All About Pocket Knives

This rolling workbench was left in my shop by the previous homeowner. It looked to be thrown together roughly and quickly out of remnants, however, I use it almost every day. The center top board was crooked and all 3 boards were cupped, and they were just screwed down - not glued together, so it had large gaps between the boards and it was a very uneven surface. I finally decided to fix that. I had to straighten out the edges of the center board on the table saw, along with the inner edges of the other top boards so I could glue them together. Once that was done, I spent about 3 days flattening the surface with a big old Jointer plane, doing 45 degree strokes in an opposing pattern over the top. A lot of time spent stopping to rest. If you ever need a upper body workout, I suggest this workout. You can see all the wood chips on the floor. Then I went over it a few times along the grain with a smoothing plane to get the cross hatch marks out of it. After it was 98.3% flat, I glued various sized dowels into the 18 holes (yes - 18) that had been drilled through the top for whatever reason. Then I put wood filler into all the dents and gouges and sanded it all down with 80, 120, then 220. I ordered some Waterlox, and I will finish it with 4 or so coats of that. Now I will have a flat surface with no gaps for small parts to fall through. Next step will be to buy a wood vise to install.

Some photos of the progression. I didn't take any "before" pictures, so disregard my buddies Oryx skull so you can see some of the gaps before I started.

Unk: The fence tool makes sense. The spud for winding the wire. Thanks, I'll keep digging. Nice bench, good work. J.O'.

Unk wrote: ↑Wed Jul 27, 2022 6:22 pm This rolling workbench was left in my shop by the previous homeowner. I

Looks great Mike! Now you have a very nice work bench.

Unk wrote: ↑Wed Jul 27, 2022 6:22 pm This rolling workbench .
Some photos of the progression.

As it should be. I approve.
Can you lock the wheels on that rounder?

Good job!

Thank you guys!

Joe, yes, two of the casters lock, but it still moves around a bit if I am doing heavy work. I may try to figure out a way to make it a little more stable.

Figure this is a good excuse to start going through my toolboxes. I take care of my tools, and do use them. They don't sit on a shelf, and unlike I see in many "creative" magazines, I don't wreck them and turn them into folk art. Heck I recently read an article in such a magazine that was titled "Make art with rusty junk".

The sources from my tools are various. A lot of them were my Granddad's and great-Granddad's. Some were found on a property we used to lease (and ironically, half I found were my Granddad's--the guy who owned that property originally tended to borrow a lot of my Granddad's stuff and never returned it), and a lot bought at flea markets. A few were super-steals from the big auction site. Very few are bought new. You hear of people who decide not to become mechanics because they can't afford the tools. You don't need to buy new, and you sure as heck don't need to settle for Harbor Freight.

And this isn't even the start....

Yeah, I do stuff with my "rusty junk". I keep things here from going to heck in a handbasket by fixing them.

The Eifel Plierrench is a design that is over a hundred years old, and was only officially discontinued about eight years ago, after the designs went through a chain of owners and constant tweaks. It was an early attempt at creating self-locking pliers.

This one is a 1942 version I think, 8-inch. This one was cheap, and I only got the pipe jaw. There was a HUGE variety of jaws allowing you to do basically anything with it. I plan to splurge and replace this one with one of those.

Trimont Manufacturing "Trimo" 8-inch pipe wrench. From the '30s to late '40s.

Around the shop, we have 8, 10, and 12, inch versions. The 8 and 10 eventually ended up in various toolboxes of mine, and Granddad has kept the 12-incher. These were left here in the '60s by the previous owners. These still work great. For pipe, I mostly use a 10" Knipex Cobra (which also has replaced 440 Chanellocks--and also is used as a wrench also for bolts and nuts), but these stay in the box as a backup.


AP Robertson Tack Hammer. My smallest hammer--used for jobs when something needs striking, but I don't want to use the monkey with a hammer approach. Supposedly magnetic, but that has since been pretty much worn out. Originally my great-granddad's. The main use, small nails, and light riveting jobs. I am sort of wondering if this would be good to peen knife pins with, or should I buy a more specialized hammer?
My great-Granddad's Channellock-type pliers--1960s Craftsman and Proto 243. The red box I use regularly is the only box I own to not contain any Channellock pliers. It has a 10" pair of Knipex Cobras, and then these two. I've used both heavily.

Hoof rasp--probably 100 years old. The barn we have was built in 1927, and I found it 4-5 years back. My folks have been living here since 1969 and didn't even realize it was there.
The mark is basically an arrow with "TRADEMARK" stamped under it.


I use it for filing bits of wood down, mostly.



I have no idea who made it, and I've found nothing online about the marking.

Ridgegrass wrote: ↑Sat Jul 23, 2022 9:09 pm Found this at a roadside house sale near Pocomoke City, MD. $2. No markings but feels very heavy and well made, 3/8 and 1/2 drive ratchets, hammer and claw and spud. 12-1/8" long.Looks like some kind of specialty item?? Had to buy it! J.O'.

I can recall seeing one of those at a fleamarket years ago and the owner told me it was a scaffold wrench. Spud for lining up holes, ratchets for tightening and loosening bolts, and clawhammer for installing and removing pins in scaffolding.

