The Importance of Old Hand Tools

In an effort to break from refinishing blogs, I would to write a little bit about old hand tools and why I still use them almost every chance I get.  Woodworking and refinishing may be my favorite hobbies, but collecting old tools runs very close behind. Up until about 100 years ago, the average person did not own a single power tool - everything a homeowner made was exclusively by hand.

Classic Stanley Handyman Plane

So why would today's craftsman even bother using hand tools when power tools make it faster and easier to product good quality product?  There are five main reasons I choose to use a number of old hand tools:

Price - If I had an empty garage and a $200 tool budget, almost every piece of equipment I would buy would be a hand tool (the only exception would be an electric drill.)  You get more for your money with hand tools, and could outfit your entire shop on a minimal budget.

Durability - This may not be the case with the hand tools made today, but the durability of an average hand tool over 30 years old is usually very good. In an age when premium brand power tools may only come with a one year warranty, the lifetime of a classic hand tool, with care, can last generations.

Intimacy with the Craft - Some woodworkers, such as Roy Underhill, see the use of power tools as a step away from the traditional craft, making wood working more business and less art. While a power tool may help you produce volume, properly tuned hand tools can help you produce quality and detail.

Yankee Push Drills are so great, they deserve their own blog post

Efficiency - If you are not producing multiple copies of the same piece, you may find hand tools can make you more efficient and saved time.  The time to set up your table saw, jig, router, or other power tool may nullify the time saved when only making one or two passes. 


Experience - Why do we still make our children memorize multiplication tables when you can buy a calculator for less than $5?  Doing something by hand the long way can train your brain to develop its own shortcuts and recognize patterns or mistakes.  The same can be true for woodworking, where your experience from using hand tools can make you even more competent using power tools.  In fact, most professional furniture trade schools first cover mastery of hand planes, chisels, and turning before you plug in your first power tool.

My grandfather sharpened his own hand saw, an art long lost.

I was recently blessed with the opportunity to go through my grandfather's tools and select the pieces I would take home and use in my own shop.  I feel very honored to be able to use the same tools which have shaped so many pieces of furniture and metalwork from my family's generations.

To carry on these traditions is truly a very humbling experience.  All of the photos listed in this blog post are not only classic hand tools, to me they are also family heirlooms.

The Depression Era Tool Chest Conversion - Continued

(Part 2 of 2)

With many years of use, love, and wear, this tool chest will need a sound refinishing before put to work as a blanket chest. This blogpost will cover my preferred method for stripping, repairing, and refinishing furniture. 

Part 1 of 2 can be found here.

 6. Polish the Hardware

With over 80 years of tarnish, hand polishing was not a viable option for the brass hardware.  I instead decided to use my electric buffer, which is nothing more than a bench grinder fitted with a $5 polishing/buffing wheel.  

When polishing hardware, I use gloves to protect my fingers from accidental contact with the buffing wheel.  After you turn on your buffer, apply some brass cleaning/polishing compound to the wheel.  Then simply push your piece against the front of the wheel slightly toward the bottom, and hold on very tightly.  Don't forget to polish the screws as well; I use a set of pliers to hold the screw in place.  

80 years of tarnish can be removed in 5 minutes

When the wheel starts clogging, I will keep the motor running and gently use a wire brush to clean the muck off.  The most important things you can do when polishing is protect your fingers and hold your pieces tight - even the slower speed grinders spin at a minimum of 1750  rpm and can send a work piece flying across the shop.

7. Match missing screws

When I write my book on how to be a world class antique restoration expert, I'll include a chapter on how it is easier to fabricate replacement hardware than it is to buy a suitable match. 

If you are fortunate enough to restore a piece of furniture with all pieces of hardware and screws intact, count your blessings.  In most cases, a piece that fits this description has been cared for so well, there is no reason to refinish it.  Too often hardware is either missing or damaged, sending you on a scavenger hunt for the exact same pieces or something close enough to match. 

Fortunately, I was only missing a few screws.  After a little searching, I found what I was looking for.  Sometimes you can find them in the big-box home improvement store, but my best success has always been the locally-owned hardware store.  When matching a screw, the following information is critical :



12 Screw Head Types - Click to Enlarge

Drive Type - Slotted and Phillips are the most common drive types

Material - Brass, Brass Plated*, Stainless, Zinc Plated, Copper

Length - total length of the screw to be submerged in the wood

Head Size -  inch increments or denoted with "#"

Head Type - Flat, Pan, Round, etc.

Screw Diameter - This is dependent on the hole size you are using

Thread Count - It's really not necessary to know the exact thread count, just remember you must choose the right screw for wood or metal.

