If there was one hand tool which you would like to see made again.

[Andy Kev.]

The only tool I have for which I'm thinking of getting a spare copy as a sort of insurance policy is my footprint eggbeater drill. This is because the one I have is so reliable and never lets me down but also because it comes with a chuck key which of course means that you can get the jaws properly tight. If it were made again to the old standards, I'd be prepared to pay a fair modern price for it.

Are there any other tools which you'd nominate for the same treatment?

 

[AndyT]

"Made again to the old standards" is quite a high bar.
If we confine ourselves to just woodworking hand tools, quite a few have been revived by small scale makers, working to equal what was offered to professionals from the 18th to the mid 20th century. But in the mass market, it's mostly tool-shaped objects made to a price point.

Thinking about small scale maker, for good wooden planes, I'd suggest Phil Edwards, Matt Bickford or Stavros Gackos, plus quite a few not making full-time.

For saws, there's Shane Skelton or Thomas Flinn on a more commercial scale.

For chisels, gouges and carving tools, there's Ray Iles and Henry Taylor.

But for all of them, their biggest challenge must be that there are so many good old tools, still being sold for very little. How many woodworkers will buy a new moulding plane for over £200 when they can get an old one for less than the price of a pint?

I can't think of anyone making hand drills and agree that the Footprint one (with the blue paint) is an excellent quality user.
I thought I remembered quite an expensive equivalent at Dieter Schmid, but can't find it now. Workshop Heaven have a choice of braces for £73 or £115 but are they really any better than the many old ones?

 

[Mike G]

........Workshop Heaven have a choice of braces for £73 or £115 but are they really any better than the many old ones?

Yes......for what their actual purpose is: a status symbol.

An egg-beater with a chuck key? I've never come across such a beast. I can feel a photo arriving in 3...........2...........

 

[PAC1]

Let me reach for my rose tinted glasses. I would like a quality egg beater, but...
In my experience the ones made in the good old days were not always robust. I inherited my grandad's egg beater which I used occasionally. One day I came to use it and disaster struck the chuck fell apart and springs shot everywhere (never to be found).
The likes of Veritas and Lie Nielsen are also updating some tools. A recent example good quality saw sets which have been absent the last 30 years.
As an apprentice in the late seventies and early eighties I had to buy crap on the whole. I did manage to find some quality tools which I still own.
I have been buying quality tools the last 15 years some I think better than they ever were.

 

[AndyT]

I can feel a photo arriving in 3...........2...........

Making holes without electrons

So, the one power tool I find myself struggling to wean myself off is the cordless drill. Even though I curse the fact that it is never charged when I need to use it, it is pretty convenient. For big holes, the brace and bit, or Scotch eye augers are great and strangely fun to use. For...

www.thewoodhaven2.co.uk

 

[toolsntat]

I have often thought the "Goscut" is underrated and no longer available*.
Always in my tool box wherever I'm working.

*Depends who you know, please form an orderly queue

Cheers, Andy

The Goscut

This is a very useful cutter which I am delighted to own. I was given it in the late 60's when I was a student.It was marketed origina...

painter-northumberland.blogspot.com

 

[Lurker]

Anyone who wants an egg beater ( non chuck key type) or a brace.
I have several looking for a good home for the price of postage and a small donation to my charity of choice.

 

[AndyT]

I have often thought the "Goscut" is underrated and no longer available*.
Always in my tool box wherever I'm working.

*Depends who you know, please form an orderly queue

Cheers, Andy

The Goscut

This is a very useful cutter which I am delighted to own. I was given it in the late 60's when I was a student.It was marketed origina...

painter-northumberland.blogspot.com

Seconded. Who needs a motor, battery and charger? People with weak wrists and a love of complexity, that's who. I bought mine in Bristol Design, before Andy started talking up the prices!

 

[Lurker]

I have often thought the "Goscut" is underrated and no longer available*.
Always in my tool box wherever I'm working.

*Depends who you know, please form an orderly queue

Cheers, Andy

The Goscut

This is a very useful cutter which I am delighted to own. I was given it in the late 60's when I was a student.It was marketed origina...

painter-northumberland.blogspot.com

I’ve got one of those somewhere

 

[Woodbloke]

I’ve got one of those somewhere

I had one years ago but I've forgotten what it did....dovetails? - Rob

 

[John Brown]

I’ve got one of those somewhere

Me too.. brilliant tool, but rarely used.

 

[AndyP]

Stanley No1 Odd Jobs.
Even of it was a jack of all trades, master of done, they look so cool with an excellent name too.

 

[AndyT]

Stanley No1 Odd Jobs.
Even of it was a jack of all trades, master of done, they look so cool with an excellent name too.

Axminster used to sell a modern reproduction of that. There might be some still around somewhere?

Garret Wade have them in the US

Garrett Wade Odd-Job with 6" & 12" Rule

Made from 1888 to the early 1930's, and rediscovered by Garrett Wade, the Odd-Job will provoke admiring glances. It's an inside mitre and try square, a depth gauge, a scribing tool for arcs and circles, a T-square, a depth marking scribe (excellent for marking out mortises), a plumb level, and a...

garrettwade.com

 

[Blackswanwood]

I lament the demise of the Stanley Yankee Spiral Ratchet screwdriver.

