Tool shed

“ The doors of the garage and tool shed are made to open full width, but 8 feet is wide enough for the shop door. All doors open out against posts and are fastened to prevent blowing shut. The work shop is well lighted and the stationary tools are carefully placed for convenience in doing repair work of all kinds. The pipe vise is at the doorway between the shop and garage so the handles of the pipe tools may swing through the doorway and the pipe may lie full length along the narrow pipe bench. ”

“ Some lathes have rests which carry several tools held at different distances from its axis, the cuts following one another deeper and deeper into the metal in a manner exactly similar to the harvesting of a field of corn by a succession of reaping machines. The recent improvements in tool-steel render it possible to get a much deeper cut than formerly, without fear of injury to the tool from overheating. ”

“ And even this labour has now been got rid of; for, by an arrangement of the gearing, the slide itself has been made self-acting, and advances with the revolution of the work in the lathe, which thus supplies the place of the workman's hand. The accuracy of the turning done by this beautiful yet simple arrangement is as mechanically perfect as work can be. The pair of steel fingers which hold the cutting tool firmly in their grasp never tire, and it moves along the metal to be cut with an accuracy and precision which the human hand, however skilled, could never equal. ”

“ The slow curve of the bitstock, never identical from one early example to another, is lost in later factory-made versions; so too, with the coming of cheap steel, does the combination of wood (walnut) and brass used in the cabinetmaker's bevel slowly disappear; and, finally, in the custom-fitted pistol-like grip of the saw, there is an identity, in feeling at least, between craftsman and tool never quite achieved in later mass-produced versions. ”

“ Practice is the only recipe for speed.
When the tool is shaped as well as possible on the anvil it is then finished with a file by clamping the new tool in the vise, using single cut files. Bastard files are too rough for tool steel. After the tool is shaped by cross-filing and draw-filing to make it smooth it is sometimes polished by wrapping fine emery cloth around the file. Oil is used with emery cloth to give the steel a luster finish. Tempering is the last process in the making of such tools as cold chisels, drills, dies, punches, scratchawls, etc. ”

“ This difference in the character of the shed when the beat-up is made is caused by the fact that in a double-lift machine the knives, being in the middle of their stroke, are moving at their quickest speed when the shed is closed, and in a single-lift the knife is almost stationary when the shed is closed. ”

“ When to these we add the adze, plane-irons, the anger, and the chisel, we sum up the tools principally relied on by the early mechanics for working in wood and iron.
Such continued to be the chief tools in use down almost to our own day. The smith was at first the principal tool-maker; but special branches of trade were gradually established, devoted to tool-making. So long, however, as the workman relied mainly on his dexterity of hand, the amount of production was comparatively limited; for the number of skilled workmen was but small. ”

“ If a piece of metal is to be cut in a lathe, for example, there is one particular angle at which the cutting-tool must be held to insure the cleanest cut; and it is quite natural that the idea of fixing the tool at that angle should present itself to an intelligent workman. The necessity of moving the tool slowly, and in a direction parallel to itself, would suggest the use of a screw, and thus arises the sliding-rest. ”

“ The specification describes the object of the invention to be the saving of manual labour, the reduction in the cost of production, and the superior character of the work executed. The tools were fixed on frames driven by machinery, some moving in a rotary direction round an upright shaft, some with the shaft horizontal like an ordinary wood-turning lathe, while in others the tools were fixed on frames sliding in stationary grooves. A wood-planing machine [5] was constructed on the principle of this invention at Woolwich Arsenal, where it still continues in efficient use. ”

“ Evidently the perfect tool for setting a saw has been developed, and nothing could be simpler. That started me to thinking about all the implements that are in use on the farm, and how simple they are when compared with the first inventions. The first mowers were so big and complex and heavy that they foundered scores of horses every spring. A team could hardly pull them across the field, and they made a noise like a boiler factory. The modern mower is so light and simple that one horse can pull it, and it doesn't make any more noise than a sewing machine. ”

“ FARM MECHANICS CHAPTER I THE FARM SHOP WITH TOOLS FOR WORKING WOOD AND IRON FARM SHOP AND IMPLEMENT HOUSE
The workshop and shed to hold farm implements should look as neat and attractive as the larger buildings. Farm implements are expensive. Farm machinery is even more so. When such machinery is all properly housed and kept in repair the depreciation is estimated at ten per cent a year. When the machines are left to rust and weather in the rain and wind the loss is simply ruinous.
More machinery is required on farms than formerly and it costs more. ”

“ The map, Fig. 57, [219] gives a bird’s-eye view of the distribution of the tool building industry in the United States, and shows that it is located in a rectangle which includes southern New England and that portion of the Atlantic and Middle States lying roughly north of the Potomac and Ohio and east of the Mississippi rivers. The strong tendency toward concentration in certain localities is clearly seen. (Each dot in the map represents a shop.) ”

“ The workman never left his machine. He was provided with a number of tools, set in compartments in a box. When a tool became dull he took it out, set it in the box upside down, and substituted another. A boy went regularly through the shop, took up all the upside-down tools, ground them, and brought them back. The grindstones were provided with tool-holders and a compound screw feed, by which the tools were always presented to the stone at the same desired angle, and were prevented from wearing out the stone by running into grooves or following soft spots. ”

“ This type of tool has a flat or straight cutting edge at the end, and will leave a smooth finish even though the feed is coarse, provided the cutting edge is set parallel with the tool's travel so as to avoid ridges. Broad-nosed tools and wide feeds are better adapted for finishing cast iron than steel. When turning steel, if the work is at all flexible, a broad tool tends to gouge into it and for this reason round-nosed tools and finer feeds are generally necessary. ”

