STL358: The Tool Hunter – FineWoodworking

Joshua Clark is the founder of Hyperkitten Tool Company, a business dedicated to sourcing and selling high-quality vintage hand tools to people who actually use them. He began collecting and restoring tools in 1999 after learning woodworking with hand tools in a small townhouse and turned that passion into a business in 2010 in Oxford, Connecticut. Over the years Joshua has shipped tools across the U.S. and internationally, carefully inspecting and restoring each item and offering unconditional guarantees on every sale. His work gained wider recognition after being featured by Christopher Schwarz and in The Anarchist’s Tool Chest, helping the business grow and thrive while he balances it with family life and a full-time job.

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Questions from our Discord friends:

From George:
How has the market changed in the last 20 years? Has demand gone up or down? Are we in danger of running out of vintage Stanley’s, etc?

Pre-WW II seems to have been the “golden age” for hand tools, and there was a shift to machines afterward, but are there any hidden gem tools from the 50s, 60s, 70s?

From JMAWWorks
What are some brands that are surprisingly better/less known/less expensive than the Stanley’s and Starrett’s out there to be aware of?

From Spenny
I’d love to hear more about how he came across this chest.

I am also wondering if he has tips for finding tools locally.

From Chuck:
How do wooden planes survive being used for decades and remain is usable/resellable shape?

Every two weeks, a team of Fine Woodworking staffers answers questions from readers on Shop Talk Live, Fine Woodworking‘s biweekly podcast. Send your woodworking questions to [email protected] for consideration in the regular broadcast! Our continued existence relies upon listener support. So if you enjoy the show, be sure to leave us a five-star rating and maybe even a nice comment on our iTunes page. Join us on our Discord server here.