Thursday, January 1, 2015

Tools for Christmas / Werkzeuge für Weihnachten

I got an old tool chest filled with tools from my parents for Christmas. My dad had bought it at an auction in Karlstad in Sweden not far from where they have a summer house.
The chest itself is nailed together, and it is fairly long and sleek. It looks like it has seen some work, it is worn but still in OK shape.

In addition to the chest, my dad gave me an old Danish produced slick that he had in his workshop. He made a small leather sheath to protect the edge.

I have spent a couple of hours sharpening some of the chisels and the slick, and generally just looking at all the old tools.

Here is a list of the content:

21 different drills/augers
9 metal chisels and drift pins
1 hinge bender
14 chisels ranging from 1/4" to 1½"
2 No 4 planes
1 No 5 plane
1 auger (practically new)
1 old Swedish rabbet plane
4 panel saws (rip + crosscutting teeth).
1 dovetail saw (Sandvik)
2 gouges.
3 adjustable wrenches 15" in length.
4 smaller adjustable wrenches.
2 long auger drills.
4 clamps.
2 squares (1 is adjustable)
3 hammers
2 saw set pliers.
1 marking gauge.
1 compass with quick release mechanism.
1 angle grinder. (which I traded with my dad for a No 7 Kunz jointer).
+ various bits and pieces.

HAPPY NEWYEAR

Meine Eltern haben mir als ein Weihnachtsgeschenk ein alte Werkzeugkiste voll von Werkzeug gekauft. Mein Vater hat es auf ein Auktion in Karlstad in Schweden gekauft. Das ist in die nähe von ihre Sommerhaus. 
Die Kiste ist ziemlich schmal und recht lang. Die ist mit Nageln gemacht und sieht aus wie ein alltags Kiste.

Mein Vater hat mir auch ein alte Dänisches Stoßaxt gegeben.

Ich habe ein paar Stunden in der Werkstatt gebraucht und bis jetzt habe ich an die alten Stemmeisen gearbeitet.

Hier ist eine Liste über das Einhalt in die Kiste:

21 verschiedene Bohrer
9 Metall Meißeln und Dornen.
1 Scharnier Gebogenwerkzeug.
14 Stemmeisen zwischen 6 mm und 38 mm.
2 No 4 Hobeln.
1 No 5 Hobel.
1 Bohrwinde.
1 alte Schwedische Falshobel.
4 Fuchsschwänzen.
1 Zinksäge (Sandvik)
2 Hohl Eisen.
3 Schraubenschlüssel 15" lang.
4 kleinere Schraubenschlüssel.
2 lange Bohrer rund 50 cm in länge.
4 Schraubenzwingen.
2 Winkel ( ist justierbar)
3 Hammer
2 Schränkzangen.
1 Streichmaß.
1 Spitzzirkel.
1 Winkelschleifer die ich mit ein Kunz No 7 Hobel tauschte.
+ Verschiedenes Kleinigkeiten.

PROST NEUJAHR

Toolchest with contents 

Slick / Stoßaxt

Tools :-)

Hinge bender.

HInge bender.

29 comments:

  1. That is a nice xmas present. What is a hinge bender?

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    Replies
    1. Hi Ralph.
      A hinge bender is a carpenters / builders tool used for adjusting larger hinges on e.g. doors by bending them.
      I am not sure if it is the correct English term.
      I'll try to take a picture of it and post it here.
      Brgds.
      Jonas

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    2. Pictures of the hinge bender added :-)

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  2. That slick is really interesting and different from the American style.

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    Replies
    1. Maybe I am using the wrong word?
      The direct translation is "stab axe", which is also the meaning of the German word (Stoßaxt).
      I have seen a picture of a French similar tool (a besaigue), that one is has got a slick like chisel in one end, and a mortising chisel inthe other end. So that is yet another type of the same tool.
      Brgds
      Jonas

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    2. Hello,
      In Norwegian Stikkøks
      In Svenska Stickyxa
      In French demi-bisagüe
      and there is no English equivalent but it's used in a way similar to a slick.

