Lamp Oil

This is fortuitous. We recently acquired an oil lamp that will be handy come the collapse of the global economy, but I had no fuel for it -- now I do.

The maker was A. McGillivray Chemicals Ltd., Paris, Ontario, Canada. From what I can find of 'A. McGillivray Chemicals' on the internet, that company was dissolved in 1988, so this stuff had better have an indefinite shelf life if I'm to get any use out of it. I'll try it out and see how it goes.

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This low-tech stuff is the cat's meow, so to speak. Fill the lamp, get the wick thoroughly soaked, light it, put the chimney in place, adjust the wick/flame height and it works perfectly, like so.

There we are -- a time machine. Welcome to the year 1912. (The book in the photo was originally published in 1910.)

I'll stash what's left of the oil in the storage room along with other precious fluids, like motor oil and bottled water and Tobasco sauce.

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A 7/8" Capewell Hole Saw

It's missing its pilot drill, and it's seen hard use -- the teeth are quite dull. A metaphor, perhaps, for the city of Hartford, Connecticut, where it came from.

It just dawned on me that with some careful grinding in the lathe, I could make quite a good gasket punch out of this. I must try out that idea.

For now, it can reside in the cabinet with my other hole saws.

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A Pruning Knife

It looks a bit rough, but it's a decent knife -- it does need sharpening, though. Into the garden tools drawer with it for now.

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A 1 3/8" Putty Knife

Something a little different for a putty knife -- it has an angled blade end with rounded off corners. I don't know whether it was manufactured that way, or if it was a conventional putty knife modified for some special application.

There's no maker's name on it. The handle is nicely made of hardwood and brass rivets. This deserves some restoration work. It can go in the toolbox where I keep similar items for now.

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A 200mm 'Ruler'

While we're on the topic of metric measure, here's a 200mm cheapo 'ruler' promoting Clean Air Day -- some Environment Canada initiative. Trust a Canadian government agency to pretend that there's no such thing anymore as inch measure.

It gets better, though. This ruler must have been part of some promotion to get people to plant seeds, because on the back of it there's this:

"Planting Instructions

Tear up the seeded paper and spread it under 1/8" of loose, well drained soil."

Shouldn't that be 3.175mm?

I'm uncertain what to do with this. For now, I think I'll punch a hole in one end of it, and hang it on a screw where a couple of legitimate rulers are hanging.

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A 2" Paint Brush

It's a cheap, Chinese-made brush. On the ferrule it gives the metric equivalent of 2" -- 50.8mm. I love that when metric equivalents of whole inches are given to the tenth of a millimetre. Who could possibly need to know that? There's a linear measurement called the 'inch'. One inch is half the width of this paint brush. How much more information about the width of a bleeping paint brush could one possibly need? -- its width in Angstroms?

I have no problem or difficulty with metric measure, but much of metric 'conversion' has been a laughable farce, when it hasn't been a damnable fraud.

Into the spare paint brushes bin with this.

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A 1/4" Gear Chuck With No Key

It says on it "PRIMA No. 1 ¼". It seems that Prima is a line of Rohm chucks. This chuck takes an 'S1' key, with a relatively small 4mm diameter pilot.

And 'pilot' is a term I just learned while looking into this. The round 'nose' of a chuck key is the 'pilot', and the gear teeth comprise the 'pinion', which all makes perfect sense, really.

This chuck would make a nice pin vise. I must find a key for it. Meanwhile, I'll stash it in the cabinet where I keep my pin vise and some spare chucks.

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A Sandvik Saw Set

This saw set is finely made -- it's a cut above the usual. (No pun intended.) It seems that the Sandvik line of hand tools is now known as Bahco -- there's a 'fish and hook' logo on these that's Bahco's logo.










I don't know whether anyone makes these things anymore; practically no one sets and sharpens saws anymore.

'Setting' a saw is the process of bending each tooth outward slightly so that the saw cuts a kerf that's wider than the back of the saw, so the saw doesn't bind in its kerf. The direction of the bend alternates from tooth to tooth. Here's a view of how the tool is applied to a saw blade.


The fence on the tool is adjusted to limit the 'reach' of the setting jaw, in accordance with the size of a saw's teeth. The setscrew visible in the first  two photographs is adjusted to limit the closure of the jaws. With the adjustments correctly made for the saw at hand, a uniform set can be given to each tooth. Every other tooth is set from one side, the saw is flipped over and every other alternate tooth is set.

Saw sharpening is quite a skill; there's much more to it than meets the eye. It's also fiendishly tedious. There's a .pdf document here that fully explains what's involved.

