Hand Tools - Some New Some Old

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In my boatbuilding career there was always a need to get the job done quickly and efficiently so power tools were the order of the day except for the few places where they just couldn’t do the job. Final planing on the edges of planking, shaping concave deadwood timbers, and chopping rib pockets and planking rebates were a few of those. All this just means that while I have always had and always used hand tools, I wouldn’t call myself a hand tool guy – certainly not worthy of the vaunted “galoot” title.
So much for the disclaimer. Here is a quick photo of some of my currently used small hand tools.

Most of these will be easily recognized but in the next picture it may not be as easy to name and put a function to all of them. These are some of my old tools from my boatbuilding days.

In particular I think this one may stump most of you. I have described it in an old blog but other than that it is a bit of an obscure one.

Of course anyone who knows me or reads my blogs will recognize the last picture.
This is my favourite hand tool ever!

Thanks for looking in.

Paul

The early bird gets the worm but its the second mouse that gets the cheese.

14 Comments

Yes Paul, the first pic is a gimme. Second is a bunch of caulking tools from the mallet to the irons. There is one file there for pulling out the caulking. Third is an angle finder of some sort. And fourth you have built yourself a Trebuchet. :))

Madts.

Tor and Odin are the greatest of gods.

Good call on the caulking reefer Madts. I didn’t think I’d sneak that one by you but “angle finder of some kind” doesn’t cut it. … Sorry :-) Gotta do better than that.

The early bird gets the worm but its the second mouse that gets the cheese.

OK. It is not an angle finder. It is something else. But I must be right about the trebuchet.
By the the way I like the slick in pic 2.

Madts.

Tor and Odin are the greatest of gods.

No, No, It is and angle finder all right. But only for one specific angle………

….. and it is spelled “chevalet”, a tool for creating beauty, not laying waste to castles.

The early bird gets the worm but its the second mouse that gets the cheese.

Let me guess. Garboards.

Tor and Odin are the greatest of gods.

Lol. I like the trebuchet guess! But your right. I knew what it was, Paul, because of the beautiful creations you
Make with with it!
I’m not sure, but it looks like a feeler gauge of sorts..

Steve Tow

Wow very beautiful collection.

Jeff Vandenberg aka "Woodsconsin"

Very nice collection Paul. I would have thought you would have more adsts and shaves. I had a number of shaves when I was a young lad working at the boat yard. I did have a chrome set of caulking tools too but all of those were lost during a military move, sad story. I love the chavalet!

CHRIS, Charlottetown PEI Canada. Anytime you can repurpose, reuse, or recycle, everyone wins!

Close enough Madts ….. I guess…
It is for taking the angle, every couple of feet, between the edge of the last fastened plank and the face of the rib above or below it where the next plank will go. It is designed to be used one handed in the left hand to leave your right hand free to record the angles on a spiling board. The angles are then transferred to the cut line on the new plank and the edge is cut on the bandsaw with an ever-changing bevel. Pretty simple really……. :-)

The early bird gets the worm but its the second mouse that gets the cheese.

I recognized some of the tools but there are a couple of strange ones in picture no 2. like what look like an elongated cylindrical hammer.

Abbas, Castro Valley, CA

The bigger one is a pin maul for driving spikes, bolts, and drifts.
The smaller one is a caulking mallet for driving cotton caulking between planking seams with the irons you see beside it.
The smaller one beside the pin maul is a spike set. You can hold the set with one hand and swing the maul with the other or you can do it with a partner holding the set and take a full swing.

The early bird gets the worm but its the second mouse that gets the cheese.

That shed some light! Thanks!

Abbas, Castro Valley, CA

Paul,

You have a very impressive collection of thingamajigs and whatchamacallits . . . and you know how to use them!!

L/W

“Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.” Benjamin Franklin

Paul you are my favorite boat builder, but also a dear friend and I always enjoy to get a view of what you are up to.
So nice to see your good old boat building tools, they bring a smile.
But yes that last picture – priceless!
And magic what you can do with that.
Best thoughts,
Mads

MaFe vintage architect and fanatical rhykenologist.