      Regards,

      Ernest deBois

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    3. Always nice to learn of another tool that I've never heard of that I need... I can see where that would be very useful in traditionally built houses

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    4. Hello Ernest.
      Thanks for the other names of the tool.
      I just realised that I didn't write the Danish name anywhere:
      Stikøkse.

      I didn't know about the demi-besagüe, I have only seen the double one in some pictures.

      Brgds Jonas

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  3. oh wow, very nice, what a great gift!! Happy New Year!! :)

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    Replies
    1. Happy New Year to you as well :-)
      Yesterday I started working on the dovetail saw. Nothing like a small tool restoration project for a rainy day (We have a lot of those days in Denmark..)
      Brgds
      Jonas

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  4. What a nice batch of tools!

    I was surprised when Olav showed me his Stossaxt how fine a tool that is. He keeps his razor sharp, and it has a lot of control.

    When I first saw one, I couldn't figure out how it was used. I thought you put a wooden handle in it and chopped with it like an axe, which doesn't sound very precise at all. Olav set me straight, showing me that it is not meant for a wooden handle. You just hold the metal handle as it is with one hand, and the front with your other hand, just as with any paring chisel.

    It will be fun to see if it finds a place in your working set.

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    Replies
    1. I have copied Olav's design by painting the handle end of it. That way it should keep moisture and rust away, and it will be easily identifiable as my tool due to the colour (Volvo BM tractor red).
      If it ever ends up on the ground while I am making timberframing it will also stick out so I can find it easier compared to a brownish steel colour.

      I haven't started using it yet, but I hope to use it for the porch project. I also dream of making a small shed near our summerhouse. Those are both projects where the tool will come to its full potential.
      Brgds Jonas

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    2. Every one I have seen was painted black. But, I figured yours should be painted your patented Jonas Jensen Purple, or perhaps Horse Urine Red.

      :o)

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    3. As far as I remember, Olavs stikøkse was painted aome sort of purple. It matched all his other tools.
      The Jonas Jensen purple would mean I would be too embarrassed to ever use the tool in public :-)

      Delete
  5. I have never seen or heard of a hinge bender before. I asked an carpenter friend of mine (he's 92) and he said he never heard of a hinge bender.
    From the look of the tool it looks like it would be used for blacksmith made hinges?

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    Replies
    1. It is a fairly common tool over here. I'll try to take some pictures of it together with the type of hinges it is to be used on.
      But it is limited to that type of operation only, so it is normally not a tool you would buy.
      Strange how there still seems to be differences around the World when it comes to tools like this :-)
      Brgds
      Jonas

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  6. I'd never seen a hinge bender before, but I've seen them bent with a vice. It doesn't surprise me that carpenters would have a specialty tool for doing it on site. That was a very thoughtful gift and it looks like you will get quite a few useful items from the set. Perhaps you could even bring a few with you next time you are at sea to work on if you have some down time.

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    Replies
    1. Hi Bill

      I think I'll bring a plane with me on board (as usual)
      The hinge bender is as you mention indeed intended to be used on site.
      If you need to lift the door up you add some washers, but if the reveal is not the same all around, you can bend the hinges using it.
      I have once tried using an adjustable wrench for that purpose while on a ship. It resulted in me smacking the wrench in my face.. I guess that is why the smart ones advocate to use the correct tool for the job :-)

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  7. It's not clear from the photo whether this style of slick has a socket for a wooden handle. As I read this first, the hinge bender also jumped out at me.
    Would you find some references for the hinge bender to show it in operation?

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    Replies
    1. Hi, there is a socket for a wooden handle, but for some reason a handle is never inserted in the tool (I don't know why they are made like that, but that is the tradition).
      I'll make a post showing the hinge bender in action :-)
      Brgds
      Jonas

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  8. Here a blog with 3 videos of a carpenter using a "demi-bisaigüe":
    http://bois-de-brin.fr/?p=1625

    I could not find a video of the use of the mortise-chisel end of the bisaigüe.

