Quirky

At the beginning of the month I spoke of the router slash quirk beader slash not entirely certain yet woodie etc that I'd purchased, and promised pics. Being a woman of my word:

 Well so far, so unremarkable.

Underneath, it all gets a bit "Um". The fence is such as you might find on a coachbuilder's grooving router or some such, but otherwise it ticks the box for "homemade moulding router". Which appears to pretty much tick the box for "scratch stock", as far as I can tell. Unfortunately I'm not sure it ticks any box terribly successfully. I really need to sort out a better solution to the (overlong) wood screw holding the fence (because it's inevitably rusted all to heck) and then try it and hope my fears are not confirmed.

But even if it's a total lemon, I still kinda like it.

Beaters

Frustration here at The Towers; keep wanting to get down to the w'shop, only to be thwarted by coughing up a lung like someone with a forty-a-day habit. Pesky colds.

So confined to barracks as I am, I need cheering up. Non-woodworking comforts in these times of feeling sorry for oneself traditionally veer towards re-reading Pride and Prejudice and having an inexplicable desire to eat Marmite and honey on toast.

Yes, together. No, it's not weird. People eat sweet and sour combos all the time.

Okay, it's a bit weird. Moving on then...

What woodworking thing will cheer me? Ooo, I dunno. It's a truth universally acknowledged that I do like a nice chisel or two though... (Okay, who saw that coming? Predictable, ain't I?)

Cast you mind, or even your browser, back to the acquisition of the contents of a tool chest that proved to be that of a coachbuilder. More specifically, the chisels of same. Not being a big fan of picking up a chisel and coming away with an orange palm from all the rust thereon, I'm gradually getting round to cleaning them up. In this case, a pair of socketed beauties by Thomas Ibbotson & Co.

That's no six inch rule there either; them's a big ol' pair of chisellin' devices. 1in. and 5/8in. 'Cos I was curious I threw them on the scales and they came in at 1lb 3oz and 15oz respectively, but they don't feel at all unwieldy. Just really nice chisels.

Now inexplicably I don't have an Ibbotson catalogue about my person (cries of "Shame!" and that's just from me) but I do have a 1934 Marples one handy, and also because Salaman's Dictionary copped out and lumped all the firmers together with gay abandon, I referred to Bill and his boys compendium of toolish goodness.

Now isn't it interesting that the ones like these Ibbotsons, with no overly mannered shoulder, are just "Socket chisels", while the ones with the obvious shoulders get the "Firmer" moniker. I wonder why. I included the others just for kicks and giggles, and who doesn't like playing the Time Machine Game and pricing themselves up a set of bevel-edge cabinet chisels?

Many of us also like to play the "What can this tool tell me about the labouring woodworker of yore and his (or, it's remotely possible, her) habits?" In this case we meet the complete antithesis to the story of the planemaker's flat backed paring chisel. You can easily see with the naked eye just how not flat the 5/8in one is; it's well clear of the bench surface at the edge. The other one's none too hot either. Is that David Charlesworth's low scream of horror I can hear from over the border in Devon? It might be.

Depressingly, I know damn well that certain folks will take this and declare it supports their assertion that no-one bothered with flat backs until the modern era. I'd argue that it merely supports the evidence that the canny woodworker puts only the effort into a tool that's required for the tool to do the job. Like not sharpening a rough jack plane iron to a superfine edge; there's just no point. I don't suppose these two chisels were doing much paring to nths of a gnat's pay slip.

Also, we should probably bear in mind that in the same kit of tools was this error of chisel-using judgement, so, y'know, maybe this guy, or possibly gal, is not the ideal example of what to do.

It also struck me as interesting that there was a noticeable hollow grind and at a not especially sturdy 25° too. Heavy duty chisels though these clearly are, no concerns about the edge not holding up.

And finally, because not everyone will have the opportunity and it's really annoying when you read about this stuff but can't see it, the very obvious lamination of the hard steel to the blade.

So a nice pair of chisels that leave me with all kinds of decisions over how best to get them working. Add in some rusting on the backs, and I'm looking at quite a bit of effort needed there. i.e. Those backs aren't likely to be getting much flatter, unless I want to kiss the steel goodbye. Heigh ho. On the up side I already have a similar Marples in a 3/8in size (if I recall correctly), so it'll be worth doing to get something of a "set".

You know how people advise you to have a set of "beater" chisels that you can safely whale on without worry? Yeah, I reckon they might fit the bill just dandy.

