rules for the museum,we had a time finding box that would stay straight. The reject rate was terrible. We used Maraciabo box(sp?) in the end,though it was sold to us as Castello box. We had Castello box from a different source,and it was different from the final choice,more "rubbery",and not as brittle,but still warped like crazy.

The rule project was a big pain in the neck due to getting stable wood,making the little brass folding joints,and graduating them. And,what we had when we were done were only folding rules! It was the only way to get authentic ones,though.

You can easily find box big enough to make screwdriver handles around here,but the old ones were turned oval. You could make them round and file the oval in. Some old ones were turned round,and had big flat spots on each side. Some had flat spots that were made to a convex surface(sounds contradictory!). Depends upon how badly you want them.

The semi-square handled Grace screwdrivers are actually better,but the wine colored stain on the handles needs to be stained darker,and finished over with oil or something.

[Tony Zaffuto]

Wayne,

"Both Tools for Working Wood" and "The Best Things" carry what you're after. I also think "Traditional Woodworker" also does, but I have not seen one of the catalogs in a few years.

T.Z.

[Tony Zaffuto]

George,

How much seasoning of lumber was done this or in a similar way? I remember Gene Langdon stating years ago about his having stacks of walnut outside of his shop for years, covered in naturally accumulated mud and muck.

In 2003 (remember the year well because it was one on the last things my Father and I did before he passed away), my Father & uncle purchased some property and buildings from the estate of a guy they knew for years. My Father told me to stop down, that he had stacks of lumber I should take. To make a long story short, you couldn't see the stacks of wood! Weeds, dirt etc., had totally covered the apearance of stacked lumber. The guy who sold them the property was in his 90's (my Dad & uncle were in the 80's), and said he cut the lumber more than 50 years earlier.

The lumber turned out to be primarily cherry, some poplar and some maple. Much of it has rotted away, but with a bit of work, there is much still useable. The cherry has the deepest, darkest red hues I've ever seen in lumber. Poplar if polar! Most of the maple that was not rotted away had much spalting.

Needless to say, the pieces I have made, are built, using the stash, for example, for table tops and drawer fronts.

T.Z.

[george wilson]

I don't know what percentage of box was prepared in this way. Box for woodwind instruments was,and for folding rules.

As for the wood you saw,walnut is probably ore durable than cherry to be buried. The use of manure might have been different from just burying in dirt,too.

[Frank Drew]

I still have my 1960's set of boxwood handled Marples screwdrivers.

Me too, from about 1970; I also bought quite a number of boxes of various size and length straight-slot wood screws, most of which I never ended up using because Phillips-head sheet rock screws began to be widely available and had a lot of advantages over the tapered, straight-slot screws.

[David Keller NC]

True English boxwood is just about unfindable, in my experience. Partly that is because it is very slow-growing; a 3" trunk may have taken a century to form. The other part to the equation is that it is highly prized for tool handles; Sorby buys most of it in the UK for their chisel handles.

However, you can get Turkish boxwood from this supplier:

http://site.mynet.com/octopuswoodworks/boxwood/

Turkish (mediterranean) boxwood is what Stanley used for their rules in the late 19th century before the supply was exhausted and they switched to Maracaibo.

One other way to get some if you live in the East is to visit the landscapers at an older University. In many cases, they throw out large cuttings when the centuries-old boxwoods on the grounds need pruning. Roy Underhill mentioned this method in last week's TWWS episode.

[george wilson]

My journeyman and I rescued boxwood cuttings up to 5" in diameter when the powers that be decided that a very large old hedge was blocking the view of the river at a plantation that Williamsburg owned.

Landscape dept. didn't tell us toolmakers about it. we had to get the wood from a deep gorge where they threw it in a hard rain. Then,we stored it with sealed ends in our shop. It still wasn't real dry even 10 or 12 years later.It would shrink when we made something out of it even after that length of time. We did make things like awl handles out of it.

Much of it is still there now that I am retired.