Before I get into today’s post, the winner of the Feels Like Home Giveaway is Joanne B. (Joanne81931)! I loved reading through all of your comments about what feels like home to you. Seriously, it was a pleasure and they all made me smile. Lots of references to family, pets, coffee, books, and comfy chairs by the fire. I will be having more giveaways as we get closer to the book launch date.
About the same time I found the Victorian Reeves watercolor box, I found this beautiful box of drafting/architect’s tools and I decided to spend my birthday money on both. After learning lessons about buying things on impulse, I let both sit in my digital shopping cart for a couple of days. Would I use these? Would I love them more than something I already have? The answer to both was yes and I had butterflies in my stomach when I opened each of the packages and I have loved them even more as I’ve spruced them up and started putting them to use.
The architect’s box has been exposed to some humidity, so the key and some of the tools were a little rusty. The finish on the box was also a little worn in some places.
While the tools were a little rusty and needed some cleaning, the set was complete and came with so many little extra goodies. The box was also sound and functional.
My favorite pieces were the bone ruling pens (it came with three of them) and a small ebony and brass parallel ruler.
I cleaned each tool with steel wool to remove the rust and gave them a good wash and dried them thoroughly.
I even scrubbed the key with steel wool and was able to remove most of the rust. I polished the box with just a little bit of linseed oil.
The brass tools are just stunning. I just love old things! Not only were they made well, but they are just so beautiful.
And I love that the little nubby pencil and lead are still in the set. I wish I could just rest my hand over the tools, close my eyes, and see who used this set and what they created with it. The set came from Australia, so who knows where this set has traveled. Some things will just remain a mystery.
I cleaned up all of the little bits and pieces along with the rim of the box (it was black with ink that would rub off on my hands.) I still need to oil the rim, though, to rehydrate the wood. I sorted out all of the little bits to see what I had. I’ve never seen little clips like these and I’m not sure how to use them. It looked like they would hang from something or perhaps hook into a surface (maybe cork) to home papers in place. Any ideas?
I polished up the ebony parallel ruler with some steel wool and rubbed it down with Hemp Oil to bring out the shine of the wood and brass. It’s a beautiful piece and I’ve already found it to be a quite handy tool when sketching.
I’ve also given the ruling pens a test run and they are such fun little pieces to sketch with. They are similar to a dip pen, but the ink is held between two metal points instead of in a channel. You can adjust how close or far apart the metal pieces are in order to change the width of the mark you’re making. If you spread them out far enough, you’ll make two parallel lines, although the pen doesn’t hold ink very well when used like that. I made a little pen and ink landscape sketch in sepia ink just to test it out.
Aren’t these tools just so pretty?
And I’ve been using the large compass as well…
Of course, it works great! Over the weekend I worked on a little pet project and made a cyanometer (a color wheel that captures the blues of the sky) and it was the perfect tool to make two large circles.
I find I’ve been going into the box pretty regularly since I cleaned it all up and I enjoy it every time.
As I wrote about yesterday, our house should be full of favorites…right down to the little pencil nubs.
If you’re looking for a similar box, I found a beautiful set HERE for a good price. It also has brass tools, an ebony parallel ruler, and a bone ruling pen in a beautiful wood box.
THIS set is almost exactly like mine, but it doesn’t have all of the extras and it’s more expensive.
You can find more antique drafting boxes and tools HERE.
Marion,
What a lovely find. Thank-you for sharing and your encouragement.
Warm wishes,
Penny
The set cleaned up beautifully! I am not an artist by any means but looking at all those goodies after you cleaned everything, I so appreciate the beauty of vintage tools. Congratulations on your purchase.
Thanks, Marian – I really enjoyed viewing your ‘new’ vintage goodies!
I have old clips just like yours and use them on my cork bulletin board. Though tiny, they hold items really well. Just look out as they are very sharp!
Even though we can’t take our possessions with us when we leave our lives here, I’d like to think we can see the next owners enjoying and restoing loved things. Perhaps someone has smiled at your efforts! Happy day!
This, like your watercolor box, just makes me salivate.
Money well spent.
Enjoy.
oh dear~ I think I must find one for myself ….. it’s never to late to start a new collection, is it?
ABSOLUTELY GORGEOUS!!!!!! The beauty just speaks to the soul doesn’t it? I love antique pieces for the same wonderment of whom loved it previously❤️
Why did you use linseed oil in the wood instead of hemp oil?
I happened to have some out while I was painting, so I just rubbed it on. I’ll do that with brush handles and other wood things I have hanging around!
I can’t believe how excited we get about the same things! :)I have a smaller leather box of antique drafting tools that I use often -the quality of the ruling pens is superior to anything you can buy new. I also use it for art but also for freehand drafting that I learned long ago. Loving these antique art tool posts-but you are making me want more Toys! Uh,tools! ?
Looks very similar to a set from my husband’s grandfather. I have loved going through his as well. Thanks for the inspo on using them….I was just treasuring them.
This has me wondering if my FIL had something like this when he worked as a draftsman. Hmmmm I’ll be checking into this!