The Traditional Tools Group Inc.

So people will not be confused, there are two processes using the material known as french polish.  One, commonly used today, is a process of applying the material with a brush. This is shellacking. This article is not about this process. The other process will be explained as this article unfolds.

Murrays Expanding Dovetail Gauge in its original box and with original instructions; the much in demand accordion action tool that self regulates the size and spacing of the dovetails; a mystery to me who made this, a mystery no more; a corner of the instr

The end of the Second World War started a revolution in technology and manufacturing.
The Second World War accelerated developments in nuclear science; rocketry advanced from medieval pyrotechnics into a formidable weapon delivery system, later to

Waratah Star Steel Posts were patented in the mid1920s and instantly accepted as a reliable way to erect strong, durable and economical runs of fencing.

Accurate woodworking can only be achieved with sharp tools. This fact is never disputed; when the next question is asked the argument escalates. The next question is: How do you sharpen the tools?

Case-hardening materials like Kasenit, Hard-N-Tough, Hardite and other are good but the case they leave can be thin. Time at temperature makes a difference as does frequent refreshing of the salt coat and heating in a muffle.

The NEWS Editor has two Toya Electric Routers. The first one came “incomplete and unused” from a High School Store room.  This router is now mounted in a home-made router table and used mainly to flush trim Laminex glued to machining master templa

The NEWS Editor has three vintage 1960s B&D Routers. Two routers are in the original metal box with the information sheet in the lid.  The Editor isn’t a collector and these routers are used regularly.

The Operative Mechanic 1825, edited by John Nicholson, documents the technological innovations transforming the British Isles in the 1820s.