Restoration & Rescue Projects

The heavy scent of sulfur and old gear oil is a familiar greeting in my workshop. Over the last 18 years, I have pulled dozens of cast-iron giants from the…

There is a specific kind of silence in an old workshop that only a heavy, rusted piece of iron can command. Over the last 18 years, I have stood before…

There is a specific kind of silence in a workshop when you first set an old, seized piece of iron on the bench. Over the last 18 years, I have…

The smell of old sulfurized cutting oil and the cold touch of seasoned cast iron are familiar comforts to me. Over the last 18 years, I have stood over dozens…

I have spent the better part of two decades surrounded by the heavy, silent presence of cast iron. There is a specific atmosphere in a workshop housing a 1930s Hendey…

In my eighteen years of restoring vintage metalworking machinery, I have learned that the smallest components often dictate the success of the entire machine. I once spent three months rebuilding…

I have spent the last eighteen years in a drafty workshop, surrounded by the smell of sulfur and cutting oil. My hands have felt the grit of a thousand rusted…

Walking into a shop and finding a 1940s-era lathe cabinet or a heavy-duty machinist’s chest is a bittersweet moment for a restorer. You see the potential in the thick-gauge steel…

Walking into a shop that hasn’t seen a broom since the Eisenhower administration is a specific kind of thrill. Last summer, I pulled a 1942 heavy-duty drill press out of…

The first time I laid hands on a 1940s-era engine lathe, the apron was a solid block of oxidized grease and cast iron. It didn’t move, didn’t click, and certainly…