It's just a box, an old wooden box, weathered and worn. It was painted for preservation, not aesthetics, in the faded green of old stenographer's notebooks. There's an irregular white stripe across the top where the edge of something being painted rested. It's just a box.
But for Randy, this box is a treasure chest of family history.
It's a tool box that belonged to his grandfather, an apprentice-trained cabinetmaker. His grandfather made his own tool boxes, chisel handles, replacement handles for saws and anything else that once had a wooden handle and needed a new one, as well as larger wood projects.
His tools were kept sharp (you could shave with one of his chisels) and everything was kept in its place so a busy carpenter could always find a particular tool. His workshop, a room in the basement, was a refuge full of great smells -- sawdust, wood, stains, paints and varnishes. Old projects were hung from the rafters. Among them were a sturdy curved-top wooden mailbox that the postal service decreed did not fit standards for use, and a wooden Buckminster Fuller-inspired geodesic dome that would have made a great lamp shade.
He worked for a number of companies in his life, and during World War II built anything wooden for the Navy at the Naval Gun Factory in Washington.
Now, Randy's parents are moving to a smaller place, so a lot of family items have to find new homes. Randy is the fortunate new owner of the box, and of the tools in it. Getting the box was the greatest acquisition event for Randy since he opened his grandfather's old red wooden tackle box some years ago and found it still stocked with a few "chaws" of tobacco.
The tool box is about 3 feet long, a foot wide, and 18 inches deep with a sturdy locking clasp. It has a lift-out tray with compartments for small tools and a separate section in the bottom for saws. Randy surmises that because this box has a lock, it probably originally stayed at work; most of the old man's boxes didn't have locks.
For Randy, handling the tools inside the box has special meaning, because they're tools his grandfather, who died in his 80s in 1975, touched and used. There is a 50-foot winding tape measure with the numbers almost worn off. There is a brass plumb bob that Randy and his father used to build a cabin in the mountains about 30 years ago. There is a brace with bits rolled up in a peeling black oilcloth pouch -- the kind that everybody's father or grandfather once had -- that was used to bore holes for bolts holding wood piers to beams in the mountains, long before the cabin had electricity.
Two saws in the box are "silver steel" crosscut saws. Crosscut saws have smaller teeth and are used for cutting across the grain of wood, while rip saws have larger teeth and are used to cut with the grain. Carpenters today have mostly gone electric, so the distinction between types of saws is fading. Randy's grandfather sharpened his own saws, and these two are still pretty sharp. A third saw has the fine teeth of a finish saw. Its tip is broken off, but as a result it fits neatly in the box between the other two.
Most of the wide array of chisels in the box are razor-sharp. Randy's grandfather also did a lot of wood carving, and used his chisels to shape the designs. (The ones that are dull have been struck by a hammer; a sign that another generation used them.)
Possibly the oldest tool in the box is a folding 4-foot rule made of "warranted boxwood" by the Stanley Co. in New Britain, Conn. It has a swivel in the middle and two arms that fold out, and may date to the early part of the century. Another antique tool is a wooden-handled draw knife, a single piece of wood with handles on each end and a blade extended parallel to the handles. The carpenter could shave wood by pulling the knife toward himself. This one is so sharp it could trim a beard.
Also among the older items are a number of planes. Some are old Stanley planes, like the models No. 90 and No. 92. There's also a huge steel jointer plane that has seen some rough use; it was once broken in half and welded back together. It was used for edge joining and for initial planing of large boards. At 2 feet, it was long enough to stay level and not fall into dips in the wood.
Our favorite device is the hand groover, model No. 71 1/2 , patented "10/29/01." It has two wooden knob handles and the narrow blade extends into a hole in the center of the elaborately curved and decorated metal base. The depth of the blade can be adjusted. Like the drawknife, this tool was also drawn toward the carpenter, and was used to cut a groove 5/16-inch wide.
Not all of the tools in the box have modern applications. Electric hand tools have replaced some of these simple devices. You can cut a 5/16-inch groove a lot faster and more accurately with an electric router than you could with old No. 71 1/2 . So even though they're mostly in good shape, it may not be practical to return them to use.
But Randy plans to give the old tools a little maintenance, a little oiling, and to rub off a little of the rust. He'll sharpen the chisels that have gotten dull. That way, even tucked in the sturdy old box, they'll be as ready as they ever were. Reuben Johnson could reach in and grab a tool and get right to work.
Mr. Johnson is a Baltimore construction manager. Ms. Menzie is a feature writer for The Sun.
If you have questions, tips or experiences to share, write to us c/o HOME WORK, The Sun, 501 N. Calvert St. Baltimore, 21278. Questions of general interest will be answered in the column; comments, tips and experiences will be reported in occasional columns.