Reader Scwetherbee has no idea what this tool might actually be. We confess it’s a mystery to us as well. It’s about ten inches long and the handle looks sort of like an old-fashioned frying pan. The business end features a pattern of teeth that are too large to be a file, but too flat to do any cutting. In short: we have no idea what it is.

My best guess is that it has something to do with horse grooming, but that’s just a wild shot in the dark. We’re hoping someone will be able to give us a positive ID because now we’re curious about what this tool might actually be for – other than back scratching. If you’ve got a guess let us know in comments.

Toolmonger Photo Pool [Flickr]

I’m not fond of doing finish work; however, for projects that go on the inside of the house they are almost required, if for no other reason than they’ll stand up to the wear and tear of family life for a long time. Reader Benao_t posted pictures of his finished dining room floor, and we must say it looks great.

The last pic we saw had the room in a state for sanded flux, so it was good to see it all finished out and polished. I don’t want to think about how many layers and the buff time that had to happen before he got the slick shine we see in the picture, but with some of the new finishing products on the market and electric floor buffers, this might have been easier than it looks.

Regardless of the toil factor of the gloss, we think it looks great and hope it provides decades of maintenance-free service. Well done, sir.

Toolmonger Photo Pool [Flickr]
Weekend Sanding Project [Toolmonger]

As the military is always at the forefront of weapons development, it comes as no surprise that an inventive soldier has taken on the task of producing a six round, 152mm/40 caliber prototype hand gun. Seen here in its proto-mockup phase with its creator Jeffrey Immer, it may seem a little unwieldy. However, we’re positive it will strike fear into the hearts of anyone who stands before it.

Kidding aside, this looks awesome! We love that he took the time to color the checks in the grip and make a 3D cylinder. Hats off to you Jeffrey and try and stay cool in the shop, if that’s even possible over there.

Toolmonger Photo Pool [Flickr]

Chuck has this great picture of a set of small ornaments a friend of his made with a forge and 3 lb. hammer. Reader Whiteforge posted this little key chain lying across a similar hammer that, I’m guessing, came to life in much the same way.

It’s always amazing to me that such small, rather delicate-looking objects can be made with brute force and three pounds of steel hitting it repeatedly. I would most likely lose patience and make an ashtray out of everything, like I did when I was a kid and had to work with clay.

Toolmonger Photo Pool [Flickr]

This interesting-looking old drill press posted to the Toolmonger photo pool has us scratching our collective noggins. It’s obviously a belt-powered drill press of some sort but we have no idea what its original setup would have looked like.

The stock plate doesn’t have a hole in it, which to me says metalwork — though I suppose that’s not always true. The whole thing looks like it’s built for fine adjustment with the knobs at the spindle shaft, but the wheels at the rear are a bit of a question for me. Is the belt supposed to loop through them or is it for a second belt that controls the height?

We always find this type of shop mystery thought-provoking. We hope reader Ghb624 finds out how this rig is meant to be set up and what its original purpose was. Let us know what you think in comments.

Toolmonger Photo Pool [Flickr]

I love this box. This is the kind of thing that gets handed down from generation to generation until no one can remember where it came from but won’t throw it away either. Yes, you read correctly: this is a 50 lb. dynamite box.

Not only does the case look like a product Wylie Coyote just ordered from Acme, but just picture the neighbor in your shop for the first time: “Hey Bob, can you hand me the wrench? It’s in that box over there marked ‘dynamite.’ Better put out that cigarette first, though.”

Even if it were fake, it would be great to mess with people’s heads. I don’t know if I could resist keeping some red road flares in there just to make someone do a head check.

Thanks to Beano for the crazy-cool picture post.

Toolmonger Photo Pool [Flickr]

Often we are at our most creative when a need arises for us to be so. Take our friend, rreimund, for instance. He didn’t have any help on hand when he needed to fix a door, so rigged his own help.

Necessity, the mother of invention. Needed to shave a bit off the door to Antonio’s room as it was sticking and had no one to hold the door for me. Some parts from an old computer desk and some clamp…voila!

From what we can tell the homemade jig looks to have done the trick. The clamps held the stands pretty firmly and most likely didn’t cause any heinous gouging on the door’s finish. Then again, if he was just trying to stop it from sticking, I doubt a scratch or two would bother anyone too much. Nice work sir: simple, effective, and my personal favorite — zero cash.

Toolmonger Photo Pool [Flickr]

I always stare in wonder at folks who can manage to actually grow something in a garden.  It’s a mystery to me — always has been. I can work on motors or build furniture fine, but when it comes to keeping things green in an outdoor environment, the best I can do is let the weeds take over. Reader Fred does a little better than that. Here’s a great pic of his micro greenhouse experiment.

Gardening in Wisconsin, the land that global warming forgot. Trying to start pepper plants in peat pots. The problem is that these seeds need temperatures about 80 degrees to germinate. It’s 61 degrees two weeks into June.

So, we’ll plant ‘em anyway and put a clear plastic deli container over each one to act as a micro greenhouse.

Down here in Texas that would set the poor plant on fire if I did it. I’ve planted two things in my entire life that have grown. One is a cottonwood that thrives still in my father’s yard, and the other is a little oak tree that’s still clinging to life –- barely — in my front yard.  Best of luck to you and your peppers, sir.