Wisdom of The Ancients

There seem to be two schools of thought on the validity of The Way It Used To Be Done. Until recently, the most prevalent seemed to be "Progress is good, two feet bad". I may have mixed my slogans a little there, but you get the gist; improvement is the goal and we know heaps more than those ignoramuses who came before us. This is clearly not always the case. (Please see good old Barry Bucknell and his crusade to swathe every panelled door in 1950s Britain with hardboard as an example.)

Recently, particularly in the hand tool world, it seems more like the rose-tinted safety glasses and "it were better when my several-greats granddad were alive" has gained the upper hand. I'm not always a great proponent of that one either, and to coin a phrase: Here's (one example) why.

One 1 & 1/8in firmer chisel of solid and, I suggest, fairly old manufacture.

'Tis by "James Cam", an old and well-regarded maker of steel goodies for the discerning woodworker. Indeed, so well-regarded, that his name continued to be used well after his demise. This is never a good thing if you want to tie down a date for a tool, and the James Cam timeline is still rather up in the air anyway. Suffice it to say it's older than a Marples splitproof anyway.

Obviously it is, 'cos it's, um, split. Not even boxwood either, and thus I undermine my own argument of yesterday just a tad. But moving on... Appreciate that nice octagonal bolster, why don't you? And if you look closely, you can probably make out what appear to be file marks on the similarly octagonal handle. Sometimes I think we all take entirely too much trouble over the prettiness of our chisel handles. Not that such an observation is going to stop me, mind you...

Now this Cam came among the goodies of the coachbuilder's kit, and the owner of same left us much evidence that he liked to adapt and repurpose tools. Unfortunately this chisel didn't escape, and has been reground into a turning skew, to go with one or two other tools similarly adapted for turning purposes.

Legitimately, you may be saying at this point "But Alf, it might have always been a turning tool. It looks sturdy enough for the lathes of yesteryear". To which I'd respond that yes, it does and please don't use the term "yesteryear" because it makes me nauseous. There's just one thing though...

I've over-layed a line on the identical bottom shot, just to make it clearer. Know what that line is? Yes, it's where the hard tool steel is laminated to the rest of the softer chisel body. See where it stops? See where the "cutting" edge of this home-brew skew is? Yes. Exactly.

Sometimes our forebears were just as daft as we are.

Preparation

Heavens, but I hate preparation. Scraping and sanding the panels was excessively tedious - and it may be that I wasn't quite as diligent with it as I usually am. I started out with the best of intentions, but that mix of *cough* "mahoganies" is a bugger to scrape. Or rather some of it will, but other bits simply won't. And suddenly it dawned on my the things are riddled with old screw and nail holes anyway, so I laid down my tools at "good enough". It pained me, it really did, but I will get this project finished this year come hell, high water and a little bit of tear out.

While a coat or two of shellac was doing its thing, my mind turned to planning ahead to putting the things together. In the continued spirit of using this project to do things maybe I haven't done before, I bethought me to try this drawboring lark that The Schwarz is so keen on. I applied myself to the article on same in Woodworking Magazine from Autumn 2005 (Really five years ago? How can it be?!) and cast my eye over the relevant bit of the Forgotten Hand Tools DVD.

Then watched all the rest of the DVD, just because.

Primed and ready - and once again wondering about asking the Glasgow Nail Co. for a quote on some cut nails - I fished an ideal piece of straight-grained oak out of the scraps box to make some pegs. It's very dry, must have been in there at least as long as that WM article is old, and probably survived at least three scrap throwing-out sessions. It was meant to be.

Lopped off some suitable lengths with the 13.5 ppi back saw that came with the wrong but wonderfully comfortable handle that I tried to replicate and failed. As saws go, it's a total dog. Cuts beautifully. Then used the wide Chinese chisel I have handy in the rack to split off the embryonic pegs. Yes, they look weird as all hell, but actually it's a pretty nifty chisel.

Point one end with a knife, then to the LN dowel plate (You can hear the teeth of the anti-posh-tool folks grinding from here). I've had it for years, it's proved useful, I'm glad I have it. Anyway, I started with the 5/16in hole first, then to the final 1/4in size. Worked a treat.

Of course I really also need a draw bore pin too, if I'm to do the job properly. Luckily no pound notes need be harmed in fulfilling that need, as I managed to actually find the coachbuilder's draw bore pins from the set of tools I picked up a couple of years ago. And yes, I'm absolutely sure that's what they are now; the taper seems to correspond with Joel Moskowitz's description here. There's a pair in one size and a single one that's slightly smaller. I opted to clean that one up for the job.

