Why I prefer antique hand tools

For those of you who are new to woodworking, it is hard to describe what makes old hand tools so special. I will do my best to convey to you why they are special to me. Who knows, I might even convert a few of you. Let’s get started.

Antique hand tools can be superior to modern hand tools. The first aspect in the superiority of antique tools is durability. Nowadays, things just aren’t built to last. Most things, tools included, are made to be disposable. They are made with inferior materials. The processes used by most manufacturers are to speed up production efficiency. The more items that can be produced, as quickly and cheaply as possible, will lead to more profits. I bought a new saw about a year ago. I was so impressed by how well it worked. The design of the teeth made it cut better and faster. Within the first couple of weeks, three teeth broke off! It had a plastic handle that had a button on the side, so you could remove the blade. You can’t find replacement blades anywhere! What a piece of garbage! You would have to go out and buy a whole new saw!! With an old saw, you could repair it yourself. You could buy a replacement blade. You could even make a new blade yourself. Most often, the teeth on an old saw were less likely to break. Below are pictures of a few of my old hand saws.

                                      

The second aspect is affordability. Since modern tools aren’t as durable, you have to buy replacement parts or the entire tool every so often. With antique tools, you mostly just have to buy a replacement handle….once in a while. I have a nice claw hammer that is about as old as I am. It still has the original handle and I use it more than my modern one.

I consider these two points when I go out and buy any hand tool.

I find modern hand tools to be rather antiseptic. They seem cold and sterile. Whereas, antique hand tools seem to have an essence to them. As if they have a life of their own. After all, they have a history to them. Someone, somewhere, had used it for many years. They took care of it. They sharpened, polished or cleaned it. They took great care of it, so it would give them many years of use. Such dedication to these tools must have imprinted a part of that person to it.

Then you have the patina. Ooohhhh, the patina. It’s that special coloring to the wood and metal as it has aged over the years. It gives the tool that “well used” look to it. People have tried to fake that look on newer tools, but it never comes out quite right. The patina of the tool helps to give it the essence of life. Don’t believe me? Go and buy an antique hand tool. Hold it in your hands. Use it. Then go back to your more modern tool. It’s never quite the same.

Antique hand tools have a different feel to them, as well. They seem smoother to the touch. They aren’t overly shiny, but they still have a unique sheen to them. Modern wooden handles are either plain or have a sealer on them. Antique wooden handles have been oiled. Wooden handles that have a sealer on them still feel a little rough. That maybe due to small particles being trapped under the sealer. Again, go out and try it. Don’t just take my word for it.

So there you have it! I prefer antique hand tools because I find them more durable, more affordable and I like the way they look and feel. I hope you learned something new and are curious to give antique tools a try. After all, just because something is old, it doesn’t mean it’s not useful.

Don’t Paint Me!

Do you have an old cabinet or dresser that was painted? What did you think when you first saw it? Did you think it was made out of scrap pieces? Did you ever wonder what the wood looked like underneath, or did you say “I’ll just repaint it”? One of my current projects is refinishing my wife’s dresser. It is a 1940s Art Deco, Waterfall four drawer dresser. When she inherited it from her grandmother, it had already been painted a gaudy pink. Some people might call this color “titty pink”. Here is a nice little picture of it. Well, the top drawer anyways.

Look at that grain pattern! How could anyone hide such a beautiful design underneath that hideous paint? I have been using a cabinet scraper and a decent putty knife to scrape off the paint, without marring the wood. This drawer front has a walnut veneer with mahogany trim. I absolutely love the diamond shaped pattern of the walnut! I could have used a chemical stripper, but I don’t want to risk damaging the wood…or my lungs. I just can’t stand the smell of that stuff.

Once I removed all of the paint, I wiped it down thoroughly, with a lint-free cloth. After this, I began the assessment phase of the project. My first step is to determine what kind of condition the finish is in and what type is it. Well, it appears to be oiled and a thin laquer sealer. The laquer was pretty much taken off with the paint when I scraped off the paint. So, I just sanded this puppy down.

Before I sanded the drawer, I assessed any repairs that needed to be made. Lucky for me, all I had to do was re-glue a couple of the joints. They were pretty lose. After the glue had dried, next came the sanding portion.

I started off with a 320-grit sanding pad. Let me just note that it was all sanded by hand. No power sanders were used! After using the 320-grit pad, I used #0000 fine steel wool over the entire drawer. Next, I wiped it down (twice) with a lint-free cloth. Make sure that you ALWAYS wipe down the piece after sanding, even if you are just going to a finer grit. Once I finished with the steel wool, I sanded the face of the drawer with an extra fine sanding pad (the equivalent of 1200 grit sandpaper). Here it is.

Look at that shine! Now isn’t that just beautiful? Well, I’m not done yet!

The next step is to finish it. The wood seemed to be pretty dry. So, I applied two coats of tung oil. Allowing at least a day for the oil to soak into the wood, then wiping of the excess. After several days of letting the oil do it’s thing, I applied three coats of a wipe-on polyurethane finish. I prefer to use a paper towel for this. No special reason behind this, it’s just my preference. I’m weird like that.

Don’t forget to sand and wipe down the piece in between each coat! Yes, I’ve made that mistake before. Here is the final piece!

Well, okay, it’s only the right half of the whole drawer. But still, that looks pretty damn gorgeous to me. I love the brass fittings at the ends of the drawer pull! Like I said at the beginning of this post, how could you paint over something this beautiful?

I hope you enjoyed this post and learned something new. Have a great day!

New posts coming soon.

I’m sorry for the lack of posts lately. Been having some rough times lately with one of my cats. He has been in and out of the vets. Last week, he had to be put to sleep. So this is why I haven’t posted anything. I will be posting again later this week.

Upcoming posts will be a special made box for a friend of mine, a couple of designs on Christmas ornaments and making a base for an antique treadle scrollsaw. Keep checking in to see which is next.