“ Goods-sheds may be built of stone, brick, iron, or timber, or a combination of all of them. Where the requirements are well proved, and the traffic certain, it is better to build a substantial permanent structure. Iron sheds, with sides and roofs of galvanized corrugated iron sheets, will last for many years if not made of too light materials. There are many cases where it is more prudent to put up a goods-shed in timber than to incur the cost of one of more permanent character. ”

“ It is obvious, however, that there is no front rake to the tool, and that it therefore derives its keenness from the amount of side rake, which may be regulated to suit the conditions.
When tool holders of this class are employed, the end face only of the tool requires grinding to resharpen the cutting edges; hence the area of metal requiring to be ground is much less than that on forged tools, and therefore the grinding occupies less time; and if the workman grinds the tools, he is enabled to run more lathes and not keep them idle so long while grinding the tool. ”

“ A carpenter bench that is used for all kinds of work must be [19] solid enough to permit hammering, driving nails, etc. Usually the top of the bench is straight, true and level and it should be kept free from litter and extra tools.
Good carpenters prefer a tool rack separate from the bench. It may stand on the floor or be attached to the wall. Carpenter tools on a farm are not numerous, but they should have a regular place, and laborers on the farms should be encouraged to keep the tools where they belong. ”

“ The coarse finishing feed is not always practicable, especially if the boring machine is in poor condition, owing to the chattering of the tool, which results in a rough surface. The last or finishing cut should invariably be a continuous one, for if the machine is stopped before the cut is completed, there will be a ridge in the bore at the point where the tool temporarily left off cutting. ”

“ It may thus readily be seen that it is the little bar of metal from which the small tool is made that needs our care and attention.
This is particularly true of the expensive milling machines, where the little saw, if not in perfect order, and not properly set, will not only do improper work, but injure the machine itself.p. 27 More lathes are ruined from using badly ground tools than from any other cause.
In the whole line of tools which the machinist must take care of daily, there is nothing as important as the lathe cutting-tool, and the knowledge which goes with it to use the proper one. ”

“ An old description of the plant says that it consisted of
an iron foundry, mould-maker’s shop, steam engine manufactory, blacksmith’s shop, and mill-stone manufactory, and a steam engine used for grinding materials for the use of the works, and for turning and boring heavy cast or wrought iron work. The buildings occupy one hundred and eighty-eight feet front and about thirty-five workmen are daily employed. They manufacture all cast or wrought-iron work for machinery for mills, for grinding grain or sawing timber ”

“ The alternate spaces between the lines were then cut out with a chisel and hammer and smoothed by filing. A block of lead and tin, as a temporary guide nut, was then cast around the partially formed screw. Adjustable cutters were fixed upon this guide nut and it was used as a kind of tool-holding slide-rest, being rotated around the screw by hand levers, thereby cutting the finished thread. In other words, a lead screw was cut on the piece itself and the temporary nut was used as a tool holder to finish the work. ”

“ Taylor also made a remarkable investigation of the lathe-planer type of cutting tool. A. L. DeLeeuw and others have studied the milling cutter and twist drill and examined the causes of the failure of cutting edges in action, and the influence of large clearances for chips and coolants. The new cutting steels and these investigations have compelled an extensive redesign of machine tools during the past fifteen years, a process which is still going on as new demands are made upon the tool builders. ”

“ Outside each road was a saw, its axle running parallel to the roads. The logs were caught in grabs, slung on to the table of the saws and, moving automatically all the time, were cut into lengths of from seven to ten feet. The pieces passed for props were dumped on to a conveyor which ran them out of the shed to be stacked for seasoning and export. The rejected pieces by means of another conveyor moved to the third and fourth saws, where they were cut into blocks for firewood, being finally delivered into two large bins ready for loading on to the lorries. ”

“ The face of a grindstone should be rounded slightly, and it should be kept so by grinding the tools first on one side of edge of the stone, then on the other, with the cutting edge of the tool crosswise to the face of the stone. ”

“ The industrial life of the United States is so vast that a comprehensive history of even a single industry, such as tool building, would run far beyond the limits of one volume. This book, therefore, is confined to the main lines of influence in tool building and to the personalities and cities which have been most closely identified with it. The later history of American tool building has never been written. ”

“ The positions in which to hold cutting tools while grinding them are as follows: The bottom faces of lathe tools and the end faces of tools such as scrapers should be ground with the tool laid upon the grindstone rest as in Fig. 2064, the stone running in the direction of the arrow. The best position for thin work as blades is at f providing the stone runs true, for otherwise the tool edge will be liable to catch in the stone. ”

“ In the first place the implement shed should be large enough to accommodate all of the farm implements and machinery without crowding and it should be well built and tight enough to keep out the wind and small animals, including chickens and sparrows. ”

“ Suitable flakes and chips were no doubt also carried off to be turned to account for scrapers, knives, and other small implements. Partially shaped disks and other pieces of all sizes abound in the pits, but the finer manipulation, by means of which small arrow heads, lances, drills, scrapers, etc., were fashioned, was reserved for leisure hours at home, and for the patient labour of the skilled tool-maker, for whose use the raw material was chiefly quarried. ”

“ Numbers of their tools and implements were brought to light—stone axes and saws, flint arrowheads, bone needles, and such like—mixed with the bones of wild animals slain in the chase; pieces of old boats, portions of twisted branches, bark, and rough planking, of which their dwellings had been formed, the latter still bearing the marks of the rude tools by which they had been laboriously cut. In the most ancient, or lowest series of deposits, no traces of metal, either of bronze or iron, were discovered ”