    "demi-bisaigüe" is a funny name as "demi-bis" means "half-double"; so a "demi-bisaigüe" should just be an "aigüe".

    Sylvain

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    Replies
    1. Hello Sylvain.
      Thanks for the video, I have to make some nice timber framing one day. Seeing such a video always makes me wants to start building a large structure immediately :-)

      I like the explanation of the "demi-bis". Does that mean that the bisaigüe version of the tool is older than the demi-bisaigiüe?
      Brgds
      Jonas

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  9. It is fun to speculate so here is my go at it. The Romans used a tool derived from a typical axe with two bits, ( this part is not speculative, only the relationships or perceived progression), at right angles to each other, for chopping mortices in timber constructions which in German regions was picked up and modified and called kreuzaxt, the English version, closely related called twybil. Not only is it difficult to master the use of this tool but because of the action involved in using it, it can be dangerous as well as it is swung, http://vimeo.com/86767783, so at some point the wooden handle got dropped, not the socket, and the action changed from swinging to pushing and the tool got lengthened accordingly to what is now called bisaigüe and the demi-bisaigüe is a further modification with the socket where the wooden handle of the kreuzaxt once was still retained.
    Regards,

    Ernest

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  10. Hi Ernest

    This is a great trend, people with actual knowledge on a subject :-)

    Thanks for the video. I can see that it might be difficult to master such a tool, but on the other hand it looks very fast.

    I just saw a picture of a "similar cross axe" on Mathieus blog: Fabula Lignarius:
    https://fabulalignarius.files.wordpress.com/2015/01/2015.jpg
    I think it is a Japanese version, but it has got a few of the same elements such as a right angle to the handle and the cutting edge positioned like a heavy mortising chisel. I guess it is used for the same purpose, but it is only a guess.

    What is interesting is why the Roman tool didn't inspire the workers on the British Isles?
    The Stikøkse (stab axe) looks rather similar in Continental Europe as far as I can see, but apparently it never became popular in Britain.

    On the other hand it should have been common in USA as well, since they had a large immigration of people from all over the World.
    So there is a high possibility that a French or a German carpenter might have brought a demi-besaigüe or a Stoßaxt, but maybe houses were built in a different way, so the tool never became popular, and then it faded into oblivion in USA?

    I have just caught the flu pretty badly, so I need improve on my health before heading out in the workshop and making a blog post with the stikøkse.

    Have a great weekend
    Brgds
    Jonas

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  11. Isn't it great that we have extended holidays and all the time to sit around tapping at the computer.

    The tool you refer to in the Fab Lig connection if a Japanese adze and real similar to the adze you might pick up at the tool shop in town except for the socket mounting and bent handle. It's used primarily for cutting parallel to the surface. The kreuzaxt is used almost exclusively to cut down into the wood or perpendicular to the surface. It's the primary distinction between axe and adze. Even though there axes for surfacing the body posture, grip and relationship to the workpiece are so different.
    Well, I do think the Roman tool also got picked up by the English and they use a bastardized form of German twybil (zwei biel) to describe it. Up till the 14 cent the use was similar also but then the in England it evolved, or devolved depending on your outlook, into a rural implement used to make sheep hurdles and fencing. And not to stir up controversy on your blog Jonas but the so-called Americans have always persecuted new-comers, immigrants, until they could manage to assimilate or if they couldn't they got left behind and that's all I'll say about that.

    Regards,

    Ernest

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  12. What a great gift. Just the fun of going thru it would be fantastic gift in itself. Enjoy the detective work.

    Greg

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    1. Hi Greg.
      I think I'll have to copy your box making projects, that way I could make my own dedicated boxes for the augers or for some of all the chisels in the chest.
      Brgds
      Jonas

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  13. I googled hinge bender and I finally understand what the tool is and what it is used for.

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    Replies
    1. Hi Ralph.

      Sorry I haven't even gotten to the part of making a new entry on that subect yet.
      I have been busy with sawing on the saw mill and now I have started teaching Gustav (12) how to make dovetails :-)
      Brgds
      Jonas

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