Veteran Woodworks At Nashua Spring 2016

Ken Aucremanne at the Veteran Woodworks booth.

This past Friday and Saturday, Ken Aucremanne and I setup a Veteran Woodworks booth at the Martin J. Donnelly Auctions "Live Free or Die Tool Auction" in Nashua, NH. This is a bi-annual event featuring some of the best antique tool sales in New England.

In addition to the 2-day formal auction inside, there are always extensive parking lot sales out back, this time starting 2 days before.

You know how occasionally at flea markets you find that one good tool guy? Imagine an entire hotel parking lot like that. Yeah, start drooling. Fully half of my personal and student tools come from here.

Ken had called and spoken to Kathy Donnelly to inquire about having a space, and she had said to come on out. I brought my portable sharpening station and my portable Roy Underhill workbenches. Everyone always loves both of these, so I bring a copy of Roy's book The Woodwright's Apprentice: Twenty Favorite Projects From The Woodwright's Shopto show them the workbench plans.

The weather Friday was gorgeous, sunny and warm, all the way up to 78 degrees (the week before the low had been in the teens). We spoke to a number of people, collected names for our mailing list, and I sharpened a few tools.

Several of the vendors generously donated tools, all good users in good condition. James gave us two '20's/'30's era Vaughan and Bushnell planes, 905 and 904, plus an unmarked Bedrock 604 clone from the same period. The V&B planes were drop-forged from single ingots of vanadium steel, so were marketed as unbreakable compared to cast-steel planes.

Drew gave us a '60's era Disston hand saw and some big bar clamps. We also received donations of block planes, marking gauges, braces, and a push drill.

Thank you to all who donated! Proper storage for these items is now a priority, so my next project will be a couple of the toolboxes from Toshio Odate's book Japanese Woodworking Tools: Their Tradition, Spirit and Use, one long for saws and one short for everything else. These are simple, portable, and stackable, ideal for kitting out group sets. I'll add a sliding dovetail locking bar for the lids.

A storm moved in late afternoon, sending everybody scattering and dropping the temperature by 20 degrees. Unfortunately, Saturday was a major bust, cold and rainy, most of the outdoor vendors gone. Ken went in and asked if we could set up a table inside, and they graciously gave us a spot at the entrance.

Inside, we met Martin and Kathy. They each took a few minutes from the controlled chaos of the auction to speak with us, and were very supportive, so I want to give them a big thank you.

Building Up A Starter Set

The tools for sale inside and out run the gamut, the full range of age, condition, and price. Lots of good users and lots of obscura for collectors. From the ball of rust on a tarp in the parking lot that may or may not contain an actual tool to the spectacular one of a kind that will command eye-watering price and take pride of place.

This a great way to build up a starter set, though it can be confusing for a beginner to know what to get, especially when trying to hold to a limited budget. Frank, one of my JOTMOST students, met me Friday morning and we scoured the vendors to assemble his set.

I told him to prioritize on his primary tools and not worry for the moment about chisels, since the hardware-store grade ones he already has are usable for now. Chisels are the easiest problem to deal with. Focus on the harder-to-find items, and don't buy the first one you see, hold out for a good deal, even if it requires a little more restoration.

He sent me an email afterward detailing the results:

• Stanley #4, $30
• Stanley #5, $20 (Broken handle)
• Stanley #6, $50
• Small unmarked router plane, $22
• Crosscut saw, $3
• Rip Saw, $3
• Saw set, $2
• Saw vise, $10
• Crosscut tenon saw, $10
• Rip tenon saw, $10
• Dovetail saw, $10
• Stanley #18 sliding-bevel, $20 (this is the best style, with locking screw at the base)

So we were able to find all the rough and fine joinery saws and a full suite of planes, plus router, saw set, saw vise, and sliding bevel, for $190. With his chisels, he's now fully equipped, even for saw sharpening.

The planes are all marked with 1902 patent date. The other tools I would guess are from somewhere between WW I and WW II. The large saws of course were all fully rusted, but had good straight saw plates and good teeth, so will clean up just fine. The joinery saws just need dental work.

Clearly our next JOTMOST session will be on tool restoration!

Meet Ken Aucremanne And VetWoodworks

Ken Aucremanne at North Bennet St. School.

Tuesday I had lunch with Ken Aucremanne (pronoununced "ockerman"). Ken is a 6-year US Navy veteran from West Virginia who's in the process of starting VetWoodworks, a charitable non-profit organization to promote woodworking for veterans.

Like me, he's concerned to see veterans suffering from unemployment, depression, substance abuse, homelessness, and worse. We both see woodworking as a way to provide veterans with vocational training, a hobby, or just a few hours of relaxation.