 

[Woodbloke]

I lament the demise of the Stanley Yankee Spiral Ratchet screwdriver.

Paul Chapman who some may remember was a big devotee of the Spiral Ratchet screwdriver and had a sizeable collection. My dad told me years ago that they were banned in the Fleet Air Arm as they had a nasty tendency to slip under pressure and so there was a very good chance of the bit puncturing a thin duralumin aircraft skin - Rob

 

[Andy Kev.]

Making holes without electrons

So, the one power tool I find myself struggling to wean myself off is the cordless drill. Even though I curse the fact that it is never charged when I need to use it, it is pretty convenient. For big holes, the brace and bit, or Scotch eye augers are great and strangely fun to use. For...

www.thewoodhaven2.co.uk

My Footprint drill is simpler than the one you linked to: it is a conventional eggbeater design i.e. with no handle coming out at an angle.

If I remember aright, Bridge City once did an eggbeater and it occasionally crops up second hand at high prices. I'm sure it's highly functional but it looks to be a bit in the "work of art" category but importantly it has no chuck. Here you go: https://www.jimbodetools.com/produc...original-presentation-box-115975-as-of-apr-20


If another does get made, my best guess is that Veritas would be the ones to do it.

 

[duke]

A few of my non electric drills.

 

[RogerS]

People with weak wrists ……..!

I’m not so sure about that. The torque on my Milwaukee drill is huge and when the drill bogs down you need a strong wrist if you don’t want the back of your hand being slammed into the sharp edge on a door jamb.

DAMHIKT

 

[Steve Maskery]

I had a lovely double-pinion drill, I think it was made by Record. Green livery, Jacobs chuck .Excellent build quality. I won it for a letter I wrote to Woodworker magazine, I think when Zachary Taylor was editor. It was great for tiny holes and well-controlled countersinking.
Alas it was among all the stuff that got stolen
S

 

[AJB Temple]

I am not even slightly interested in going back to hand tools. I've just done 38 off 100mm wide strips of 12mm MR MDF from 2400mm boards. For making panels. Cut to width and length with a Mafell tracksaw, lengths cut with short track. Electric pin gun and Festool mini drill it's three times quicker than hand tools. Each to their own. I use Veritas tenon saws, LN chisels and mostly Clifton planes when forced to do jobs by hand. They will see me out and there is no hand tool I will miss beyond what I've got.

 

[Raymedullary]

Um...... Which tools have been discontinued? Ok the spiral ratchet screwdriver (or "pump" as they were referred to), I still have mine, every yacht Joiner back then had one but as mentioned above some Foreman banned their use. Mine still hangs forlornly waiting to be employed once more.
Compass planes? are they still available new? lovely things when you need them. Proper brass backed tenon saws? ok still available but what about bog standard Spear and Jacksons? I have a newish rip off version.... its okish but the handle is poor. The old hand drills still have their place but again mine is just taking up space....? Can you buy cutting gauges? I never have, I've only ever converted a standard one using a ground jigsaw blade. OK I know...... the ovolo shave! I have one somewhere...........

 

[AndyT]

I don't know of anyone still making compass planes.

I'm pretty sure that the Spear and Jackson brand is just a name, with production all done in Asia, so I wouldn't expect a current S&J saw to have any resemblance to an old one.

Joseph Marples still make cutting gauges, apparently in the UK

Joseph Marples Cutting Gauge

A Joseph Marples half round cutting gauge. This cutting gauge is made from Rosewood with a cutting knife held in place with a brass wedge.

www.toolnut.co.uk

 

[fuse]

As a kid I was graciously given a drill just like the one on the right in Dukes photo along with a yankee screwdriver, by my dad
Upon reflection the old bugger was just offloading his rubbish as the screwdriver just jammed at the top of each recoil and the drills chuck/pinion/shaft kept dropping from the handle.
I had probably binned them both before my voice broke
Still have my Mitutoyu micrometers,depth guage and vernier calipers from my apprenticeship.
The company got a discount and lent us the money and it took nearly a year to pay it back on teenagers wages.

 

[Steve Maskery]

Before I was born, my dad worked for a company that did a lot of bar refurbishment work. One day, he was installing a newly re-uphstolstered bench seat, screwing up from below, using a pump-action Yankee screwdriver.

It slipped and hit him in the eye. They did discuss having to remove his eyeball, but somehow he recovered.

As a kid, I was always fascinated by the action of the tool, the double spiral and how you could make it go one way or the other. But it was the one tool he would never let us use.

S

 

[Reggieb]

Definitely agree with the Compass plane suggestion.

Also Yankee screwdrivers - they are brilliant for working with slot screws (though you can get something very similar new)

My suggestion would be spoon bits. The ones that fit yankee screwdrivers are great for creating pilot holes. Larger ones that work with braces or have a socket for a cross piece handle and great fun to use and surprisingly effective.

 

[Raymedullary]

Just for some contrast..... Tools that you are happy to have been discontinued?