The (obviously user-made) handles on the other two were a little loose, and I was able to shift the pin a little and found a clear maker's name - W Baker, London. A scan of my usual sources found nada, zip, zilch, nowt. Nothing daunted, I bethought me of the trade directories that are online. A few happy hours spent perusing same and in the 1884 Business Directory of London found a William Baker of 96 Pembroke Street off Caledonian Road listed as a tool dealer. And a needle maker. And as an awl maker. I believe that's our boy. Happily the dates ties in with many of the other tools too. Huzzah.

Now to see if it'll do the job, and whether T-handles don't make rather more sense for the task - which, in theory, I'd have thought they must do.

Router Fest

Not sure how many routahs His Normness possesses, but I think I may just have him beat. Yep, Coachbuilder's Router Central chez Alf now. Thank goodness for my copy of Salaman to turn to in order to explain the fine nuances. First, the "Boxing" routers. Would you believe coachbuilders had another name for rebates apart from "check"? Mad impulsive fools; they also called 'em "boxing". So a Boxing Router is identified thusly:

"This has a single iron 1/2 - 3/4in; no fence, and is similar in construction and working to the Router Plane. Used for finishing rebates to the depth required, and for cleaning out grooves already made and testing them for depth. They were used when one could not employ a coachbuilder's Tee Plane owing to sharp curves in the timber."

To sum up - it's a funny kind of router.


16" stock length (width?) seems to be the standard, then top to bottom:

3/8" cutter, ash or oak, guessing craftsman-made by the lack of an "eye hole" for the shavings.

3/8" again, beech with a plated top to stop the wedging action splitting it out presumably. A reasonably clear stamp of Williams, 42 Boro' Road, London. Remember the assorted Williams I had hope of with the Tee Rabbet? Well happily both Henry (1845-1852) and Thomas (1858-1868) occupied that address. I'll take that and make a reasonable assumption about the Tee Plane and an unreasonable one about the dovetail saw. Well I can if I want to...

1/2", beech, beautifully clear Edward Preston & Sons stamp.

1/4" (actually an old chisel - thriftiness theme continues), beech with a slightly convexly curved,plated sole. No eye hole again.

So got yourselves a handle on the Boxing Routers? Right, so time to get Groovy.


"The iron, 1/2, 3/16 or 1/4in wide, has a hooked cutting edge, and is wedged in the stock sideways. Made in pairs for working on either hand, with a metal fence adjustable within 5in limits and fixed by various means including a screw engaging a nut which runs in a slide within the stock. It is used for working grooves for taking a panel or glass, and occasionally for cutting away waste timber from a rebate at some distance from the edge of the workpiece. For this purpose a groove was cut to the required deth as close as possible to the finished outline; then with either a Chisel or Gouge the intervening wood was chopped away and finished with a Boxing Router."

You're wondering how you've managed without them, aren't you? Well I must admit to finding a sudden urge to give the saw till doors an arch...


Again 16" long is the standard and they all have plated soles. Don't seem to have an obvious pair within these three, but further study may find stamps to prove me wrong:

3/16" iron, left side fence, could be craftsman-made. In all honesty I can't read my own notes...

1/8" iron, left side fence, beech. The left hand side of the central area of the stock seems to have been cut away - not dissimilar to the skew rebate - perhaps to add grip? I'll need to try one to see I s'pose. It's a hard life.

1/16" wide, beech, right sided fence, somebodyorother & Sons on the iron, but it eludes me thus far.

So by now you've no doubt worked out the mystery irons. See? Easy when you have all the pieces of the puzzle ;-) And to finish our exploration of these tools, the inevitable tin box of "stuff" - a prerequisite of any tool chest or other collection of tools.


If anyone's short of a collar stiffener then you know where to look...

How to annoy people on a Friday

Ooo, you're going to be sticking pins in my effigy - not doing the ones I thought I was today, but rather the more familiar moulders and such. So yes, this is going to have to go into another week and you'll have to wait until Monday for the rest. Gosh, I'm evil...


Rather sparse on legible makers' marks thus far so it shouldn't take long. Anti-clockwise this time methinks, starting at noon:

1 5/8" skew rebate. For some reason the top of the toe has been cut away - anyone in a position to enlighten me on why that might be? It has rather a round wedge top shape which leads me to wish to have another hard look for any names on it. Not that I think it's likely very old, but for general info it seems wedge shapes got less round and more elliptical over the years. Top o' the day...

1/4" side bead. This plane is not in its first youth by any means, but feels Good.

3/8" slipped side bead. Might be a Buck but this blighter did like to stamp his own name over everything else...

