A couple of hand drills and some sort of drill bits.

[Joseph D'Orazio]

Hi. Its nice to meet yall. I have an interest in furniture making. I've purchased some basic power tools but I am in need of a good router and table.

My Father has handed me some hand drills and some bits that have been being handed down since my Great Grand Father. My Father did not use them. I want to learn to use more hand tools in this craft. I am brand new to woodworking and have no skills yet. So far I have built two little garden benches that have yet to have a finish applied.

I sought this forum out because I would like to learn about hand planes, which ones I need, how to use them, and how to care for them. As you can see, the hand tools I got from my Dad are in poor shape. I would like to restore them as best as I can. I would like to restore that drill bit box too.

Nice to meet yall.

[george wilson]

I wonder what use he had for a speed indicator? That is usually a machinist's tool,not a woodworker's.

[Joseph D'Orazio]

I wonder what use he had for a speed indicator? That is usually a machinist's tool,not a woodworker's.

I really dont know. I did know it was not a wood tool but I took a picture of it anyway. As far as I know, none of my recent relatives were woodworkers. I just have a want to learn how to do it. I'm in my 40's and I have to time on my hands. I am into gardening and I wouldnt mind making garden type furniture and I have a thing for wooden boxes. I would like to learn how to make a good box.

[Brian Ward]

My Father has handed me some hand drills and some bits that have been being handed down since my Great Grand Father. My Father did not use them. I want to learn to use more hand tools in this craft. [...]

I sought this forum out because I would like to learn about hand planes, which ones I need, how to use them, and how to care for them. As you can see, the hand tools I got from my Dad are in poor shape. I would like to restore them as best as I can. I would like to restore that drill bit box too.


Among other stuff, you have two braces and a box of auger bits. Those are great, versatile, and fun tools. The braces look like they're in okay shape--you might need to do a little cleaning and lubrication. Some of the bits actually don't look too bad. The others might be okay if you remove the rust (search for "evaporust" and citric acid here and other places on the web). You may need an auger bit file to sharpen them, but don't jump into that so quickly if you don't need to.

There is one interesting thing about your braces. It looks like one of them has a fairly short sweep, maybe 8". That's a somewhat unusual size (not as unusual as 6", but still). And the other one might have a 12" sweep, which is also somewhat unusual.

Get a piece of wood and try out some of the shinier auger bits. Try out the ratcheting system on the braces. It should be enjoyable.

[Jim Koepke]

Joseph,

Welcome to the cave by the creek.

You do not have your location listed in your profile. If you are near, some of us are willing to give one on one mentoring.

For the auger bits, they look like a good utility set. For cleaning the rust, try a little steel wool. You do not want to take metal off the outside when cleaning or sharpening. Running them through a few pieces of wood will clean some of the rust off.

Here is a link that may help with their sharpening:

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?p=1326457#poststop

When filing the spurs, be careful not to remove metal from the outside. Also, if the spurs are not long enough, they will not scribe a full circle before the lips start to cut. That can leave a bit of tear out at the start of a hole.

Another problem is if you get a burr on the outside of the spur. My way to get rid of that is to lay the whole bit on an Arkansas stone and pull the bit to get rid of the burr. This is to prevent a bevel on the outside of the spur.

If you have not already looked at the Neanderthal wisdom/FAQs thread, there is a lot of good knowledge linked in there.

Some of your other tools caught my eye. George already mentioned the speed indicator. The little block plane looks like a Stanley #102. I just recently bought one of those. It is a nice and useful little plane.

Once the blade is sharp, it is not too hard to set. One person showed me a way to set the part of the plane in front of the mouth (the toe) on a piece of paper and while holding the plane down, loosen the blade and let it rest on the surface and then tighten the wheel under the lever cap. I found this to make too thick of a cut for my liking.

A more traditional way to set the blade is to use a small hammer. I made one of scrap wood that is about 6" long and has a wooden head about 1" round and 2" long. This is used to give a light tap on the blade with the cap wheel slightly loose. If the blade goes too deep, a light tap on the back of the plane will cause the blade to withdraw. For adjusting for an even shaving from side to side, tap lightly on the side of the blade. Once the blade is where one wants it, tighten the cap wheel, snug not cranked, and leave it there until the next time the blade needs to be sharpened or the setting needs to be changed. In my experience, if a blade starts to not cut as well as it has been, it usually means the blade is starting to get dull.

Do not be shy about asking questions, many of us have learned much of what we know from asking our own questions and from reading the answers to those asked by others.

Have fun,

jim

[Jim Koepke]

There is one interesting thing about your braces. It looks like one of them has a fairly short sweep, maybe 8". That's a somewhat unusual size (not as unusual as 6", but still). And the other one might have a 12" sweep, which is also somewhat unusual.

With carpenter bits an 8" sweep might actually be more common. Carpenters, electricians and plumbers all have to work in tight places. People working in a shops and hobbyist would not have the same space confinements.