Anyway, I already have a saw set, so this can go in a spare tools drawer.

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A Cummins 1/4" Portable Drill

From the early 1950s I imagine. I suppose 'Cummins' would be the Cummins that I know now as a maker of diesel engines, among other things, but no longer a maker of portable power tools.

This drill still runs. The carrying case is in very fine condition -- it looks like it's sat on a shelf all these years, and has never seen active service.

This was made in Chicago, Illinois. The model No. is 110-27824. (The '-27824' part may be a serial number.) The chuck is a Jacobs Model 6141.

I quite like the idea of the 'D' handle. It puts one's hand and arm right in line with the chuck's axis so you can really bear down directly on a drill.

I'll stash this away in storage in its case for now. One day, I'll tear it down and examine everything and repack the gearbox with fresh grease.

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A Lincoln Handi-Luber Grease Gun

Is this ever an obscure item; I can find no image or mention of it on the internet. Here's a close-up of the nameplate.













It appears that the Lincoln Engineering Co. is no more, but there is a Lincoln Industrial that makes lubrication tools and systems.

I imagine that in use, this grease gun would be mounted atop an air-pressurized barrel of grease on a dolly, to be wheeled around to wherever needed in a big repair garage. That's not an arrangement I'm ever likely to have need of or space for.

I'd hang it on a nail from a joist, but I'm running out of places where I can do that. It can go in the back of a spare tools drawer for now.

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A Mystery Arbor/Mandrel

And speaking of mysteries, the difference between 'arbor' and 'mandrel' has to be one of English's great ones. To me, it's about like the difference between 'darn' and 'drat'.

Here are the Concise Oxford Dictionary's main entries:

arbor n. Axle or spindle on which something revolves.


mandrel n. (In lathe) shaft to which work is fixed while being turned.

I'm inclined to avoid both words and just use 'spindle':

spindle n. Pin or axis that revolves or on which a thing revolves.

Anyway, this thing had me baffled for quite awhile until it dawned on me that two things are missing -- a 1/4" pilot drill and saw teeth -- it's a hole saw sans teeth. Here it is taken apart, but with a pilot drill inserted in the 'spindle'.

The American manufacturer, Millers Falls, is no longer with us, but an internet search reveals that considerable interest in the firm's tools remains. I found a couple of their hole saws on Ebay; here's one of the photos.









This one pictured is 2 1/4". The one I have is 7/8". I'll never know how or why it came to be toothless.

I suppose it belongs in the cabinet with my other holesaws, in kinship if not in effect.

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A Big Slot Screwdriver

There's no maker's name on it, which puzzles me because this tool is nothing to be ashamed of -- it's an excellent screwdriver. There's only a number on the handle -- "7006-6". The "-6" may refer to its six inch shank length.

The handle is big and well designed and comfortable. The 9mm wide tip is nicely ground. The wrenching hex is a very snug 10mm A/F.

That sleeve on the shank appears to be an add-on; I don't see it being of any use to me. I'll cut that off and give the shank a wire-brushing to tart it up a bit.

It'll make a fine addition to my spare screwdrivers drawer.

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A No-Name 1 1/16" Hole Saw

For a no-name hole saw, this thing looks pretty decent. I find it a bit odd, though, that the saw teeth are in much better condition than is the pilot drill. One would think that the saw portion leads a harder life than the pilot drill does.

The shank is roughly a 7/16"(11mm) A/F hex. I chucked it in my drill press and it appears to run true. A 5/16"-24 setscrew secures the pilot drill, so the pilot drill is replaceable. Here's a view of it taken apart. Note the flat on the pilot drill's shank. A regular drill assigned as a replacement will have to have a similar flat ground on it.

Something about this hole saw has got my 'restoration juices' flowing. I need to restore it to pristine condition right bleeping now. I'll start with stripping the paint off of it.

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Stripping off the paint revealed that that it was "MADE IN U.S.A.", but no maker's name. I don't know what they're ashamed of -- it's a perfectly good hole saw.

Here's a way to grind a flat on a drill's shank.

That's a 7/32" diameter chain saw sharpening stone in a Dremel hand grinder. The resulting flat is not precise or pretty, but it will serve.

And here it is all painted and back together with its new pilot drill.








Now I've gone and made it too nice to actually use -- I'll scuff the paint.

It can go in the cabinet with my other hole saws, in a protective wrapper.

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A 1" Wood Chisel

This is a well made chisel. On the blade it says "CANADIAN CHAMPION". On the handle, there's a varnished decal that's still readable; it says "HANDU ESKILSTUNA, SWEDEN". Eskilstuna is an industrial city in the southeast of Sweden. This chisel appears to have been something of a collaborative effort.