1/2" side bead, also slipped. J Buck, 124 Newgate Street, London. BPMs sez Joseph, 1837-1872. Yay, 'nother date bracket. For those wondering, a slipped bead has removable fillets to provide the depth stop. Take 'em off and you can work your bead up close to any projection, such as might be found in sticking part of a more complex moulding. If you didn't know that you might well think the plane had been rather obviously repaired instead.

#10 hollow by Goad & Son, 78 Tottenham Court Road. What is with all these London planes? I've never had so many in one go like this. Anyway, that'd seem to be Frederick and his boy between 1887 and 1892.

And finally a push-me-pull-you plane. A 5/8" double-ended match plane (for tongue and groove) by Griffiths of Norwich. Fun, in't it? Can't quite decide if this tops my previous T&G pair who's claim to fame is being once owned by a Mr E Bastard who had no qualms about clearly stamping them with his surname. Planes for SWMBO to give you when she's finally had enough perhaps...? Luckily they're 3/4" so all I need is to do any T&Ging at all and I could probably justify both. As it is...

T-time

T'was the sight of one of these beauties perched atop the rest of the stash that alerted me to the fact I wasn't going to be looking at any old woodworker's tool kit. Yep, reading Salaman's dictionary for fun isn't totally insane. Mind you, it's a close call... Anyway, viz:

Plane, Coachbuilder's, (e) Tee Rabbet Planes. Rabbet Planes in which the sole is wider than the stock (T-shaped in cross section), thus leaving room for the fingers when working in deep rabbets or in confined spaces. The stock is usually rectangular, measuring about 6in long. They are made in sets with straight or compass soles varying in width from 1 to 1 3/4in.... The iron is square, single, double-shouldered, with the cutting edge from 1 to 1 3/4in wide. Used for cleaning up glass frame runs and rebates on door pillars and elsewhere.


From top to bottom:

1 3/4" with (user added?) brass wear strips, straight sole. The wear strips have been done very nicely but I have no means of knowing if they were added later or a purchasing option. Makes sense to do it I suppose; must have suffered quite a bit of wear, although on the other hand by their nature these planes must have had a limited life because of the restrictions on usable iron length.

1 1/2" straight sole, Williams, London. BPMs gives two options on Williams in London but John, Henry, Thomas and then & Son seem the most likely. Need to study the mark again to see if I can glean more info. As it stands there are dates that could still fit the bracket quite comfortably plus the additonal thought that perhaps this could give us a source on the dovetail saw. In addition all the likely addresses seem to be in and around areas of south London that I know fairly well, and for some reason that's nice.

1 3/8", slight convex curve. Another that appears to be by Buck in Tottenham Court Road, and another that really needs another look with book in hand.

1 1/2", very evident curve, Collier, Brixton, London. Can't tell you how pleased I am to finally have a Collier plane; they eventually went kapput in Streatham in 1984 which means I was unconciously wthin touching distance of them every school day for five years. Okay, so it didn't mean anything then, and the days of wooden planes were long gone, but it's kinda the closest I'll ever got to the old tool makers. I know, silly isn't it? But I like that tenuous link in the same way as I enjoy the couple of Cornish dealer-stamped tools I have. Anyway, the early days of Geaorge Collier in Cornwall (!) Road would also slip into our rough time bracket. Must take the book to the tools and see if I can at least work out which mark it is.


So nearly at the end of the countdown now - should be anyway, as I've done my best to tuck this last bit into the week... ;-) A small hint of what's to come tomorrow here; an unmarked 1/16" wide iron and two 3/8" ones, one by Buck and t'other by W Baker (& Son?), London.


The slipstone was totally black and barely recognisable as a stone at all at first, but the ever-useful Painter's Hand Cleaner brought out the lovely colours of the natural stone. 3 1/2" long, 1 3/4" wide tapering in thickness from 3/4" to 1/2". The only stone in the lot - wonder if there were others at one time?

But enough for today; time to go and try to work out who the heck I am talking to in the comments box... :-)

Check

And thus we proceed to the smoother and thence to more esoteric parts of Salaman's Dictionary.


Look, Ma, dinky smoothers! And yes, she did indeed go "ahhh, isn't it sweet?". Oh well, she got me a can of Renaissance wax yesterday so not all bad... ;) Anyway, top to bottom again:

A dinky smoother that may possibly be by one of the Bucks - a Tottenham Court Road one I think. Another London maker, eh? 1 1/2" iron that appeared to have a lion? holding a torch? and might have possibly says "Bedford-something"? Yay, BPMs sez there's a Bedford, Burys & Co, Regent Works, Penistone Road, Sheffield. Never heard of 'em. 1860-1880 eh? Starting to get a bit of a date bracket developing here... Regrettably it's got the inevitable split in the cheek, but a nice little plane, pleasant to the hand.