* I always prefer solid brass over brass plated anything.  If you expect to have the piece for many years, you'll thank yourself for the extra few dollars spent with solid brass.



8. The Aromatic Cedar Insert

Cutting the aromatic cedar to size

This being my first time working with cedar, I decided to do some research.  I found it makes no difference whether you cover just the bottom of the chest or the entire inside, the aroma is pretty pungent either way.  After time, the scent will wear out, but with a light sanding you can bring back that great smell.

Sanding for a new, fresh aroma

Plain ordinary cedar will not work as well as "aromatic" cedar.  The easiest way to find this stuff is as tongue-and-groove closet lining from your local hardware store.  I decided to make an insert by cutting my to size and nailing it to two 1x4s.  This way, when the smell wears out and it comes time to sand it down, I can pull the entire insert out instead of fighting with my sander deep down in the corners.

 
The Finished Project

Now our restoration is finished and we can decide to keep the tool chest as is, or add a few small touches.  I decided to purchase a lid support so I could prop the chest open.  At this point, you could also add on handles, a new lock, name plates, or engravings.



 Whatever you decide to do, the important this is to make it uniquely yours.

Tool Chest before restoration

Blanket Chest after restoration

The Depression Era Tool Chest Conversion

(Part 1 of 2)

With many years of use, love, and wear, this tool chest will need a sound refinishing before put to work as a blanket chest. This blogpost will cover my preferred method for stripping, repairing, and refinishing furniture. 

 1. Determine Type of Finish

The first step before diving into this refinishing project was to determine exactly what type of finish with which you are dealing.  Most finishes from Depression Era furniture were multiple coats lacquer.  To check for this finish, I put some lacquer thinner on a rag and tried to wipe away the old finish.  With no such luck, I realized this finish is varnish or very tough to remove.  My best option at this point would be to strip and completely refinish.

2. Remove the Hardware

Before stripping, I removed the eight brass corners, three hinges, and the locking mechanism.  Keeping as much as possible of the original hardware is important for any refinish job. I put these in a small plastic zipper bag, such as these, and stored them in a safe place.

3. Replace Broken Pieces

On the side of the tool chest, a piece of trim was split near the corner.  Replacing this piece is critical in getting the finished product to look great, so I re-created the piece with some red oak.  I concluded the tool chest was white oak, but decided to use red oak since it is easier to come byand I had some lying around the shop.  It is more important to the match grain pattern of the oak rather than color, since I can always stain or dye the replacement piece.  To ensure the proper thickness of the new piece, I used my thickness planer to thin out the replacement part and cut it to size.

The original piece was split.

I made a copy to look like the original.

Here is our tool chest with the new piece added.

4. Remove Old Finish *

After replacing the damaged piece, I stripped the entire outside of the tool chest using a chemical stripper.  It is important to work the residue from the stripper onto the replacement part, matching the patina from the rest of the piece and hiding your repair from the casual observer.  A final wash of lacquer thinner or other post-stripping cleaner should be used to remove all leftover residue and give you a clean surface for staining.

* BE SAFE - Always use chemical strippers, stains, paints, and topcoats in a well-ventiallated area. Wear safety protection, as chemical burns can be a real Debbie Downer on your skin and in your eyes.  Always have a plan ready in case of skin and/or eye contact, and ingestion.

5. Apply a New Stain and Finish Coat * 

I prefer to stain with a rag instead of a brush.  Woodworkers traditionally use both methods, but I feel staining with a rag gives me better control over the amount of overlapping and results in a much better finished product.  Remember to follow all instructions and wipe away the excess stain after a few minutes, or your stain will completely dry and leave a a thin layer of unsightly scum which will not take a final finish very well.  Finish with a few sealing coats of your choice.  I chose a semi-gloss lacquer to visually bring out the depth of the scratches and dents on the surface.

 
Are We Done?

Now that we have this great new finish and protective coat, what next?  In Part 2 of our project, we will learn how to properly polish 80+ years of brass tarnish, finding proper replacement hardware, and adding the aromatic cedar.

The Christmas Train Platform is completed!

The Scharl Christmas Platform
Making the Magic Happen for a New Generation

After 30 or so hours of work (and quite a bit of time in planning) the Christmas Train Platform is completed. Since the paint has not fully cured, I decided to sit it up on wood blocks, as to not ruin my carpet.
Why a Christmas Platform?

Many people may wonder, why built a Christmas platform? Wouldn't it be easy just to put the train directly on the carpet? Yes, you can. But that's like playing with a dump truck and having no dirt to haul around. It's like having an empty BB gun with pretend bullets. It's almost as bad as having a Millennium Falcon and no Han Solo to fly it. Ridiculous!