It needs to be reground; the edge has a roundover to it. It'll take quite a grinding job to correct that. Once I get that done, it'll make a fine addition to my wood chisels drawer.

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An Old Pair of Scissors

On them it says "BURDEKIN & Co.". There's more, but it's too obscure to make out. It seems there's a Burdekin River in Queensland, Australia that was named after a Mrs. Thomas Burdekin. I can't find any references to a manufacturer named Burdekin, though.

The pivot screw appears not to be the original. Its end has been peened and the scissors have insufficient tension.

These need work, and it would be worth doing -- aside from the pivot they're in fine condition. To the spare scissors drawer with them for now.

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A Small, Handmade Gouge

Very likely another gunsmithing tool; on the back of the blade it says "ACE CANADA STAINLESS". I suspect that blade started out as something else entirely, and was adapted to its present use by adding a handle and sharpening the end. It can go in my chisels drawer with the 7/8" gouge.

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A 7/8" Greenlee Hole Saw

This is an exquisite old hole saw, still in not bad condition. It's a proper, modular hole saw that comes apart.















The pilot drill is 1/4".

I already have a 7/8" hole saw. This one can go with it.

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A 7/8" Gouge

I think this was one of my dad's gunsmithing tools -- for hollowing out rifle stocks where the barrel lays. That can't be easy.

On its shank it says "ROBT SORBY CAST STEEL". The Robert Sorby Company of Sheffield, England is still very much a going concern. It's a huge producer of woodturning chisels, among other things.

This can go in my chisels drawer.

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A Brass Hammer

Possibly the ugliest one in the known universe.

This goes in the back of the spare tools drawer. It will not be getting hung on a toolboard where it can be seen.

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A 12mm Wood Chisel With a Flamboyant Handle

I never thought the word 'flamboyant' would spring to mind with respect to a chisel handle, but it did in this case.

Here's part of the definition of 'flamboyant', from dictionary.com:

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flam·boy·ant

[flam-boi-uhnt] adjective

1. strikingly bold or brilliant; showy: flamboyant colors.

2. conspicuously dashing and colorful: the flamboyant idol of international society.

3. florid; ornate; elaborately styled: flamboyant speeches.

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Does that not suit?

Anyway, it's a fine chisel with a fine handle. The handle really fills one's hand comfortably and firmly. It needs a sharpening, then it will take a place of pride in my chisels drawer.

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A Right Proper Canadian Claw Hammer

I'm pretty certain that the handle was made from a length of hockey stick. It's very well fitted and wedged.

Come the collapse of the global capitalist economy, things like this will be quite valuable, or so I'm told.

Into the spare tools drawer it goes. I already have a couple of claw hammers.

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A Really Cheap, Plastic, Male Garden Hose Fitting

What a piece of crap! (Pardon my language, but it's a 'piece of crap'.)

The barb is for 1/2" inside diameter hose. I'll stash it in my hose fittings bin. I may be able to make use of it someday, piece of crap though it is.

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A Female/Female Garden Hose Quick-Disconnect

These things are the greatest invention since garden hose itself, although I don't use this configuration.

The fitting pictured screws onto a faucet, or onto the downstream end of a hose. There's a check-valve in the fitting; with no male quick-disconnect fitting inserted into the yellow end, the valve is closed. Inserting a male fitting forces the valve open, so a system can be left pressurized while attachment connections are made or unmade, just as in a compressed air supply system.

I don't care to leave faucets on and idle hoses pressurized though, so I don't make use of that feature of quick-diconnects; I rig hoses and attachments oppositely gendered, with no check-valve equipped fittings used.

I use a male quick-disconnect at the upstream supply points, and a female quick-disconnect at the downstream receiving points. It works for me.

Whichever way one chooses to arrange these things, they're a great convenience. With all one's hoses and attachments uniformly fitted with quick-disconnects, things like replacing a nozzle with a sprinkler are a zero-aggravation breeze.

I'll stash this item in my hose fittings bin. Perhaps some day I'll want to make use of the check-valve feature.

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A No.1221 Hand Drill

I'm led to believe it's a Stanley product from about the early 1950s. All it says on the crank is "No. 1221 MADE IN CAN."

It's in fine condition. It can go in a spare tools drawer for now; I already have a similar one up on a toolboard.

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Short Scissors

There's only a logo on them -- a ship's anchor.

They're not pretty, but they're in excellent working condition.

Into my newly-assigned scissors drawer they go.

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A Jigsaw Blade

It's seen better days.