OLDE CUTLER wrote: ↑Thu Jul 28, 2022 12:55 am

Ridgegrass wrote: ↑Sat Jul 23, 2022 9:09 pm Found this at a roadside house sale near Pocomoke City, MD. $2. No markings but feels very heavy and well made, 3/8 and 1/2 drive ratchets, hammer and claw and spud. 12-1/8" long.Looks like some kind of specialty item?? Had to buy it! J.O'.

I can recall seeing one of those at a fleamarket years ago and the owner told me it was a scaffold wrench. Spud for lining up holes, ratchets for tightening and loosening bolts, and clawhammer for installing and removing pins in scaffolding.

That's my understanding as well on those. However, I can see something like it saving a lot of hassle on the farm. May look at one of those for my automotive toolbox and the tractor.

Not old, but since I mentioned them.

Knipex 250mm Cobra and 200mm Cobolt Bolt Cutter.

Knipex are bloody expensive. I just paid $35 for the 250mm Cobras a couple months at Lowe's a couple months back, and the 200mm Cobolt was $60 (ON SALE from it's $90 MSRP). Southern States has a $100 price tag on the 200mm. But, they're both worth it. I have had a smaller 125mm version of the Cobra pliers that goes basically everywhere I go, and they've taken on jobs I don't expect a small, just under 5" pair of pliers to handle. The big ones, on day one, loosened a rusted solid steel end on a dryer drain hose which had been used as a short garden hose for refilling watering troughs.


The 200mm Cobolts are rather small for bolt cutters, but cut any fencing I need to deal with (the cheap Mexican stuff we had some newer rework done using, the older bits done in Red Brand in the '60s, bull panels, snow fence), as well as most nails and screws. And they don't need much effort. They were bought specifically so I didn't have to A: risk ruining cutters on linesman's pliers and B: not have to lug around big, cheap bolt cutters we have. Job accomplished, even if it did cost over half the hobby budget. If I have to fix a bit, I can easily splice it back together with these and a big pair of linesman's pliers.

Thanks OLDCUTLER. Makes sense too. J.O'.

cody6268 wrote: ↑Thu Jul 28, 2022 12:45 am The barn we have was built in 1927...

My house was built in 1926, but I haven't found any cool old tools on the premises. I did find a couple of handgun rounds, though.

OLDE CUTLER wrote: ↑Fri Jul 22, 2022 8:22 pm First rule I have seen with graduations in hundredths of an inch

I chased one of these rules with that model number and it came to my house today.
Nice little rule, I'm glad to have it.

FRJ wrote: ↑Thu Jul 28, 2022 10:23 pm

OLDE CUTLER wrote: ↑Fri Jul 22, 2022 8:22 pm First rule I have seen with graduations in hundredths of an inch

I chased one of these rules with that model number and it came to my house today.
Nice little rule, I'm glad to have it.

Yes, I noticed on Generals website that they still make it. Now, sharpen up the pencil and clean off the glasses. lol

Cody, those are some nice tools.

I found a pair of like-new Knipex 6" cutters at an estate sale last year for $5. Luckily I knew what they were. They came home with me.

Cleaned up some of the mess in the shop today, and applied the first coat of Waterlox. Turned the top a nice golden color. 3 more coats, with a 24 hour drying time between each. So I guess it'll be finished Monday. The stuff is kinda pricey, and I've never used it before. But it's been around since 1910, and has a lot of recommendations, so lets hope it works. Ordered a 10" wood vise today for the bench.

While my bench is drying, I went ahead and restored the Stanley #5 I bought at the estate sale a few weeks ago. It has the top of the rear tote broken off, and a few chips and a crack in the left cheek, so it's not worth anything. But I flattened the sole and sharpened the blade, and she cuts well. It will be a good user for me.

Wow, the bench is like night and day!

Unk wrote: ↑Sun Jul 31, 2022 5:04 am so it's not worth anything.

It's worth something now. Nice save on that #5!

Thank you, Glenn and Joe.

I finished the #7 today. It is a war-time plane (1942-1945), and as a result, has no brass on it, no adjustable frog, and black painted handles. The depth adjustment is hard rubber instead of the normal brass.

These two pictures are the same two planes sitting in the exact same spot on the exact same bench. Just 3 weeks apart.

The hand planes and the bench: That's some good looking and valuable stuff right there.
A great restoration and save, Mike.

Unk wrote: ↑Mon Aug 01, 2022 12:42 am Thank you, Glenn and Joe.

I finished the #7 today. It is a war-time plane (1942-1945), and as a result, has no brass on it, no adjustable frog, and black painted handles. The depth adjustment is hard rubber instead of the normal brass.

These two pictures are the same two planes sitting in the exact same spot on the exact same bench. Just 3 weeks apart.

NIce pair!

I have a Lakeside, and I think it's actually a Stanley for Monkey Ward's. However, it's really rough. Been meaning on overhauling it as to have a decent plane.

Cody, there's a lot of hand plane restoration videos on Youtube. It's pretty straight forward. Only takes a few hours if you have a grinder with a wire wheel on one side. You can let them sit in Evapo-Rust for a few hours if they are too bad, but most I just knock the rust off with the wire wheel. Oil and then wax everything as it goes back together. I also have a sharpening jig to keep the irons at 25 degrees. I work through the stones from 400 grit to 8000 grit, then hone them. The jig makes quick work of sharpening them.

I think I am afraid to use my workbench now! I don't want to mess it up!

Mike, you did a great job with the planes and the workbench!

Thank you, Dan.

Nice planes and bench Mike