Search results

Converted public toilet shop? That's got to be one of the more interesting shop spaces around. And nice to see someone making scissors by hand!

They're generally tempered at a sweet spot between spring temper and a temper soft enough to be cut. Check the hole; if the pin has been slipping, the hole could have been wallowed out - worn oval or otherwise sloppy. IF that's the case, and you have enough metal in the spot, you might be able...

One of the simple tricks that works 99% of the time is that, when the cutting iron/blade is properly in place, you can read the manufacturer's name at the top of the iron. This fails 1% of the time because (a) some cutting irons don't have a manufacturer's name, and (b) now and again, a...

It's like airplanes: if one wing is good, more must be better!

Older Square D boxes are likely pretty big. I think if your amperage rating for the voltage is matched, that you can install any quality box you want. You'll lose the history, of course. Just remember the "quality" part.

I've used some of the self-feed bits in a portable electric drill for running electrical lines/cables through framing. You need to brace the tool and be darned sure your hand won't get bludgeoned if the bit grabs. I wouldn't want to try self-feed bits, whether new or vintage, in a pillar drill...

Are there woodworking guilds/clubs/gatherings in your neighborhood? If so, I bet you can make lots of friends by dropping them off at a meeting (or, if you don't have a suitable vehicle, finding a guild member who does, and inviting him/her over to pick up your surplus).

Clever design, and pretty little table.

It's my understanding that some manufacturers, at least in the U.S., offered planes with added steel soles.

They have those same sorts of courses here in the States, including some online courses. I've had to swallow my impulse to answer the question the right way once or twice, although I've pointed out the obvious (usually stupid) errors in the post-course survey. Not that it will change anything...

A note: Wen is headquartered in America, but I'm pretty sure its products are made in China. Can't offer anything helpful on the original question.

Time was, Black and Decker made some respectable tools. But somewhere in there, they made the decision to pursue the consumer market. On one forum where I hang out, the company name is either Bleak and Darker or Blackened Drecker.

They were produced by M.K. Mole and Sons, who were probably not actual moles (except in the alternate universe of "Wind in the Willows").

Actually, I believe, Vise/Vice Grips came first, developed in 1924 by Willliam S. Petersen in DeWitt, Nebraska. Mole Grips seem to have started production in 1955 and, from the pictures I've seen, are pretty well knock-offs of Vise Grips. The Petersen company maintained high quality...

Yes, it appears so. U.S. website British website Just don't ask me what the French call them.

I don't know if Dorman is sold in the UK, but they're pretty decent; in auto parts stores. If not that brand, a decent auto parts store likely can help. My younger son, when he wants a good connection, gets uninsulated crimp connectors and then solders the wire in.

Is that Yankee screwdriver labeled "North Bros?" If so, it's definitely older than 1946 (the year Stanley acquired North Bros). Always nice to get family stuff.

You're looking to turn a shoulder plane into a plough plane. Nah. Not easily done. See above for alternatives.

"Nail set" in the United States; and, even today in the big boxy home improvement stores, they come with the dimple on the end. It would be hard to replicate that if you ever have to regrind one; but you'd have to set a LOT of nails, or be setting nails made from diamond, before that became...

I take it this is a phrase with a sarcastic meaning in Brit-slang. Even without knowing what y'all mean, I think I get the idea.