Next, its brother? Nope. This one's got a slight but noticably convex sole - wouldn't like to place any bets, but doesn't seem to be accidental. 1 5/8" iron by Ward & Payne and a Marples cap iron; so far, so wide a date range. More squinting and we have the "notable five line" J Leist, Planemaker, Something-illegible-on-both-plane-and-in-book, Near Fye Bridge, Norwich mark. Norwich?! If I interpret British Planemakers correctly that address would put James Leist at St Simons around 1851. If he continued to use it when he moved the date could slip to 1875, and if his wife(?) used it when she carried on it could be as late as 1896. But would you still use it, with such a precise location, if you weren't there any more? Well you might for a while, so it'd tally with our tentative date range, would it not? 'Nother split in the cheek and the iron's pretty far gone alas.

Thirdly and we come to the real specialist stuff. James Leist again, this one with a 1 5/8" I & H Sorby iron. But what is it, I hear you ask? It's a Coachbuilder's Door Check plane, s'what. In this case a "Coach Door Smooth" for cleaning up rebates - for some reason called "checks" by Coachbuilders. As it's curved it can do concave rebates curving in the horizontal plane, which is nice. The cap iron gives it a finishing advantage over dodgy grain that the subjects of tomorrow's post just don't have.

On which teasing note...

Uncut

So to the bench planes - a voyage through the sublime to the not at all sublime perhaps. This blog entry will be done with considerable reference to the third edition of British Planemakers.


From top to bottom:

17 1/4" jack with 2 1/4" Ward & Payne iron. No obvious maker's stamp as yet and my notes give a tentative craftsman-made? because it doesn't seem to be beech. Neatly patched possibly with boxwood, so evidentally much-loved.

17" Marples "BB" brand jack. A modern abomination introduced by Bill and His Boys c.1938 and helping killing wooden plane making quality right through to 1968. Yes, folks, machine made (boo hiss). BPMs laconically says "those examined by the editors are coarsely finished" - the editors are right on the money. The cut out bit of the wedge is positively hairy with tearout. For the record; Marples 2 1/4" iron. Just think, if it hadn't been for Stanley wanting to rationalise their iron widths we'd still have proper 2 1/4" wide irons instead of these 2 3/8" things. Shame on Thomas that LN didn't make their #5 1/2 after the original pattern. But I digress...

I'll come back to that one.

Bottom, 22" try plane with 2 1/2" Marples iron and monstrously heavy. It's not as if the iron isn't well-worn, but the body seems to be a good deal less so. Small handle too, so quite awkward to hold even for my smaller fists. By squinting a good deal I believe I can make out "Moseley" and "Bloomsbury". Readers with good memories will recall me mentioning that John Moseley and his descendants have a fulsome and precise entry in BPMs and thus a combination of those two names gives me John Moseley & Son's wholesale branch at 54-55 Broad Street, Bloomsbury, London. Dates 1862-1880.


So back to exhibit three. 14 3/4" jack plane showing considerable wear; the bottom of the wedge is almost touching the sole. Can you see it tapers being lower at the front? It's also got a trifle of lean from left to right too. Have you spotted what I totally failed to see at first? Yep, single iron. No cap iron here, and the 2" Thomas Ibbotson iron is thus uncut. Another small rear handle, unfortunately loose where the screw head at the toe no longer has any wood to grip. So does a single iron mean old? Not necessarily. Although double irons were the option of choice way back, they were still offered as a (cheaper) option much later. Buck & Hickman still have them in 1935 f'rinstance. Golly, but the thing's been used for a good long time though, to get like that. Feels lovely in the hand - compare its worn round edges to the Marples BB's harsh chamfers. Just need to work out a sensitive way to fix the handle and then I'm definitely going to take her for a spin...

Sticks and String

Is it fair to say that when you reach the point of pivoting slowly on one foot gazing at the scene of devastation and destruction that was your workshop, littered copiuosly with tools waiting to be put away and dust ready to be swept, and being unable to decide what to do next - well would you say that was the moment to stop? On Sunday I decided it probably was, so despite the fact I'm still not finished, stop I did. What with one thing and another it'll probably be on hold now this week. Not so good that there are tools still lying about though - Houston, we have a problem. A leak in the workshop roof. :-( Just as well I got the drill press moved before the rains came again 'cos otherwise it wouldn't have been in the Splash Zone. As 'tis, it was just anti-fatigue matting that was getting wet until I put a bucket there. Heigh ho; builder will have to be asked nicely to come and fix it 'cos nobody chez Alf is volunteering to go and play on any roof just now.

