The definition of picturesque is “striking or interesting in an unusual way.” Striking: that about sums up this photo of reader Sidney French’s brother’s workshop. Even if you’d never seen a shop in your life you’d know what this is with just one look.

More than just a place to build things, this spot, wherever it is, has so much character I’d spend most of my waking moments in it if it were mine. Someone spends a lot of time here or should. From the dozens of new and old projects to the homebrew storage, quiet improvements have been going on here for a long time.

Our hats off to both the guy this shop belongs to and to Sidney for taking photo.

Toolmonger Photo Pool [Flickr]

Sometimes the answer to the famous “What is this thing?” shop question is as fruitful as it was for reader ghb624 who was cleaning out some old hand-me-down gear and came across this piece of tool history. As it turns out, some folks tracked it down for him.

This was among the items in a box of odds & ends which I inherited. It came to me along with an old Goodell Pratt lathe which had been in the family for 60-some years. I have no idea what it is used for, and am going to post a query on an appropriate discussion forum to see what I can find out.

I found a downloadable copy of the Goodell Pratt catalog for 1926, and here is the exact item:

All right: that is officially cool. Not only does he know what it is now, but it’s pretty clear that this is where it came from. For some reason seeing a direct link to the past like this always puts a smile on our faces.

Toolmonger Photo Pool [Flickr]

Reader 1200tec built this sweet-ass side cabinet for his well-outfitted shop. It’s the kind of rig that makes his neighbors hate him — up until the time they need help building one for their own garage. In short, it’s handy, inexpensive and looks good.

From what we can glean from the photo pool picks it’s about 8 feet tall and somewhere in the vicinity of two or three feet wide with purpose-built shelves on the interior. It’s not unlike the storage cabinet I built for my shop a while back, except 1200tec’s is more elegant and less stupid.

The finished-out doors are a nice touch as well. Just a few days spent in the shop and you’ve got more organization and storage when it’s time to put everything away — hats off and beers up to you.

Toolmonger Photo Pool [Flickr]

It’s a verifiable fact that working with concrete sucks. The lifting and the mixing, followed by the pouring and smoothing, all while being rushed and worried that the mix isn’t right. I can’t think of much that’s physically more demanding and that has such a big potential for a hard-to-clean mess — which is why we tip our hats to reader Jmillerid and his new front stoop.

This had to be an afternoon of fun and adventure followed by copious amounts of Advil and a nap. In his caption Jmillerid tells us that this great-looking brick and concrete monster has 1,200 lbs of mixed and poured goodness in it. We cringe at the thought but will be the first to say that it looks absolutely great. Well done, sir.

Toolmonger Photo Pool [Flickr]

Fixing an old wooden boat is a little like trying to dam a river with a rake. The more you try to stem the flow, the more you issues you find. I don’t pretend to know a lot about ship building or repair, as my experience is limited to fiberglass boat repair, which is child’s play in comparison (which qualifies me enough to say I know enough to know I know nothing). But reader BuckarooBob has taken up the challenge of restoring this old wind rider and, like all old boats, it’s a story and a half.

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Plywood is one of the building blocks of life. Group ply with studs of almost any size and you can build damn near anything. The shed out back, the house you live in and even the furniture in it can be constructed from ply and studs. It’s a powerful combo that isn’t fully appreciated until you’ve solved a few problems with it.

From the most basic sheet ply and pine 2×4 or 2×6 combos to the extreme furniture-building applications that boast double veneered ply and solid hardwood trim, the basic composition is still the same. Span the gaps with ply and make the frame with studs.

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I’ve always wanted a storage building that can double as a shop. Reader Brad has got one he’s revamping, and I’m green with envy. It looks like it’s about the size of a two-car garage; he’s managed to get the entire room uncluttered and is reworking the space to fit his needs.

The walls must have been a trifle dodgy, because Brad decided to refit them with some reclaimed ply. We wholeheartedly support the reclaiming of any wood, but the ply is sweet because it was probably cheap, if not outright free, and will cover a lot of area without hassle.

The cabinet looks like it’s also a ply creation which, if true, might be a triple-digit savings over store-bought variety as well. It’s a great start — we hope the rest of the retro fit goes as well as it looks here.

Toolmonger Photo Pool [Flickr]

I call this one “Too Sexy For My Bridge.” The princely stance and smirk on reader Jeffrey.Immer’s mug are just about perfect for a day’s work well done. I’m always amazed at how these guys bust ass. It is their job, that’s true, but they get it done in places other guys might wither and wimp out. 

My elevated walkway from the battalion building to the company buildings, it was unbelievable hot out that day, like 115 or something ungodly like that. We built the 45′ long walk in one day and incorporated solar lights into the handrail - that was bardsley’s idea. Me and him are like Adler and Sullivan (me being Adler.)

For those of you not as up on your 19th-century architects as the good Mr. Immer here: Adler and Sullivan were rather famous Chicago building designers in the late 1800’s and designed some of the most historic buildings in town. Places like Garrick Theater (which was sadly destroyed in 1961) and the Chicago Stock Exchange building on North LaSalle Street which still stands today are just a few examples of their fine work.

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It seems some readers like rboyett2001 have been busy in the shop while other folks like me have been out back grilling up some fatty meats. After we got a look at this fold-away workbench we feel a little behind. Rboyett gives us the rundown on the bench and its construction.

The base for the workbench with the legs installed. The legs are attached with hinges so they can be closed up. There are adjustable feet underneath the legs to allow for the slope in the garage floor.

He obviously spent some time planning how to maximize the available space in the garage and it shows. We deal with this sort of thing ourselves at home and this folding solution is a great way to make the most of a limited area.

Toolmonger Photo Pool [Flickr]

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]