It also looks like a handle and part of a draw knife from a folding draw knife somewhat out of the picture of the braces or is that some other artifact?

jim

[Bill Houghton]

Your local library will no doubt have some books on hand tool woodworking. Get them all out. Read through them. They'll contradict each other in spots, which is normal (especially in what constitutes the "basic tool kit" - everyone's got his/her preferences); but the contradictions are part of learning too.

Also look for books on sharpening. Leonard Lee's and Thomas Lie-Nielsen's books are the current standard, but some of the older ones have good information too.

Oh, and also also look for some workbench books. Workbenches are critical for most aspects of handtool woodworking because, with most tools, you use both hands, and you need to hold the wood still somehow at a good working height. Workbenches, properly designed, do both those things. "The Workbench Book," an older Taunton Press book, is one good introduction. Christopher Schwarz's "Workbenches: From Design & Theory to Construction & Use" will give you a very comprehensive overview, though it may be a tad overwhelming for a newcomer to this corner of the craft.

Ideally, you'll get some gentle wood - white pine, poplar, whatever is available in your area - and spend time practicing skills before you tackle projects. But you may be like most of us and plunge into some simple projects as a learning method. Just don't tackle an 18th century highboy of curly maple right away!

Definitely sharpen the auger bits, but I would hold off on doing anything to the box itself until you know a lot more. The label and patina on that box are magnificent.

You're likely to be confused and frustrated. Handtool woodworking is, fundamentally, very simple: wood cuts more easily and cleanly in one direction than in another. But getting to that point requires you to pick up skills that aren't obvious at first. Any dang fool can cut a piece of wood with a tablesaw (as demonstrated by the number of dang fools who wind up in emergency rooms every year through not following basic safety steps), but cutting to a line with a handsaw requires your body to learn how to hold and move the saw (in addition to a saw that's sharpened properly).

But it's also lots of fun and very satisfying once you learn.

[Harlan Barnhart]

I would give those tools an acid bath (lemon juice or white vinegar) and brush them with a tooth brush. Just put some vinegar in a flat pan, maybe half cup, and add water until everything is covered. Let it sit for an hour or so and start brushing.

[Joseph D'Orazio]

Thank All of yall for the welcome. I am in between Houston & Humble Texas. I go to the library frequently, so I will check those subjects out. I never thought to check out books on sharpening. I struggle with sharpening knives, and stuff like that. I always have. I always have, on the other hand, wanted to be good at sharpening.

Here is a little bench that I built as a first project. I have not put a finish on it. I am thinking of taking it to my mother and let her paint a little farm scene on it and the smaller one I made to fit under it. I will ask her to put little scenes on the apron and the outside legs. It is by no means a "furniture" quality piece but I reckon its ok for a first shot. Once they are painted I am going to put them on Craigslist and try to get a few dollars for them buy me a plane or two if I actually get enough. The wood was cupped & bowed really bad, and was up in the rafters for years. This project made it clear to me that I need to learn joinery and how to use a plane.

[Joseph D'Orazio]

The little block plane looks like a Stanley #102.

There is a little 102 marked on the plane. I will be honest, I thought it was a toy and considered throwing it out. Once I get done reading all the stickies I will consider a good restoration. It looks like one of the 102's are featured in one of the stickies. This is a great forum. You can loose a lot of time in front of the computer reading here. Thank Yall.

[Steve Branam]

Hi Joseph,

Because a lot of people on different woodworking forums and sites ask exactly these same questions, I've started putting together an online course on my blog covering the very basics of hand tool usage. I'm also going to be teaching this as a class through a local continuing ed program, so the online stuff serves as a resource for that.

It's a work in progress, so not fully ready to go yet, but you'll be the first victim, er, reader here that I'll refer to it directly. A few people have read through the first parts.

The main page can be found at closegrain.com/p/intro-hand-tools.html. That includes a table of contents with links to the portions I've completed and the outline of parts to come.

I'll be adding more sections over the coming weeks and months. The people here are phenomenal resources, with far more skill and experience than I have. They have tons of information. My goal is to distill things into a small enough package to get started without being overwhelmed.

[Joseph D'Orazio]

Hi Joseph,

Because a lot of people on different woodworking forums and sites ask exactly these same questions, I've started putting together an online course on my blog covering the very basics of hand tool usage. I'm also going to be teaching this as a class through a local continuing ed program, so the online stuff serves as a resource for that.

It's a work in progress, so not fully ready to go yet, but you'll be the first victim, er, reader here that I'll refer to it directly. A few people have read through the first parts.

The main page can be found at closegrain.com/p/intro-hand-tools.html. That includes a table of contents with links to the portions I've completed and the outline of parts to come.

I'll be adding more sections over the coming weeks and months. The people here are phenomenal resources, with far more skill and experience than I have. They have tons of information. My goal is to distill things into a small enough package to get started without being overwhelmed.Thank You Sir. I will be sure to follow along.