My dad taught me at an early age, if you're going to build something, make it nice. This platform combines everything I felt was essential for a jolly good time under the tree for children of all ages.


Planning and and Innovation

The initial concept of the platform came from one my father made years and I always adored as a child. It was an all-in-one Christmas display that introduced me to the concept of turning on tree, houses, and train with three different switches. We used an HO scale train with HO scale buildings, lit using a string of lights hidden under the platform (ingenious!). In addition, there was a hole in the middle just large enough for the tree to poke through. My father even wired up all the train components under the platform, so every single thing our train did, from switching tracks to blowing the whistle, seemed magical.

This platform was one of my favorite Christmas memories, but there were a few things I wanted to change with Platform 2.0. The first was the massive size. At an impressive 4'x6', the platform had enough size for plenty of fun under the tree. However, it was a pain to move and an even bigger pain to store in the off-season. In addition, I do not like the exposed outlets because you see where everything is plugged in. And although green is a great color for the base of any other train model, it didn't fit in much with the Christmas theme I was looking for.


Size Matters

Moving around the old platform was the equivalent to carrying a canoe to the river. To counter the immense size needed for the platform, I decided to build the platform in three separate pieces. These pieces would be much easier to move and even easier to store. When in use, you could just lay the pieces next to one another, but I decided to use hex bolts and wing nuts to hold the sections together.

The downside with separate pieces is you can see the seams after the pieces are assembled. If you look closely at the image at the top of this page you can see the slight lines in the separation of the pieces. After the project was finished, I think these lines are barely noticeable. The benefits of moving and storage greatly outweighed any moderately visible lines that would be encountered.


Wiring the Platform

To hide the outlets, it was going to require
ingenuity. After a conversation with a friend, I figured small boat hatch would allow me to wire the underside of the platform and hide all of my outlets. The white color would also blend in with the white color I wanted to paint my platform

When my father originally build his platform in the 1970s, a simple switch, like a light switch on your wall, was the best option for turning on the tree, houses, and train. Now Lowes and Home Depot sell wireless remotes available for your standard outlet. I plugged these into my outlets under the tree, so now I have a remote control to operate everything!

Before you decide to plug everything into a single outlet, I strongly suggest adding up the amperage of everything you plan on plugging in. If this exceeds 15 amps, you may want to resort to using at least two outlets on two separate breakers. It is best to consult with an electrical professional before you overload a circuit and cause an electrical fire.


White Christmas

Since this is a scene of a Christmas village, with a Christmas train, and under a Christmas tree, I really wanted to a white platform to to tell the story of a wonderful snowy day in Scharlville. Painting the the platform white was a no-brainer, but would it alone contribute to the "wow factor" I needed?

It was clear I had a few options: rolled felt, quilt batting, snow flocking, or ceiling popcorn. The felt and quilt batting could possibly be dangerous around all the electrical connections, especially the train track. (Cotton and polyester are both very flammable.) Snow flocking was considered, but short-lived after googling the ingredients. Animal fat is one of the most prominent ingredients, and not something I wanted to store in the off season and bring back out year after year. Ceiling popcorn is textured, but a little too aggressive for the look I wanted. But wait . . . what about another type of ceiling texture?

I decided on a mixture I had made a 18 months ago as a texture for my living room ceiling. It was a mixture of paint and sand, that rolled on fairly smooth, but with enough texture to hide ceiling imperfections . . . or emulate snow. So, after priming the three platform pieces, I rolled the snow texture on all exposed places of my platform.

This turned out much better than expected, and even helped hide the seams between the three sections I made. Remember, anytime you paint a solid surface, the paint takes approximately three weeks to fully cure.


The Rest of the Story

So with the platform finally complete, Jill came over last night and set up the rest of the display. Included in the Christmas display is an O-scale "Polar Express" train set, a 5' fiber optic tree I picked up from Rite-Aid six years ago, and Lemax Christmas buildings and figures, similar to those made Department 56. The true test of the Christmas magic will happen when my nephew Billy comes over and to play with Uncle Joe's train set.

Below are a few more pictures of the fully decorated Christmas platform, followed by a video demonstrating the remote control.

A night scene of Kringle's Toy Store and the Department Store, with the train in the background.

Side view demonstrating the texture on all exposed surfaces, giving a more complete look.

Another night scene, from a different angle.

The bag boy is so dedicated, trudging through the snow to carry groceries to an old lady's car.

Fully lit tree, star, and houses. The platform adds so much to aesthetics and function.

If you have any questions on how this platform was built, any problems I encountered, techniques I used, suggested improvements, or simply a JWD (job well done), please feel free to post below.