Shop Disaster!
A Tale of Steel and Water
It has been quite some time since I’ve written an article. It’s been about two months, in fact. One might be justified in thinking I’ve been lazy, or at least otherwise engaged, and although I haven’t been the former, I certainly have been the latter.
Our latest challenge at Scodan began with a load of dishes. And while we’ve done many loads of dishes before, this one stands out as a particularly exciting load of dishes.
It started normally enough, I was loading the breakfast dishes into the dishwasher, topping up the load I had started the night before. I put the soap in and closed the soap hatch, then closed the dishwasher door and pressed start. The dishwasher began to make its customary sounds, but suddenly there was a loud hiss. I stood there, puzzled, thinking, “Well this is new….” when suddenly I realized water was pouring from the under-sink cupboard!
I opened the cabinet door and was immediately assaulted by a cloud of steam. Hot water was spraying full blast out of the flex pipe that feeds the dishwasher! Kneeling in the growing puddle and trying not to get sprayed in the face with scalding water, I grabbed the cutoff and twisted. It didn’t budge. Throwing caution to the wind I put my head and shoulders into the cupboard to grip the shutoff with both hands, and torqued it with all my might, and… nothing!
Drenched now, I jumped up and ran downstairs to shut the hot water off at the tank. By this time, water was streaming out of the ceiling into my shop. I ran to the mechanical room in which my hot water heater resides, which has also become the long term storage for our house. Where first it had only stored the extra tiles and half cans of paint from previous renovations, it now housed all of the seldom used items that a household accumulates over time. Grabbing a 7’ artificial Christmas tree in its box, I clumsily tried to wrestle it out of the way, practically throwing it behind me. Next were boxes of picture frames, a massive collection of previously enjoyed gift bags just waiting for one of the kids to be invited to a birthday party, and several cases of empty wine bottles I had used during my brief foray in the brewing arts. The room was completely packed to the ceiling. Every inch of space was used, and all of it stood between me and the shutoff.
It seemed to take forever, but it probably only took six or seven minutes to get the water turned off. By that time, the damage was done. Water was streaming through the ceiling in the shop, and drop ceiling panels were bowing and collapsing onto the floor, onto my benches, and, to my horror, onto my saws and planes.
One of the great procrastinations of my life has been building tool storage. I’ve been meaning to build proper storage for my planes and saws for years (many years, in fact). Some more important project always comes up, and since those projects usually pay the bills, much of my hand tool collection has lived out in the open, on hastily fabricated shelves, racks, and pegboards
Staring in horror at my collection of modern Veritas joinery and bench planes, my antique Stanleys and Records, Disston panel saws, and backsaws from fine tool manufacturers both modern and ancient, my heart sank. I know how fast ductile steel can tarnish and rust. I know what happens when wood swells as it absorbs water.
My first thought was to rescue the tools, and so I started pulling handfuls of tools off shelves and stacking them on the basement steps, out of reach of the deluge. Then, heading outside, I put a folding table on the front lawn and got a roll of shop towels, a can of WD40, and some mineral oil, and enlisted the kids to bring the tools out one by one, where I dried, polished and oiled them all. My fears about the speed at which ductile steel rusts were affirmed: the most expensive tools, the Veritas planes, had already begun to rust.
Eventually elbow grease won the day, and the tools were piled in the garage, for the most part none the worse for wear.
Then came the hard work. It took well over a week to clean the shop. Drop ceiling tiles turn into something akin to porridge when wet, and so nothing came out in large pieces. I filled a Bagster on the front lawn with garbage, detritus, and the remnants of those accursed open shelves
In the process of cleaning up, and inspecting other tools, it dawned on me. I store my collection of chisels, including a number of excellent Witherby users from the mid 1800’s, in a reclaimed cabinet. They stayed completely dry. And seeing that, I made a decision:
Be it resolved that Q4 of 2023 will mark the end of my years-long procrastination regarding tool storage. The time has come to build proper storage for my collection of fine hand tools. They deserve a better home than what they’ve had heretofore. And of course, we will document the process here, at Scodan. Handcrafted.
What a nightmare! I actually groaned when reading it. My shop is in a concrete basement but there are old copper water pipes running along the ceiling ... so I can easily imagine your horror.
Lovely tool collection! Will you make tool chests or tool cupboards (or both)? Either way, I'm looking forward to reading about it. Please take many pictures!