(New Guy Here) Some of my tools: mostly colonial or later hand forged, some misc

[Silver_Cowboy]

Here is a taste of my collection. I collect mostly hand forged tools. Many of these are colonial American (1670s-1800) with some later. The new ones were gifts or garage sell finds. My interest is expanding to other time periods.


For Scale, the tiles in the pictures are 1 ft by 1 ft.


The last tool (second to last pic) is a violin maker's plane.

Thanks for looking, Enjoy!

[Papaw]

Great stuff!!
I am impressed by those beautiful tools.

[john k]

That is quite a collection.   Never see much early stuff around here, and if it is forged, and they know it, suddenly its covered with gold.    In the hammer heads, I see a blacksmith hot cut, definitely blacksmith made.     Thanks for posting.

[Branson]

The first thing that really caught my eye are the chest handles.  It's been a while since I saw a pair of those.  Admittedly, the design is not really unusual,
but those are the pattern used on Hudson Bay Co cassettes (used for carrying the personal belongings of Hudson Bay company men).  I still have a couple of repros that were made over 25 years ago.  Very cool!

Delighted to see Eric Slone's book, A Museum  of Early American Tools!  That's the book that put me over the edge into tool collecting 40 + years ago.
He wrote several other books on early Americana.  You'll enjoy those, too, if you don't have them yet.  (There is a web site dedicated to Sloane and has his complete bibliography.)  You will probably also really like Aldren Watson's  books, Country Furniture, The Village Blacksmith, Hand Tools, Furniture Making Plain and Simple.

Bealer's books on wood working and blacksmithing are good, but I prefer Sloane and Watson, and especially their drawings (both were illustrators).  Both have such a clear writing style! 

So welcome aboard again.

[wrenchguy]

nice items,  i have a few hand forged dynamite augers, i limit myself to these in the smitty made stuff.  can't collect it all. good luck.

[Silver_Cowboy]

Thanks, guys!

Branson, I'll look into those books, they sound great!

[anglesmith]

Branson,
I agree with you on the Sloane and Watson books, both were marvelous illistrators. Sloane's drawings of barnes and covered bridges really get to me, especially because I've never seen them for real!  Watson get a bit carried away with some of his anvil beaks, but I guess artist's are allow to do that! All their books are great books, that have taught me a lot about tools and a lot about America.
Graeme

P.S. Silver-Cowboy,
My apologies, I got carried away on the books ! I also think you have collected some nice old tools, thanks for posting the photos.
G

[Branson]

Branson,
I agree with you on the Sloane and Watson books, both were marvelous illistrators. Sloane's drawings of barnes and covered bridges really get to me, especially because I've never seen them for real!  Watson get a bit carried away with some of his anvil beaks, but I guess artist's are allow to do that! All their books are great books, that have taught me a lot about tools and a lot about America.
Graeme

P.S. Silver-Cowboy,
My apologies, I got carried away on the books ! I also think you have collected some nice old tools, thanks for posting the photos.
G

I've missed most of the covered bridges myself (so far) but the longest single span covered bridge is here in California.  I took a loot at it!   The structure is a combination of the Burr arch and the rail road truss.  Pretty awesome.  Watson has made a (very) few mistakes in his drawings.  The only one I thought to be a problem was a picture of a cross pein which was labled as a straight pein.

[Branson]

Thanks, guys!
Branson, I'll look into those books, they sound great!

They are great.  Good information, good drawings(!), excellent writing.  When you are feeling really flush, there's With Hammer in Hand: The Dominy Craftsmen of East Hampton, New York by Hummel.   The drawings you're looking at in Sloane and Watson?  Here's the photographs and history of the shop.  And close-ups of many, if not most of the tools that were in the Dominy workshop when it was donated to the Winterthur Museum.  Members of the Dominy family earned their living in this shop from 1760 to 1840, and then shut the doors.  It's the King Tut's Tomb of American furniture building and clock making.

What other tools are you looking for?  Betcha people here could help you with some.

[Silver_Cowboy]

I picked up a few items at a yard sale yesterday. I have not researched them yet.