So back to the alledged Wheelwright, but more probably Coachbuilder's tools. Being a stinker I'm still holding out on the planes and such, but instead some marking stuff and, for the hell of it, hammers and such.


Now what does your eagle-eye notice about this motley collection? Apart from the fact they're not all hammers. Seemed to me there was a definite bias towards shorter hammer handles. A predilection of this particular chap, or a feature found amongst all his breed? I know not, but marked it none the less. Also in there is a Moore and Wright triangular scraper - what I always assume to be a bearing scraper but have yet to be bothered to double-check. Big old cabinetmaker's screwdriver too, but ground for the smallest screw slot. Perhaps reach was required? Again, I know not, but it's interesting to speculate. And will some nice reader call me a doofus and point out what that darn wheel onna-stick bottom right is for? Wheels with points I know about, but this one I'm not even sure where to start.

The clamp doo-dah is a funny one. Not until after I'd taken the pic did it dawn on me what it was for (the name "Ilford" gave me the initial hint) although goodness knows how it came to be in with the tools. Needs a good clean up, but it may actually come in handy. Anyone for House Points with the correct answer?


The other hitting implement is a mallet. Classic "it's a wheel felloe" mallet head shape to delight the student of tool design and how surroundings effect it.


The marking and measuring is remarkable for there being not one rule in the lot, although they're the sort of things that do walk so perhaps not so remarkable. But lo! My first pair of recognisable Winding Sticks! 13" long, 12", 5/8" mahogany. No inlaid contrasting wood here though - paint I think. :-) Then 12" and 6" try squares and, unusually, 6" and 3" Engineer's squares too. Whether they're still square time and testing will tell. A rather crummy vernier caliper and a somewhat seized-up Stanley #18 sliding bevel; the latter fills in a gap in my "how many ways can you lock a sliding bevel" selection which is probably cause for celebration. Or embarrassment...

In the middle we have a string line; terribly Seaton Tool Chest and something I've meant to make for myself this many a year. There are firm joint internal and external calipers as well as the wing dividers, but they got overlooked. Salaman's Dictionary suggests that perhaps the top dividers count as "Lancashire Pattern" but I'm not sure. There are so many different designs of these types of tool I can't keep up. Last but not least a couple of mortise gauges, and even still in useable condition which makes a change. The only other gauge I've found is a homemade one which looks well-used; also evidence of more thriftiness in that the cutter is the stump of an old chisel.



And finally - a plea to those folks who entered the draw for the Lee Valley catalogue but didn't win. Could you drop me an email again please? I have news that may be to your advantage, but like a chump I deleted your entries.

Pass me the Eclipse, lad

No votes so I went with saws. What can I say? I like saws.


I regret to say there's not one saw here that isn't unhappy in one way of another. The inevitable "nest o'saws" with the inevitable bent-to-blazes blades, a rip saw that's virtually worn to the nubbin (never thought to see the like in a rip saw), Disston D8 (yawn, yawn, boring, etc ;-) in something of a wibbly condition and also not a little worn. What else, well my first wooden handled hacksaw (hard to believe); naturally it's an Eclipse, a 60B in fact. Hmm, that's another "B" model in tools there. Anyway, what I don't understand is how it is in Britain we still call hacksaws, well, hacksaws. Eclipse ones are so ubiquitous I'm surprised we didn't go the same way as "Hoover" for vacuum cleaner. Of course the saw set's an Eclipse 77 as well, so maybe that answers my question. No good saying "pass me the Eclipse, lad" 'cos it'd be 50/50 whether you'd get a hacksaw or a saw set... But I digress.

The backsaws are slightly more promising but still require TLC. The 14" I Sorby has evidentally had its nuts tampered with (oo-er, matron) and the handle's a little loose, while the 8" dovetail has lost a split nut and the handle's a little messed-up. Stamped Williams, London, which is exercising me somewhat as the only one in Hand-saw Makers of Britain seems a little early. On the other hand he/they've popped up elsewhere which suggests to me that maybe they were a dealer or rebadging outfit of some sort. I dunno though, maybe things are a bit older than I suppose? Diving deeper into the evidence as we go along is half the fun. In a way it'd be better for the saw to be younger because then I'd have fewer qualms about doing what's necessary to get it back to being a fine saw. Assuming it cleans up okay...