The adjustable brace bit? Awful things.
At least I don't think they are still made.

 

[Andy Kev.]

I don't know of anyone still making compass planes.

I'm pretty sure that the Spear and Jackson brand is just a name, with production all done in Asia, so I wouldn't expect a current S&J saw to have any resemblance to an old one.

Joseph Marples still make cutting gauges, apparently in the UK

Joseph Marples Cutting Gauge

A Joseph Marples half round cutting gauge. This cutting gauge is made from Rosewood with a cutting knife held in place with a brass wedge.

www.toolnut.co.uk

I have half a memory of the German firm Kunz making compass planes but it looks like they may have stopped. Some dealers still stock replacement blades but this is the only one I found selling the plane:

Ship's plane steel sole adjustable KUNZ No.113

Special planer for shipbuilding. The flexible steel sole is adjustable with the hand knob, so that convex and concave surfaces can be edited. The plane is a replica of a Stanley plane from 1879. The double iron is lateral via a rocker arm and a knurled…

www.toplicht.com

Maybe it's one of the last available as new.

 

[AndyT]

€392! I wonder how many they sell at that price.

But your mention of Kunz reminded me of another company that I remember as making some uncommon planes - Anant. And they also list a compass plane:

ANANT Circular Plane No.A113, ANANT Block Planes, ANANT Planes & Spares, Carpentry Tools Since 1949, Anant Tools Private Limited Focal Point Jalandhar Punjab India

ANANT TOOLS PVT. LTD. was started as a small venture in late 1949. The company is engaged in manufacture of carpentry metal bodied bench planes of different models with over 75 years of unbeatable success and evergreen service to our customers...

ananttools.net

(They also make a copy of the Stanley 45.)

 

[AndyT]

Just for some contrast..... Tools that you are happy to have been discontinued?

The adjustable brace bit? Awful things.
At least I don't think they are still made.

Sorry to disappoint but they seem to still be made. This eBay search shows plenty of unused old stock but also some 'brand new' presumably from China for under £13 each:

expansive bit products for sale | eBay UK

Buy expansive bit products and get the best deals at the lowest prices on eBay UK! Great Savings & Free Delivery / Collection on many items

www.ebay.co.uk

Axminster have a much more expensive TCT variant that might be aimed at volume production use:

Axcaliber Adjustable TCT Boring Bit

Precision boring bit with the ability to recess or cut straight through, makes this a unique type of Forstner bit. Fully adjustable with a durable tungsten tip, the cutter has an outer scribe for a very clean precise hole. There are two adjustable...

www.axminstertools.com

In my limited experience, with old ones, in a brace not a power drill, on a decent bit of wood (not splintery spruce) an expansive bit can work perfectly well.

 

[Raymedullary]

Sorry to disappoint but they seem to still be made. This eBay search shows plenty of unused old stock but also some 'brand new' presumably from China for under £13 each:

expansive bit products for sale | eBay UK

Buy expansive bit products and get the best deals at the lowest prices on eBay UK! Great Savings & Free Delivery / Collection on many items

www.ebay.co.uk

Axminster have a much more expensive TCT variant that might be aimed at volume production use:

Axcaliber Adjustable TCT Boring Bit

Precision boring bit with the ability to recess or cut straight through, makes this a unique type of Forstner bit. Fully adjustable with a durable tungsten tip, the cutter has an outer scribe for a very clean precise hole. There are two adjustable...

www.axminstertools.com

In my limited experience, with old ones, in a brace not a power drill, on a decent bit of wood (not splintery spruce) an expansive bit can work perfectly well.

You've done better than me, although I must say I haven't tried one for years maybe I'll dig it out and sharpen it up.

 

[Bod1]

Definitely agree with the Compass plane suggestion.

Also Yankee screwdrivers - they are brilliant for working with slot screws (though you can get something very similar new)

My suggestion would be spoon bits. The ones that fit yankee screwdrivers are great for creating pilot holes. Larger ones that work with braces or have a socket for a cross piece handle and great fun to use and surprisingly effective.

Yankee screwdrivers work surprisingly well with Pozi/Philips screws, if you can find the bits, or Hex drive bits.

Bod1

 

[Pedder]

Yankee screwdrivers work surprisingly well with Pozi/Philips screws, if you can find the bits, or Hex drive bits.

Bod1

Think they work even better with torx bits/screws. Use them all the time.

 

[Woolf]

Do you get bits made for the Yankee or do you use an adapter

 

[AndyT]

Do you get bits made for the Yankee or do you use an adapter

I just bought a new, compatible no 2 Pozi bit on eBay for mine, as being the most useful size.



It's actually a Millers Falls, which might be readable here



Nice to have but I admit it lives at the back of a drawer, while my battery driver is closer to hand, under the bench.

 

[Dr.Al]

I modified mine to have a bit driver end:





Quick demo:

 

[Pedder]

I use an adapter bought several years ago from Dieter Schmid, but the offer vanished. But you can get A straight bit and a philips bit https://www.feinewerkzeuge.de/Drillschraubereinsatz-Schlitz/304413