Sometimes it's nothing more than what I call therapy shavings. No need to build anything, just enjoy the pure satisfaction of turning a piece of wood into a pile of shavings.

Part of his effort involves traveling the country making a documentary film about woodworking programs for veterans. He's currently in a 3-month furniture making intensive course at Boston's famed North Bennet St. School. NBSS has an active Student Veterans Organization (NBSS SVO).

It turns out my new job is just a 10-minute walk from NBSS. Ken contacted me following up on a comment I had put on this article about him on the Woodcraft Magazine Staff Blog. When I found out he was so close, I suggested we meet and talk about it.

Ken's still working out all the details of the organization, the program it will follow, the website, and the documentary (just a few things to keep him occupied!). For starters, he's created the VetWoodworks.org Facebook page. His contact info is on the page's About tab.

On Wednesday, he invited me to attend the presentation he was giving at NBSS to the SVO. He showed a brief video about the Sam Maloof Foundation's work with veterans, and very kindly held up my JOTMOST program as an example of what he was talking about.

His goal is to secure sponsorship funding and register VetWoodworks as a 501c3 organization. It will provide tools for veterans' programs around the country, and a network of volunteer instructors such as myself.

He's in the process of contacting potential sponsors. If your company or organization would like to help, contact him directly.

I'll post updates on this as further details become available. Among other things, two that will be needed are tool donations and volunteer instructors. The 501c3 status will make donations tax-deductible.

I'm very happy to join up with Ken because the biggest challenge I've faced is outreach and getting participants. I've contacted several agencies and organizations, but with no response. He told me the VA is very reluctant to deal with anyone who's not a 501c.

I first became interested in teaching basic hand tool usage when I kept reading in Mike Dunbar's articles that chairmaking students would show up at his Windsor Institute with tools they didn't know how to use, and weren't sharp or ready for use. He would have to spend a day of valuable class time getting them prepared.

Since I had recently climbed that learning curve myself, I felt I could fill that niche. That's the basis of what I teach, to bootstrap aspiring hand tool woodworkers and give them the basic level of competence, confidence, and versatility to take more advanced classes.

Part of the message I want to convey is that it doesn't take a huge amount of resources to set up a suitable workshop. An investment of $200-$500 is enough to equip it with used hand tools, or $500-$1500 for new tools. Building a small workbench with some kind of workholding setup takes $50-$200, or buying one takes $500-$1500.

While most people envision a large workspace with big power tools making lots of noise and sawdust, you can put together a perfectly good hand tool workspace with a 4'x2' shop-made folding workbench and shop-made footlocker-sized box of tools.

This requires minimal space both in use and folded up, is quiet, and produces only a small mess that's easily swept up. A 6'x4' corner of a room is all it takes. Put a dropcloth down for even easier cleanup.

For anyone interested in assembling such a workspace, the following minimum inventory of tools per workbench is sufficient to work on a wide range of projects. Tools can be new or antique as long as they are of good quality.

The very act of gathering and preparing these tools and building the shop-made items is an excellent learning experience.

Different people have different versions of what comprises the minimum, but this is what I use:

Handsaws:

• Ripsaw, 6-8 ppi
• Crosscut saw, 6-10 ppi

Joinery Backsaws:

• Rip/dovetail, 12-15 ppi
• Crosscut, 12-15 ppi

Handplanes:

• Jack plane, #5
• Jointer, #6 or #7
• Smoother, #3 or #4
• Router plane (not an electric router)

Chisels:

• Bench chisels in sizes from 1/4"-3/4"
• Mallet

Sharpening:

• Polished marble or granite floor tile with sandpaper for back preparation
• Coarse, medium, and fine sharpening stones, any style
• Leather strop with stropping compound
• Saw files
• Saw set
• Saw vise (commercial or shop-made)

Measuring and Marking:

• Combination square
• Dual-pin marking gauge
• Marking knife
• Winding sticks
• Straightedge

Appliances and Miscellaneous:

• Sawbench (shop-made)
• Bench hooks (shop-made)
• Shooting board (shop-made)
• Vise (commercial or shop-made)
• Holdfasts
• Wax block

There are of course many other tools, both hand and power, that can be added to this to extend the range of choices. For instance, Ken would add a shoulder plane and a brace and bits.

Then the most critical things are the skills to sharpen, maintain, and use these tools, and the ability to teach those skills to others. When you keep your tools ready to use, it's much easier to learn new skills, and the work is intensely satisfying.

Good tools, good maintenance, good instruction, and good practice make for good results.

For another perspective on the tool list, including some additions, see Evaluating The Tool List By Function.