Lastly I'm sure a few readers can identify the saw bottom right - go on, we know you want to tell us. Given the roofing material of choice for farm buildings in these parts it's a surprise I don't see them more often. Anyone used one in anger?

And finally, belatedly I've noticed the visitor counter went over the 50,000 mark sometime this week so a good moment to thank all those people who've been at a loose enough end to read these Musings, especially those who've commented either on here or via email. It's nice to know I'm not just talking to myself :)

On the other hand maybe it's horribly embarrassing that someone else is reading this...

Boring shaves

Let it not be said we here are Alf Towers don't aim to please the reader - boring tools then shaves as well, to wake you up again ;)


The actual boring implements take us into the wunnerful world of Stanley and Millers Falls (which is strangely comforting when you find yourself without a single metal plane to document). The breast drill is a MF is a 120B and it's a good opportunity to plug the excellent site dedicated to Millers Falls built by Randy Roeder. Another breast drill isn't otherwise a cause for celebration - even though the usually missing side handle was found amongst the other tools (miracle!) - nope, never use the darn things and already have at least two more than any sane person needs. i.e. two ;)

Lurking coyly behind is the aforementioned extension, brace for the use of, chuck variety. I have hopes a trip in the hot soup will reveal unto me a maker, and similarly the 8" sweep brace which currently only speaks of being a No. 823, which is not ringing dem bells. The smallish hand drill, for which tool variety I have a curious and enduring love, is a Stanley #1221K apparently, and that means zilch to me.

Okay, but what about the t-handled wotsits top left? I put them in there in a sort of tapered-awl-kinda-way, but it's not like they're 'ticularly sharp or anything. Round, tapering, square tang and obviously workshop-made handles. Not really set to on the books with any of this stuff yet, but tentatively wondering if coachbuilder's draw bore pins..?


Bit stock-wise, the box made for it is slightly more interesting than yet another Clark pattern expansive bit. Owning more than one of these bits is hard to justify, but it'd help if just one of them was a different model!


The augers and such are more interesting - lot of Gedge patern ones with the up-turned wings. Washer cutter (seized up and another urgent candidate for the soup) and three taper tanged twist drills. But wait, look closely at the longest. An ordinary twist bit has been brazed/welded/whatever onto the stump of an auger bit - which is why it said "1/2" when actually it's 3/8". Wonder what purpose it served that was worth the effort? All round the bits give the impression that this character was keen to get the most from his tools - old bits ground into screwdrivers and such. I like these little unintended windows into someone's soul :)


For completeness, the other twist bits. But now shaves and such:


Okay, drawknives. Or drawing knives. Or draw shave. Ah hah, see? Method in my madness. The bottom one's worn to a mere shadow of a drawing knife but finger's crossed for the other 'cos I like the 8" blade length. Made by Ward & Payne btw.


The wooden shaves have evidentally been well used. i.e. the soles are worn concave. Irons aren't in too bad condition but I dunno; worth bothering with? Possibly not. About now you could be wondering just what there is worth having, but hey, I'm having fun...


Now we're into real wheelwright stuff and what I belive is a Nelson Shave. Like a Javis Shave, but with one eye... No, no, like a Jarvis but flat soled. Don'tcha like the treatment of the corners of the iron?


Pretty impressed that things weren't so far gone into rusty oblivion that the screws still worked okay and I was able to remove the iron (very thick). Rather interesting way of solving the blade-holding problem I thought. Possibly not beyond the wit of galoot to replicate, with the advantage that you don't need a special iron like other wooden shaves.

Anyway, my eyes are nearly shot trying to make out makers' names despite the enthusiastic Mr Beney who insisted on obliterating 70% of them with his name stamp, but the bulk is now photographed and listed. So what next? Still got saws and measuring, plus planes, enough routers to make their own category and other assorted bits and bobs. Vote now!

Inkling

One of these blogs I'll stop being such a darn fool and resist saying things like "Subject to not feeling the need to totally re-write of course..." in jest. Naturally the need to totally re-write came upon me. But in the same way sometimes you can wake up and see your way clear on a woodworking project, the same occurred here and it went with almost a swing. So now I can either a) relax until the next polite prod arrives. Or b) pre-empt the prod and start thinking of the next thing (which ought to be about rust if I'm a good little galoot). Wouldn't it be nice to think the latter will be the case? Yeah, when they're selling choc ices in the seventh circle of hell...