It's 12 tpi; about 2" effective length. I don't recognize the tang profile. I thought it might be Bosch, but it's not.

To the scrap metal bin with it.

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A Small Carving Tool

It looks handmade. It has a leather blade protection sleeve.

This may be a gunsmithing tool. My dad was an army gunsmith during WWII.

It can go in my cutters drawer, which I'll soon need to reorganize -- it's getting crowded.

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Barber's Scissors

On one side there's "WISS U.S.A.". The Wiss name is now owned by the Apex Tool Group.

On the other side there's "CRUCIBLE STEEL 447 1/2". I take that to be to some sort of steel composition designation.

I've found a spare drawer that I can devote to scissors, and my workshop's small amount of office supply items.

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A Modified 'Ignition' Wrench

It's 5/16" open end by 11/32" box end. It's a cheap, stamped wrench. It's been bent nearly to ninety degrees by the open end, to get at an awkwardly situated fastener, presumably.

I've long wondered why small wrenches are called 'ignition wrenches'. I can't seem to find an explanation for it. I suspect that it's a holdover from early days in the automobile industry, when ignition systems were far from the maintenance-free, solid state wonders we have these days. Early ignition systems were no doubt quite intricate electro-mechanical systems, with many small fasteners.

I'll hammer this wrench straight, and stash it in the drawer where I keep little specialized wrenches.

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A Pair of Scissors

The brand is "CACTUS", from Germany.

They've had the most remarkable repair done to them. Here's a close-up of it.












It appears that the bow handle^[1] had broken off, and been skilfully reattached. There's a tiny plate on either side with two tiny rivets installed through the assemblage and peened. There's a filler material that may be silver solder. It's a stunning bit of repair work. The lay/alignment of the reattached bow handle is exactly as it ought to be -- as it no doubt was before it broke off. Whoever did it was no tinker -- he^[2] was exceptionally skilful.

The repair tells us something about what the value of manufactured goods must have been at the time it was done; it must have been quite high, unlike today. There are those who say that such conditions are about to return. We'll see.

Anyway, I need to make or find space for spare pairs of scissors somewhere; there are more to come.

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Notes:

[1] Scissors this size typically have a longer, large handle for two fingers, and a small handle for a thumb. The large handle is the 'bow' handle; the small handle is the 'ring' handle.

[2] Ok. I know it was sexist of me to write "he", rather than "he or she", but let's get real here, shall we? What's the likelihood that the repair was done by a woman? -- slim to nil? I rest my case. Spare me political correctness. Spare me a whole lot of bleeping 'modernity', for that matter.

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A Hacksaw

The maker's name is "SIGNAL", of Sheffield, England. I can find no mention of the firm on the internet.

The frame is currently set up for a 12" long blade, the longest it can accept. The frame has a quick length-adjustment feature with 1/2" increments; loosen and remove a blade, and no tool is required to collapse the frame down to as short as 8".

My hacksaws rack up on a ceiling joist has capacity enough for one more saw. This one can go at the back of the rack -- it's not that great a saw-frame, and I don't care for the handle.

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Three Putty Knives

The middle one is 1 1/4", and very well constructed. I can't make out a name on it.

The lower and upper ones are 1 1/8" and 2" respectively, both made by Richard, a Quebec-based toolmaking firm. The lower one looks to be very old.

They could stand some cleaning up. The small one needs a bit of attention; the blade is a bit loose in its handle. Apart from that, they're perfectly good. They can go in the toolbox where I have similar items.

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A 1/2" Gasket Punch

There's evidence of there having been a manufacturer's name or logo, but it's been mostly obliterated.

This is quite a nice punch -- much better than the one I have. This can go next to it.

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A Black-Handled (No. 3) Robertson Screwdriver

This looks like an old-timer. There's no manufacturer's name on it. It's beautifully made and in excellent condition. It can go in my spare screwdrivers drawer.

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Following is a list of all the Robertson handle colours, size numbers and corresponding screw sizes.


Orange, No. 00; 1 & 2 screws.

Yellow, No. 0; 3 & 4 screws.

Green, No. 1; 5, 6 & 7 screws.

Red, No. 2; 8, 9 & 10 screws.

Black, No. 3; 12 & 14 screws.

There's one more larger size that also has a black handle. I've never encountered it, but apparently it does exist; it's the No. 4 size for 16 and larger screws.

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A Conveyer Belt Punch

It's a Flexco No. 2 punch (11/32" diameter). It seems these are a conveyer belt installation tool.

In use, the punched slugs 'climb' up the hollow end of the tool and emerge at the open channel in the side.

I'll put this with my gasket punches.

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