The Feel of a Well-Worn Hammer

Good As New
A brass-bound level is a beautiful thing. For around $100, you can find one made from rosewood or mahogany. It's always best to make sure the top plate unscrews so you can adjust the vial, in case all those years of use have thrown it off-kilter.

A folding ruler never gets outdated: Norm borrows a handy magnifying glass from a collector to examine the markings on this one.

A hand drill works like an egg beater and can do the job as well as any cordless power tool—even better when the batteries run down.

A flea market is a great place to stock up on wrenches, which come in many shapes and sizes. The alligator wrench in the foreground here is used by pipe fitters to hold different sizes of tubing without adjustment.

Chisels abound, but don't expect them to be sharpened when you buy them—dealers say it's not worth the effort for them to do it before selling the items, as many buyers are particular about how they want their woodworking tools sharpened. You'll want to pick out a few different profiles, say a 1-inch beveled-edge chisel, a thin, rectangular-mortise chisel, a tapered paring chisel, and a gouge or two.

Mining For Old
If you've got yourself a true miter box and saw, who needs a power miter saw? But good saws are harder to come by at flea markets, as decades of use and sharpening have worn them down to a point at the tip. Watch out for rust and pits, which make it harder to get the teeth very sharp.

Hammers are a dime a dozen—or, in this case, $5 apiece; look for ones with a handle fit tightly to the head and that aren't too worn out in the V of the nail-pulling groove.

"I have a plane set from my father just like this one. It has all the cutting irons for all these different profiles, but not the box," said Norm, upon seeing this $450 find.

Planes are among the most common tools sold at a flea market, often missing the blades, called irons, which you'll have to replace; some can fetch into the thousands or tens of thousands of dollars.

A sliding T-bevel square is still the best tool for copying an angle, say to cut molding on a corner that's out of square.

The tool kit Norm assembled, which, once tuned up, will rival the collection in any craftsman's workshop:

1. A set of chisels


2. Adjustable wrench


3. Sliding T-bevel


4. Try square: When dealing with wood squares, check them against sturdy metal ones, which are less likely to have gone out of square over time.


5. Brace: A form of drill that has been around for more than five centuries.


6. Hand drill: A more modern drill, from the 1870s.


7. Monkey wrench


8. Ripsaw: Long, with larger teeth for tearing through wood grain lengthwise.


9. Yankee screwdriver: A spiral racheting driver that turns with a push of the handle.


10. 3-foot level


11. Folding ruler


12. Clapboard gauge: Snapping a chalk line is one way to keep the reveal even on a wall of siding, but a gauge allows you to lock onto a board that's already been nailed up, then rest the next board on top of the tool so it's the perfect distance away.


13. Straight-claw hammer: Handy for stabbing into roof shingles if you ever find yourself sliding off a roof.


14. Curved-claw hammer


15. Hacksaw


16. Spoke shave: Once did just what the name implies—shave curves onto wood wheels and spokes. Still great for rounding over sharp edges on a table or box.


17. 1-foot level: For tight places.


18. Plumb bob: Hang it by its string and the tip will drop to a point directly below, creating a plumb line.


19. Whetstone: For sharpening chisels.


20. Router plane: A tool for committed hand woodworkers, as it requires planing away a little bit of wood at a time as you move the tool through a groove in a board.


21. Scribe: No carpenter can get trim or cabinets to fit tightly without one.


22. Classic wooden toolbox