In early December, I had the great fortune to be invited to see the warehouse of a local museum, the Museum of American Heritage. The museum itself has interesting exhibits that rotate a couple hundred objects in and out periodically. But the exhibits pull items from the warehouse, which is jam-packed with thousands of vintage items.
I only took pictures of the woodworking items, but there was so much more. From a wooden-framed bicycle made during WWII metal shortages, to the original calculators, to a punch-clock machine from the company that would later become IBM, it was unbelievable. I wish the lighting had been better for taking photos.
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A couple of post drills |
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Here's a better pic of the one on the right. I love these things. Even got to turn it a bit. |
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A saw set - probably a Stanley #42, not sure |
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Two spoke pointers - one of them was huge! |
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Poor picture of a large and LONG T-handle auger |
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Vintage Shinto rasp - and I thought these were a fairly new tool design |
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A couple of wooden plow planes |
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Top shelf has drilling tools and wrenches. Middle shelf has various wooden planes and side rabbet at far right. Bottom shelf has a Stanley 45?, Stanley 75 and Stanley 39 dado plane. |
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Check this out: an old powered jointer with a wooden frame and tables. Never seen that before! |
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Stanley #113 circular plane (compass plane) |
This is just a sample of the woodworking stuff that I saw. I also saw a treadle scroll saw, several braces, more planes and other items.
Woodworking was only a small proportion of the overall warehouse. Everything else was fantastic and fascinating as well. And I never would have known that it existed. I wonder how many other small museums (with large collections) exist in other towns around here - or elsewhere for that matter. If there are any small local museums in your area, by all means check them out.