Now ironically, having braced the reader for the idea of this blog continuing along a tool-related rather than woodworking-steeped course, I find myself rather itching to make with some proper woodwork. Even unto seriously considering the saw till doors. Now don't get excited - many a slip twixt plough and groove - but there's definitely an inkling. It may be partially brought about by a rather nice series of pictures on making a moulded frame posted to the Italian woodworking forum Il Legno. Forgive the rather poor translation via this link but if your Italian's even slightly as non-existant as mine it might help. The planes themselves are interesting enough, but I find the hand planing of mouldings like this endlessly fascinating. One day I'll actually get round to trying it myself, I hope.

So anyway, the coach/carriagemaker's tools. At the least this should be an education for one of us - either you in that even decrepit-looking tools can be made lovely again. Or else for me when they can't... I'm trying to be systematic and take batch pics and then write down details of type, size, maker etc in the same order. I did the same with the Newlyn chest and hopefully when I eventually come to add to that page said organisation will save my bacon. Got to be a first time, huh? For some perverse reason I elected to start with the gouges and chisels. Why that should be when I find easily the greatest difficulty working out how to catagorize chisels especially, I know not. Put it down to a desire to get the worst over with early on.


Gouges (get away). A motley crew but the socking great socket gouges by Gilpin appeal to me. I think the wider carving gouge fourth from right is by Addis - just as I'd finally got rid of all my Addis carving tools. Sigh. The flat sweep of the I Sorby firmer second from right will make it a handy user if it cleans up okay.


Big chisels, oh and a bruzz at the top. One or two octagonal handles of the old fashioned variety been fitted to some of these tools, which is unusual. Lots of user-replaced handles altogether, and lots will need this user to replace them again as well unfortunately. Anyone got any ideas on the two at the bottom? One is totally bolsterless and the other has a groove round where the bolster should be and a, well, a sort of washer (loose) that's presumably supposed to register in it as a form of bolster. One's by Nurse and the other I & H Sorby and they seem to be deliberately made like that. I'm perplexed. Think there may be a registered chisel in there too - one in the next batch as well.


Yes, well, a very motley lot indeed. The one on the end is a mere 1/16" wide and hopefully can be persuaded back into line without busting... I'm never sure of these; are they narrow mortise chisels? Or deep bladed (for strength) firmers? I've always assumed the former but this darn example really doesn't strike me as up to even mortising into soft cheese.

Notice anything? Yep; bevel-edged chisels need not apply.

Irony

Names were duly put in the hat this morning and copies of the LV catalogue are winging their way to MikeR and Phil-with-the-good-surname-for-a-woodworker :) Enjoy, chaps, and don't tell the loves of your lives who sent it, d'ya hear? Lucky I had the forethought to not put on a sender's address...

And congrats also to Ian and Mike for guessing coachbuilder. The gentleman selling them said wheelwright, but there really isn't much evidence for that while coachbuilding tools abound. For instance, did you ever see a firmer chisel with a blade 3/8" thick? Surely making it qualify for the definition of a Coachmaker's chisel - "An extra strong Firmer Chisel".


As is my wont I asked the history of the tools, only to discover that the seller had been asked by a work colleague to take them to the dump as they were being cleared out of the colleague's late grandfather's house. Bless him, he asked "can I keep them?" and did so for some years even to the extent of bringing them down from Sussex to Cornwall when they moved a couple of years ago. So really this should have been a catch for some lucky Sussex dwelling person... Anyway, space was a problem and voila, now space is a problem for me instead. Not a single metal plane or spokeshave amongst the lot btw, which is fairly unusual in my general tool-buying habits, but a few familiar names nevertheless.

Oh, and for those of you who like irony and were with me through the drama that was Building the Welsh Stick Chair last year, guess what I found amongst the boring tools? Would you believe an auger bit extension? No, I didn't believe it either...

Lizard

First up - still got until midnight to enter your name into the draw for an LV catalogue. At the moment it's hardly worth getting the hat out...

Secondly, a truth I had momentarily forgotten when I boasted of only clean saws chez Alf. Viz:

Those whom the tool gods wish to destroy they first let boast that they're getting on top of the whole tool cleaning situation and than - wham. They put some more across their path that simply can't be ignored.

Okay, so as aphorisms go it doesn't exactly flow, but by gum, it seems to be born out time and again. Took a little tour into that southerly bump of Great Britain called "The Lizard" and came away with one or two items. Can't really even justify most of these as "users" 'cos many are a tiny bit specialised. House points for the clever person to "name that trade" - I think there are clues enough. My money's on BugBear to get it...






Only had a cursory look so far but already it looks like the Preston Clump still has legs. Can a Clump have legs...? Well you know what I mean.