Toolmonger Photo Pool [Flickr]

We like to discover tools from around the world and to try and figure out what they’re used for — even common items like a wrench might look different somewhere else.  Reader Noel found this Lithuanian spanner on eBay.  Even though we’re not sure exactly what it was designed for, a spanner is a spanner no matter where in the world it comes from.

The maker’s mark is in Russian, so unless someone can read it or recognizes the brand, Noel may never know its origin.  He says it swings to adjust to the proper size, then stays tight as you use it, which makes sense since we don’t see any other mechanism.

Nice find, Noel — we’re always suckers for strange, old tools ourselves.

Toolmonger Photo Pool [Flickr]

Few people, when asked, “What did you do this weekend, man?” can truthfully answer, “Completely refurbed a boat, from the keel up.”  Reader Tmib_seattle, one of those proud few, brought his rickety old boat home and completely transformed it from old-busted to new-hotness.

Check out the pictures in the pool to see the vessel before and after.  Tmib reworked and patched all the glasswork, ripped off and replaced the wood trim, and added a set of wheels to help move the little boat around — not to mention the spongy paintwork that now adorns the hull.

We’re guessing the only thing left is the sink-or-swim test.  We wish you luck, sir –- and well done!  Be sure to check out the rest of Tmib’s sweet project shots in the photo pool.

Toolmonger Photo Pool [Flickr]

We dig reader Beano_t’s work because of pictures like this.  He doesn’t star in his own high-buck TV show; he just makes things better around the house –- a lot.  His latest project involved a little sanding in the dining room.

The large drum sander pictured on the left helped out with the mammoth task of taking the oak floor down to a refinishable state — Beano obviously had the system down pretty well to get a nice, uniform-looking floor. I’ve always been rather terrified of creating a hill-laden mess. I hear from others that the giant sanders aren’t really that hard to use once you get used to ‘em, but I’d say the jury’s still out on that if it’s me behind the drum.

The only thing left now is to seal/stain it, so we wonder if Beano is going dark or light in his treatment.

Toolmonger Photo Pool [Flickr]

I’ve always had the greatest respect for the guys who drive the trash truck.  They often get a raw deal when it comes to public opinion;  much of their work goes unnoticed because people are busy doing other things and they take it for granted that trash pickup just happens.  At Toolmonger we know it doesn’t “just happen” — many dedicated men and women get up at the crack of dawn and bust ass to make it seem that way.

Reader Fredboness posted up this great video of the modern trash truck. Two of these trucks come around every week –- one for trash and the other for recycling.  The days of guys hanging off the back snatching cans may be numbered, but the giant, can-grabbing arm has got to be fun to play with. The funny part is that everyone who happens to catch a glimpse of them doing their thing will always watch the arm in action at least once.

Toolmonger Photo Pool [Flickr]

In this great action shot, reader Vincent Ma cuts some stone for his latest backyard project and shows off his hard-won work clothes.

Using an angle grinder from Canadian Tire, and a Norton diamond blade, I can score grooves in the brick in order to snap the “wings” off the Celtik wall unit. This way I can make beveled units for curved sections of the wall.

My work pants are nearing their end. Here a giant rip opened up and all I can do is duct-tape it to prevent my underwear from showing. Yes, I do know how to sew, but I don’t wanna bother with it.

Never feel bad about working so hard that your work clothes can’t take the strain. The only idiots who’ll make fun of you for that are the same people who’d hire out the project you just did with your bare hands. The duct tape just means you value one type of work over another this weekend — nothing wrong with that.  Also, the stones look great.

Toolmonger Photo Pool [Flickr]

For some reason I get sentimental about old machines put out to pasture this way.  I don’t know why it’s here or even who made it — it’s just on old stamping machine that outlived its time.  Reader Goblirschrolf posted it up to the photo pool recently, and I’ve gone back to look at it several times.

I’m sure it has a story — at one time or another it was the pride of the shop, tirelessly punching out little bits of something that made the world a fraction better.  And now here it sits, its story pretty much forgotten, and about all that’s in the future for it now is to be melted down or stripped for parts.

Of course, if you’re the dog trolling the scrap yards and you happen to come upon a sweet motor and gears like these, then I suppose you could argue that it’s a new life for it, of sorts.  Either way, it’s a great shot of a thoroughly interesting old rig.

Toolmonger Photo Pool [Flickr]

Reader Jey_lux posted this pic of his shop setup, which shows the benefits of mixing store-bought and home-built storage — his bins and future shelves seem to work well with the prefab units.  And we have to award some style points for the traffic light, one of our old-school favorites.

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Without a doubt, our favorite projects around the homestead are the ones that both solve a constant problem and are cheap to do -– with bonus points awarded if the resulting concoction happens to look good.  Reader Ethernectar built this garden bench this weekend to solve his outdoor storage issues, and he achieved all three goals.

It’s a simple bench with plenty of room for potting or other garden-type activities, and it didn’t cost a bunch.  Add in the fact that the entire project, including a trip to the big box, took less than a day from start to finish, and you’ve got a win all the way around.  Well done, Ethernectar!

Toolmonger Photo Pool [Flickr]

Reader Simple Simon’s sweet photo of this industrial-looking Canadian Buffalo drill press piqued my interest and inspired me to find out more about it. The key word here is industrial, and as it turns out, though the Canadian Buffalo brand is new to me, the company is old –- very old.

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