WORKSHOP AT THE BARN

Here are my Dad's workshop items that I kept after his death.  I had quite a few tools I had already taken either in town or the farm but these were the big items that we kept in storage because we had no space for them.  For years.  It was time to stop paying for storage now that we have the place for it.  There were other items in this storage unit too, mostly holiday decorations, boxes of books, junk, etc.  

We donated a lot, kept some, and gave away more.  

Once we got it down to just these few large items, on Saturday we had movers come to pick them up, follow us to the farm and put them in the barn.

Tool Cabinet

First up, here is my Dad's tool chest.  I should have opened a few drawers to show you, it is full from top to bottom with all manner of saws and screwdrivers and wrenches and chisels and hammers and a few things that I honestly just don't even know what they are, ha.  But now I will have time to go through them and organize it all.  

Vintage drafting table

This is a large, very old, solid oak drafting table.  Interesting story behind this.  When I was little (like 7 or 8) we lived in Rhode Island and this was in the basement of the house we rented.  My Dad asked the owner if he could have it and the owner said sure, it was left behind by another tenant once upon a time and they didn't want it.  Dad cleaned it up and it went with us every time we moved from then on.  It's a drafting table, we believe from about the 1940's.  There are a couple of drawers, a wide shallow one and a smaller deep on on the side (this pic is from the back) and of course it moves up and down at any angle for drafting/drawing.  When I was little and liked to draw, I thought this was the coolest thing ever.  Now I'll get to draw whenever I want, ha.  

Air compressor

Dad got this from his job once upon a time.  It's a heavy duty air compressor.  They were throwing it away so he brought it home (hmm, wonder where I got that from? LOL!), painted it, fixed it up and (at the time it went into storage) it worked perfectly.  I'll have to get "R" from 2nd Family to help with this when we get electricity to the barn.  Since it sat for a few years unused, we're not sure if it will need some more work but we'll see later this Fall.

Delta Midi-Lathe

And this was one of Dad's later purchases and he was making some really cool things on it.  It's a lathe for turning wood.  He was making bowls and salt cellars and spindles and wooden cooking tools and all sorts of neat stuff.  Of all of his tools, this is the one I wanted to keep because it is something I'd love to learn someday.  He even built this wheeled stand for it with an extension arm on the side that lifts up and has places for chisels/tools.  There's even a light mounted on it to make it easier to see what you're working on.

We still have the workbench to show you but I'll make a separate post for that because I took a lot of pictures.  All of this is in the barn now.  It's a bit crowded but only because we need a taller ladder to reach the lofts and put up the storage items.  Christmas/Halloween decorations, etc.  We thought our ladder would reach the lofts in the barn but it's a tad bit short and would be a bit dangerous to stand on the top step.  Then I need to just organize things. I think we're going to need some shelving, cabinets, pegboard, etc but that will have to come when the weather cools down later this year.

One more accomplishment!